Happy New Year's to all...

And to all, may your hangover be mild, and your memory not spotty…

Here's to a safe, happy, and cheerful New Year!

Vedauwoo, Ames Monument, and spontaneous roaming

No, that's not a sound you make when you sneeze.

Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) is this huge group of granite outcroppings in the Medicine Bow National Forest, about 30 minutes west of Cheyenne. Vedauwoo was known to the Arapaho's as "Land of the Earthborn Spirit", and suffice it to say, it's a fitting name.

Since we're still very new to this area, and since I'm still fairly homesick for Washington, and especially since the holidays are (almost) over and we have more time now, we decided to start exploring our surroundings. You know, make attachments and memories and all that jazz. So yesterday we headed out to Vedauwoo to explore, since we've heard so much about it.

When we left our house, it was sunny and 40 degrees- brisk, but certainly tolerable. But the time we got up to Vedauwoo, however? 18 flippin' degrees. Luckily, we were all fairly well bundled, though we collectively wished we'd brought our gloves!

Here's me and my little guy taking refuge from the wind

Despite the fact that it was colder than a witch's ass up there, we hiked around for about 45 minutes or so. It's gorgeous up there, even in the dead of winter. The rocks are amazing, and I can certainly see why it's a climber's paradise.

Do you see the face!?

After exploring for awhile (and shortly before our fingers froze off), we got back in the blessed warmth of the car and followed the signs across the freeway to the Ames Monument. The monument is in honor of Oliver and Oakes Ames, who were instrumental in the first intercontinental railroad across America. It's basically this gigantic, 6-story, granite pyramid rising up out of the plains.

Ames was a fairly quick stop, because the wind had picked up and (as you can tell in the above pic) we were all curled up inside our jackets trying to stay warm! The monument is located in Curt Gowdy State Park, so once the weather warms up to a tolerable temperature, we're going to go back and find some hiking trails out there.

After Ames, we headed back to Cheyenne for dinner. This was our view…

The skies here are amazing, which makes the spontaneous exploring of our surroundings even more beautiful. Maybe this place will start feeling like home after all!

Christmas coma anyone?

Hey hey!

Happy Friday After Christmas!

I hope everyone's holiday was happy, safe, and blessed.

Mine was quite lovely. We didn't have the White Christmas I was hoping for, as the snow we got Christmas Eve morning was half-hearted at best, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

My house is still in post-Christmas shambles, but I'll work on it bit by bit. I refuse to feel any pressure, man. I'm just digging the vacation!

I've been done with fall quarter for almost a week now, and it's been absolutely divine. I always forget what it feels like to take a deep breath until school ends!

Of course, I'm already stressing over winter quarter and my increased class load, but I'm trying to ignore it for now and just enjoy my break. Plus, two of my three classes have low enrollment, so unless people start signing up fast, they may get cancelled, leaving me having to either scramble for two new electives, or delaying my graduation by a quarter. Which will… piss me off, to say the least.

But I'm letting Future Sarah deal with that!

Current Sarah has more important things to do!

Today's plan? Watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with the kids, make paper beads with my daughter, and do a thorough post-Christmas vacuuming. I also have a couple of Yahoo! articles to work on.

I also intend to work on organizing the basement more, making a Goodwill run, and doing some general cleaning. But all that will happen in good time.

For now?

Baby, it's cold outside

So in case you missed it, a huge chunk of the U.S. has been hit by a vicious cold snap.

We're part of it too, though apparently the national news has forgotten that Wyoming exists. (Then again, I used to forget Wyoming existed too, you know, before I moved here!)

To sum up: it's freaking cold!!!

Like, record-breaking, shockingly, unusually cold. For instance, today is a "warm" day, it we're supposed to have a high of 6 degrees. Yes, 6. As in, well below freezing.

But hey, it least it isn't a high in the negatives, like it was the past couple of days…

Put on a couple extra layers and buck up!

We've also had The Husband's mother visiting us this past week, and she has let us know under no uncertain terms how cold it is. Apparently it would be warmer to live in the Arctic than in Wyoming…

With all the complaining she has done, you'd think she lived on some tropical island in the South Pacific, and not some place that actually gets more snow and just as cold of temperatures as we do here. It would figure that Mother Nature would decide to misbehave when my MIL is in town…

I'm sure some how this will end up being my fault! Because clearly I'm in control of the weather and use its power solely to inconvenience others...

Besides freezing our nubs off, things have also been incredibly busy. School has been a struggle for me this quarter, for some reason. My classes aren't necessarily particularly difficult, and I've actually enjoyed the subject matter, but since the move I feel like I'm just barely keeping up. And this coming week I have two papers due, two quizzes due, a fuller work load than normal… and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law are flying into town…

How I'm going to juggle it all, I don't know. I'm going to try and get one of the papers done this weekend and turn it in early, and beyond that, I may have to be fairly anti-social and sequester myself in the bedroom doing schoolwork. But we warned everyone that the kids and I would still have school when they were here visiting, so I guess it is what it is.

