Slump and Wait

I absolutely love Dr. Seuss. His whimsical nature and free-flowing writing style whisk me away to those magical, wonderful places every time. But in the book, "Oh, The Places You'll Go", he speaks of being stuck in - The Waiting Place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

That's pretty much where we've been lately, folks - in a waiting slump:

Waiting to get well, to stop coughing, hacking and aching. Waiting for Friday and the weekend... and then waiting for Monday. Waiting for paint to dry, buds to bloom and waiting for tax day. Waiting for the perfect sale, the perfect stuff to stage our house and waiting to find a new perfect house. Waiting to put the house up for sale, waiting for eager future homeowners to come calling, waiting for the mail. Wating for the rains to stop, the clouds to clear and the sun to come out.

We've been doing a lot of waiting, but we are excited to escape the waiting place and discover what's ahead:

No! That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

So, bring on the Boom Bands, the Excitement and Bright Places because we are growing ever tired of these slumpishy-waiting places!

Floating the Skagit

"bird watching"

Every year, the Boy Scouts take a raft trip down the Skagit River to catch a glimpse of the nesting bald eagles. One year, they lazily floated down the calm river as light snowflakes flitted in the sky, which made for a beautiful backdrop but provided poor visibility to see the beautiful birds. This year, El Niño made for a different weather story; while it was unseasonably warm, few birds were spotted this time around too.

Even though Dave was released from the Scouting program, he was still asked to attend as a bishopric representative. Plus, one of the scout leaders trusts and relies on Dave's knowledge of all things outdoors to help make each adventure a success. As you can see from the pictures below, he got to wear this heavy duty, super pricey dry suit - all the leaders did, in fact. The boys were not so lucky, but seemed to have fun nonetheless.

Karl Kohagen giving "the troops" their safety talk and directions for the day.

Karl, HP YM leader, Kyle Holgate, HP YM & Mark Watson enjoying the float.

A winter scene on the Skagit River.

All of the BP YM with Dave steering them in the right direction.

(Pictures of courtesy of Sjon Stevens from the Harbour Pointe ward. Yeah, he's the one with the super awesome, foot-long telefoto lens.)

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this trip happened the 2nd weekend in January. That should give you an idea of just how far back I'm backlogged with my posts!

Surviving the Plague

Dude, we are Sick. Sick, with a capital 'S'.

The kind of sick where you want to sleep for hours with Kleenex stuffed up your nose, VaporRub slathered on your chest, multiple cold medicines coursing through body, your feet bundled in scratchy wool socks and the heaviest blanket pushing you deep into the cozy warmth of your mattress.

Yeah, it's really not pretty.

Lots of runny noses, typhoid Mary-like coughing, sneezing, barfing, crying, whining. Basically, lots of cough, hack, wheeze, repeat.

But were getting by... barely.

How are we surviving The Plague of 2010, you may ask? Well, we have a handy Sick Day Survival Kit, consisting of:

• Tried and true Chicken Noodle Soup - heavy on the brothy healing component
• Water - not just any water; has to be very cold, filtered water with crushed icy bits floating about
• Puffs Plus Lotion with Vicks - breathing in the menthol goodness as I type this - and no, it is not stuffed up my nose - yet
• Emergen-C - you can't beat the tangy zip of this grainy, fruity Vitamin C drink. Who knows if it really works, but we're desperate here
• Ricola - not sure if it really works either but it's sure fun to yodel the name, especially when you sound like a gravelly-voiced gangster man
• Respironics Inspiration nebulizer - keeping the bronchial tubes clear for some very congested folk
• Dreyer's Frozen Yogurt: Cookies & Cream - this is always on the list, whether we are sick or not. But it totally helps soothe and coat the savage fire of an irritated, sickly throat.
• The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics - the mid-air collisions of ski cross, fruity men's figure skating outfits, swishing ice dancers, flipping aerialists, frenetic pace of x-country skiing, kooky snowboarding lingo and nail-biting ice hockey games are getting us through the tough times. So nice of them to plan it for when we got sick, eh? (I'm half Canadian so it is totally ok for me to utilize the authentic sayings, don't you think?)

I have a lot more to say and tons of pictures to share with my blog-reading folks; will try to catch up with my backlog of blogs someday... cough, hack, wheeze. Repeat.

Six Months

Happy 6 months, Benjamin!

It's wild to think that this little guy has already been part of our family for six months. Crazy.

But, we are so glad to have him because he fills our home with baby giggles, coos and babbles that we so adore.

