A Fisher out of Water

It takes me a while to get around to posting pictures on my blog... apparently.
So last weekend (well, last last weekend-- on the 17th-ish), I was able to fly out to St. Louis and visit my friend Sarah. Sarah and I went to teach English together in China in 2002, and we spent a lot of time together. However, it wasn't until like a year or two later that we became close friends at BYU. We had dance classes at the same time, so we got to hang out and chat in the locker room a couple times a week, and we would also meet up to watch Friends every Thursday night. She is so fun to hang out with and talk to, so it was awesome to visit her!
She was having a baby shower that weekend, and I had some plane tickets to use before they expired, so I was able to go visit her, go to the baby shower, and see some cool stuff in St. Louis. And compared to Utah, it was pleasantly... uncold. It was still cold, but not like Utah. Go figure.
I took a few pictures, and here are a few of them:
First of all, the lovely, glowing pregnant ladies. Sarah is due in March, and me not until July. That's why I glow but don't show. But I'll get there.
And isn't this a beautiful apartment?! Sarah's Aunt Muriel was throwing the shower, and she has such a beautiful home! There are little antique trinkets on all the tables and artwork (mostly by Muriel or her extended family who are apparently all artists). It's a good thing no toddlers showed up for the shower. Only sleeping babies and well-behaved ladies.

And just to prove that I went to the arch, here is a picture of me with Sarah and Logan (her husband) in front of the arch. I still don't know how to make my camera's flash work on command, so just imagine you can see our faces.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a picture of me on a public toilet. It is not a squatty potty. It is not a portapotty. Maybe it was a stupid picture to take. But this is the little capsule you sit in that takes you up to the top of the St. Louis arch. It fits 5 people in here. And it is not a toilet!

You can't be offended by this, because it is ART. And just about the funniest thing I've seen in a while.
And of course, here is Howie. He is beautiful.

