Conservation

In an effort to conserve time, water, energy and soap, which will also indirectly conserve money, I have decided to shower less frequently. Isn't that a good idea? I think so. I don't like working all the time like I have been and knowing I should work more. Therefore, instead of thinking of ways to earn more money, I have decided it's going to be easier to spend less, so ways to do this are always on my mind. I'll let you know if I think of any other great ideas. :)

Lately

Yesterday I had lots to do, including update my blog, but, first, I had to chop my fingernails off. They were long, yep, really long. My old piano teacher would not have been happy with me. Typing is just as hard to do with long nails as playing the piano. Besides working, I also got together with my cousins for our Thursday get together. We used to get together every Thursday and haven't done much in the summer, but I'm pleased to say we are back in action. This week we made a little craft. It's the first time we've done a craft and I can't remember the last time I did a craft. My indecisiveness kindly reminded me why I don't do crafts. Some of the girls were almost done with their boards before I even started. Anyway, it's just a little magnet board with fun magnets we made. I am going to put mine in Clara's room and hang pictures on it. Pretty much none of it was my idea and if it was, I didn't go through with it unless I got at least a second opinion, sometimes two or three. I love the magnets, they are my favorite part. I am going to make a few more with pictures instead of paper.

Thursday night was also my first Pack Meeting as the Wolf Assistant. I'm pretty sure I look awesome in my Scout shirt. We were going to have a swim party but a nice little storm blew in during the awards and sent all the kids running inside. It was at my old Bishop's house. His wife just smiled and didn't even blink when 60 or so people ran into her house from the wet grass. So far I have liked Scouts. Of course 90% of the reason is because my good friend Nylene is the Wolf leader. She keeps me in line, thank goodness.

Utah to Home

So one of my friends told me they are sick of looking at my blog and seeing "Oh Geeze!" so I guess that means they don't like to be reminded that they have a friend that is that dumb. Plus, two others have informed me they are waiting for an update on my Utah trip. I have been busy trying to get work caught up on, so I haven't had much time. Who knows when I'll have more time, I guess I'll just have to stay up past 900pm tonight...

Saturday in Utah was a busy one... We started with Micah's soccer game at 900am (800am AZ time, so that's kind of early... :)). It is fun to watch the little kiddos play soccer. After the game, Rachel invited me to go running with her. Since I've been so busy at work I haven't been going to the gym and even when I did go to the gym, I didn't run much. I warned her how slow and out of shape I was, but she didn't seem to mind. So we set off to run about 3 miles. We walked the first 1/2 mile because it was a super steep hill and she always walks up it. Then 1/2 mile after we started jogging, I couldn't breath. I'm pretty sure I have mental asthma. Haven't heard of it? I just made it up. Really, my lungs feel like they are half the size and my throat is like a tiny little tube sucking up air. So, we stopped for a bit and then started again and I had internal cramps so bad, so I had to stop. That's when Rachel informed me I was a wuss. She is totally in shape and ran a half marathon not too long ago so even a wuss on her standards is pretty tough. :) We did have a nice visit as we walked the rest of the way. Then, we went to Casey Anne's soccer game. We put Lucas and Clara on the blanket with some Kix. It was so funny because Lucas kept feeding them to Clara. I had flashbacks as I realized I was her age when I played soccer. I wasn't all that great. I did, however, love to throw the ball in (probably the only thing I was good at), and eat the orange slices and treats. I also remember one year when my mom was gone the day of pictures and the coaches daughter came to pick me up and someone told her I wasn't there. I cried and cried and then called my Bishop's wife and she came picked me up and took me. How sweet was that? Maybe I'll find that picture and put it on here, it is awesome. Red crying eyes with my shorts up to my chest! Casey Anne LOVES to help out with the babies so everytime we were anywhere she'd offer to take Clara.
After the game, we went to our house. Wow, it's beautiful. I kept hoping during my vacation I'd find a reason to move to Utah so I could live in it... didn't happen. The ONLY reason I'd move to Utah is for Rachel. Maybe someday, but not now. Our house is coming along. It doesn't look done, but doesn't have that much left (carpet, tile (although I think that was mostly done before I came home), cabinets, counter tops, landscaping and a few touch up things. In the last pictures I saw of it, you couldn't tell how grand and big the entry is, so I tried to get some pictures to where you could tell.
Also, I had no idea how super tall the ceilings were. Really, grand is a perfect word to describe it and it was very hard to capture it with my wee little camera. If only I had a wide angle lens. This is the ceiling in the great room and you can see the coffered ceiling in the kitchen in the background. The kitchen ceiling is one of my favorite features of the house.The paneling on the wall in the den is also one of my favorites. It just looks so neat. The floorplan is really cool and there is lots of room. If only it were in Arizona. :)Steven was there working when we went. He, of course, took Clara right when he saw her. He loves the little kids and she really liked him. She hasn't seen him for a little while. This was in the basement. The basement floorplan is AWESOME! There is tons of storage, you can walk around the back of the stairs and there is a cold storage. They excavated under the garages to have more storage. It is pretty cool. On Sunday, we just had church and then dinner. After dinner, I went to Lehi to visit my friend Sarah that I used to work with at CBIZ and her little baby Eli. We had a fun visit. Later Sunday night, Jason went to a meeting that I was very anxiously waiting to hear a report on. Last week in Church they announced they were creating two new wards in our Stake and all but one ward's boundaries would be significantly changed. I was only surprised a little bit. I am so sad because there are a lot of people in the subdivisions they took out of our ward that I really like, but they aren't necessarily people I'd call up to go hang out with. Plus, the people they took out of our ward are meeting in a different building so it's not like I will see them at church ever. Oh well, I supposed change is good. Also, we lost SO much leadership. We got a new bishop and will have to get a new RS Pres., Primary Pres., and lots of YW/YM leaders. So lots of changes...