6-month Stats:

Height - 28" (90th percentile)

Weight - 16 lbs, 4 oz (25th percentile)

Head Circumference - 17" (25th percentile)

Milestones & Things of Note:

Rolling from stomach to back, back to stomach

Multiple rolls (frequently find him up against the wall, after leaving him in the middle of the room)

Pushes up on his hands

Pushes up onto his knees

Is very ticklish

Giggles hysterically

Has a hearty appetite

Babbles and mirrors sounds

Scoots backwards

Sits unaided... until he decides he'd rather stand

Loves to be on his feet

Loves his bouncer - bounces for hours with blissful glee

On the Menu:

Soy formula(though we hope to change this soon)

Bananas

Sweet potatoes

Prunes

Nicknames:

Peanut/Mr. Peanut

Sweetie-pie

Boo

Buddy

Benjamin Bean

AND... on an entirely different Note:

Believe it or not, Dave is about to embark on a winter camping trip with the Scouts up at Stevens Pass. And yes, I'm letting him go willingly. But, this time I know exactly where he will be, when he will be home and he will have cell phone access.

While he is gone, we will be visiting the pediatrician, go for a walk with friends, clean bathrooms, do laundry, visit Wandering Nana for Valentine crafts, watch a movie (maybe), have the dreaded bathtime, make treats for Friday night, attend the YW slumber party (including a Wii tournament of "Just Dance")... and much, much more! Let the good times roll!

The Incident: Dave's Take

Summitting Chair Peak, or "The Incident" as we have begun to call it around our house.

By now, most of you know how my weekend went from "sunshine & puppy-dogs" to DEFCON 4 crisis mode in a very short period of time. Below is Dave's version of the story that he posted on a local climbing site, with some pictures to add more drama.

Part 2 - or My Take - will be coming soon...

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Since some of you have no doubt seen the news in the last couple of days and heard about my friend Bret and my experience at Chair Peak and subsequent cold night at Melakwa Lake, I thought I would post a quick trip report to fill in some of the details.

Bret and I started from the upper parking lot at Alpental at about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 6, with the intention of scouting around to see which climbs were in. We brought ice gear with us in case we found anything interesting, but we were not even sure whether we would climb.

As we were putting our boots on in the parking lot, we bumped into another cascade climber, Wayne, who told us that he was planning to solo Chair Peak. Neither Bret or I had climbed Chair Peak before, and really were not all that familiar with the area; however, we were both interested in doing it. We asked Wayne if he would mind if we tagged along with him. He was gracious enough to let us follow him up.

Because Wayne had heard there was a boot pack all the way up, we left our snowshoes in the car and proceeded to boot our way up past Source Lake. Wayne was nice enough to point out a number of the climbing routes along the way. There appeared to have been some new snow and it was somewhat difficult to locate a boot pack above Source Lake. We did see another party ahead of us on snowshoes, however, so we stayed in their tracks and the post-holing was kept to a minimum.

I don't recall exactly at what time we reached the base of the route, it was probably somewhere around noon, or maybe a little before. At the base of the route, we bumped into Dane, another cascade climber, who also was planning on soloing the north face. We completed the route in three pitches and a short solo to the summit. The conditions were really good, plenty of ice and firm snow made for a great day of climbing.

The "fun" really began when we reached the summit and began the descent. Since neither Bret or I had climbed Chair Peak before nor were we super familiar with the route, we were not sure exactly where the rap station was to begin the descent. We attempted to follow some other tracks on the summit, presumably they were Wayne or Dane's, and we figured that they would lead us to the proper descent route. We picked one of two gullies that appeared to be the most likely route down and we began to rappel.

As we descended, the angle of the slope became more gradual and since it was getting dark fast by this time, we opted to save time by downclimbing instead of rappelling. We down climbed for approximately 400 vertical feet. The angle became increasing steeper and the route went from firm snow to waterfall ice as we neared the bottom.

I got about halfway down the section, an ice screw pulled out of the ice and I fell. As I anticipated, the landing was soft and although I was a little shaken up, I was not hurt except for a small cut in my chin where I imagine my ice tool hit me. The only other unfortunate thing about the fall was that I lost one of my ice tools--I was using a wrist leash and it flew off my wrist despite that I had it nice and tight (I still have not figured how that happened).

I yelled up to Bret and told him that I was okay and by that time, I could see that there was an ice line over the section that I had been concerned about. I also told him that I had only fallen about 10-15 feet, which I think gave him more confidence in knowing that even if he fell, it would not be that far. Bret, being a more experienced climber than me, found that line and downclimbed the rest of the route.