Ok, so once in a while you come across a list of "must read" books, and I always feel bad that I've only ever read (and finished) like 5 of the usual hundred books listed. But then yesterday Melanie wrote about her favorite books and mentioned the Newbery books and how she read many of them as a child.
So this is purely for my sentimentality, but what follows is a list of the Newbery books that I've read (and finished), and a little something about how the book affected me. I love the quote from "You've Got Mail" about how the books you read as a child become a part of you the way nothing else you read later in life ever does. OK, IMDB says it goes like this: "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does." They're not always right, but it seems they're more right than me.
And here is my list. It's long. You were warned.
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
This is a nice book. I really enjoyed it, and I probably would have absolutely loved it when I was younger.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Eh. Nice story, fun characters. But I'm not too into dogs.
Holes by Louis Sachar
So funny! I love Louis Sachar's Wayside School books, and I love his quirky humor. I like the movie, and the book was good too. Don't get me started, though, about how they make every children's book into a movie.... Don't they want people to read?!
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
I LOVE this book. I got it from the library and then went out and bought it because I loved it so much! It's a Cinderella story, but there is enough in it that it is an entirely new and fascinating book!
The Giver by Lois Lowry
I know this is supposed to be the most moving, amazing, truly awesome books I've ever read, but it's not my new favorite. I finished it and thought it was a little bit creepy how Ms. Lowry had basically made a children's version of 1984. Creepy.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Hee hee. I read this in like 4th or 5th grade and got swept up by the adventurous sea story. My parents came in and asked me, "WHAT are you READING?!" because from the title they thought it was probably some smutty romance novel. :)
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
I read this one Christmas at my grandma's house, and it was amazing. I read the entire thing over the course of like 2 days. I love the characters and how much they care for each other.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
I loved adventure books when I was little, and this was just so cool how he made his way in the wilderness with just a hatchet. It was very vivid, how he cut through the airplane like it was soft cheese, and then later how he found the chokecherry tree when he was soooo hungry, and then he ate so many he threw up. Great story. Kind of like My Side of the Mountain... which is also on here.
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
I read this in like 2nd grade. Again, I like the wilderness adventure, and there was also the compassionate, detailed, and fascinating glimpse into the native peoples' lives and then the abrupt prejudice some of her family showed. Really neat.
Doctor DeSoto by William Steig
I don't know if I read the entire thing, because I thought this was just a really short book, not a "chapter book." But it's so funny!
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Our teacher read this to us in 2nd grade, and I still sometimes crack eggs on my head just like Ramona did.
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
I read this just last year, and it's pretty good. It didn't have the fast pace I liked in books when I was little, but it showed an interesting east coast life that I've never lived... so that's cool.
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
I read this in 4th grade, and I didn't really know about foster care or anything until I read this. She's a really cool character. I don't remember much of the plot, but I remember how tough and spunky Gilly was.
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
I don't remember this one specifically (is it the one where she gets a younger sister?), but I read all the Ramona books and enjoyed them.
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
Seriously, Frog and Toad are the best! They overreact to everything and always get stuck in the strangest situations! We had these on tape, and we'd listen to them and follow along. Or I'd read ahead, which usually happened when someone was reading to me.
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
So my brother had to read this one for a class (in 5th or 6th grade), and my parents thought it was highly inappropriate. It IS pretty inappropriate to assign as reading, since the main character is obsessed with the occult and hosts a seance. I wouldn't be too thrilled if my child's teacher assigned it as reading. So I don't know if I told my parents I read it. It was interesting but kind of weird.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Ooooh! This one is great! We read it as a class in 5th grade in Mrs. Alexander's class. I liked adventure stories, and this one was so cool how the kids decided to go live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I thought it was really cool how the story seems to be told in 3rd person omniscient point of view, but it turns out that it's actually Mrs. Frankweiler telling the story.
It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
I read this last year. It's kind of a cross-section of New York life in the 60s (where the little boy can ride his bike to another borough). I suppose the characters were interesting, but it wasn't amazing.
Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era by Sterling North
I can't remember if Rascal was the pet dog or raccoon. But it was a fun story. Not terribly memorable, though.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Read this in 6th grade with Mrs. Martineau's class. I thought it was really weird at first (I actually thought it was the original book that starts with "It was a dark and stormy night" ... It is not), but I came to love it. I tried to explain it to my mom, and she thought it was really weird. I haven't read any of the sequels, but I mean to.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Wasn't this one about an Inuit girl? Obviously it made a deep impression...
The Cricket In Times Square by George Selden, pseud.
Mrs. Crocker read this to us in library class. I need to reread it. I remember it being fun, but not much else. I'm not an auditory learner.
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
I thought the obsession with Thoreau was a bit weird, but otherwise I loved this book. I always wanted to go rough it in the wild. It would have been fun for a few hours.
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
I didn't finish this one. It's cute but sooooo ssssllllooowwwww. It takes you on a VERY in-depth journey through the problem-solving process. I'm sure at the end they find a wheel and put it on the school for the storks to come back. Good luck, little Dutch kids. I shall never know.
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
Of course I read this one.
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
This one's super long (probably over a hundred pages)(140 according to Amazon) and was my first glimpse into Medieval life. Not much historical fiction takes place that long ago. It was pretty cool, starting to shape my vision of "the olden days" into distinct periods.
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
My mom loved horses as a child, and that's why she had these books. I didn't particularly love horses, but these books are soooo beautiful! I loved it. I remember being SO SHOCKED to find out several chapters in that the main character was... different (I don't want to give it away). I hadn't noticed at all!
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
I read this and just about all the other books by Marguerite Henry. They're great!
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
I didn't do much crying when I was little, but I remember crying while reading this book-- in a good way. I just cared about the characters so much! You can't get that from a movie.
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Is it okay that I lumped all these together? I read the entire series and enjoyed them very much. Who didn't? I plan on reading them with (or providing them for) my children. I was amazed, though, at Laura's memory. I remember thinking how amazing it was how she remembered exactly what her parents or she said at certain moments.... :)
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Again, an adventure book. But this one had so many fun stories about family life and farm stuff and frontier stuff. I read this one several times.
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women
I actually read this but I've never read Little Women. So maybe it didn't mean as much to me. I did learn that bits of Little Women were partially autobiographical.