Okay, for those of you don't know Rachel, you are missing out. She really is a great older sister and I admire her for so many reasons. Plus, she's so fun to be around and we have good times. Well, this is a picture of her garden. She's pretty much a domestic goddess and didn't feel too sorry for me when I told her how poor we were and what we'd be eating. She kindly told me if I had a garden, I could eat zuchinnin and Top Ramen and have a good cheap meal. Anyway, the yellow thing is a pumpkin and there is one on the ground too. So, I think in a month or so, when it cools down just a tad, I will start a new garden. Oh, and this is just a piece of her garden, it actually goes all the way down the fence. It just looks super neat and like something I could never do, so I took a picture for inspiration.

I don't think we did much on Monday. Rachel had lots of things to do plus teach piano and then take Casey Anne to dance. We all went and then on the way home stopped by and picked up dinner we had ordered to go. (Another one of Rachel's terrific ideas). That afternoon, Rachel talked me into reading Twighlight. Or maybe it was the night before... either way, I started it. I wasn't going to read it because it sounds totally stupid to me. I am about 1/3 of the way done and I actually am really enjoying it. The only problem is, I don't have it, so I'll have to find someone to borrow it from or go check it out at the library to finish. Tuesday morning as the kids were getting ready for school, I made them get in a picture with Clara. I was always getting them in trouble... they were supposed to be doing their chores and getting dressed. I compromised and just took one picture. Rachel's kids are super cute (if you can't tell in the picture) and really funny. Emma, her 3 year old, had some memorable comments, such as, "Why's Clara's head so big?" and "Why are you so white if you live in Arizona?". Then it was off to the airport... Clara did well on the flight over. (Not sure if I mentioned that). She did almost as good on the way home. I knew she wouldn't take a nap, so I gave her apple juice for the first time and she drank almost the whole thing before we even took off. But with toys, puffs and the blowing air above, she was pretty happy. She cried on the landing but wouldn't take her pacifier or eat or anything. Good thing it was loud so you couldn't hear her! This older guy sat next to me and was with his son, daughter-in-law and two grandkids. He was pretty funny and his son is in Young Men's with my cousin Brian. So yeah, small world!

On Tuesday, just as I had predicted, Clara's first tooth broke through. Eight months and a week old. She's been handling it really well and now I have an explanation for her HILARIOUS mouth/tongue faces the night before. She'd pucker her lips and somehow stick her tongue out at the same time. It was cute. I also think this is why she's been chewing on her fingers more.

That's right, no bow. It got left in Rachel's car so Clara had to do without.
We had a good time, but it was certainly nice to be home. Jason was so excited to see us (or did a very good job pretending) and the feelings were mutual. Last night, Jason was swooping Clara upside down and she'd open her mouth SUPER big and smile. Notice Clara's little hand trying to hang on for dear life as she goes backwards. Oh how sweet. This vacation did leave me very unmotivated so hopefully by tonight I can recover my drive to get some work done.

Oh GEEZE!