At this point, we thought we were home free and could simply retrace our approach and get back to the car. However, as we began walking away from the face, something did not look right. As we continued to descend, I began to recognize the basin as the area above Lake Melakwa. I had hiked to the lake one time a couple of years ago and I looked at my GPS to confirm that in fact that was where we were.

By this time it was totally dark. Although I was somewhat familiar with the trail out, we were not very confident in our ability to find the trail around to Denny Creek in the dark. It was at this time that my GPS began really acting up and I began to get all kinds of strange readings, so I did not really trust that either.

We knew that we needed to wait until daylight to be able to find the trail out and so we proceeded to hike through the snow for the whole night to stay warm. We had some food with us that we rationed so that it would last through the night and we were able to refill our water bottles in Lake Melakwa--normally not a good idea because of parasites, etc., however, in this case, it was better than the alternative.

When daylight came, we were able to find the trail from Lake Melakwa down to Denny Creek, where we were able to contact our wives and tell them we were okay and where we were. As we got closer to the Denny Creek Water Slides, we met up with a Search and Rescue team who had been sent out to find us. We walked the rest of the way out with them and they gave us a ride up to Alpental where my Dad and brother were waiting.

Sorry if the story is kind of long, but as I reflected back on the events of the last couple of days, there are a number of things that I could have done differently to avoid some of the problems that we had.

View from Chair Peak Summit

Saturday is a Special Day

Ever have one of *those* days?

As I sit typing this, I have multiple layers of spit-up on my shoulder, a huge wet spot on my pants thanks to drool and a tired, poopy-panted, teething, screeching monkey sitting on my lap.

But still, today has been a good day.

Because a bunch of my girlfriends were coming over for our every-other-month GNO & 4-Birthday Extravaganza, Dave felt it was time to head for the hills, literally. He and Bret drove up to Snoqualmie Pass, the nearest sort-of-snowy place to test out his newest gear - MSR snowshoes.

With a kiddo at home, it was a little bit challenging to clean, clear and bake up a storm but I seemed to manage. I made an apple coffeecake, as well as a fresh fruit salad. I quickly threw on a clean tablecloth and some mini daffodils, followed by place settings for six. The smell of cinnamon and apple wafted in the air, hopefully overpowering any other smells that may have been lingering!

We dined on German pancakes with syrup; two different coffeecakes; fruit; bagels with cream cheese; raspberry streusel bites; spinach, mushroom & goat cheese quiche; an egg scramble with bacon, onions & peppers; and strawberry banana smoothies. Following a wonderful meal, I gave everyone a quick tour of our newly-remodeled digs. Then we just sat around and chatted about marriage, family, and life in general... which is always my favorite part of all. Our little birthday brunch was a smashing success and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Right after the brunch, my parents showed up to babysit Benjamin while I headed over to Bothell for a haircut. It was my first time in Michelle's salon and I had a great time chatting with her while she worked her magic. A few inches and layers later, I was a happy girl!

Since then, I've been playing with Benjamin, napping, watching movies, blogging, cleaning, cooking and generally trying to get ready for Sunday.

6 Days of Celebrations

TUESDAY

On the second day of Birthday fun, I had to go to Costco to pick up pizza for the missionaries. While waiting, I picked up a slice of (birthday) pizza and chocolate frozen yogurt.

WEDNESDAY

On the third day of Birthday fun, I bought a bunch of gerbera daisies. Love love loved the coral color!

THURSDAY

On the fourth day of Birthday fun, I brought creme brulee to my birthday office party (we made it for YW the night before). The treats were tasty, but I also received a bounty of wonderful cards, as well as a cute crocheted scarf and hat with crocheted flower. Marigold is a fabulous color on me, if I do say so. Finished off the night with a game of women's basketball at the stake center - not my greatest game, but it was fun, nonetheless.

FRIDAY

Dave took me out to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant, El Puerto, in downtown Edmonds. He also gave me a new camera - a Canon Rebel Xsi! What a great guy, huh? I was so excited because after dinner, we were also planning to take a walk around town and then hop the ferry to snap some gorgeous pictures. Unfortunately, due to dark & rainy weather - and a dead battery, we headed back home to watch this little flick:

SATURDAY

Went to basketball practice and then to the mall to pick up some clothes for the kiddo. Ran into Christina at Penney's and we had a nice chat, before I had to pick up Dave. The rest of the day was filled with chores and baby stuff. I didn't think I'd have time to celebrate before the adult session of Stake Conference, but Dave surprised me with a Brownie Batter blizzard - and yeah, it was pure birthday bliss.