Now I want to go to the library....

Our car has seen some sad times lately. I already mentioned the registration incident. But now in addition to that, our front wheel seems to be bent. This is what the tire guy told me when I asked if they'd balance the tires. Apparently a balance problem would show up at freeway speeds, and ours only shows up at really low speeds. I may have run over the curb a couple times, and that may have contributed to this problem.
AND we went over to play games at Heidi's house this weekend, and their neighbor backed into our side door. Fortunately, they have very kind neighbors, and they fessed up and gave us insurance and contact information. Unfortunately, it still means we'll be without our car for 3 days. And even if we get a rental (which is usually the case), it's still kind of inconvenient. I suppose that's why we generally try not to run into each other's cars.
In good news: we went out for Korean food this weekend. Kevin's mom is in town to help with our new nephew-- and also to take us out for Korean food. I like it a lot, especially the beef bulgogi. I even like kimchee, even though I honestly don't chow down a lot of it. We had Korean friends in our ward last year, and they made us bulgogi and kimchee. I ate most of the kimchee. Kind of good, in the same way pickles are good. You don't go to town eating the whole jar, but occasionally you just pop one in your mouth and eat.

So last night, a friend of ours proposed to his girlfriend at our house. Random, huh? Well, his parents own our cute little cottage, and it made perfect sense: He wanted a place with a kitchen and a piano, but wasn't a public place like his apartment lobby or something. And I figure since his parents will be living on this property for the next indeterminate future (once they build their house, of course), he and his wife can stop by when they visit and say, "Awww, that's where we got engaged."
He called me about it a couple weeks ago, and I told him no problem. With two weeks' notice, we'd have the house clean and sparkling, and then he could take it from there.
He stopped by at like 5:50 last night to drop of the food he'd be preparing.... and the house was far from sparkling. Unless it was the sun glinting off all the dust and grocery bags covering the tabletops. Or the sparkle of the dishes piled in the sink or junk mail all over the coffee table. But since our house is tiny, Kevin and I rushed around and cleaned up the entire place! And by "entire place" I mean the kitchen, living room, and most of the bathroom. I think that's all the rooms in our house anyway. A bunch of junk got thrown in the kitchen cupboards, piano bench, bathtub (thanks Bethanie for that hint), and under-coffee-table boxes.
So by the time Stephen and his sisters and brother-in-law came by to set up and cook the food (at 7-ish), the place WAS sparkling. It even smelled pleasant. :) They got to work decorating with pictures and candles, cooking and preparing the food, and playing ambient mood music. I was really impressed that, of all the people he could have asked to help him out on his special night (roommates, old mission companions, random friends, a cappella group, etc), he chose his family. I've noticed that for many families who move a lot (and they grew up in the Foreign Service), one good side effect can be that their family depends on each other and has a lot of fun together-- more, perhaps, than they otherwise might.
But I digress. We helped prepare everything, and once the girlfriend/now fiancee (I still don't remember her name) showed up, Kevin and I took off for the evening.
Now, we'd attempted (once) to make plans, but they didn't happen. Sooo..... we were out for the evening. We went and had dessert (and food) at Red Robin and then hung out at Sarah and Dave's place. They're so nice.
Oh, and on the way to Red Robin, we also learned that if your vehicle registration is more than 3 months overdue, they can impound your car, but if the policeman is feeling generous and you're not drunk or anything, he'll just give you a ticket. Bless him for that!