People do stupid things. Some people do really stupid things. Even smart people do really stupid things. Right? Let's, however, start just before this stupid thing was realized. I was at the end and had tied a knot to hang on. It seemed everything was going wrong and the harder I tried to make anything right and to be positive, something else would happen. On Wednesday, just before I left to go to Scouts (that's right, I'm the new Wolf Assistant), I decided I better check what time my flight was leaving so I could let Jason know exactly when we needed to go to the airport. And that, my friends, is about the time I lost it. My flight was scheduled to leave Salt Lake at 915pm and arrive in Phoenix at 955pm. Hmmm, last time I checked, I live in Phoenix... In even more plain language: the flight was reversed. I have changed my flight times before, so I figured this would be the same process. Call, change, pay $10, life would be good. So I called and the lady says, "Okay, Anna, we'll change it and it will be $160". What? My entire round-trip ticket was $158. Unfortunately, our money tree is dead and I was so happy I got such a smoking deal on my ticket, so I couldn't handle hearing this. To pay what I had already paid to fix this error was a joke. The woman on the phone 'kindly' told me not to cry and said she'd talk to her manager... Oh how sweet, she said they would only charge me $128. My phone cut out right after that and off to scouts I went. We took the little cubbies bowling where I called SWA back and the new woman said she'd change it for $108. Well, I didn't exactly have time to negotiate, so I told her it was unfair and I would debate it later.

Seriously, I had paid for the ticket at a cheap fare, so I think it should have been honored even if the flight was reversed. Plus, you shouldn't have to negotiate... why did the price keep getting cheaper... and it cost them no more money than if it had been booked right in the first place... and flat out, I was so upset. I'm pretty sure this is the DUMBEST thing I have ever done. Who does this? What could be more dumb than this? I'm not sure if I am more mad at the fact that I did something so stupid or that is cost me $108. I still would like to think it wasn't my fault, but when you buy stuff online, there's not much room to argue. Regardless, SWA will get a pleasant letter from me and I called Rachel and let her know I would be coming in at 1155pm, not 955pm...

Now that I'm in Utah and all that's behind me (until I have to reconcile the credit card payment), I am having a pretty good time. Quick (for me) recap of what has been going on:

Thursday: Tired (Rachel, Don and I sat up visiting until 5am, a very responsible decision), little shopping for a wedding gift and out to dinner with Tyler, Rob, Heather (Rob's fiance at the time, wife now) and Rob's family. We went to the Red Iguana and I wasn't impressed. In fact, my food was gross. The chips and salsa was good, but that's about it. I'm just glad I didn't pay much for bad food. I love my friends from high school. It's too bad more of them weren't able to come, but really, situations like this always make me ponder on how lucky I was to have such nice, thoughtful friends that were such a good influence. There are some pretty fun stories about Rob. The "Dare me to..." stories are great, but I think one of my best memories of Rob was when a group of us went and watched a movie. It was PG-13 but certainly wasn't wholesome and we really should have left. When we got out of the theater, we were discussing how it was bad and we shouldn't have watched it and Rob says, "I just want to go to service." HA! such a good kid. Rob's brothers are hilarious and they all loved Clara. Steve got to sit next to her and kept playing with her.Friday: Scott and Tyler picked me up at 800am for the wedding. I just love sealings and I nearly teared up but it was a really short one. It made me miss Jason... I miss him anyways, but especially when you see two people in love.Rachel watched Clara for me and brought her to the Temple so I could feed her. I told Rachel I have sisters in the best places: Utah and California. That way I am always covered! Then we went to Trolley Square for the luncheon at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a lot of fun to visit more and again, Rachel took Clara in the stroller with Lucas (ha! it's not a double stroller, but functions like one). I took a picture with Tyler's camera, so hopefully I get it someday. After the luncheon, Tyler came back to Rachel's and pretty much slept. Rachel's kids love Clara. Emma just had to read to her and loves to squeeze her eyes shut for pictures.Then we went to the reception... wow, it was a treck. It took an hour and fifteen minutes to get there from Rachel's. Everyone told me Clara is the cutest baby ever. I might just have to agree...The photographer kept taking pictures of her and was saying how cute she is. He got a sweet picture of her and hopefully will e-mail it to me. Towards the end of the evening, Scott gave Clara this paper to enjoy. It was better than Steve shoving his finger in her mouth the night before... :)It's always a happy day when two good people get married. Being in love is so fun. I just wish Jason was here. Really, going to weddings and receptions makes it worse. Oh, and Heather's parents thought Tyler and I were married, so I set them straight. You can't really blame them because we did show up to the wedding, the luncheon and the reception together. Fun times, however, I am looking forward to a more relaxed weekend.

Out on a Limb

It pretty much seems the last week or so has been a huge whirlwind. This has inspired me to go out on a limb and be random... this is a big change for an anal accountant. Let's go back to last Thursday. I went to leave for a meeting and noticed a huge beautiful rainbow in the sky. I tried so hard to get a picture of the full thing and couldn't because I was too close. Then, it became a full double rainbow and I figured once I got to the church building I could take some better pictures since I'd be further away. Too bad the sky was black when I got there. Better luck next time! On Friday, Jen and Cache came into town. I had been so busy with work I didn't exactly have a clean house for Jen. I told her the toilet was clean and the sheets were clean. What more could you ask for? The whole weekend I kept thinking I was a terrible host. I was working most the time we sat and visited and I was so exhausted when I wasn't working I was not much fun to be around. I've promised I will make up for it on Jen's next visit.

