Friday, October 31, 2008
Childress Halloween Costumes
Thank you Bonnie!! Here's all of her brilliant (and cheap) costumes that were recently published in the paper. If you're looking for some great ideas for next year, you must check it out! I think Frankenstein, Frodo, and Doby are my favorites. Cute costume models too!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What I Won't be Putting on my Facebook Profile
I wanted to put the following on my Facebook profile, but it's too long. But if you're curious, here's our story in a very small nutshell:
Ben and I met in Sophomore English class. We were good friends throughout high school, but didn't really start dating until Senior Prom, one week before graduation. After a magic weekend I was still on the fence about him, but Ben did some hard and fast talking, and I caved. We spent every minute of a beautiful, whirl-wind summer together, then I went to Idaho to school, and he went to Brazil on a mission.
A few months after his arrival home, it was my turn to talk hard and fast, and I eventually wore him down. We hung on through some ups and downs, and in May '02 we were married in the Logan temple.
In Nov. '04 we had our first beautiful boy, and in June '07 we had our second beautiful boy. It's been quite a journey, but I can honestly say that these are the best days of my life.
Ben and I met in Sophomore English class. We were good friends throughout high school, but didn't really start dating until Senior Prom, one week before graduation. After a magic weekend I was still on the fence about him, but Ben did some hard and fast talking, and I caved. We spent every minute of a beautiful, whirl-wind summer together, then I went to Idaho to school, and he went to Brazil on a mission.A few months after his arrival home, it was my turn to talk hard and fast, and I eventually wore him down. We hung on through some ups and downs, and in May '02 we were married in the Logan temple.
In Nov. '04 we had our first beautiful boy, and in June '07 we had our second beautiful boy. It's been quite a journey, but I can honestly say that these are the best days of my life.
Bonnie's Brilliance
My fabulous sis-in-law, Bonnie, was recently invited to contribute many of her brilliant under $10 Halloween costume ideas to the local paper. They did a full-page spread all a
bout them which you can see, minus the pics, here. Here's a few of the costumes featured in that article.
How cute are Frodo's hairy feet?!
More cute pics of her kids in costume can be seen here. My favorites are the twins as Thing 1 and Thing 2.It was way fun to see all the pics of her kids in the paper, including a big-as-life pic of Big D as Doby the house elf.
For more fun with Bonnie, check out her blog. I'm hoping that once her laptop is fixed she'll post the rest of the pics so I can link over. (hint, hint; nudge, nudge)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
My Bedroom Is Nearly Finished!
We've been in the middle of finishing our bedroom since Sweety was born, summer 2007. Ben had to re-build the closet and surrounding wall, so our stuff has been scattered all over our cluttered little mobile home, and we've been playing musical rooms and for ages. One major complication we've run into is that I sleep in that room at night, and Ben sleeps in that room during the day. It's been hard to find time for either of us to work in there.
With the deer hunt last week, Ben's sister, Amanda, suggested that this might be the time. She and our sister-in-law, also Amanda, gave up 3 days to help me finish up this project. It was great fun to work on this with these two silly (Woops, did I say silly? I mean wise, and deeply matured) girls. ;)
We spackled, painted, and even put up molding! I'm so indebted to the Amandas. I never would have had the guts, let alone the time, to do it all myself!
The walls are a slightly red-ish beige, almost peach, and the trim is all dark brown. We took the colors strait from the curtains I made. I love it!
Upon Ben's return, he put recessed lighting behind the molding, and installed a dimmer switch. The effect on the antique-white celing is breathtaking.
We just have a few more loose ends to tie up, (paint touch-ups, installing closet doors, etc) and we'll be done! That's 5 rooms done, 3 to go, and our little house will be completely finished.
With the deer hunt last week, Ben's sister, Amanda, suggested that this might be the time. She and our sister-in-law, also Amanda, gave up 3 days to help me finish up this project. It was great fun to work on this with these two silly (Woops, did I say silly? I mean wise, and deeply matured) girls. ;)
We spackled, painted, and even put up molding! I'm so indebted to the Amandas. I never would have had the guts, let alone the time, to do it all myself!
The walls are a slightly red-ish beige, almost peach, and the trim is all dark brown. We took the colors strait from the curtains I made. I love it!
Upon Ben's return, he put recessed lighting behind the molding, and installed a dimmer switch. The effect on the antique-white celing is breathtaking.