Today, though, I have festive plans! Since the past week has been so hectic, I'm behind on my decorating. I'm usually the one whose house looks like the North Pole puked in it the weekend after Thanksgiving, so the fact that my tree isn't even done yet?

Shameful!

So I'm going to finish my decorating today. I also have a crap ton of Christmas cookies to make.

(Yes, crap ton is an official form of measurement)

Then tonight, The Husband and I are going to a "traveling Christmas party" that his department is putting on. We'll be having appetizers at one person's house, the main meal at another's, and desert and gifts at a third. It sounds like fun, and I'm honestly looking forward to getting out of the house for a few hours.

We're also going to try and squeeze in some super secret Christmas shopping too, though I'm not sure if we'll have the time today.

Either way though, it's time to get my Christmas on!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a tryptophan coma!

An early jump on the holiday season… you're welcome!

(I wish I could figure out how to resize videos so they fit properly in the space allotted…)

Hope for Cadance

Please check out this site, and donate if you can.

This is Cadance, and she was recently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. No 5-year-old should have to go through this, and no parent should have to carry the burden of a child with cancer AND the financial stress of relocation costs and medical expenses. I know this family personally, they are like part of my family, and they are going through such a tough time right now. I don't normally do stuff like this, but please help out if you can.

Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Monday

Thought I'd share this little gem. The Husband sent it to me in response to the crap I've had to deal with this past week. If only I could make stickers out of this and stick them to the foreheads of everyone who needs them! Talk about cathartic...

Happy Birthday?

So…. My birthday is just days away.

The big 3-0.

I've got to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Leading up until now, I was totally stoked. A new decade is always exciting, and maybe once I'm in my 30s I will start feeling like an actual grown up.

(Probably not. But it's a distant hope.)

But now that I'm standing on the precipice, I've become a little afraid of jumping.

I'm not sure why exactly. I'm not one of those girls who thinks it's all down hill after your 20s. I'm not yet worried about crow's feet or frown lines or what have you. I still feel young and vibrant (if not a little tired right now because life has been hectic).

I think my hesitation with 30 is that, for one, I feel like time is flying by at lightening speeds, and it's making me a little panicky. I don't want to miss anything. I don't want to look back and wonder where my life went. I want to experience and enjoy and appreciate where I'm at and what I'm doing. I want to live in the now with gratitude and an open heart, and sometimes I feel like time is going by too quickly to do that. And so the "holy crap I'm 30" concept is a little shocking in that manner.

Also, in keeping with the I-hope-I-feel-like-a-grown-up mentality, turning 30 has left me grappling with some, shall we say, "life choices". Apparently in your 30s is when you become fully aware and confident in who you are, and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on that. But sometimes, being true to yourself leads to some uncomfortable encounters. And then that discomfort makes me second-guess myself. And then I feel like an uncertain kid again, instead of the rather fabulous almost-30-year-old that I am.

For one, as you know we just recently moved to Wyoming. Coming from the greater Seattle area, this has been quite a shock to the system! Recently, I've experienced some unpleasantness from a few of the local residents, and the only explanation I can come up with is my bumper stickers. They are, admittedly, fairly liberal. And the reactions I've received from some people? Alarming. I know who I am and I know what I believe in and why, and yet this unpleasantness has led me to question myself. Should I remove the bumper stickers? Should I try to blend in more in this extremely red state? Or should I face the discomfort and be myself, knowing that while it may make a few enemies, it will also allow me to make genuine friends, rather than friends with whom I cannot be myself.

Secondly, earlier this week I found myself in a really upsetting situation. Without getting too into the details, the basic gist is that I had to inform a close relative (the only one in this town) that I was uncomfortable with her on-off boyfriend coming over for Thanksgiving. There is a whole myriad of reasons, but it boils down to feeling uneasy with his unpredictable, unsavory, immature, and quite frankly, unsafe behavior. If you are incapable of being sober… ever… you're not welcome in my home and around my children. Especially after his most recent bout of asshole-itude. She may be willing to put up with it, but I'm not, nor do I have to. So a initiated the awkward conversation knowing that it would be uncomfortable, and possibly unpleasant. But I had no idea what it would turn into.

Suffice it to say, it was not pretty. There was no conversation, no discussion. She reacted instantly, and harshly. I was completely caught off guard. She said some incredibly awful things to me. She basically text-bombed me for almost three hours straight, taking every pot shot and low blow she could come up with, leaving me shaking and in tears. She then basically divorced me and my family.

All because I was honest with my feelings, and with what I was comfortable with in my home. Something I had every right to express. I was not mean, I did not call names or defame anyone's character (unlike her). I simply explained delicately, calmly, and rationally how I felt and why.