Jason worked late Friday night so after I dropped Jen off at a wedding reception, I took Jason and his co-worker dinner. This was Clara's first visit to daddy at work. She was pretty fascinated with all of the new stuff. Please note the crud on the cubicle in this picture. This is not supposed to be there... Jason created a 'shade' to block the light so he can see his screen better. It's pretty white trash, but he swears it makes a difference.I went and got Jen around 9pm after I visited my mom and fed Clara. Well, Miss Clara was very sleepy and I happened to forget her pacifier. She doesn't get it except for nap time, night time and if we are somewhere and she can't take a nap and it's nap time. Anyway, I thought she'd be fine, but obviously I don't know much, because she wasn't. Jen, the prepared mother, had an extra one. It's not the kind Clara uses and it's blue, but it didn't take long for her to fall asleep after we gave it to her. Saturday was a little less stressful. Beka came over for lunch and then Jen treated us to Cold Stone. She wasn't real impressed and I do have to say I am so bummed my boysenberry flavor is no more. I just loved how it was tart. I got heath bar which was WAY too rich for me. We had fun taking pictures of ourselves in the mirrors... it was way too entertaining.That night we went to the temple for Ward Temple night and then went to the social after. I love our ward. I heard a little rumor that our ward was getting split...

In Church Sunday, our Bishop read a letter from the Stake President saying our ward boundaries are going to be significantly changed and they are creating two new wards. I am SO sad because I love our ward. Plus, it doesn't help that they left a whole week for us to guess what the new boundaries are going to be! Oh the anxiety. After Church, I made sure to get a picture with lovely little Jen. Maybe taking pictures with her made me feel not as guilty for being such a lousy host. Jason was taking a picture of Jen, Cache and I and Cache kept looking over his shoulder at the camera. He's quite the flirt! Before we went to my mom's for dinner, we took Jen to the airport.
Sunday we went to my mom's as usual. She has one of these little hide-a-bed couches for kids. One time she babysat Clara and this is where Clara took her nap. She sits up really well when she has something holding her up!
Okay, I was so entertained Sunday watching chaos. The Levies are back in town and their little girl is just a few months younger than the twins. With the four babies and the pile of toys, I couldn't help but take a picture. It was just a zoo.
Then things got really exciting when three older kids started fighting. For some reason they all wanted the booster seats and the tray that goes on top. The twins went back and forth for a little bit and then Adelyn felt the need to join in. Lucy was the most upset so Kathryn picked her up and I said, "Wait! I need to get a picture!" So Kathryn was a good sport and put her back down for a picture... HA! Sometimes my reactions to kids actions is so immature. I am hoping that one corrects itself before my kids are older.
On Monday, I had SO much to do for work. Clara is good at playing on the floor but she can't resist crawling into the kitchen. We had our first choking episode Friday night (while I was fixing dinner she found the top of an otter pop and tried to eat it and I noticed her choking on something. I patted her back and she proceded to PUKE and in her throw up I dug out the culprit). Anyway, so now I am really worried to let her be near the kitchen alone because who knows what other surprises are hiding waiting for her to find them. I, being a somewhat intelligent person, decided to block off the gap between our two couches into the kitchen with the exersaucer. Yeah, that worked real well. Clara crawled right in! This is the first time she's done this in our exersaucre. I suppose it could be because it was in the way and the Cheerios she dropped in the bottom helped lure her in.
Oh and yes, the wee one has decided to crawl into things now. She's just so curious about everything.Today I went into my old office to deliver stuff to the tax people for my client. That was a big relief and now I don't feel like working on his stuff... even though I have lots of catching up to do for 2007 now that I haven't done anything but pre-2007 for the last month or so. It is always fun to see everyone. I just can't stay away from that place, especially because I love knowing I don't work there anymore. :) It really was a good place to work and I got along with just about everyone I worked with (maybe one exception... ha ha if you worked with me!). However, since having Clara I have realized the meaning of JOY and it's not in a career! One smile from Clara is far more satisfying than issuing a set of financial statements. It's really hard to explain and I probably wouldn't have understood if I didn't have kids of my own. I was talking to our scheduler and put Clara on the floor to crawl around and our Department Head came over... woops! I told him I get into trouble even when I don't work there! It is certainly a professional place and I feel SO awkward everytime I am in there with Clara. I never saw kids there when I worked unless someone's wife had a baby they'd bring them in, but I think that only happened once. But like I told Chuck (the Department Head), I am trying to change that. :) Before I went into the office, I went to lunch with a few of my good friends and ex-co-workers. I certainly miss seeing them on a regular basis, but it's always fun to catch up. And what do you know, I'm exhausted from working too much yesterday and now I just want to do nothing... bad idea... and I'm too tired to read this novel I've written to make sure it makes sense.