We just have a few more loose ends to tie up, (paint touch-ups, installing closet doors, etc) and we'll be done! That's 5 rooms done, 3 to go, and our little house will be completely finished.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Reason We Call Him 'Smarty'
I have spent a fair amount of time discussing my kids' weaknesses with y'all. So in the interest of balance, I thought I'd take a minute to brag about Smarty.
His advanced thinking amazes me! At least every month or two he knocks me flat with a demonstration of his ability to reason and/or maturity. He absorbs so much and puts it all together without help!
Case in point: he has been reading small words for some time now. We didn't teach him to read! He pushed us to help him get familiar the sounds letters make, and he figured out the rest.
This week we've made several trips to Home Depot, so I'm sure we've talked about the store a little. But the last time we pulled up to the store, I heard Smarty sounding out the words written on the front of the building! I'm sure he had some contextual help, but they're not short and easy words. I'm so impressed!
It was so cute. He was reading slowly along, but when he got to the 't' he said it with a question in his voice. He could see it was there at the end of the word, but he knew the sound didn't belong. Not bad for an almost 4 yr old!
If you have a kid in your house learning letters or leaning to read, check out Starfall.com. It's totally kid friendly, and there's no links to outside sites. Smarty has spent hours quenching his thirst for knowledge with their games and stories. My mom loves it for her first graders.
His advanced thinking amazes me! At least every month or two he knocks me flat with a demonstration of his ability to reason and/or maturity. He absorbs so much and puts it all together without help!
Case in point: he has been reading small words for some time now. We didn't teach him to read! He pushed us to help him get familiar the sounds letters make, and he figured out the rest.
This week we've made several trips to Home Depot, so I'm sure we've talked about the store a little. But the last time we pulled up to the store, I heard Smarty sounding out the words written on the front of the building! I'm sure he had some contextual help, but they're not short and easy words. I'm so impressed!It was so cute. He was reading slowly along, but when he got to the 't' he said it with a question in his voice. He could see it was there at the end of the word, but he knew the sound didn't belong. Not bad for an almost 4 yr old!
If you have a kid in your house learning letters or leaning to read, check out Starfall.com. It's totally kid friendly, and there's no links to outside sites. Smarty has spent hours quenching his thirst for knowledge with their games and stories. My mom loves it for her first graders.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Bambi? Well, we call them Freds (Ben Posting)
So, we aren't really good deer hunters. We didn't take any pictures of us with our dead bucks. Nothing to show off and brag and gross the girls out with. Sorry.
The group consisted of My Dad, Zeke (my brother), Lamont (Amy's Dad), and me. Ken (Bonnie's Husband) was supposed to be part of our group, but, crap happens. We stayed at Lamont and Linda's house in Panguitch, UT. Nice beds and good cooking (thanks to Linda!) No camping, no "roughing it", no going for a week without a bath. What kind of deer hunters are we?
On Saturday I was watching a valley in the afternoon waiting for a buck to come to water. Zeke was using a spotting scope to scan a side hill. He called over to me to bring my cannon, .270 WSM, (Winchester Short Magnum) - (not really a cannon!), He asked me if I wanted to try a 1,000 Yard shot. I said, "Why not?" I shot two shots to figure out where a was hitting so far away. Then the third hit my deer. We ran over and took care of my small two point buck and took it back to Lamont's house. Day done.
On Sunday only Lamont went hunting. We went to get an actual measurement for my shot. It turned out to be 640 yards. Just over 1/3rd of a mile.
On Monday Lamont went with the neighbors. Dad, Zeke, and I went for a drive just south of town. We were on a side dirt road and saw two Spike Bucks. Zeke hopped out and shot the biggest of the two about 50 yards away. By 11:00 we were back home deboning my deer and heading to Henrie's for a burger and onion rings. Then we went back and quartered Zeke's buck and put it in the cooler, so he could go back home to his family.
Tuesday we went back around where Zeke got his Fred. We were on top of a hill and Lamont was peering into the trees and saw a "monster buck". He shot and missed. We teased him ruthlessly. Lamont and I walked down the mountain while Dad drove down to the bottom to see if we could push the "Monster Buck" out. I caught a glimpse of a big butt but no antlers. I also already had my Fred. That evening, we went up to the Water Works and Dad shot a nice three point about 75 yards away. Easy cheesy.
Wednesday we went looking for the "Monster buck" for Lamont. I walked up the hill to try and push the deer up to Lamont. I only pushed out two doe. Lamont said they had their afterburners on when they crossed by him. Later that day we went back up to the water works and Lamont shot a nice 2-by-3 Fred about 300 yards away. His took the most work to get out of all of them. Mine was even easier.
