Musings

I'm right now in my mother-in-law's study, supposedly trying to go to sleep. However, this is severely hampered by my little rat, ummm... I mean daughter, that would be Elena. I have found it quite impossible to go to sleep when a twenty pound rat, or daughter, is trying out a thousand and one positions for sleeping, even if you are on a queen sized mattress. This is mostly due to the fact that she feels it necessary to lay in close proximity to me. More specifically, on my head. She changes position approximately every 15 seconds, and then in an apparent attempt to sleep, lies quite still for those 15 seconds and then promptly changes position again. She, for instance, laid across my arm, then under it, then lengthwise on top of it and then of course with her feet just barely touching it, before moving to the safer position of full body contact with her feet in my face, moving then to her bum in my face; I protested when she laid completely over my face. She is, at this moment, playing with my cell phone, which luckily, shines brightly in the darkness, thus distracting her from the ever tempting computer. This leads me to another point.

OVERTIRED. My brothers-in-law refuted that this is an actual word this past summer. They claimed our family made it up, or it's some odd "Canadian" term. What is overtired? It's when a child is so tired, that even if they get exactly what they want, they still cry, fuss, and generally are unbearable. It's when they hit the point that the only thing keeping them awake is their own crying. And despite my brothers-in-law's claim that it is a nonsense word, I now have from a respectable source that it certainly is a real term and used commonly--in England. So, really it's just Americans lack of English vocabulary that's the problem. So there.

ELENA IS STILL CRAWLING ALL OVER!!! GO TO SLEEP GIRL!!!!

Sorry, I had to get that out.

Since I left my camera in the car, I stole photos off my in-laws computer to post and spice up the page.

Here is my brother-in-law Alex (Alejandro), in blue, with Albaro (I can't pronounce his name for the life of me, I called him Alfredo once, oops) in white, who is currently living with my in-laws as a foreign exchange student from Bogotá. I think his parents and my suegros were friends. Anyway, Alex just bought this bike and loves it excessively.

This is Nathalia, Leo's cousin, who is also living with my in-laws. She's really sweet.

This is Ana, Nathalia's younger sister. This picture is several years old by the way. But more on her later......much more. But for now I'm going to sleep, as Elena finally fell asleep.

Short and Chuck full of Photos

I don't really have much time to write... but I have a bunch of posts stewing around in my brain, so as soon as I can I'll be posting like crazy. For now here are some random pictures from around the house and other people's houses.

Elena eating Cheerios, her favorita comida.

Elena not holding still for photos.
In the picture on the left, she looks exactly like her abuela Martha.
My nephew Anders, hugging his dog. SO sweet!!!

My sister's goats climbing on her horse's back. Random.

My little brother Ethan, #3, he informed me he took it for 6 after catching it. (6 yards???? I don't know football that well.)
I do have one funny story about Leo, I was giving him a hard time for not telling me everything his mom was saying on the phone to him (I wanted ALL the details), and since I don't speak Spanish to speak with her myself, I needed him to be precise. Anyway, he told me, " I told you all the highlights, the only other things were articles and conjuctions." Hee. Hee.

Life Comes At You Fast

Last weekend was Stake Conference. Leo and I took turns out in the hallway with Elena, she had been pretty good, but towards the end she was pretty antsy. When it was my turn, I was walking in the foyer when I saw this girl in the hallway that looked so familiar. I was thinking, "Tressa??? No, that's not right, " when she called out, "Kami!" It was Amanda, Tressa's older sister from Minot, North Dakota. (Tressa was my age and we hung out some.) It was so surprising!!! Life is just funny how you run into people at the most random times. Diane (a teenage girl in my ward that babysat for me once) came up to say hi to Amanda and Amanda told me how she had been camp director and Diane had gone to camp with her. I laughed, and said, "Remember when we were at girls camp together and we went skinny dipping in Lake Metigoshee at midnight with Audra and Kayli and almost were sent home?" Amanda, unfortunately went bright red. I guess I kind of stuck my foot in my mouth. I thought it was an amusing story, not an embarrassing one per se. Diane just kind of looked at Amanda with a surprised expression. I just think its ironic how fast you go from being the kid goofing off to the leader in charge. We invited them over for dinner and had a really fun time.

In other news, I started a new job today. NO, NOT NURSING! Why, might you ask, would I chose to do a monotonous job for half the pay of a nursing job? Well...

1) Nursing is icky.

2) I can make my own hours.

3) It's just short term anyway.