Sneak preview: Next entry will be The Adventures of Lot 42

Laughter

Today I read a great article in the September Ensign titled, "The Power of Laughter". I loved it because I love to be happy and I think a lot of times people are too stuffy and take life too seriously. I have run into some very serious people that could definitely lighten up (including me at times) and I think some people even think that you have to be serious all the time to be a good spiritual person. I think the best company is made up of people who laugh, joke and have a good time, but also know when to be serious. Oh, and there is a quote in the article that reads, "A little craziness once in a while perpetuates sanity." This is SO true, especially in relationships. Sometimes Jason looks at me like I'm the biggest moron, but at least I can get him to laugh! When I finished the article, I noticed the "One for the Money" article directly followed that so I continued reading. It proceded to say that "the American Bar Association has recently indicated 89% of divorces could be traced to quarrels and accusations over money." (page 37) Then on the same page, it says, "Peace, contentment, love, and security in the home are not possible when financial anxieties and bickerings prevail." And with that, I laughed in my head about our house in Utah. So here are some reasons why I laughed... and continue to laugh (and rant) when I am asked how it's going:

Our house was supposed to be substantially complete on November 1, 2006... and it's still not done.

We decided to go forward with our spec home, found out I was pregnant with Clara and Jason quit his job and started his own business all within a few months (based on those facts, you'd never guess I was a reserved accountant!)

I got approved on my own for our construction loan, but I don't think we can get approved together for our long-term financing because we make much less now and there are some serious issues transpiring in the lending industry. Unless I keep getting $40 paychecks, then there might be some hope.

Originally we were told we'd put $0 down and over a year later, we have put our ENTIRE savings down... or used it to make unexpected payments (I'm sure one day I will have the world's most negative post and accumulate all the jokes related to this great idea). On top of that, we had to get a student loan to pay for Jason's semester.

They say a couple's most fun times are when they are poor and I'm pretty sure we, by definition are POOR. Therefore, I'm looking forward to much fun and good times in the next few months.

Jason and I are going to be so healthy because we won't be able to afford much meat and we're going to eat lots of rice and beans. This is even funnier if you know how much Jason loves meat.

Every time I talk to certain people, I try to sell them their dream house, hasn't worked yet.

I've learned all the ins and outs of investing in real estate so my next spec home will go much smoother (roaring laughter for that one).

And here is the beautiful home that has brought such 'joy' to my life...Laugh laugh, ha ha... really, you have to laugh about it, because the only other option is to cry! :)

Wake Clara up early, that's a great idea!

This morning Jason was begging me to let him go wake Clara up. Um, excuse me? Are you serious? He worked late last night and didn't get to see her except when we went to look at her sleeping... At which point I crumbled and gave into temptation. I couldn't resist, I picked the little sleeping baby up, hugged her (she, of course, woke up) and then when I tried to give her her pacifier as I laid her back down, she whipped her head back, arched her back, grunted and was fast asleep. See, I kept putting myself in the situation and eventually I caved in... Anyway, so I didn't want Jason to get Clara because if she sees me, she wants to eat and will cry like she's dying if she doesn't get to. I agreed he could get Clara if he quietly went by her door and if she was already awake. Conveniently she was awake so he got his hug before he was off to work. In the beginning Clara didn't like him all that much. I think it's because there were times she would never see him and he didn't go on trips with us. Now, that he sees her every day and we've been on a few vacations together, she gets excited to see him. When she hears him unlock the door and open the laundry room door, her head whips so she can see him the second he's visible. Then, she normally gets REALLY excited when he comes to pick her up or take her from me.Also, last weekend we watched the new Superman movie... fifteen minutes into which I intelligently proclaimed, "Oh, this is Superman, not Spiderman." :) You see, when Jason said what we were watching, I assumed it to be Spiderman III, as I had totally forgotten about the 'new' Superman movie. I kept thinking, they sure created a weird feeling for when his grandma died (the woman Lex Luthor got money from) and wow, she doesn't look much like she did in the other movies (Lois Lane)... and then it dawned on me. I don't think Jason really liked the movie, but he kept commenting on Superman's jerry curl. The other day when I was feeding Clara, she decided to smear her food in her hair (thankfully, this was a first, and hasn't happened since) and I wiped it out with a wet towel and decided Jason would be really excited if Clara had a jerry curl just like Superman's. I kept trying to make it look better... the problem was the better it looked, the more upset Clara got (can't imagine why).

