Goose Egg

Yesterday Caleb was playing in his little red wagon, and he leaned forward to climb out.....but the wheels flew out from under him and he flew forward and hit his forehead on the hardwood floor. You can see the result. I haven't heard him cry that hard in.....well ever actually.

Ok, ignore the stupid face I'm making in this picture. The poor little boy. We had to pin him down and put ice on it, cuz who knows how bad it would've gotten if we hadn't. And he did not like the cold. So we did that for about five minutes, and then I read him some books and put him to bed. It seems like this little boy ALWAYS has a bruise on his forehead. He's ran into corners, fallen countless times....however this is by far the biggest bump he's ever gotten. His little legs are ALWAYS COVERED in bruises. I think it's from climbing those wood stairs so much. He just kept saying, "Wagon.....bonk." between sobs...."Wagon....bonk." Don't worry, the goose egg is gone now and he's just got a big purple spot on his head now. It doesn't bother him, except when I put his shirt on this morning. He put his hand to his head and said, "Ouch mommy."

News on my interview......it went well....I think......he said he'd let me know by Monday. And now I'm FREAKING OUT because he told me he has "a few other working interviews" that he's doing. I know I'm qualified.....I just am so worried he's just gonna pick someone else because he likes their personality better. Or maybe he's interviewing somebody that already has some experience. Then that's SERIOUS competition, unless you consider salary, cuz I'll pretty much settle for anything, whereas someone with experience is gonna want more money. So now.....I get to sit and stress for five days. (Cuz I am guessing I won't find out till Monday at 5:00 pm). Oh man am I nervous!

Don't worry, Caleb is fine....he's just got a purple head.

A Silver Lining....

Well, it's possible that unemployment is coming to an end. it's POSSIBLE. Yesterday I got a phone call from a dentist in Eagle. He's looking for a full-time hygienist. And he wanted to meet with me last night. What's better? Well I'll tell you. His hygienist that's leaving also graduated from ISU. What's better than that? This particular dentist was an IDEP student.....which means (for those of you who don't know) that he was one of the eight students selected from hundreds of applicants to spend his first year of dental school at Idaho State University.....with the dental hygiene students. So he knows all my instructors! Needless to say he's very impressed with ISU dental hygiene and won't settle for less. He told me during our interview yesterday that if he sees one more resume that says they got a 4.0 gpa at Apollo College he's gonna throw up. Cuz didn't you know?....they ALL get 4.0's. I HATE that school. It really is their fault that I don't have a job right now. But anyway.....he told me he doesn't have a doubt in his mind about my clinical skills. He just wants to make sure there's good chemistry.....now that scares me a little. Cuz the guy that's leaving has a really bright sense of humor, and a really dominant personality. I know I'm fun to be around once you get to know me, but I'm worried they won't like me.....cuz everyone's quiet at first. But honestly, since he hates Apollo Hygienists, and I'm the only ISU one that's applying (since I'm pretty sure Stephanie and Chris both have jobs already) then I think I'm the best choice he's got. So tomorrow he asked me to come in for a working interview.
As far as salary goes, I'm pretty sure he's gonna offer me a pretty competitive wage. AND he said his office does not have a group insurance policy, but if that was something I needed I just have to find some prices for some policies and he'd work it into my paycheck. So I'll finally get some health coverage! He also offers production incentives....so if I have a really productive week, then I'll get a little bonus. And an IRA after one year of working.
So there you have it! Don't celebrate yet.....I don't have the job yet, we'll know by tomorrow. But I am so relieved that I finally found someone that will at least interview me. AND it's full-time which is SO what I need. So, the dark days of September are over, and I am hoping that this cloud's silver lining is about to open to a sky full of possibilities! Wish me luck!

Down Memory Lane

Today between conference sessions we decided to go back to the farm where I grew up and have a look before it's all developed. All around is this crazy subdivision that has got all kinds of big things planned. However, the exact place where our house once stood is still untouched. And some things are exactly the same....and somethings are completely different.

It took us a bit of walking, but we finally found the cement slab where we used to park our cars. The weeds are waist-high (sometimes higher). But one thing that hasn't disapeared is our grass! Now, granted it's TALL and dry, so it looks like a wheat-field kinda....but the green blades of grass are still a couple inches tall down by our feet.

We also found the big o'l pipe that we used to drive over several times a day to get to our house. As kids, we used to float the canal right under that thing.

The picture of the tree has a small piece of rope that's grown into the tree. Once upon a time, used to have a rope-swing on this tree, and when the rope broke, we left it. Now the tree's almost devoured the rope. But it's still there.

Another thing we found was the old hay trailer on the other side of the ditch. We used to play on that thing when we were kids. In FACT! That trailer is where I got my first bee-sting.

And this is just a picture of the canal that went in front of our house, and all the weeds that now cover the place. Derek says he wants to buy this property some day. Right now it's not available, but in five to ten years it's possible.