4) No one is going to yell at me, order me around, sue me, or even talk to me, except Herman, which is okay because it was only three sentences in 3.5 hours.

5) My boss's wife (my good friend Jennie) babysits for free for me. Well, I'm going to babysit for them whenever they need it.

So what exactly does my new job entail? It's really exciting, I'm helping make corvettes. No, really! I'm not joking! I'm actually doing quality control inspections on a part for a corvette transmission. Basically I look for rust and scratches and sort them accordingly. I don't think I'll do it for very long, but *ahem* I'm not so good at budgeting. For the last ten years I could pretty much buy whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Not so much anymore, and I'm having some difficulty adjusting. (Really, what's wrong with buying two macrame plant hangers on Ebay?) AND I just got this stupid ticket for the city because apparently you have to have a stupid sticker on your car and they don't tell you this stupid law and just expect you to magically know it. I did get the fine waived, but I had to buy the stupid sticker today which was 1/6 of my total spending/grocery money for the entire month which *ahem* I've already gone over that budget this month, and *ahem* last month too. So you see why a job is a good thing, albeit a short term solution, because really I just need to learn that I can't buy that adorable wreath to hang on our door even though it's on half off.

Elena was up for two and half hours last night. What's with that?!?!! IF she wasn't so darn cute, I'd have to throw her out.A Northwest Passage is now open, according to BBC. Random fact of this post: Spain's Moorish past bequeathed the language a wide variety of Arabic words, including 'algodón' cotton, 'alcalde' mayor, 'almirante' admiral. The 'al-' that starts all these words was Arabic for 'the', but the Spanish speakers hung on to it and attached it to the word. So 'el algodón' actually represents 'the the cotton' and 'el alcade' 'the the mayor'. Th-th-th-that's all folks!

Elena Escapes!!

Elena is so cute!!! The other day Leo and I played with her for almost an hour. She'd crawl away from Leo and then come hide behind my legs and laugh so hard when Leo would come after her and tickle her. It was the best fun ever! Sometimes I love being a parent. Most of the time actually. Here, Leo had bathed her and dried her and then she escaped. Lucky she can't get down the steps yet, or we would have had a streaker run--or rather crawl--through our apartment complex.

Our apartment complex is interesting enough without a exhibitionist. Tuesday night, the police knocked on our door about 10 PM and wanted to know if there was anybody by the name of Wilkinson (or something like that) here. And our storage unit in the basement was ruffled through for the second time since we've been here. Nothing is gone as far as I know, but all the lids were off the plastic containers of Christmas decorations and Halloween costumes. The baby bottle sanitizer box was open and the sanitizer half out, and the bookbag was unzipped. Really, you'd think they'd catch on that we don't store our diamonds and emeralds there. If we had anything worth taking, would we really put it down there!!?!?!? People are clueless sometimes. According to the Fellows, a family in our ward who used to live in this complex, the storage units are broken into by people looking for something to pawn for drug money. Thanks for the tip. And have a nice day.

Sweetie Pie

My mother-in-law told me she checks my blog everyday for pictures of Elena, so I thought I'd better post some.

Elena wanted Leo's sandwich. What a sweetie!

I Sit Corrected

My brother-in-law Tim informed me that it is actually him that wants to name their son Brigham Young. Now, you see why my sister and Tim are such a great couple for each other. Also he informed me that I had the name wrong on one of my favorite movies. It's actually Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I put something like the Search for the Holy Grail. Silly, lazy me; I knew that was wrong but I was too lazy to get up and look over in the movies that are right beside the computer desk. I suppose I could have googled it too, but I was too lazy for even that.


Anyway, I invite you all to vote for me below. There's a $25 prize involved too. Sweet!! They suggest to get more people to vote for you, you should offer to donate the prize. No way!! Who are they kidding?!?!? It's all for me! ;) If I win rest assured that the money will go to a good cause though, like my groceries, a winter coat for Elena, or chocolate (always a worthwhile cause).

So here's the link--vote away!

One Goal Down and Some Family

Random tidbit. My sister Andrea is weird. She wants to name her son Brigham. Her husband totally supports this choice. Their last name is Young. Poor child. She also wants to name one of her future sons Winston. After Winston Churchill. Yeah, she received her Master's in history--her thesis was directly related to WWII, although not Winston Churchill. It was about how views on masculinity changed during WWII; before people like Clark Gable with a much more suave style were the mainstay, after WWII, John Wayne masculine types completely took over.