PS I I would much rather meet Superman than Spiderman...

In Honor Of...

Kathryn Melzer. That's right Kathryn, this one's for you so you know it's okay to be "true" to reality, even on a blog. I told Jason how I get annoyed because on blogs, everyone's lives are perfect, which I am sure is contrary to reality. I, on the other hand, enjoy sharing my real feelings and am not afraid to share most of my life. I'm a pretty transparent person. I do have reservation when it comes to my very personal and spiritual emotions; that's what 'thoughts and feelings' are for. I think my blog has helped me to capture memories better and I am glad that I have less of those, "I wish I had my camera" moments. Plus, I think how much I would have enjoyed seeing and reading about different happenings in my life growing up. However, here are some pictures to make you feel better...

First, my "office" or rather what our front room has become since I'm working way past my bedtime all the time. Until I get caught up on this guy's books, this is what this room will continue to look like. If you look closely, you'll see a box of graham crackers, a little bowl of chocolate chips and the bowl on my 'table' (aka piano bench) that used to be full of Chex mix. And here you have me, almost one in the morning with no make up on... oh wait, I hardly ever wear make up.Here's a picture of my frying pan I cooked CHEESE CRISPS in for dinner. I love to cook, but I don't always cook good meals. Tonight, I was too exhausted to think of anything, let alone cook it. And don't pretend you don't see my dirty stove!And instead of doing my dishes, I had to get to work... so my dishes will wait until tomorrow.I took this picture earlier because I was touching the fan with my feet. Ha ha, actually, the fan was on and I was amused with the fact that I could take a picture of a spinning fan and it wasn't blury and it looked as if it was still. But look close and you'll see months of dust on there. Our fans are always on so I never think to clean them because when they are on, you can't see the dust!

Are these signs of failure? Nope, just signs of a busy life, even if what kept us busy was being a mom or enjoying life. If there is anyone out there that hasn't had a mess in their house or left dishes in the sink or had cheese crisps for dinner, then they are plain BORING and that's all there is to it. And when all is said and done, what matters most is who has the cutest kids. Just kidding, but look how CUTE clara is, even with peas all over her face!

Frustrated or...

annoyed, aggravated, perturbed, disgusted, irritated, upset, disturbed, bothered... none of those quite seem to express the magnitude of how I feel right now. I do the accounting for KS and with that, comes payroll. It is pretty stressful knowing you are responsible for making sure everyone gets paid and that you don't screw up the tax reporting or deposits. Anyway, I like a challenge, so I've enjoyed it. One thing I promised as the new accountant was direct deposit. That's right, you'd think direct deposit is offered pretty much everywhere, but KS hadn't jumped on that bandwagon yet. Let's just say it was less than a breeze setting it up with Bank of America. It took forever and I had problem after problem... and these were things I didn't think should be an issue, like having Windows Vista or Internet Explorere 7... what? Apparently they can't accomodate the newest operating systems and I'm not sure what the deal with Explorer 7 is, it's not even that new! Once we got it set up, I was paranoid something was going to go wrong, so I was overly proactive. Last payroll I ran a "test" run where you put everyone's info in, but still give them live checks and if there are any errors (i.e. an incorrect account or routing number) you are supposed to get a report immediately of a problem. Well, to my surprise, no report! Because I am paranoid, I called Direct, they said I should get it, but I e-mailed my contact at BofA just to double check. He assured me I was all set up and if there had been any errors, I would have been notified immediately.

So today was the big day. I was up until one last night checking my account to see if it was deposited and finally I just figured I'd hope for the best and went to sleep. When I woke up, I had an e-mail from one employee saying his was in and I checked and mine was in. Wewsh... until I got a call saying TWO people's weren't in. I called BofA and apparently, I wasn't set up to receive the error reports. No one set that up (the option was there, but I wasn't 'entitled'). Okay, to make it worse, there was no report from the 'test' run implying no errors, but we know there are errors AND two of my employees didn't get paid. Really, how can you sleep at night if you don't know if people are going to get paid? I am just so annoyed that I tried to avoid this, but it happened. I can't believe I've run into this many obstacles setting up direct deposit with one of the Country's largest banks. Direct deposit is nothing new or complicated, why all the obstacles?