And apparently in her world, that means I'm incapable of love and an awful, heartless person.

Once again, I began questioning myself. Should I have said anything at all? Should I have kept my discomfort with her loser boyfriend to myself and just smiled and played nice, even if it meant ruining my Thanksgiving and exposing my children to potentially unpleasant or unsafe circumstances? Was I justified in expressing my feelings?

Having gained a little bit of time and clarity between now and the initial encounter, I do feel I did the right thing. I had to be true to myself, even though it produced an unexpected and unfortunate outcome. What kills me the most is that 1) I've been the one who's been there for her, supported her, rescued her, and stood up for her, and to have her forget that and turn on me so quickly stung, and 2) my children adore her, yet she is totally willing to write them off.

So, lesson learned.

Doing what is right for you is not always about doing what is easy. I guess this is all part and parcel of being a grown up?

Welcome to 30! Be prepared to know who you are. And to have people hate you for it.

Canadians are… different

My dear friend Adrienne sent me this link, and it totally made my morning!

Things are different up there, that's for sure.

I heart you Canada

Happy Sunday ;-)

Our small little home

Here is an amazing video from Upworthy. Puts it all in better perspective, does it not?

Happy Sunday on this pale blue dot.

Happy Veteran's Day To My Grandpa

Here is a Yahoo! Veteran's Day article I wrote for my grandpa!

Best football game takeout in Fort Collins, CO

Here's a Yahoo! article I wrote about BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Fort Collins.

2013 end-of-the-year movie releases

I published an article on Yahoo! discussing this year's end-of-the-year movies releases.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

I'm having a stressful and irritating day, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite songs.

He makes my soul happy...


Over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole OFFICIAL VIDEO from Mountain Apple Company on Vimeo.

Never work with animals or children

So this week has been… hectic.

And we're only half way through.

HUMP DAY!!! Woot woot!

I love that commercial. It never fails to make me giggle hysterically.

Anyhoodle, as I've mentioned before, I'm severely lacking in the motivation department with regards to school. Half way through week 2, and it's not getting much better.

Part of it stems from the fact that we are supposed to hear back from the underwriter today on whether or not our docs are approved. While she said that everything should be fine, and despite the fact that our credit is really good and we have a substantial down payment and we've given them every single piece of OCD-level documentation they've asked for (I'm almost expecting a request for organ tissue samples at this point), I'm still nervous. Because you never know.

The other part of my distraction stems from the fact that it is uncomfortable for me to type, properly hold a text book, or basically function like a regular human being on account of the vicious assault I suffered Monday night.

Yes, it hurt. And yes, I have a forearm tattoo. It's Anglo-Saxon and Norse runes. It translates into "Fate is wholly inexorable". 

Yeah. Courtesy of my cat. Little bastard.

So, I mentioned before about how he is a Long-Haired Asian, and so without regular trimmings, he can sometimes get poop on himself if he doesn't position himself properly in the litter box. It's gross, but it's something I just know will occasionally happen.

Well, it happened again Monday night. He just got a little bit on himself; better than usual, no biggie right? 

Wrong.

So wrong.

I'm right in the middle of making dinner when this happens, so of course it was super awesome timing.

So I stop what I'm doing, carry him to the bathroom, and clean his bum fir with baby wipes. I then discover he had also gotten some on his tummy as well, probably while attempting to clean the first mess. It becomes clear that he just needs a bath; baby wipes won't be enough in this situation.

We confine him to the bathroom while we eat, and then I start gathering the supplies for bath time. 

Well my daughter accidentally let the cat out of the bathroom at this point, and seeing as how he was already stressed about me cleaning him and pissed that I locked him in the bathroom when there was food smells he desperately needed to investigate, he bolted into the bedroom and tried to hide under my daughter's bed. I grabbed him and gingerly carried him back out, trying not to touch the still-stinky parts of his tummy.

And this is when he flipped the eff out and ripped my arm open*.

Let me tell you, it hurt. A lot.

And it bled. A lot.

To the point that I had to bust out the family pack of paper towels because the first-aid kit was too far away.

So I clean my arm and wrap it in gauze, and The Husband taped me up, and we proceeded to trim the cat's excessive fur and give him a good bath.

It didn't go well.

Lots of growling and angry mewing and escape attempts.

And of course, being that I was newly injured, I was only slightly helpful in the whole process. And a little jumpy about more potential attacks.

But we got him clean, we got him somewhat trimmed, and I kept my distance from him for the rest of the night.

All I can say is he's lucky I am morally opposed to de-clawing and find it utterly cruel; and he's lucky that I understand he was stressed and pissed about being cleaned; and he's lucky I understand that he hates being in the confined space of an apartment. He never used to act like this in our old house, so once we're in the new house (knock on wood) I'm hoping his attitude gets better.