It was a very successful deer hunt in all. We missed Ken. We all shot deer. Only one a day, which made for not too much work in one day. And we saw some beautiful country. I found two nice Elk antler sheds, (the antlers they drop every spring) Zeke found a fossilized snail shell.
I found a fossilized scrotum. (j/k, it was a volcanic bubble that at first glance to a mind in the gutter....)
We found five full beer cans which we shook up and had a good time using for target practice, (hey, it was important to make sure no minors got a hold of it, right?) and we found my jacket which I had lost two days prior.
Darn good "male bonding" time.
--Ben
The group consisted of My Dad, Zeke (my brother), Lamont (Amy's Dad), and me. Ken (Bonnie's Husband) was supposed to be part of our group, but, crap happens. We stayed at Lamont and Linda's house in Panguitch, UT. Nice beds and good cooking (thanks to Linda!) No camping, no "roughing it", no going for a week without a bath. What kind of deer hunters are we?
On Saturday I was watching a valley in the afternoon waiting for a buck to come to water. Zeke was using a spotting scope to scan a side hill. He called over to me to bring my cannon, .270 WSM, (Winchester Short Magnum) - (not really a cannon!), He asked me if I wanted to try a 1,000 Yard shot. I said, "Why not?" I shot two shots to figure out where a was hitting so far away. Then the third hit my deer. We ran over and took care of my small two point buck and took it back to Lamont's house. Day done.
On Sunday only Lamont went hunting. We went to get an actual measurement for my shot. It turned out to be 640 yards. Just over 1/3rd of a mile.
On Monday Lamont went with the neighbors. Dad, Zeke, and I went for a drive just south of town. We were on a side dirt road and saw two Spike Bucks. Zeke hopped out and shot the biggest of the two about 50 yards away. By 11:00 we were back home deboning my deer and heading to Henrie's for a burger and onion rings. Then we went back and quartered Zeke's buck and put it in the cooler, so he could go back home to his family.
Tuesday we went back around where Zeke got his Fred. We were on top of a hill and Lamont was peering into the trees and saw a "monster buck". He shot and missed. We teased him ruthlessly. Lamont and I walked down the mountain while Dad drove down to the bottom to see if we could push the "Monster Buck" out. I caught a glimpse of a big butt but no antlers. I also already had my Fred. That evening, we went up to the Water Works and Dad shot a nice three point about 75 yards away. Easy cheesy.
Wednesday we went looking for the "Monster buck" for Lamont. I walked up the hill to try and push the deer up to Lamont. I only pushed out two doe. Lamont said they had their afterburners on when they crossed by him. Later that day we went back up to the water works and Lamont shot a nice 2-by-3 Fred about 300 yards away. His took the most work to get out of all of them. Mine was even easier.
It was a very successful deer hunt in all. We missed Ken. We all shot deer. Only one a day, which made for not too much work in one day. And we saw some beautiful country. I found two nice Elk antler sheds, (the antlers they drop every spring) Zeke found a fossilized snail shell.
I found a fossilized scrotum. (j/k, it was a volcanic bubble that at first glance to a mind in the gutter....)We found five full beer cans which we shook up and had a good time using for target practice, (hey, it was important to make sure no minors got a hold of it, right?) and we found my jacket which I had lost two days prior.
Darn good "male bonding" time.
--Ben
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Our Meeting with the Endo
Sweety and I finally met with the endo yesterday and discussed test results. And what we learned was... Sweety needs more testing! Blegh!
The X-ray shows something funny going on in a finger and some of his toes that could be an indication of bone disease. (rickets and the like) The chances of that are slim, thank goodness, but it still needs to be checked out. And while the blood work indicated his IGF level is immeasurable, (below 24) the endo wants to know exactly where he's at, (22 or 3 or whatever) and how that compares to other IGF deficient kids his age.
Here comes the tricky part. So far we've been to hospitals for testing, but that won't work this time. Apparently hospitals indicate whether results are "normal" or not based on the results of all the tests that they've performed. But because IGF deficiency doesn't pop up much in kids this young, a hospital indication of normal or not may not have much data behind it. So now we're off to a testing facility that can tie into a nation-wide data bank of test results. Hopefully we'll be provided with a more accurate picture.
Have any of you been to such a facility? I'm wondering what I can expect for insurance coverage. So far we've been blessed beyond what we deserve, but I'd still like to know what I'm in for. Please send me an email or comment if you have any clue!
Don't quit reading yet; I've saved the best news for last! (tee, hee, hee) Sweety maintained his growth curve!!! When the endo's office measured him last May his weight and height landed him on the chart right between -5% and -10%. And the 2-ish inches and 3-ish pounds he's gained since then sticks him in the same spot! WOO-HOO!!!!!!