I just have one comment to make about the picture on the top of this post. That's us standing in front of the bridge and the pump-house. These structures were used every day when we were kids. The pump-house kept our food-storage and our big yellow deep-freezer. And the bridge was how we got to it. The bridge looks EXACTLY the same, as well as the pump house. I can't even tell you how many memories it brings back. I'm sure the next time we make it out here, it'll be all developed. However, wouldn't it be amazing if they kept all those trees?! It'd make some beautiful landscaping (or at least I think so....since it's how I know it). But we'll see.

6 Quirky Facts....

Well, Kelli tagged me, and I just have to put a little disclaimer....cuz I did something like this like a month ago on my blog. The post is called, "Some Things About Me" and it's got ALL KINDS of my quirks on there. So if you haven't read it, then you should (Kelli!)....HOWEVER.....since I've been officially tagged, I'm gonna see if I can come up with something new. We'll see how it goes.

Now. This first one, is a repeat from some other people, however when I asked Parker about my quirks....this was the FIRST thing he said. And so I have to put it down....
1. I HAVE to sleep in a bed that's MADE. Even if it means making the bed just before you climb in. And it's true....if I don't, I lose the covers. Plus...I like to sleep straight as a board (well, not always but that's how I get comfortable anyway.....flat on my back). And I am so much more relaxed if the sheets are flat and tight all around me. No loosey-goosey goin on here.

2. I have to color-code my clothes in the closet from light to dark. (which results in a lovely rainbow in my closet whenever I open it up.) I tried to get Parker to do it, and of course he thought I was rediculous. THEN, one day I was putting his clothes away and I thought, "You know....if I DID color-code his closet, he wouldn't mess it up, cuz I'm the one that puts his clothes away." So I did it. And now there's two rainbows in our closet, and it stays that way, cuz I keep it that way.

3. We have these 8 big cups that we got for our wedding (no I have NO IDEA who gave them to us....those days are over) and there's two cups of each color. Two pink, two lime green, two orange, and two yellow. Now when I put them away, they can't just be thrown up in the cupboard. You have to put the colors in front of the colors so that there's four rows of colored cups. (see diagram)
Key: p = pink
y = yellow
g = green
o = orange
G Y O P
G Y O P
AND they have to bee in that order......green, yellow, orange, pink.....because that's the order of the rainbow. So if those 8 cups are messed up cuz someone else did the dishes.....I'll pull them down and fix them.

4. Okay, now I don't think this is a quirk, but Parker says it is, and he still can't figure out why it's that big of a deal. But what it is.......my purse has to match with the season. So I either swith or buy a new one every six months. Usually spring and fall is when I like to switch. Spring purses would be white (my favorite for Spring) or pink or green. But when fall comes around, I can't be carrying a white purse. It has to be fall colors, brown or black. Parker claims I am ALWAYS switching my purses, even though I think pretty much every girl does that anyway.

5. I have to sleep with the door open. I get away with it now because I just tell Parker that I have to hear Caleb if he cries (which is mostly the reason now). But what he doesn't know, is that it dates back to when I was a kid and I saw this unsolved mysteries episode about ghosts....and I was always SO SCARED that a ghost would open my bedroom door. So I used to keep it open so that if they DID come in, I wouldn't know because I wouldn't see the door being opened. Now it's just a habit and something I've always gotten comfort from. It's not like I can't sleep with it closed, but I prefer to keep it opened.

6. I like to listen to my music LOUD......and even louder if it's a song I really like. I just love to sing along to my CD's or the radio, and if I can sing at the top of my lungs then I will.

Seriously, I have way more quirks, listed on my "Some things about me" post. I don't think I repeated any, but if you think I'm weird now.....just take a few minutes and read some of that other stuff.
Now, I tag Melissa and Anna (my sisters).

A Day With Blake

Today my cousin, Jordan, asked me to watch his son, Blake, for a couple hours. And so Caleb got a playmate today. And isn't it funny that both of these boys are just little CLONES of their dads?! So cute. And I must say, for two-year-olds, they played together quite well.

Mostly they played with the trains. Blake was quite excited about the "thomas" train set. And he got even more excited when I turned on the Thomas the train movie that Caleb and I got at the library this week. They thought it was pretty great to play with the toys that were also on tv.

The boys had lots of fun together! Come see us again soon Blake!

Waste Not....Want Not

Today we decided that all the fruit falling to the ground from all those trees was simply unacceptable.
At my mom and dad's house, there are four grape bushes.....two peach trees, a plum tree, and two apple trees. AND one plum-peach hybrid tree. (No joke....they cross-pollinated with eachother to creat these little peaches that are the size of plums. And they're yellow. The fruit is sweet, but there's not much that can be done with them.

With all the fruit falling to the ground, we decided we'd better do some canning. And mom took this opportunity to teach us (Anna and I) how.