Now, I have spent all morning trying to resolve this (it's still not resolved), I haven't done any work for my other client (I'm supposed to deliver books and support to the tax accountants tomorrow), I have to take the employees live checks so they get paid and I have to be somewhere at 3:30. Good thing I have to feed Clara so I can vent about while I do so and not waste my time. I hate it when I try so hard to avoid something, yet it happens anyway. I feel like my efforts have been in vain, probably because they have! But wait, I'm so upset, I don't even feel like working on my other client's stuff!! Instead, I think I'll eat, play with Clara and dread being up half the night working since I didn't do it during the day. By the way, tomorrow Sarah and I (one of the employees that didn't get her direct deposit) are starting an "I Strongly Dislike Bank of America" campaign, so anyone that wants to join is welcome!

One of a Kind

Last night we had another good laugh when Jason was browsing blogs (which he has NEVER done before) and became interested in these celebrity look-a-likes. I haven't taken the time to do it, so we decided to do it and boy was it entertaining! This is the very first one I did and was surprised at how good looking I am (HA!). Actually, I don't know who these people are and Jason seemed to think most of them were good looking and I suppose I care what he thinks. I like the Rebecca girl... good thing Jason was around to pronounce her last name properly. :) The next one I did, however, resulted in three African American woman, including Venus Williams and Condoleeza Rice. Now, this is funny because I am so white and pale and have blond hair. As funny as this was, Jason's results were all the more funny. Not funny because of how the people looked that he was compared to, funny because the MAJORITY of them were FEMALE!!! I think his results always included at least two or three women, and many times it was more. I have never once looked at my husband and thought he looked feminine at all. Then, the guys that resulted were people no one has heard of (he did get Albert Einstein once) and his percentages were never over like 65%. So I guess that just means my husband is one of a kind!

Caught!

I am sure all of you have had one of those moments, no matter how good of a kid you are/were, where you were trying to do something sneakily to avoid your parents. Like when I fell asleep at Jason's until 5am and didn't want to run into my mom when I got home (of course I did) or when Beka first got her cell phone and was hiding under her covers talking to me at night so her mom wouldn't catch her (of course she did). Or there was the time when I snuck out (we were sleeping on the trampoline, so did we really 'sneak'?) with my cousin and just after we met up with some boys, one of their dad's found us. Hmmm, maybe I was a bad kid? Anyway, we all know what it feels like when we do get caught, which I experienced last night for the first time in a LONG time. You see, Jason and I have created a nightly ritual that has been going strong for the last few weeks. Right before we go to bed, we go 'check' on Clara. We both like to watch her sleep and talk about how cute she is, so we wait until the other one is ready to go. Last night, we were doing just that, admiring her over her crib, when Clara started tossing around. Then, Jason hit something and her head shot straight up (the way it does when I say she looks like a prairie dog :)). Instantly, Jason and I both dropped to the floor so she couldn't see us. We were down there for three or four minutes trying so hard not to burst out in laughter because we knew she was awake. Somehow she quickly found her pacifier, laid her head back down and had her back towards us so we made our escape without her seeing us. Isn't that great, Jason and I acting like kids... but not only that, hiding FROM our kid. HA!

Senior Citizen Alert

My lovely mother turned FIFTY-FIVE today and she made sure to tell us all that today is the day she became a Senior Citizen. Now we'll be sure to take her with us to get all the sweet senior citizen discounts. We had a little get together at Ryan and Kathryn's so my mom didn't have to cook or clean. My camera isn't that bad, this is right after the candles got blown out and my mom is teaching Elsa where the fire went (she's always teaching her grandkids). On a more serious note, I love my mom to death and think she is absolutely wonderful. She is the most selfless person I have ever known and lives to serve. Many people don't know that in addition to her NINE kids she birthed, she helped raise four of her sister's kids. I often wonder how she has enough love and energy to make all her kids feel like they are her favorite and treat her nine grandkids like they are the first (like she did towards Clara). I never worry when she babysits and she is always willing to do so. Well, she's not just willing, she's THRILLED to do so. My mom is a great example to me and a very sweet woman. So much of what I am is because of my mom and I have loved the opportunity to spend more time with her now that I am not working so much. And don't tell her I put pictures of her on here, she will be SO embarassed (she hates pictures of herself and always tries to hold a grandkid in the event a picture is taken of her). I just told her I wanted a picture with a Senior Citizen, that's all. :) Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

Secrets

I love to read people's blogs and I love the "four things..." or "seven things..." and I have never been specifically 'tagged' (can we think of another term, I don't like that one...). As I was doing my blogging rounds yesterday, I read Maren's four things and almost didn't read who she tagged because we've hung out like once in the last two years... but then Surprise! There was my name. I actually did the four things (see Anna's Rule of Fours...) but shhhh, don't tell Maren. :) So, I've decided to defy all the rules and list seven things people don't generally know about me because I like to share secrets. Again, I think these are a little goofy, but it will be a fun thing to look back on and for my posterity to look back on...