Pardon my vacancy, I'm dancing a jig for a moment (doot, de-doot, de-doot, ya ya!) Ok, on with the story:
The endo said that in families with a history of shortness, bigger infants can have a "corrective episode" where they don't grow for a while in order to place themselves in the percentile they were really meant to be in. This seams to fit as Sweety was a much bigger newborn than Smarty, and we all know that Ben and I have plenty of short genes swimming in our pool. We even have 3 or 4 super-short relatives apiece.
Don't worry, I know I can't count chickens just yet, but here's hoping. Thanks for all the prayers y'all. I'm sure that's what's making the difference.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Updates
Sweety and Smarty both had their six-month therapy evaluations this week and the news is good:
Sweety's obviously not going to lean to crawl in a functional manner. Apparently he's decided that cruising furniture and taking a few steps between chairs and couches is a much more efficient way to get around. (who can blame him? I have to agree.) That's okay. Eventually we'll be able to reason with him, and turn crawling into a game, so that he can still receive the benefits of learning to crawl. (shoulder and knee strength, depth perception, cross-brain interaction)
So for now, we're working on balance and improving transitions between laying, sitting, standing, etc. We're also going to start working on simple instructions like: please give that to me, please clap your hands, please stop pulling my hair, etc.
As for speech, he has several good syllables in his repertoire, but our ST wants to see those connected to his play more often. Also, he has two solid words besides mama and dada. He signs 'please' and says "mah, mah" for 'more.' Our ST wants to increase that to five words in the next six months, and if they're going to be signed words, she wants some kind of utterance to accompany them. I think we can do more than five, but we'll see.
Smarty has worked really hard, and it is paying off. In fact, he barely even qualifies for therapy at this point! Our goals for the next six months seam almost silly compared to previous evaluations!
His speech has improved beyond my craziest hopes. He conquers the longest sentences and most complicated words, but he still has trouble with the flow of his sentences. He speaks disjointedly, pausing between syllables, and he doesn't always have much inflection (ie: raising the pitch of the voice at the end of a question) or puts the wrong inflection in the wrong spot. So there's that to work on, but it's pretty nit-picky.
He's also still a tiny behind socially. He interacts and relates well with adults, but he's still a little intimidated by peers. We will be encouraging him to invite his friends to drive cars or play house or whatever, and to respond better to such invitations from others.
But that's it! His small and large motor skills are all at least on the low end of average, many are near the middle, and as always, his cognitive development is way ahead of the game! You're awesome kid; keep it up!
Sweety's obviously not going to lean to crawl in a functional manner. Apparently he's decided that cruising furniture and taking a few steps between chairs and couches is a much more efficient way to get around. (who can blame him? I have to agree.) That's okay. Eventually we'll be able to reason with him, and turn crawling into a game, so that he can still receive the benefits of learning to crawl. (shoulder and knee strength, depth perception, cross-brain interaction)
So for now, we're working on balance and improving transitions between laying, sitting, standing, etc. We're also going to start working on simple instructions like: please give that to me, please clap your hands, please stop pulling my hair, etc.
As for speech, he has several good syllables in his repertoire, but our ST wants to see those connected to his play more often. Also, he has two solid words besides mama and dada. He signs 'please' and says "mah, mah" for 'more.' Our ST wants to increase that to five words in the next six months, and if they're going to be signed words, she wants some kind of utterance to accompany them. I think we can do more than five, but we'll see.
Smarty has worked really hard, and it is paying off. In fact, he barely even qualifies for therapy at this point! Our goals for the next six months seam almost silly compared to previous evaluations!
His speech has improved beyond my craziest hopes. He conquers the longest sentences and most complicated words, but he still has trouble with the flow of his sentences. He speaks disjointedly, pausing between syllables, and he doesn't always have much inflection (ie: raising the pitch of the voice at the end of a question) or puts the wrong inflection in the wrong spot. So there's that to work on, but it's pretty nit-picky.
He's also still a tiny behind socially. He interacts and relates well with adults, but he's still a little intimidated by peers. We will be encouraging him to invite his friends to drive cars or play house or whatever, and to respond better to such invitations from others.
But that's it! His small and large motor skills are all at least on the low end of average, many are near the middle, and as always, his cognitive development is way ahead of the game! You're awesome kid; keep it up!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Ben Slays Bambi!
I'm sure this pic is totally fake, but it's so funny!