SUNDAY

Dave's family made me feel really special on a stressful day. We attended Stake Conference which was wonderful and spiritually powerful, but also proved to be a bit of a challenge. Benjamin seems to have begun teething today and so my day was filled with a taming a runny-nosed, irritable, sleepless and extremely tired infant. But then we headed to dinner with Dave's family. His mom put together a birthday taco salad bar, followed by Chocolate Overload cake and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". My apologies for not taking any pictures - I was too busy trying all of the tasty morsels.

And, with that, I have officially completed the Weeklong Birthday Celebration experiment. Thanks for celebrating with me!

Happy Happy Birthday!

So, today is the BIG day!

The day that you will get the wrap-up of my weeklong birthday celebration experiment. I've just been so busy celebrating and making merry that I haven't time a minute to post about all of the good times.

But today is the day... and here is a glimpse about the culminating celebration, held later this evening.

In typical Michelle-style, it will involve large amounts of chocolatey-fudge goodness.

Can't wait...

J-E-LL-O

There's always room for Jell-O!

As we ran to get dinner, I thought about how to start the "weeklong celebration of me". As we ate dinner, I kept thinking, thinking, thinking.

Shortly thereafter, a trip to Costco for diapers, razors and chicken broth (weird combo, I know) was followed by a fill up of the gas tank. Then we headed across town to get soy formula at Wal-mart because it's the best deal around. Not surprisingly, twenty minutes later my cart had a can of formula sitting in it - right next to 10 additional items.

Still couldn't think of a way to kick off the festivities and I was starting to wonder if I wouldn't be able to make good on the promise to myself. After feeding and changing Benjamin, the lightbulb suddenly appeared and visions of whipped creamy, chocolate-y goodness started bouncing in my head.

In our neck of the woods, pudding is a nice way to cap off the evening. Maybe it reminds us of childhood. Maybe it is no big deal to lots of people - but it is to us. Pudding is a family favorite and a symbol of good times and sweet treats around here.

To spice things up a bit - and wax a bit celebratory - I threw on a generous splash of white and milk chocolate chips (there is always room for more chocolate), stuck in a striped blue and yellow candle, lit it and made a pre-birthday wish.

As most Mondays go, I was tired - you can see it in my eyes . And Monday is not well known as a day for big celebrations, so we started small & simple. But I know it's the start of one very sweet week!

Tomorrow should prove to be a good & bad day - good because we are going to attend Baby Storytime at the library, but bad bad bad because I have to get drilled for three fillings at the dentist. And you all know how I detest the dentist. Any ideas or suggestions on how to add some celebrating to my Tuesday would be most appreciated!

The Weeklong Celebration of Me

Blow up the balloons and light the candles... it's time to party!

OK, before you start thinking that I am completely pretentious, there is a STORY and a REASON behind this blog post title.

One of my favorite things about my SIL Heather (the one who passed away last year and who I miss like crazy) was that she loved to celebrate - and did it up big. One year when her birthday rolled around, she proclaimed that it was "The Weeklong Celebration of Me" (Me being her). Apparently, she didn't feel that one day was enough to celebrate someone's birthday; rather, that birthday person deserved an entire week of frivolity and mirth.

With a new baby, work, a house and a husband to take care of, I seem to have forgotten to take care of me lately. So, in light of that and to honor Heather, I am proclaiming that this is The Weeklong Celebration of Michelle! And how do I intend to celebrate? Well, by doing something fun every day, of course... with a detailed report back to my little blogging world about the celebratory festitivies.

So, stay tuned for the fabulous, fun times that are about to ensue! (To be Continued...)

Fixing the Flaws

So, with the new year comes the unevitable list of grand resolutions - we all do it, whether it's written or just in our head.

In all of the excitement of a new decade, new goals and new adventures, I started to pen what has now become an unwieldy list of resolutions... in hopes of getting me back on track and jump-starting that run-down motor of motivation. Unfortunately, after compiling said list, I realized just a glance at it whisked me into a cold sweat of anxiety and fear. Seriously? Why would I set myself up for disappointment and failure?

Scratch that list - even though it had some awesome goals - and make way for the "Fixing of Flaws" list. There are a couple of things I really didn't like about my self, which I really intend to fix this year - or, at the very least, work on them.

So, say goodbye to the 1,001 resolutions, and hello to my Top 3 Fix-Its:

1. Be on Time - Last year, I heard a talk about how being late is very disrepectful to all of the people that you are meeting, whether they are family, friends, or total strangers. I don't know why I didn't really think about it in that way, but it made me physically sick because I am chronically late... and thus chronically - disrepectful. Shed a tear on that little epiphany. (Case in point - was an hour late to a family birthday party recently - and I was bringing the birthday cake!) No matter how hard I've tried, I always manage to be at least a few minutes late. But starting today, I'm going to make some big changes to turn this one around.
   