Which is all very interesting. Even Winston Churchill is interesting. See below quotes:

Bessie Braddock: “Sir, you are drunk.” Churchill: “Madam, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober.”

Nancy Astor: “Sir, if you were my husband, I would give you poison.”Churchill: “If I were your husband I would take it.”

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else. "

So I told Andrea to read this book,
Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England by Lynne Olson that I heard about on NPR and she did, but now she wants me to read it because she said it was so incredibly good. She's the one who wants to name her son Winston, not me. However, then again, maybe I will read it.

Anyway, my goal that I made is that I am now my pre-pregnancy weight (just in time to get pregnant again). Here's me in my favorite dress, still a little bit of a squeeze since I'm still nursing but otherwise great!

And just on another side note, here's a picture of my Grandpa John Walburger before he left on his mission. I always thought he was good looking. In fact, I think he's better looking than John Wayne or Clark Gable, which is why I thought of posting this picture.This is his wedding picture to my grandma Olive. My little sister Lindsay is the spitting image of my grandma Olive. One day I'll post pictures for proof.

But for now, I'll continue the line back. This is my great-grandfather Frederick Walburger.

And my great-great-grandfather, Johann Walburger. I love old pictures, they're so fun.

True Confessions

This is another true confession of Kami Sue. I have a box where I keep stuff I was given to regift. Yep. It's true. I regift. Sorry, now all of you who ever receive a gift from me will wonder, "Is this a regift?" Hee. Hee. Anyway, this little sheep was in that box, it's very cute and very soft, and a perfectly fine gift to go along with some baby clothes, the only reason I wasn't planning on keeping it was that Elena already had several stuffed little animals. So anyway, I was getting into that box the other day and Elena was, ummm, helping me? (In other words, scattering the contents across the room.) When she saw the little sheep though, she immediately pulled it out and started cooing and hugged it really tight. It was so adorable!!! It has a little bell inside it and she kept shaking it and then hugging it. I didn't have the heart to put it back in the box. And two days later she still loves playing with it (for two minutes at a time, that is.) And to explain, I left the tag on because she likes to chew it off. Another true confession: I think I'm more of a neat freak than I ever thought I would be. My mother has nine children. Yep, nine. Her house is and always was spotless. It's one of the cleanest homes I've ever been in. I would eat off a bathroom floor there and not be bothered. She did not tolerate dirt, specks of paper on the floor, cobwebs, streaked windows, nada. Everything was always spotless. Which is pretty impressive with nine kids, however, as a kid, I always thought, "I'm never going to be that way when I grow up!" Who wants to spend all their time cleaning? Yuck! Plus all the contention caused by bookbags and coats thrown on the floor and Mom shouting at us to pick them up, and do our chores, make our beds, pick up our clothes, do the dishes, etc. and kids arguing back that they have homework to do, and the bed is just going to be slept in again tonight so why make it, and they have to go to work, and if she wants it clean then she should clean it, ad infinitum, or the Kayli trick, pretending to be asleep on the floor so Mom feels sorry for her and makes a certain other sister do the dishes for her even though Kayli should have been doing them. Errrr. You get the idea. Anyway, the other day I cleaned my bathroom and kitchen and it was the best day of my week. Yep, it felt soooo good to have them clean. Ahhh, it was like the feeling when monks meditate and reach enlightenment. I'm sure that's how it must feel anyway. So am I going to be like my mom and always have a spotless house? Nah, I doubt it, she has twice my energy and not an ounce of my laziness. But I sure do appreciate a clean house. On the other hand, I absolutely hate having a dirty car and despite my sister Amy's assertions that once I have kids my car will not be as clean as it usually is, I doubt I'll ever let my car get very messy with crumbs and other stuff. Weird, eh? But then, I don't have many kids yet....