Post-bath look of shame… or hatred...

Cute, fluffy, evil bastard.

*You know my priorities are a little screwy when my first thought was not "oh crap I'm bleeding profusely", it was "oh no my tattoo!"

Beautiful message on how a little perspective and empathy goes a long way

Halloween Health: Safety Tips for Kids' Candy

Here is an article I published on Yahoo! discussing tips for Halloween candy safety.

Lazy Monday should be a thing

So I'm officially one week into fall quarter. My last fall quarter ever.

And I couldn't have less motivation if I tried.

Oy vey, this isn't a great sign!

I think most of it has to do with being preoccupied with the house and moving soon and everything that goes with that. Like oppressive amounts of stress.

I'm not sleeping super well, and I've just sort of been perpetually tired lately, and thus we have the lack of motivation to do school work.

Le sigh.

This first week was interesting though. I think I'm going to like my classes- the subject matter is interesting, and not overly complicated for my obviously struggling brain right now.

I also have already gotten into somewhat of a tiff with a fellow classmate, so it should be an interesting 10 weeks dealing with him.

See, we were discussing how racial and gender issues influence modern American families, and a gal and I were specifically discussing the integration of post-slavery African Americans into American society and the impacts that had on their family structures.

A guy in my class who hadn't been involved in the conversation to begin with decided to jump in then, and basically ripped me a new one. He was apparently trying to point out what he felt was a flaw in my comment, but decided to reference something incredibly violent and disturbing in order to do so. Not only did it not make any sense at all, but it was highly inappropriate for a class discussion.

Several other students jumped in and defended me, pointing out his non sequitur and the inappropriateness of his comments.

He then went on to attack me in other post threads that also did not involve him and did not apply to anything I said.

Basically, he's an icky troll who appears to hate women who have opinions. He was completely cordial to the men in the class, and kind of a wank to the women. Why someone with such an angry and bitter outlook would take a Sociology of the Family class is beyond me, but cheers to what looks to be an unexpectedly exciting quarter!

Beyond that, I have had AWOLNATION's Sail stuck in my head for a few days now. I was working on a Yahoo! article discussing movie releases, and after watching the trailer for The Counselor several times, that song is sufficiently lodged in my brain.

Which has made me miss 107.7 The End...

I think I'm going to go drink some tea... and maybe crack open a textbook... maybe...

2013 Seahawks Gift Guide

Here's an article I published on Yahoo! discussing gift ideas for the Seattle Seahawks fan in your life.

Why I Had a Colonoscopy at the Age of 29

Here is another article I published on Yahoo!, discussing the importance of colonoscopy screenings and why they need to be part of the broader medical discussion.

Colonoscopies save lives, yet the current recommendations are woefully inadequate. The current recommended age to begin screenings is 50, yet more and more colorectal cancers are occurring at younger ages, making earlier screenings absolutely vital.

Colorectal cancers are entirely treatable, and early detection saves lives.

Added bonus

Creep

So the last few days have left me with a sort of perpetual headache. And no amount of caffeine or Advil or fruitless attempts at sleep have helped.

I think I've hit a wall.

You know, that point when your brain just decides that you've put it through too much and it peaces out in a blaze of glory?

Yeah.

I swear, I actually heard something break in there.

So first of all, the house is coming along beautifully. It is getting closer and closer to being done; our docs are in underwriting right now; I have moving boxes stacked against the wall ready to be packed.

My soon-to-be entryway!!!

In theory, this should all be super exciting, right?

Except for some reason it has me losing my mind.

I think because we're so close to being done and ready to move in that I'm more worried than ever about something- anything- going wrong.

I haven't slept well in several days. Probably has something to do with the headache.

On top of that, fall quarter officially starts on Monday. The portal opened today, and in theory I can start working on my readings and whatnot and get a jump on things.

Except that I got an e-mail from my advisor on Wednesday informing me that one of my classes had been cancelled.

You know, a class that I registered for a month and a half ago. A class for which I've had the book sitting on my coffee table for a month. A class that started in five days. And they freaking cancelled it!

Needless to say, that put me in a bit of a tailspin.

I had to find a new class immediately- a lower level elective that wasn't already full- or risk throwing off my graduation schedule. Not an easy feat FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE QUARTER STARTS.

Bye bye Philosophy, hello International Studies...

Then I had to track down the book for said new class. And, of course, it was backordered through the bookstore.

Cue the breaking sound in my brain.

So after a bit of a mental collapse, and a few Gilmore Girls episodes and some tea to soothe myself, I finally found the required textbook through Amazon. And for even cheaper than the school's bookstore!

God bless Amazon!

It should theoretically be here Tuesday, so I'll only be a little behind in that class.

I also got the other textbook shipped back to the bookstore for my refund, just under the cutoff date.

