a.rose

My mom and grandpa are here visiting for the week.  This morning, over our granola and Honeycombs, my grandpa and I had an interesting conversation.  (Hallie calls him Poppa.)  There were really two separate conversations, but they connected in my head, so I'll record them both here, and if you can see the connection too, then you think like me!  If you're confused, don't worry about it.  Also, this post is long. First we were talking about how we don't notice how well our body works until some part of it fails.  My mom had been telling my grandpa about my hypothyroidism, and how the doctors said my thyroid basically just quit, and we were talking about my sister's troubles with her kidney and my brother with his pancreas.  My grandpa was quiet for a moment and then he started talking about how we take our bodies for granted, don't even realize how well they function and how amazing it is that they work so well... until some part of it stops working ...

As some of you may know, Hallie was supposed to be a little lamb for Halloween.  It was going to be great.  But, as most of you probably know, my imagination far exceeds my talent for actually making any of these crafty things I dream up.  So, I put the costume that I had been slaving over for weeks on her as a test run, and I could not stop laughing.  (At least I keep a sense of humor when I fail miserably... sometimes.)  All I could say was that she looked like a marshmallow.  Well, I was supposed to be Mary who Had a Little Lamb for the ward Halloween party, and of course, I couldn't be farmgirl Mary without a lamb, so I was stumped until it occurred to me that I could be chocolate. But then Devin was Jack and the Beanstalk all by himself, and wouldn't that be lonely?  I really struggled here because I had already finished his costume, and it actually looked great.  (In my opinion. Look for a Jack and the Beanstalk next year, I guess.)  B...

Mile 21 Here is another picture of the race and some details for any who are curious about those sorts of things.  Devin's final official time was 3:35:02, which out of the 13 (he says 13, I say 17) marathons he has done was his third worst time, but in this race he ended up finishing 19th out of 78 in his age group and 139th out of 1009 overall.  As a person completely committed to never punishing my body that way, I'd say it's quite impressive. Devin's support team: Pappy, GranB, Aunt Mimi, Uncle Jeff, and baby Jill (not pictured: Michelle [Dewitt] H.).  (this picture merely represents the support team that was able to be there in person.  We know that there was a support contingency in California, and one in Utah as well.)  And of course, Hallie and I are not in this picture, and clearly we were there to support him. Thanks guys, we love you!!

I married a runner.  He runs marathons.  He hasn't done one since we got married however, because I selfishly didn't want to give up half of my Saturdays while he trained.  But he really wanted to do one, and he worked out a way that he could do his long run on Wednesdays, and so he wasn't gone too long on Saturdays and I was ok with that.  This past weekend we went off for the big event.  We were really nervous about it because he hurt his knee about three weeks prior, so we weren't sure how he was going to do.  It was also ridiculously cold, it was the coldest weather in which he had ever done a marathon, so he wasn't sure how to dress for it either.  He especially couldn't decide on whether or not to wear the tights.  He put them on Saturday morning, and I thought "Good.  The cold weather makes his knee hurt more, so if he's warm maybe it won't be so bad."  Then the next time I saw him that morning he no longer had tights on.  ...

So my blogger page is in Dutch again.  It did this to me last fall also.  I have no idea what I did to make it go Dutch, nor do I know what I did last year to make it eventually be in English... the only thing I can think of is that it was at this time two years ago that we lived in the Netherlands, and maybe the computer is reminiscing? It sounds absurd I know, but how else do you explain it periodically wanting to speak Dutch? Or does your computer do that too? And do you know how to make it English again?

Thanks for all of your comments, advice and encouragement from my post on Parenting. It was fun to read what you had to say. And, just in case you were wondering what I actually did in each of those situations, here ya go. (And if you weren't, then this is just for posterity.) 1. So she leaned down and bit me, and at first I was so shocked and startled by the pain I didn't do anything. Then I said, "Hallie, let go of Mommy." That didn't work, so I pinched her cheeks together and said, "Hallie you need to stop biting Mommy." I kept holding her jaw until she let go. (The suggestion to put my finger in her mouth was an interesting one, which I have since tried, and she just bit down on that finger as well. Maybe I did it wrong?) So then Devin took her out into the hall. 2. This is a scene we have almost daily at our place. Depending on what she's been doing and how irritating/ inappropriate the behavior is I do different things. If she has, sa...

So Devin is in New Jersey tonight and Hallie and I have been having our standard battle of wills, but this time I don't have any Devin mediator coming home soon to look forward to. Let's just say her personality overwhelms me. So, I've been thinking about single moms (and dads) and how they do this all day every day, probably with only the occasional break... and how much respect I have for them that they can manage to have children that grow up to be healthy and happy, and remain sane themselves. Here are other people whom I really respect for working magic in their lives: - Single moms and dads - Husbands (and wives) who work extremely hard to provide for their families - Teens and young adults who are growing up and turning into strong, brave, valiant adults in this world that is tilting further on its axis each year, as far as I can tell - The people from all demographics of life that deal with illness and handicaps but learn how to do it with grace and dignity ...

There are so many times throughout my day when I internally throw my hands up in the air and internally shriek "what am I supposed to do?" and then even after the moment has passed I am still not sure if what I did was the right thing. So, I've decided to post a few of these scenarios, because I'd like to pick your brains about what you'd do in these situations. Scenario 1: You are sitting in church. You have a toddler on your lap, and she's being pretty good. Quite suddenly she leans down towards your forearm and bites it. Hard. She does not let go. You say, "Hallie, don't bite mommy." She does not let go. You aren't sure how much longer you can stand to have her teeth digging into your skin. You lean over to your husband. "Hallie is biting me, and I can't get her to stop." Scenario 2: She does something for the eleventh time that you have told her quite sternly not to do. Therefore, this is the eleventh time you are...

If you ever in your life thought you were cool with your jump-rope in the driveway (my sister and I used to have "Jump-Rope Olympics"), you have to watch this video. I have never seen anything like it, and Hallie was entranced the entire time saying "What's that?" to which I responded each time "Jumping!" although that's sort of like seeing a unicorn and just calling it a horse. I do have to wonder though about the bruises these girls must have come home with when rehearsals were still in the "rough" stages. My goodness! And if you're not impressed in the first minute, wait for it. IT GETS CRAZY.

Here are a few reasons I love my church: 1. We sing songs about streams that talk, trees that make popcorn, and our children want to be sunbeams. (Uchtdorf) 2. President Monson recently met with President Obama, and presented him with his family history going back several hundred years, as previous prophets had done for Presidents Bush and Clinton. (Ensign, Oct. 2009) 3. Twice a year we get to hear the words of God, spoken through the mouths of his prophet and apostles living on the earth today - bringing comfort and words of advice, caution, and wisdom for the trials of our day. 4. The encouragement I feel in their confidence in our (my) ability to succeed. They make it sound so simple, so possible to accomplish... I guess that's why I need General Conference every six months to keep the doubts about my capacity to be what I want to be at bay. They say I can - I can!! 5. During Jorge F. Zeballos talk on Saturday afternoon, Hallie used her big girl potty for the first time! And ...

So I have an appointment to meet with the surgeon on Monday to have my hernia evaluated or something like that. I guess he's supposed to tell me whether or not I have to have surgery, and if so, when. For the girl who spent most of her life afraid of the pizza delivery guy, I'm a little nervous and a lot terrified. I'm sure he'll be a very nice man, and luckily it doesn't hurt as much as it did a few days ago, so as long as he touches my belly button gently I might not cry... Please keep thinking about me!