1. I am constantly thinking of white collar crimes I could get away with... embezzling, money laundering, forgery, etc. I would NEVER do any of the like, obviously, but as an auditor I was trained to look for flaws in accounting systems and procedures and weaknesses in a company's internal controls so I notice them when I see them and think, I could totally get away with that.

2. I secretly wish I was a programmer. I LOVED programming in college (hence the second major in CIS). I can't part with my coding books, my printed code and the disks containing the programs I wrote in college or my e-mails from my old teammates with different blocks of code. Most of the languages I know are pretty much a thing of the past, so these books wouldn't be much of a resource even if I was a programmer, yet I seem to keep them as a symbol that deep down inside I'm loyal to my love of coding.

3. Many of you know I have an OCD when it comes to a lot of things, to the point where if it can't be done perfect, I don't bother. But, especially when it comes to the piano, which I believe has limited my piano playing skills. Jason calls me the stuttering pianist. When I am alone, I play very well. However, when ANYONE is listening, I get nervous, anticipate I'll mess up, stop and re-start the measure I'm in even though I haven't messed up. I do this freqeuntly, not just once or twice in a song, so it makes it annoying, if not impossible to accompany people unless I have the song memorized.

4. I wish I could be annorexic. I love the emaciated look, but we all know my obsession with cooking and food far outweighs this wish, of which my health thanks me for. I have only seen a few girls in my entire life that I think are too skinny...

5. I feel like a slacker for not passing the CPA exam and I wish I were a CPA. I feel guilty when the subject comes up and I feel foolish when people ask, "You're a CPA, aren't you?" I still keep telling myself... someday.

6. I often look at Jason and wonder how we ended up together. We come from such different backgrounds and have SO many different opinions on things. Our attitudes towards a lot of important things are completely opposite and I swear he pretended to be more like me when we were dating. I suppose it was love that led us to wed, but that's just speculation.

7. I wish I was adventurous enough to have traveled more before I was married and had Clara or that I could live somewhere else, especially in another country, temporarily. Before I had Clara (even before I was married) I was so focused on work and school and left little time for adventures. I had fun, but as my good friends Jeff and Geoff said: "My head was on WAY too straight for my age."

Now I ping (that's better than tag... and it's a better internet word than something as physical as tag) my brother RYAN since he hasn't posted anything on his blog since April and before that, it was June 2006 and because I know he'll come up with the most entertaining list of seven secrets ever AND these people: SHAWNA SMITH, BRITTNEY BOND, ANGELA HARDISON and BRITTANY McCALL (because I don't think she reads my blog... he he).

FRIDAY

Don't ask why, but the other day I decided looking out a peephole is the coolest view.A few nights ago Jason was laying in bed and his bangs were hanging pretty low so I decided he needed to borrow Clara's clip. When I went to get the camera he decided to pretend he was sleeping because I told him I needed to take a picture for my blog. But don't worry, I told him I would say that he was fake sleeping so he shouldn't bother, but he wouldn't listen to me. A little while ago I bought this little toy for Clara and hadn't given it to her. It's amazing to me that a new toy is so exciting at such a young age. It seems like a 7-8 month old would just like a toy and not realize what is new versus what's been around since birth. She loved it though. Each of the little shapes has a hole in the middle. Jason took one of them and was blowing through it and Clara took her's and did the same thing. I am constantly amazed at how smart kids are and I don't think they get enough credit. Either that or we're raising a genius.

She would also grab the bucket with her legs and lift it in the air, then rollover with it. It was funny. Of course I made her do it a dozen times so I could get a picture of it. Yeah, it took a dozen times because my retarded camera takes about 30 seconds to take a picture after the button is pressed... and in a baby's world with the attention span Clara has, 30 seconds is literally FOREVER.
Am I the only one that is absolutely OBSESSED with my sweet baby? Her faces are so rad. This is her crawling as fast as she can towards me and I love when she does this with her top lip.
Nakey baby on the prowl... much against daddy's wishes. What's the harm in letting Clara roam free for a few minutes after bath time? Jason doesn't approve, but I'm pretty sure I'm in charge. She just gets so hyper, until the PJ's are on, then she knows it's time to eat so that's all she thinks about.
Eventhough I don't have the weekends to look forward to as a break from work like before, I still get excited when they are here. I think it is mostly because I feel like I am getting ahead when I'm working on Saturdays because that is one less day my client is working so I gain a day. Isn't it amazing how a thought can effect us so much, whether it's true or not? The only problem is I still think that since it's the weekend that I don't need to work as much as I should, so I don't. Ha ha, I'm so funny.