Le sigh.

Then today I went into the portal to start getting myself situated- assignment schedules and syllabi and whatnot- and my required reading schedule for my Sociology class? Has two textbooks.

I only have one.

The course resource guide only has the one listed. Three days before classes even start and I'm already confused, stressed, and slightly overwhelmed. Great.

Needless to say, I've been listening to a lot of Nirvana lately, and I've had Radiohead's "Creep" stuck in my head for days.

Apparently stressed Sarah relies on Alt Rock for sanity.

What's not soothing about that?

Vitamin D Deficiency

Here's an article I published on Yahoo! about vitamin D deficiencies and why they suck.

(The Yahoo editors removed the image that was supposed to accompany it because they said it didn't meet their submission criteria, but the irony is the image was from their image library!)

(You may want to address that, Yahoo peeps.)

The Best Costume Ever

Here's another article I published on Yahoo. It's a "Throwback Thursday" piece about the best Halloween costume from when you were a kid (though ironically it was published on a Monday)

Head colds and rocking chairs

I'm sick again.

I don't know what the deal is, but I've just been walloped the last few weeks with one illness after another. I assume my current levels of stress and lack of sleep probably have something to do with it. But if this is the way cold and flu season is stacking up, I'm totally screwed!

Clearly the next logical option...

Fall quarter is just around the corner for me, and I'm experiencing this weird combination of being excited and nauseatingly stressed about it. On the one hand, I'm the nerd that likes school and learning and challenging myself academically. On the other hand, I have enough going on right now that adding one more thing makes my brain hurt.

But I just need to keep plugging away at it. So close to being done, can't crap out now.

On the plus side, potty training has been going well. Monkey is managing to stay dry most of the time, and likes the reward of getting to pick out what color M&M he wants after a successful "go". Poops are still a solely-in-the-diaper thing, but I figure I'll address one battle at a time.

The end of the diaper era is nigh!

We went up to see the house this weekend. Seeing as how we live so far away right now, I'm not up in Cheyenne very often, and therefore hadn't seen the house in person in probably three weeks or so. It was very cool! The drywall is up, and most of the mudding and taping was done. The siding had also been started too. It looks so much more like an actual house now, rather than just some generic construction site, it was hard not to get all giddy about it. We're a month (ish) away from realizing our dream!

My favorite part of the house so far? As random as it sounds, it's the front porch.

It's huge! And it's just so pretty. And the way it is situated, it's almost totally blocked from the wind, so we'll actually be able to sit out there and enjoy it.

I'm very much looking forward to sitting on my giant porch in my cute little rocking chair with a cup o' tea and a good book. Because clearly I'm almost-30 going on almost-70...

Exactly

So I'm trying a new recipe tonight, and I'm a little concerned. It's the first meal that has sounded good to me in a few days. And that's the issue. See, when I'm sick, my tastes are usually pretty out of whack, so the fact that this recipe sounds really yummy to me makes me worried that it will actually taste like the feet of 18 dead frogs. (Nice visual, eh?)

We'll see. If it's yummy, I'll share it on here. If not, we'll just pretend we never had this conversation.

TGIF and other nonsense

It's Friday!

The weekend is officially here, and I am officially stoked.

I love weekends. I live for weekends.

Especially right now, when life is incredibly busy and going to get even more so in the coming weeks.

First, with our insane commuting schedule living so far away from Cheyenne. It's inconvenient, to say the least. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to the house being done and our lives resuming some semblance of a normal schedule.

Second, I start school in a couple of weeks, so once again I will be plunged into the chaos of earning a degree whilst running a household and raising three children and all that brouhaha. But only three quarters left, so I just need to buckle down for...9 more months...

It's depressing when I put it that way...

And third, we're moving soon. Again. Moving is one of the most stressful events in a person's life. And we will have done it twice in four months. Just thinking about that makes my eye twitch.

But we did get good news on the house! I think I mentioned before about how our builders had a very different timeframe than us when it came to the house being done. They had been planning on the end of November. Our purchase contract states our closing date is at the end of October. Slightly big difference, yes?

Well, once this came to light there was a flurry of *slightly intense* conversations between us, our real estate agent, and the builders. The builders came back with a promise that we'd be in no later than the middle of November. Considering our lease ends November 15, that was cutting it a little close, but what can we do?

But then we got a text yesterday from the builder saying that the carpet order came in, so now all the materials are in and ready to go. She said it looks like we're on track for the end of October after all!

Granted, given all the hiccups and headaches we've had so far, I'm not holding my breath on that.

But still. Having that be feasible?

Totally cool with me!

So yes, right now weekends are my solace, my peace, my zen. It's the only time of the week for the foreseeable future that I can do what I want, and according to the schedule that works for me.

TGIF baby!

Good luck not having this song stuck in your
 head all weekend now!