2. Listen - Sometimes my husband tells me I never listen... and he's kind of right. Many times, I'll get a call on my cell phone. I put the phone on speaker mode, then continue folding clothes, cleaning, cooking dinner, watching tv or whatever else I'm trying to do... while trying to listen and respond to the conversation too. There are pieces I miss and I know it gets frustrating for the person on the other end. The fix? I need to take a breather and focus on the conversation... or ask them to call back when I am not in the middle of something. Again, kind of disrepectful on my part, which I fully intend to change.


3. Focus on the Road - While I am in the car, no more lengthy and animated cell phone calls with a girlfriend, applying fake eye lashes, eating a double quarter pounder with melting cheese or flat-ironing & curling my hair (who really does that in the car???). Bottom line: driving while under the influence of any distraction, but especially a cell phone (talking or texting) is just dangerous. Check out this game by the NY Times: "Gauging Your Distraction". Enough said.

The interesting thing is that these little fixes all relate to one very big problem - I'm a chronic multi-tasker/over-planner. Although I have the best intentions of being on time, being a good listener and being a safe driver, I need to slow down, RELAX and be in the moment.

Life goes by too fast to be more concerned with checking off a to-do list than just enjoying the ride. Here's to 2010 - a year of quality, rather than quantity!

Dance Your Heart Out

Inspired by the Spirit of Women movement and the Pink Glove Dance (by Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland), Evergreen Hospital Medical Center - my lovely place of employment - has upped the ante with this YouTube gem... enjoy!

"Evergreen: Dance Your Way to Heart Health"

* "So, where's Michelle?", you ask. Unfortunately, you won't find me in any of the dance sequences... they did it on one of my days off.

... and AFTER!

Here is our kitchen BEFORE the demolition began.

I forgot to post this picture in the "BEFORE" post, but it is most necessary for a good comparison, as it is a similar vantage point to the "AFTER" picture below.

The kitchen is the area that received the most dramatic change, and thus, I am posting first things first. I still have to borrow the other pictures from the contractor's website (kudos and many thanks to our friend, Brian, for doing such an awesome job!); I slacked and didn't take any "AFTER" pictures before we moved stuff back in. And, honestly, the comparison just isn't fair if the "AFTER" pictures are filled with all of our ultra fabulous home furnishings and such.

Anyway... in true Extreme Home Makeover fashion, I just have to say: "bus driver, move that bus"!

Love it.

Sweet Dreams

Sunday at Daybreak

Lazy Sunday morning.

Waiting for afternoon church.

A new day dawns.

A spontaneous photoshoot.

Priceless.

Brent & Azzlinn Get Married!

With all of the craziness that the holidays can provide, why not add a wedding to the mix? Sounds like a good idea, right?! Actually, it was a lovely winter wedding and it made sense as families were home for the holidays, so all of the siblings were able to be there for Brent and Azzlinn's big day.

It was a beautiful day, even though the sky was a little gray and drizzly, we could spy glimpses of blue sky peaking through the clouds. Despite a very long talk from the sealer, the sealing was wonderful and it was nice to be there for my little brother.

After a few pictures in the freezing cold, we hurried over to Edmonds to pick up the cupcakes and our little guy (who had an upset stomach), we met up with everyone at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The luncheon was great and 50+ people made for loads of interesting conversations.

After the luncheon, we headed up north to Smokey Point to start prepping for the reception at the stake center. Azzlinn's family did most of the decorating and they were able to transform the cultural hall into a beautiful backdrop for the evening's festivities.

A few months ago, they asked me to make the cake - well, cupcakes - for their big day. It was an honor to be asked to help, although I was a bit trepidatious as it was my first time doing something like that for something so important.

The days leading up to the wedding were chaotic, with frosting, dragees and fondant flying. Around 10pm, on their wedding eve, I had 250 cupcakes sitting on the table; they were baked, filled and placed in bins to be transported to the church to receive the finishing touches.

Thanks to help from my mom, sister Kali, sister-in-law Rachel and future sister-in-law Kristie, I was able to kick them out much faster than if I had just been working on my own. The best part, in my opinion, was the cupcake stand that I asked a friend to make for me; it turned out

so perfect and really added that extra punch for the display at the reception.

Unfortunately, we were dealing with a sick kiddo, so we only stayed for half of the reception. But, we were able to be there for the cake cutting, which did not fail to entertain. With that, I wanted to wish congratulations to the newlywed Marchants - thanks for being guinea pigs for my first wedding cake adventure!