Congrats Ben! He brought down a two-point at 600+ yards last Friday. I'm far too ignorant to share any details that would be meaningful to the hunter crowd. I'll try to convince him to post about it.
He's been living it up in Panguitch, Ut since Thurs, enjoying some much deserved playtime. The boys and I are proud of him, but we're all looking forward to his triumphant return. Sweety had a tough time in church today. He's usually Ben's little church buddy, and he wasn't as happy to hang out with Amy or I.
Today when I asked Smarty where Dad was he said, "He get a deer at the deer store." I pointed out that Dad went into the woods to find them, and that deer are good hiders. Then after a thoughtful minute he added, "I want Dad bring a sheep too!"
Hmmmm... I hope Smarty doesn't think we will be aquiring some new pets! Looks like I have some explaining to do. Wish me luck!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Just Braggin'
I think I must have the cutest kids ever. (I hope you all feel the same about your kids!)
Here's Sweety in a little suit I love
Here's Smarty attempting to build a tower using every single lego he owns
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Smarty's First Snowman
This morning I was up early with Sweety, and in the pre-dawn light I witnessed the first few snowflakes of the season. I must admit it was so beautiful! But it was a bitter-sweet moment, almost unfair that the destroyer of our sunny weather came in such a fluffy package, looking no more harmful than lace, clinging to our green grass.
The snow fell steadily all morning. In fact, by the time we arrived home from church at noon, there was 6 ot 8 inches on the ground. I guess Winter is far too impatient this year to notice that we're only just starting into Autumn here. The trees around here are still holding all their foilage.
It never ceases to amaze me. There was no violent storm, no hullabaloo, and yet, tiny flakes on delicate leaves, tears apart the sturdiest of trees. Trust us; we know. We have the evidence laying in our back yard, waiting to be chopped up and hauled away.
Ah, what can you do? We decided to celebrate. We bundled Smarty up, (ala the Christmas Story style) and he and Ben built his first Snowman... well Snow-person anyway. I'm not quite sure if it's a man or a woman. What do you think?
Gathering plenty of snow
Smarty would pat a little snow around the bottom and announce that he was adding feet or smash some onto the the middle section for hands. He really got into it.
Smarty decides he wants his mittens back
Our snowman now leans precariously after having taken a snowball to the head. Thanks a lot Ben!
Smarty and Ben warm back up and talk about how much fun they had.
The snow fell steadily all morning. In fact, by the time we arrived home from church at noon, there was 6 ot 8 inches on the ground. I guess Winter is far too impatient this year to notice that we're only just starting into Autumn here. The trees around here are still holding all their foilage.
It never ceases to amaze me. There was no violent storm, no hullabaloo, and yet, tiny flakes on delicate leaves, tears apart the sturdiest of trees. Trust us; we know. We have the evidence laying in our back yard, waiting to be chopped up and hauled away.
Ah, what can you do? We decided to celebrate. We bundled Smarty up, (ala the Christmas Story style) and he and Ben built his first Snowman... well Snow-person anyway. I'm not quite sure if it's a man or a woman. What do you think?
Gathering plenty of snow
Smarty showing Dad where to put the head
Smarty would pat a little snow around the bottom and announce that he was adding feet or smash some onto the the middle section for hands. He really got into it.
The finished product
Smarty decides he wants his mittens back
Our snowman now leans precariously after having taken a snowball to the head. Thanks a lot Ben!
Smarty and Ben warm back up and talk about how much fun they had.
Friday, October 10, 2008
My Soap Box about Tipping a Server
My bro, Joe makes his living as a server/ bartender. Yeah, he's pretty good at it.
All that obvious charm, how could he not be? It's disgusting, really.
He's far too gracious to ever complain about a stingy tipper, but the facts of his job make some things plain to me. And because I have a blog, I'm going to share my philosophy about tipping a server, with all of you! (No need for thanks)
Here's the crux: Tipping should be an opportunity for rewarding good behavior, not punishing the lack of good behavior! (Every single server has a mother people; don't steal her job.)
It's true that servers earn a base wage, but at least in Joe's case, his base wage is just enough to cover his taxes at the end of the year, and nothing more. That means that his ability to feed and clothe himself, to make car payments and rent payments, and wine and dine some sweet girl enough to dazzle her into marrying him and baring me some babies to play with... woah, getting a little sidetracked there...
Anyway, his sole means of providing for his needs and wants comes from that wadded-up bill you plunk down in your spilled Pepsi. Not only that, he has to split that with the busser and a couple of other people too. Yikes hu.