Hmmm... I usually write my blog at work, but I don't bring my camera to work. So if I want to put pictures on my blog (and now that I have a new camera it seems like a good idea), I have to wait until I get home. Well, after spending the whole workday on the computer, the last thing I want to do (although it does happen) is get back on the computer at home.
Ok, that's a lie. I get on the computer every night. But the last thing I want to do is be productive, and I consider blogging productive. You should agree with me. :)
So maybe soon I'll put pictures up of my awesome trip to St. Louis last weekend, or my new nephew, Naabaahii.

The school I work at was originally going to be called Spring Water High School. The community it sits in is called Spring Water, and at the time it sounded like a good idea.
Thank goodness they didn't!! While we're sort of towards the shores of Utah Lake, I'm not sure how many natural springs they have here. I do know, however, that there is a certain very large spring of unnatural water that flows constantly. Yes, we are right next door to the sewage treatment plant. :)
This morning, I got out of my car at school and had to cover my face, trying to breathe through my gloves. If I breathed through my nose, I'd smell the full force of Orem's sewage; if I breathed through my mouth, I'd gag. What a horrible way to start my work day... every day.

So the creepy spinning, giggling baby I referred to has since been removed from my blog. It was a little countdown icon that showed a little baby bobbing along as if it were in my belly. The icon was supposed to look like the back of a digital camera, and it had little buttons. One turned a light on, one played a heartbeat, and another would bounce the baby and make it giggle. It wasn't a creepy, goblin-like giggle, but it was still pretty weird. And then I noticed that as I left my blog page open, the baby would bob faster and faster. After a few minutes, I'd turn back to my blog, and the little baby was spinning. It kind of freaked me out.
The original reason I'd put this icon on my blog was because I hadn't seen it on anyone else's, and I wanted to be different. Now I realize that no one had put it on their blog for good reason. Creepy!
Now for my new little countdown icon: isn't it cute?! I don't think I'm having triplets. There is no indication that I have anything but one small person growing inside of me. However, aren't the three little peas in a pod SO CUTE?!?!?!
To summarize: I am not having triplets. However, three peas in a pod were impossible to resist!
Also an update: I'm feeling much better these days. My body likes to practice its gag reflex, but besides those times, I've been feeling pretty well since about Monday. My lower back hurts, and part of me would love to blame it simply on being pregnant. However, I have done almost zero exercise since I've been feeling crappy (translation: actually since it's been cold, which was the end of October), and part of me knows that if I actually got off my butt and exercised occasionally, I would probably feel much better. Let's see if that's any motivation, though. :)

Originally, back when we first got Toby, the nominal reason we got him was because we had mice. Well, "we" didn't have mice, but our house did. Since then, we've only seen two mice, including today's.
And today I am proud to say that Toby did his species proud and CAUGHT the mouse!! Yay! It was like having our own little nature show going on... right in our kitchen.
Kevin and I got home, and Toby was wanting to get into the cupboard under our sink. Right when he opened the cupboard door, Toby bolted in, then hopped right out. I looked back in the cupboard but didn't see anything. It took me literally about 30 seconds before I realized Toby was holding the poor thing in his mouth.
Howie came in to investigate, and Toby put the mouse down. Then Howie caught it and started growling to keep Toby away. Toby's a pussy and so his tail got all poofy, and then he left the room. Once Toby was gone, Howie put the mouse down and played with it, tossing it in the air, pouncing on it, and generally having a ball until the mouse twitched its last twitch.
And here is Howie holding the dying mouse in his jaws. He didn't catch it, but he's kind of bossy and just took it from Toby. What a jerk! But Toby doesn't mind, because we gave him TUUUNNNNAAAAA!!

This is Toby, the real hero of the day.

Here is Howie, sitting in the cupboard, hoping another mouse will come out so he can catch it an be cool too.