So I wrote a little something for Yahoo!....

And they published it!!!

It's nothing fancy or particularly special, but for my first actually published piece, I'm fairly stoked about it.

Now I feel compelled to go buy a tweed jacket. And maybe some horn-rimmed glasses.

Though I'll never be as cool as HRG

Sociology of Marvin the Martian

My textbooks came today.

*dunh dunh dunh*

Yep. Fall quarter is officially just around the corner. Slightly over three weeks away.

I can feel it lurking, staring at me, daring me to once again maintain my 3.9 GPA and my sanity simultaneously.

It's not an easy feat, and thus far I've done... well, not too bad overall. Oceanography nearly killed me, but that was awhile ago, and the scars are finally beginning to fade.

Too dramatic, you say?

I assure you, it's not. That class was brutal. I swear it left me with a limp.

Anyway, this is my LAST fall quarter ever! Well, unless I go to grad school. But right now the thought makes me gag slightly, so I'll put a pin in it until... indefinitely...

So yes, Last Fall Quarter.

This is quite possibly my last "not scary" quarter. Winter will be when I laughingly try to juggle an extra course load, and Spring is when I'll be doing my utterly terrifying degree capstone.

This quarter I'm taking Intro to Philosophy, because I love nothing more than blithering on about metaphysical nonsense, and Sociology of the Family, because it genuinely sounded interesting (and the other sociology class I wanted ended up being canceled for this quarter, so plan B).

My main stress for this quarter (besides the "new class" jitters) is the fact that I will be moving right in the middle of it. Which means that I'll need to arrange internet service before we're even in the house, because I will absolutely not be able to wait two weeks or, god forbid, have to attempt dial-up or DSL! It also means that I'll have to do all of my assignments while also packing, loading, and unpacking my entire life, once again.

Le sigh.

I swear, somewhere inside my brain is a tiny little sadist...

Or just him...

A lesson in futility... and bribery

Potty training.

It's probably the bane of every parent's existence.

It's a stressful, exhausting period of time when every trip to the store, red light, traffic jam, or busy restroom is cause for a mild panic attack.

And there is no "magic formula" because every kid is different.

Some master it in a couple of weeks. Others make you feel like you'll be sending them to school in diapers.

With my oldest, he never had a pee accident (besides aiming issues), but the logistics of choosing between standing to pee and sitting to poop resulted in a few... unpleasant surprises.

With my daughter, she never had a poop accident, because the thought horrified her. However, she would wait until the very last possible second before heading to the potty, and several pee accidents resulted.

With my youngest... well, we're still working at it. Things were going so well a few months ago. And then... I don't know. He lost interest. He'll ask to use the potty immediately after going in his diaper. No matter how many times I ask him if he needs to go, or have him sit and try, he just... won't. All diaper, all the time.

Le sigh.

Because there's nothing like futility.

So what have I decided to do? Well I'm going to take a page out of the Bad Parenting Manual and resort to bribery.

Yes, that's right folks. I need something to act as an incentive, something to ignite his interest in potty training.

And that something is M&Ms.

Step aside, ma'am, we'll take it from here

One for a successful pee. Two for a successful poop. (Get it, get it?!?)

Because I'm sick of diapers. He's almost three-and-a-half. I want the diapers to go away. And I'm going to find whatever way works to make that happen.

Parent Of The Year, over here.

Hey, it could be worse!

(That picture never fails to crack me up)

Dear NICU Nurse

This blog post by Heather Hucks really struck a cord with me, as my daughter was born premature.

While she was one of the lucky few who only have to stay a week or two extra, there is still a measure of understanding and appreciation of the NICU nurses who work tirelessly behind the scenes to care for each teeny, tiny baby.

It's stressful and chaotic and sometimes heartbreaking, and as Hucks discusses in her post, I don't think those nurses get enough credit for everything they do.

Digging out and drying off

So the skies have cleared above Colorado, but the devastation will last for weeks, if not months. As you've probably heard by now, eastern Colorado, from just below the Wyoming border, all the way down past Pueblo, was hit by massive, record-breaking rainfall, flash floods, and widespread damage.

Roads were ripped up, mudslides took out everything in their path, people were trapped by rapidly rising water, and many communities became their own little islands, completely cut off to the rest of the state.

Seven people have now been confirmed to have died, though that number is expected to rise in the days and weeks to come. Currently, over 1000 people are still unaccounted for in Larimer County. Over 600 are unaccounted for in Boulder County.

As a resident of Larimer Country, I can tell you, there are no words to describe it.

Our neighborhood became its own little island for a few days, though the water has begun to recede a bit. But we were one of the lightest hit areas, something that definitely weighs on you. We were lucky. So many more were not.