I've heard it said that if the server's plight is so bad, we should just do away with tipping, and pay them a regular wage just like everyone else. That's probably exactly what we should do, but until that happens, I will be using the following formula to tip my servers.
If a server takes my order, brings my meal, checks on me once or twice, and presents the bill, all in a timely manner, then the server, and all the other help, did their job and receive a 15% tip from me.
Now, if my drink never goes empty then that's worth another 5%. If the server is friendly, without monopolizing the conversation then that's worth another 5%. If they do all of this and manage to anticipate my needs, then I'm glad to pay them a 30% tip or more.
I'm not saying that I never pay less than 15%, but those moments are few and far between. I remember once when my server showed up only three times, once to take my order, once to bring my food, and once to ask for money. Not only that, I had to wait like 45 minutes between each visit, and when my food did come, it looked and tasted like it had been sitting out, waiting for my server too.
I believe I only gave that person a whopping 5-7%. But I figure if they don't do their whole job, then they don't need their whole wage. I feel bad that the people working under bad servers suffer too, but maybe they'll use that opportunity to gently take the server by the hand and guide them into improvement... or maybe they'll just hackle them enough that they get the message! Either way, hopefully the server will quickly bring their skills up to par and begin earning whole tips.
Well there you have it. Just remember to tip your servers generously. Please people, or I may never get any nieces or nephews out of Joe!
All that obvious charm, how could he not be? It's disgusting, really.
He's far too gracious to ever complain about a stingy tipper, but the facts of his job make some things plain to me. And because I have a blog, I'm going to share my philosophy about tipping a server, with all of you! (No need for thanks)
Here's the crux: Tipping should be an opportunity for rewarding good behavior, not punishing the lack of good behavior! (Every single server has a mother people; don't steal her job.)
It's true that servers earn a base wage, but at least in Joe's case, his base wage is just enough to cover his taxes at the end of the year, and nothing more. That means that his ability to feed and clothe himself, to make car payments and rent payments, and wine and dine some sweet girl enough to dazzle her into marrying him and baring me some babies to play with... woah, getting a little sidetracked there...
Anyway, his sole means of providing for his needs and wants comes from that wadded-up bill you plunk down in your spilled Pepsi. Not only that, he has to split that with the busser and a couple of other people too. Yikes hu.
I've heard it said that if the server's plight is so bad, we should just do away with tipping, and pay them a regular wage just like everyone else. That's probably exactly what we should do, but until that happens, I will be using the following formula to tip my servers.
If a server takes my order, brings my meal, checks on me once or twice, and presents the bill, all in a timely manner, then the server, and all the other help, did their job and receive a 15% tip from me.
Now, if my drink never goes empty then that's worth another 5%. If the server is friendly, without monopolizing the conversation then that's worth another 5%. If they do all of this and manage to anticipate my needs, then I'm glad to pay them a 30% tip or more.
I'm not saying that I never pay less than 15%, but those moments are few and far between. I remember once when my server showed up only three times, once to take my order, once to bring my food, and once to ask for money. Not only that, I had to wait like 45 minutes between each visit, and when my food did come, it looked and tasted like it had been sitting out, waiting for my server too.
I believe I only gave that person a whopping 5-7%. But I figure if they don't do their whole job, then they don't need their whole wage. I feel bad that the people working under bad servers suffer too, but maybe they'll use that opportunity to gently take the server by the hand and guide them into improvement... or maybe they'll just hackle them enough that they get the message! Either way, hopefully the server will quickly bring their skills up to par and begin earning whole tips.
Well there you have it. Just remember to tip your servers generously. Please people, or I may never get any nieces or nephews out of Joe!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Smarty's First Kiss
So cute! As we were leaving a friend's house the other day, Smarty's little playmate began to cry. She was sad that he was leaving without hugging her good-bye. Well, Smarty felt terrible! How could he be so callous and leave his lady-friend in such pain?
He rushed to her side, rapped her in his arms, and planted a wet kiss right on her mouth! Her father, standing next to the affectionate pair, evidenced his approval (or amusement) with a low cat call, and we all had a good laugh!
I guess they really do grow up faster than you think! :)
He rushed to her side, rapped her in his arms, and planted a wet kiss right on her mouth! Her father, standing next to the affectionate pair, evidenced his approval (or amusement) with a low cat call, and we all had a good laugh!
I guess they really do grow up faster than you think! :)
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Pleasantly Surprised
I took Sweety to Primary Children's Hospital last Friday for more tests. Yes, we now know that he has an IGF deficiency, but they're looking for some more specific info and ruling out some other stuff.