Oh hey, and guess what. These picturese were taken on our NEW CAMERAAAA! (said in good ol' Bob Barker's Price is Right enthusiasm)

So this week I almost killed a man.
Not on purpose, btw.
Usually Kevin rides his bike to work, but it's been snowy this week, and so I got to drive him. On Friday, after all the snow had been melting the day before, the roads were big slicks of ice. And there was a nice powdered-sugar layer of snow on top, making it beautiful but super super dangerous. And the ice was clear, so it didn't look much like ice.
So we're driving down the hill toward work, and there's a biker in front of us. Now, Kevin is smart and has a loving wife, which were both apparently missing from this guy's repetoire, so he was riding his stupid bike on the ice. He gets to the stop sign in front of us, wobbles a little, and then biffs it. He's splayed all over the intersection with his bike somewhere in the undignified heap he's made.
Meanwhile, I'm braking but realizing that the ice slick he just bit it on continues all the way up 20 yards to where I am. My breaks are on, but my car is just zooming toward him, trying to smear his skinny little body all over my bumper and wheels. Thankfully, I was still able to steer, and I rode off the road into a snowbank.
The biker gets up, dusts himself off, and then... (you'd think in this happy valley that he'd offer to come help us push the car out of the mountain of snow we're head first in, but no, instead...) he just rides off. He probably turned around to wave, thinking, "thanks guys, I'm all right."
So I have Kevin with me, but he can't push the car uphill on his own (what a wimp. hee hee). We walked home and got a snow shovel and a bag of salt, and a half an hour later we get back to the car and start digging it out. Well, Kevin dug. I played fairy princess and sprinkled salt all over the intersection. No one could stop in any direction, and I didn't want anyone to die.
One of Kevin's friends from law school drove by and stopped to help us. With the two of them pushing, and after Kevin had dug a path out, we were able to get the car out. Once it was out, I waved to them, saying "Thanks guys, I'm all right," and then drove off.
The end.
Just kidding. I took Kevin with me. And I was LATE to work again. This was the FIRST day in about 2 months I would have been on time. Grr.... oh well.

So on Tuesday I went to the doctor and got to hear my baby's heartbeat! Apparently there's really a baby in there, and now there's only like a 1% chance of miscarriage. Yay! Fifth time's a charm!
It was really cool to hear the heartbeat. And kind of weird. I guess for Kevin it made it seem like there was really a baby growing in there. But for me, I've felt like crap for the last 2 months (notice the lull in blogging... had nothing to say except how crappy I felt), and that has told me every day that there's really a baby in there. But now I know there's a heartbeat. And apparently the baby's the size of a lime. A lime with a heartbeat, that's novel!
If you're all wondering, "Woah, did I miss the announcement?" you can stop worrying. This IS the announcement. On July 22nd of this year, if all goes smoothly, I'll be having a baby!!! So I'm 2 1/2 months along, or for you week people, 12 weeks. (Yes, Shannon, that's the same day as yours. Cool, huh!)
This means we'll be moving to Boise sometime in June, finding a doctor, reapplying for Medicaid, and then having a baby. Not ideal. But we'll take what we can get. It will be nice to have a new house where we can set it up to be babyproof instead of babyproofing our current place. It will be nice that Kevin will be done with school and earning an actual paycheck. It will be nice.... hmmm.... I'm sure there's other stuff. Yes: Our baby will be an Idahoan. Maybe it will like potatoes.
I suppose I ought to put one of those cutesie little charts or swimming baby countdown thingies onto my blog. Or maybe I should let you guys vote on whether it's a boy or a girl. All in good time, folks. All in good time. For now, I'm just happy to be able to tell you about our happy, happy, long-awaited, joyous news.

Today is my last official day of vacation. I realize I don't start work until Monday, but tomorrow's the weekend, and I get every weekend off. Therefore, not vacation.
This morning I slept in until like 9:30. I tried to get up before then, but Kevin came and snuggled with me. So I fell back asleep. A while later I tried to get up again, but Toby came to purr and snuggle on my shoulder and head. I couldn't get up then either!
It reminds me of the movie we watched last night: "First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."
I love Christmas, and I'm sad to see it go. Maybe I'll be just that much more excited for it next year!