As reported by CNN, Army and National Guard helicopters are in the air today, trying to locate and extract as many people as possible. With hundreds, if not thousands of people awaiting rescue however, it could still be a long wait. Those who choose to stay behind in their homes are facing weeks without power, running water, and cell service.

Hundreds of homes and business have been totally destroyed, and countless more are severely damaged. The extent of the damage has been compared to that of Hurricane Sandy. The cost just to repair the roads is already estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you are able to donate food or supplies, please do so. Contact the Red Cross for ways to help. Thousands of people need it.

Cat sh*t and hissy fits

My oh my.

Today has been quite... trying. For my soul. My patience. My sanity. My caffeine levels.

Things started off fairly well. Alarm went off at the crack of dawn. I got up, rustled my two oldest children out of bed and did the herding cats routine to get them ready for school.

I then proceeded to rustle The Husband up by siccing the three-year-old on him.

Lunches packed, homework gathered, bedhead tamed, breakfast doled out, and hugs and kisses distributed, and the kids and The Husband were on their way.

Little One and I then snuggled on the couch and watched a few of his morning shows on Sprout.

(I hate to admit that I don't despise them as much as I should)

(Though I'm not overly fond of the new Wiggles line up, and I miss DirtGirlWorld and Play With Me Sesame)

(And the fact that I have enough knowledge on this topic to have an opinion is... sad)

Anyhoodle, the day progressed, and being that it was cold and rainy today, I had grand plans to drink tea and read David McCullough's John Adams. As my first cup brewed on the side table next to me, I snuggled under the electric blanket and began to read.

I could hear the cat in the bathroom, scratching around in his litter box. I paid no attention, other than to remind myself to scoop it once my tea was done (another of my unpleasant but necessary morning chores).

The cat meandered out of the bathroom and plopped down next to the coffee table to... ahem... tend to his bits, as he always does after visiting the litter box. Gross, but nothing new.

But then "The Thing" happened; the thing that always alerts me that something is not right with the cat. He jumped up, made this weird panicky "mreow" sound, and started walking in circles shaking his legs.

I have dubbed this the "poop shimmy".

And nothing good ever comes from it.

So I started following him around, trying to get a glimpse of what was stressing him out. I couldn't see it, but I started to be able to smell it.

I gingerly grabbed him, lifted his tail (to which he protested), and saw.... it.

Big ol' turd stuck to the base of his tail.

Le sigh.

See, my cat is an Asian Long-Haired. Which, from what the vet told me (because I'm clearly not an expert) is basically one step down from a Persian.

Dude is FLUFFY.

Which makes for utter cuteness.

But it also makes for a fecal danger zone around his backdoor.

This is resolved through regular bum trimmings. But we've been busy lately, and kept putting it off. Ironically, I had just told The Husband last night that this weekend we needed to give him a good bath and then trim him up.

Too late!

So upon discovering his little fur nugget, I descended into "EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW!!!!!" mode.

Still holding him (away from my body, obviously), I grabbed the nearest cleaning implement I could find, which happened to be Clorox wipes. I used two of those to pull off the biggest chunk of nasty, and then realized that- perhaps- those weren't the best things to use on my poor, poopy kitty.

I can just hear PETA collectively chastising me. I'm sorry! I panicked!

So I brought the cat into the bathroom, scruffed him to hold him in place on the floor, and used much more cat-friendly baby wipes to clean his bum with.

Ten minutes, twenty baby wipes, one pissed off cat, and one hand cramp later, his bum was as clean as I could possibly get it. I released him, and he immediately jumped in the bathtub to hide from me (and go to town on himself).

I scrubbed my hands until they were sore, searched the entire apartment for any possible dingleberries he may have dropped, and then plopped down on the couch exhausted. It's quite tiring holding a squirming, angry, growling cat in place so you can scrape poop off his butt fir.

Just so you know.

I finished my now almost cold cup of tea, but was too distracted to continue reading. I started laundry and puttered around for a bit, and then it came time for Little One's nap time. Amazingly enough, he didn't have a meltdown over having to lay down, which I (mistakenly) took as being a good sign.

He laid down, I checked on him about twenty minutes later to make sure he had actually gone to sleep (never a safe assumption with a three-year-old), and then made my second cup of tea.

The afternoon progressed fairly uneventfully, which I appreciated. But then I began to realize that Little One had been asleep far longer than usual. And it made me a little... apprehensive.

I was just about to go check on him when the door to his bedroom opened, and he came bouncing out, all bright and happy and chipper.

Again, my very wrong assumption was just that he had had a really good nap. I got him his sippy cup and a snack, and then went into the room to open the curtains for him so he could play.

And then I saw it.

A ball of red yarn on the floor.

Sprinklings of red yarn across his bed.

His Jessie doll (from Toy Story) tucked in a clump next to the bed.

And my daughter's craft scissors out of their usual pencil box...

Two and two quickly came together.

Jessie got a haircut!

Oy vey.