Archaeology and Me

A couple of nights ago I was reading several blogs of very creative people. I started feeling desperately uncreative and untalented. (I think I was more envious than anything else.) I love arts and crafts and sculpture and ceramics and well, just about anything I can make with my hands. I went to bed very depressed at my lack of anything to show for my love of the arts. Then, I was thinking about it, and really, some of those people had gone to school for the things they did, or at least school in a design related field. Then I didn't feel so bad. I figure if I had the training, the time, and the inclination, I could do just as well. (That's one of the perks of having an over-inflated sense of self--you think you can do anything.) But just to prove I can be creative, here's one awesome project I designed completely myself. (Granted, Kayli's mother-in-law did most of the sewing. She called it the hanky-panky outfit, and I hear it was quite the talk of the Bell family for a while.) It's slightly more risque than this picture shows, I toned it down a bit so we could force Andrea to come out wearing it. I gave it to her at her wedding shower. Anyway, she's the weird one for taking belly dancing lessons to begin with.Anyway, I really don't know if I would have pursued an art related career even if I didn't try to be so practical by being a nurse. I mean, my first love is archaeology. I have always wanted to be an archaeologist, ever since I saw my first ruin in a National Geographic article. Possibly Angkor Wat. Or maybe Choquequirau? Petra? Or Ctesiphon? I don't remember, I just wish I could go and dig at all those places. Or maybe it was just Indiana Jones? I mean, really, what better movie is there than Indiana Jones and the Search for the Holy Grail? Plus, you get to look at Harrison Ford at his best. Yeah, it probably was that. Then of course there's The Mummy. One of my all time favorite movies. First of all, Evie's a librarian (truly, if I go back to school, it will be to become a librarian), and she's an archaeologist. Sweet!!! And plus, you get to look at this guy, which is even better than Harrison Ford and Brendan Frasier.One time, I really was on an archaeology dig at some Anasazi ruins in Colorado (near Mesa Verde) and this guy Juan (who looked very similar to the guy above, long hair and everything), kept hitting on me (and every other girl there). He was Basque and he joined a monastery to avoid having to serve in the Spanish army (it's required there for a year or so). Then he came to the U.S. He wanted to drive back with me to Phoenix (caravan style, him and another friend in their jeep), I wasn't too keen on the idea being rather shy since I didn't really know either of them that well, so I ditched them in Colorado. Hee. Hee. Here I am, digging away--I'm quite handy with a pick axe.This was the least fun part--but I still loved it!!! Behind me is Sleeping Ute Mountain, at the base of his toes (you can't see them in this picture) is where other archaeologists found the remains that led them to say that they believed some of the Anasazi's (or warring tribes moving into the area, IE the Navajo) were cannibalistic. It caused a huge uproar in the Native community and what I've read recently suggested they've recounted and said it may have been a coyote that ate a dead Native and pooed in the middle of the fire pit of the kiva (a sign of total desecration as per Native beliefs). Smart coyote to think of doing such a thing. Science:0, Political Correctness:1. Make that Political Correctness:2. (Kennewick Man). And another Indiana Jones picture. I mean what else did you really want to look at on this post?

And maybe just one more of Oded Fehr.

*Disclaimer* My husband is much more handsome than either Oded or Harrison, I just have to say. (If only he would wear a cool fedora or turban. Hee. Hee.)

Chef Kami

I felt like a chef the other day. I made salad dressing. Salad dressing is one of those things that equates to chef in my mind. It didn't last long. I tasted it, and it was good, definitely worth keeping (it has all sorts of yummy herbs from mint to oregano and dill) but the garlic was much too strong again, and no I didn't add garlic heads this time. I'm thinking the size of the cloves probably makes a big difference as well. Anyway, next time I'll add a little less garlic. I also canned some peaches. That really doesn't make me feel like a chef, more like a Morman wife trying to get a year's supply a food. I didn't get far--only 7 jars. And I know the peaches weren't ripe enough. Oh well. It was my very first time canning anything. I guess the real test will come when we open one and taste it. They look alright though. In other news, one of my favorite things about having a daughter is when she wakes up in the morning. I think my sister Kayli just recently posted pictures of her daughter in the morning too. Seriously, it's the best time of the day. I just lounge around in bed for a half hour and laugh and play with Elena. She's always so happy then. It's so adorable!

Elena likes to stand up in her high chair. She never will sit in it. In fact if I do her little belt up, she wiggles out and stands up again. Once she tried crawling out onto the table and a couple times she's sat on the tray and then fell back into the seat with her feet sticking out. (I wish I had a picture of that!) Luckily she's never fallen out onto the ground, despite sticking one foot over the edge constantly. What a goof ball. And here I was not a chef at all, I was just feeding her yogurt. She likes it. She also likes to chew on her high chair, I guess that's the downside of having a wooden one. I told my mom that Elena likes to chew on things: books, toys, her high chair, clothes, me; and my mom laughed far too hard and said that I *never* did anything like that. That's of course why I still file my nails every minute because I just bit them off to the bone, or why I carry metal pens because I chew the plastic ones to shreds. Yeah. Now you know my dirty secrets. Sigh. :(