In an attempt to delay the torture, we started with X-rays, the reason for journeying to Primary Children's. When we last had Sweety's bone-age done, our local hospital merely took pictures of one hand, which is apparently not fully accurate for children under two yrs old. The hope was, if we go to a Children's Hospital, they'd better understand how to capture his bone-age.
Much to my disappointment, the technician took pictures of Sweety's hand again. I expressed my concern, but he didn't know anything else to do. He checked with his supervisor, and then took pictures of Sweety's individual fingers. I figured I'd just have to call the endo myself, find out exactly what he wanted, and come back again.
We then moved on to the blood work.
Sweety hasn't had good experiences in the past, so I was ready for some misery. I warned the phlebotomist, that Sweety has taken down the best of the best at our hospital, and was probably a hard stick. I was glad when she asked why he was so difficult and where we'd had success. She carefully looked him over and made a surprising decision.
The largest, and closest to the surface, vein Sweety has is buried in rolls of fat in the bend of his wrist. This rather intimidating location didn't frighted her. She called in reinforcements, (3 other people!) and with absolutely no hic-ups, managed to draw all the needed blood on the first try!
Sweety calmed down in no time; I think he was in shock that it was over so quickly. I however, was nearly in tears! I took some self-restraint, but I managed to not jump in the phlebotomist's lap and kiss her on the mouth!
Then as we were heading out the door, we were called back to X-ray. While we were in blood work, the X-ray people called our endo and found that we needed pictures of the whole left side of Sweety's body. Apparently no one ever needs a bone age on kids as young as Sweety, (I always knew my baby was special) so X- ray techs don't know that's required. I am so glad that they were willing to double check, solely on my recommendation, and save me the time and bother of coming back again!
Click, click, click, a few more pictures, and we were on our way home! Thanks Primary Children's for listening to this Mom with no medical credentials. Our experience was remarkably satisfying; our drive was definitely worth it!
In an attempt to delay the torture, we started with X-rays, the reason for journeying to Primary Children's. When we last had Sweety's bone-age done, our local hospital merely took pictures of one hand, which is apparently not fully accurate for children under two yrs old. The hope was, if we go to a Children's Hospital, they'd better understand how to capture his bone-age.
Much to my disappointment, the technician took pictures of Sweety's hand again. I expressed my concern, but he didn't know anything else to do. He checked with his supervisor, and then took pictures of Sweety's individual fingers. I figured I'd just have to call the endo myself, find out exactly what he wanted, and come back again.
We then moved on to the blood work.
Sweety hasn't had good experiences in the past, so I was ready for some misery. I warned the phlebotomist, that Sweety has taken down the best of the best at our hospital, and was probably a hard stick. I was glad when she asked why he was so difficult and where we'd had success. She carefully looked him over and made a surprising decision.
The largest, and closest to the surface, vein Sweety has is buried in rolls of fat in the bend of his wrist. This rather intimidating location didn't frighted her. She called in reinforcements, (3 other people!) and with absolutely no hic-ups, managed to draw all the needed blood on the first try!
Sweety calmed down in no time; I think he was in shock that it was over so quickly. I however, was nearly in tears! I took some self-restraint, but I managed to not jump in the phlebotomist's lap and kiss her on the mouth!
Then as we were heading out the door, we were called back to X-ray. While we were in blood work, the X-ray people called our endo and found that we needed pictures of the whole left side of Sweety's body. Apparently no one ever needs a bone age on kids as young as Sweety, (I always knew my baby was special) so X- ray techs don't know that's required. I am so glad that they were willing to double check, solely on my recommendation, and save me the time and bother of coming back again!
Click, click, click, a few more pictures, and we were on our way home! Thanks Primary Children's for listening to this Mom with no medical credentials. Our experience was remarkably satisfying; our drive was definitely worth it!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Friday's Feast
I liked this Friday's Feast:
Appetizer
When was the last time you had your hair cut or trimmed?
Mid June-ish, my hubby, in our kitchen, with our scissors. (Sounds like a CLUE hypothesis.)
Soup
Name one thing you miss about being a child.
I miss not worrying about the future. Safety, money, security, that was all a given to me when I was a kid.
Salad
Pick one: butter, margarine, olive-oil
For taste is has to be butter! I'm a farm girl at heart. Olive-oil is irreplaceable too. But, I don't give a dang about margarine. Sorry margarine. :(
Main Course
If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?
I've had some experience with Spanish and some with American Sign Language. And while Spanish is so beautiful to listen to and infinitely practical in this country and the world at large, ASL comes naturally to me. That is, I don't have to struggle as hard to learn it. I've had two official semesters of ASL and lots of practice with Smarty. I would love to get proficient at it.