No wonder nap time seemed to take forever! He had probably been awake for at least a half hour or so, and had gotten creative.

Poor Jessie. It's not a pretty look!

So Little One got a talking to about not playing with scissors and not cutting people's or doll's hair. He went in time out for a few minutes to get the point across. And then he apologized and fluttered off to go play.

While I was annoyed at the haircutting snafu, I was prepared to let it go. He's only three, he doesn't know better, and it was only yarn.

But then things spiraled. Rapidly.

Little One asked for my help in pulling the Lego bin and toy box out, so I did.

And the hissy fits began.

You see, I made the horrible mistake of not putting the toy box exactly where he wanted it, on account of his request being unrealistic (I'm not going to rearrange bedroom furniture just so the toy box can go where the dresser stands!)

A meltdown of apocalyptic measures commenced. Time out ensued. And discussion of proper behavior, using our words, etc followed. He apologized, hugged me, and went back to play.

Upon walking in his bedroom, however, he remembered why he was been so ferklemped in the first place.

That damn toy box!

Cue another meltdown.

Another (longer) time out.

Another discussion.

More apologies, more hugs, and off to play again.

And then the toy box...

I think you see where the cyclical nature of my afternoon is going with this.

Suffice it to say, at some point in the battle over the toy box positioning, I brewed myself the third cup of tea.

It was desperately needed if I was to refrain from going nu-cu-lar (thanks Dubya for that!)

Finally, I just pushed the toy box back where it was to begin with. Problem solved, right?

Dear god no.

Enter the most epic breakdown in the history of toddlerhood.

He screamed. He cried. He growled. He called me names and told me he hated me. He tried to hit and kick me (a new development). He told me he didn't need me anymore and to leave him alone (good luck with that one, who's gonna change your diapers?) It got so ridiculously over the top that I had a hard time not laughing. It's also surprising how hurtful a three-year-old is capable of being!

Time out was the super-duper-Lord-of-the-Rings-marathon kind of extended version. He stayed there until daddy got home!

'Cause mommy was about to develop a drinking problem.

And then? The most annoying thing of all. Daddy gets home from work, and like magic, Little One is all better. Crisis over. Mood perfect.

Good news Thursday

That's an understatement!

Sweet Baby Jesus, today has been a good day. I feel a little uncomfortable getting too excited about it, because I have that superstitious side of my brain that feels like if you openly acknowledge something good, then it will end up going away.

But after such a long string of struggles and obstacles and bad news and letdowns, today was a breath of fresh air.

So first of all, our new mortgage guy did our official credit pull yesterday in order to start our financing paperwork. I was a little nervous, because he said he would call us first thing this morning to give us the update on it, and he didn't call...

But it turns out that he was just busy with a couple of closings today. Phew!

The Husband spoke with him early this afternoon, and our credit is... well... quite wonderful! Not only did our scores jump up fairly significantly since the first mortgage guy pulled our credit in May, but that stupid credit reporting that gave us so much grief a couple weeks back is GONE BABY GONE!

My guess is it fell off due to its age.

You know, just like it was supposed to. Just like we told the previous mortgage guy it was supposed to. Just like we told the collections company itself that it was supposed to.

So suck it, Alaska!

Muhaha.

I think they already did...

So the new mortgage guy has several more closings tomorrow (lucky bastards), so it looks like we will have to wait until next week to sign our disclosures and lock in an interest rate. But our paperwork is good to go. Which is an indescribable relief.

Then after that little tidbit of fabulous news, I spoke with our builder. I had been trying to get in touch with her to see if she had ordered the carpet we picked out last week, and she's a tough lady to get ahold of. But I did, and while she hasn't ordered the carpet yet (apparently she's doing it tomorrow), everything else is ordered and we are totally on track to be done by the end of October!

She also said that the only potential snafu is the well. The well water has to pass very strict regulations (apparently some of the strictest in the country... which I guess is good for water quality) and it takes at least two weeks to complete the process. If they pass the first test, we're good to go. If they don't, however, it can be as long as six more weeks to get it re-tested.

It's like a government regulated Punxsutawney Phil.

Anyway, if the well fails, that pushes back our closing date several weeks, which sucks in an unbelievable way and totally screws us over.

BUT!!!

Being the blessed soul that she is (or decided to be today, anyway), our builder said that in the unlikely chance that the well fails the particulates test and has to be retested, we can go ahead and still move in and just wait until our new closing date! She knows had badly we hate our apartment and how badly we want to be in the house, and I guess she felt sorry enough for us to grant us early occupancy.

And I'm more than willing to take her pity if it means getting in my house on time! So that was excellent to hear.

And then, to make a good day even better, we found out that The Husband is getting a 2% raise! I mean, nothing life changing by any means, but more is more, and we're more than happy to take it!

So, like I said, today was a good day.