The apples we dried. We're also gonna make some apple sauce....however the apples weren't our priority cuz they'll be good till the end of the month.

Now....the GRAPES! We picked two buckets full of grapes, and we juiced them and made grape juice. Which is gonna be SO great because Caleb LOVES juice! It's literally like his favorite thing in the world. He lives and breathes for juice. And now we've got all this free juice that he's just gonna love. The rest of us will like it too, but I'm excited that we don't have to go through so much juice just for Caleb's sake. Now we don't have to buy it at all.

There weren't too many plums left on the tree. Lots of them got eaten by the birds, or they'd already fallen to the ground. But I picked all that was left, and along with eating them fresh (which is so yummy) we're gonna dry them into prunes. I am also gonna experiment with the dryer and see if I can make some fruit-rolls. (or some call it fruit leather). But I haven't quite figured out how to do it yet. I read the recipe, but I need to make sure we've got the right equipment.

So we got to use my mom's super-cool apple peeler/slicer/de-coreer thing. It was TOTALLY GENIUS! And not to mention FAST! I did three apples before I realized I might not have room for all these in the dryer. They fit, but combined with the plums, bananas, and tomatoes that we also are drying it was JUST enough.


So I laid all the fruit out on the trays, and now we just have to wait. Drying fruit can take anywhere from four to ten hours (depending on what you're making). But it's all gonna be yummy! I'm glae we could help save the fruit. I think I'm gonna do some more grape juice tomorrow. We haven't even picked HALF of those grapes.

OH! One thing I DIDN'T get a picture of was the peaches! We also made peach freezer jam! YUMMY! That's really easy too. And it tastes real good.





Here's a picture of us pouring the grape juice into the mason jars. Juicing is by far the easiest thing EVER! And I'm excited to get some concords done tomorrow.

Here's a picture of some prunes! YUMMY!

So the last thing we did today (that I also didn't get a picture of) was the pumpkins! We picked some pumpkins outa the garden and cut them up and boiled them till they were soft so we can make pumpkin pies and cookies when the holidays come. Hopefully preserving all this food will help us be prepared for our unknown future.

The Rope Swing

Well, I just had to post some pictures and videos of Caleb on the rope swing. Just a few weeks ago, we couldn't even get him to sit on it without help, and now he throws his legs over that thing, and you can push him all the way into the branches. He absalutely LOVES IT!

However, today was different, because uncle Derek came home, and he did something kinda funny. You see, there's this pumpkin drink at Starbuck's Coffee that he had the other day (and he swears it didn't have coffee in it) and so he went back today to get another one, and he knew how much he liked it....so he ordered a BIG one....I'm talkin' HUGE. Well.....what they gave him today, was NOT what he had the otherday. And he drank it........Needless to say, Derek was on a SUPER CRAZY CAFFEINE HIGH! He was so jittery he didn't know what to do with himself. And who takes more energy to entertain than Caleb? So we let them entertain eachother.

And I just have to say.....the rope swing is even fun for adults! I think Caleb and I swing on that thing AT LEAST once a day.

Can you adjust the shutter speed on a digital camera? All these motion shots are blurry! I'll bet not....but if so.....and any of my techno geek friends (Matt.....Jeff.....anyone else I forgot) happens to know how to do that (if it's possible) I would LOVE to know how!

So I just have to say a few other things in this post. The job hunt is going TERRIBLE. And every day, Parker and I (honestly....more Parker than me....but still both) are getting more and more anxious about not having an income. We're NEVER GOING TO GET A HOUSE! (Or that's how it feels at least). And there isn't a SINGLE dentist in the treasure valley that's looking for a hygienist. They definately didn't tell me about how hard THIS would be in school. We've decided that if we have to move to get a job (I'm thinking....Las Vegas.....or northern Idaho.....or maybe Oregon or Utah) then so be it. Parker can pretty much do whatever wherever. He graduates in December....so just a couple more months with that. Augh, it's so frustrating.

So the last thing I wanna say, I guess is about this totally awesome song that I just put on the playlist. I don't even know why it's one of my favorites EVER!......cuz it's not like it's the best subject (me and Mrs. Jones.....ummm....yeah they're being naughty) HOWEVER!........the jazz in this song is SO KICKIN'!! I just am powerless to do anything except sing along at the top of my lungs. Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to go to like a club or something where they just play jazz music all night. I know they're out there.....downtown somewhere.....but honestly I've never known anyone who likes jazz enough to go with me......except in High School, and we got enough jazz on our choir trips, so we didn't need to go to town. But I still think I would just love something like that....cuz I TRULY love a good jazz song. Especially when Michael sings it.

And my last comment is about my quote of the day. Okay, the first one was WAY easy, and now I have SO many I want to do I can't pick what's next. However.....I know Parker will get this in a heartbeat....but I'm not sure everyone else will. Okay, I'm out!