Dessert
Finish this sentence: In five years I expect to be...
...Acquiring a piece of land on which to plant my future dream house, mothering 3 or 4 children, and crossing a stage with my husband to finally recieve our bachelors diplomas. (Okay so that last one was probably a bit of a stretch, but here's hoping)
I hope to be...
...A little more patient, kind, understanding, brave, clean, thrifty, and pretty much everything else listed in the Boy Scout Motto.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Smarty Grows Up a Little More
I'm an idiot. All right I'm not an idiot, but I did something truly stupid yesterday. See this dang toy?
Smarty has been coveting this toy all year. Yesterday I saw this toy for the price I wanted to pay, so I attempted to sneak it onto our cart without Smarty noticing. See, I'm trying to get November birthday shopping and Christmas shopping done early, so we don't bare the expense of it all in one month. I have used the 'sneak it on the cart, then hide it in the heap of groceries' technique several times now, with a very high success rate. Unfortunately, this time it blew up in my face.
Smarty found the dang toy.
What could I do? I lied. And I never lie to my children. I told him it was a present for someone else. He dutifully accepted this, which made me feel insanely guilty! And he lovingly held the box as we finished our shopping. Then came checkout time.
The thing you need to know is that Smarty is one seriously material boy. And many, many times, my gentle, quiet little boy has changed into a raving, ranting lunatic at the store, especially when it comes time to check out and leave.
Not today, people. He was sad to give the thing up, to be sure, but he worked so hard to keep a good attitude! Several times, he would begin to cry, and then he would change it to laughter and find something funny to think about. As usual he asked for each individual junk-food item on the overflowing, racks by the cashier, but instead of freaking out when I said no, (we hadn't had dinner yet, so I couldn't even do that much for him) he kept up the good attitude.
When we got home he laid on his bed and had a good cry about the whole thing and remained very brave for the rest of the evening. I hugged him a million times and told him over and over how much I appreciated his effort. We had ice cream and chocolate milk before bed, because he was so great.
In his sleep last night, I heard him whimper about "Mack" a few more times, so this morning I caved a little and gave him this matchbox car to say thanks for his great attitude yesterday:
I know, I'm a softy, but it's better than giving him Mack, (the dang toy above) which I desperately wanted to do yesterday!
Smarty has been coveting this toy all year. Yesterday I saw this toy for the price I wanted to pay, so I attempted to sneak it onto our cart without Smarty noticing. See, I'm trying to get November birthday shopping and Christmas shopping done early, so we don't bare the expense of it all in one month. I have used the 'sneak it on the cart, then hide it in the heap of groceries' technique several times now, with a very high success rate. Unfortunately, this time it blew up in my face.Smarty found the dang toy.
What could I do? I lied. And I never lie to my children. I told him it was a present for someone else. He dutifully accepted this, which made me feel insanely guilty! And he lovingly held the box as we finished our shopping. Then came checkout time.
The thing you need to know is that Smarty is one seriously material boy. And many, many times, my gentle, quiet little boy has changed into a raving, ranting lunatic at the store, especially when it comes time to check out and leave.
Not today, people. He was sad to give the thing up, to be sure, but he worked so hard to keep a good attitude! Several times, he would begin to cry, and then he would change it to laughter and find something funny to think about. As usual he asked for each individual junk-food item on the overflowing, racks by the cashier, but instead of freaking out when I said no, (we hadn't had dinner yet, so I couldn't even do that much for him) he kept up the good attitude.
When we got home he laid on his bed and had a good cry about the whole thing and remained very brave for the rest of the evening. I hugged him a million times and told him over and over how much I appreciated his effort. We had ice cream and chocolate milk before bed, because he was so great.
In his sleep last night, I heard him whimper about "Mack" a few more times, so this morning I caved a little and gave him this matchbox car to say thanks for his great attitude yesterday:
I know, I'm a softy, but it's better than giving him Mack, (the dang toy above) which I desperately wanted to do yesterday!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
I'm a Blog Follower
By the way. It's been so fun to find so many of you old friends via the internet. I love to read all your blogs, but the blog list in my right column over here was getting crazy long. I tried to switch everyone but family, and one or two that I can't add by URL for some reason, over to the "Blogs I'm Following" tab on my dashboard. I'm scared that I may have missed someone. So if you don't receive word that I'm officially following your blog, or see me post a comment on your blog in the next few days, please say so! I don't want to loose y'all again. Love ya!
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