Nintendo Wii Fit

First of all, let me make it clear these are not photos of me! Haha.

AND

I will admit that my excitement about FINALLY scoring a Wii Fit is a little over the top.

Having made that clear, let me tell you a little more. I've been trying to hunt down one of these hot commodities since the day after Christmas. We bought the Wii off of Craigslist for the kids, but I didn't want to pay $30-$50 over list price for the Wii Fit, which is what they were selling for on Craigslist. I kept checking the stores but they were never in stock. And when I asked when they were getting some in I was always greeted with a "are you kidding lady" look. Yesterday I got on Craigslist as I usually do every few days just for the heck of it. (well, you never know what you might be in need of) And there was a listing for the Wii Fit that said the Gladstone Fred Meyer had some in stock. I immediately called and they did in fact have a few. Then I decided (before tearing out of my house) that I would call the Oak Grove Fred Meyer, and they had lots in stock. Me and Savannah were excitedly out the door in record time and this time lady luck was on our side.

We brought it home, set it up, and used it the entire night. That thing is fun. It keeps track of your weight, your fitness level and the time you spend on it. It's so cool, even though it said I was overweight ( even though I know that I am) and Mario is obese...come on...OBESE! And then when it analyzed my weight it made my little mii person chubby. It was hilarious! I'm going to try to slim that mii girl down! We all did yoga, jogging, tightroping, skiing, and the best workout of all...hula hooping. We even got Mario to do it!

Today I'm quite sore. But I'll be back on the slopes later today. And I will definitely be back with the hula hoops.

A message from Fiji

The quality of this picture isn't great because I copied it off a DVD. (Chial is in the middle of this photo) Chial sent home a DVD that the Suva, Fiji mission put together for all of the missionaries families. It was about an hour long and featured all of the missionaries being interviewed about different topics, goofing off, and participating in a talent show. One of the best parts of the DVD were the still shots of the Island; it is a beautiful place. We are anxious to receive photos from Chial that will feature HIM in the landscape. We only saw Chial in two short spots, but it was wonderful to see him! He looks thinner and much darker. It was also fun to see him in a native dance in the talent show.

Fiji has also had recent storms and much flooding. Part of the island have a foot of water. Many people are homeless. Chial's flat is on a hill so he has been protected. But please pray for those families who are suffering.

On a personal note, our waters have receded and things seemed to be dried out. We have sanitized everything and plan to put the kids rooms back together this week, with a temporary flooring of our recycled carpet. In the spring when we know things have sufficiently dried out we will put linoleum down. We got a SWEET deal on linoleum! FREE! The school Mario used to work at will be demolished this year and there is quite a bit of new linoleum that we can access. Hurray for that. Maybe we will be able to finish our bathroom plans if we don't have to sink (no pun intended) too much money into the basement. Pray for dryness in our behalf, too.

Reflections on the past year

Happy New Year!

I don't usually spend a lot of time at the new year making resolutions. I feel that it's a set up to fail. Instead I try to think in smaller increments of what I want to accomplish, work on or improve.

This past year I committed to learn how to knit socks. I didn't do it. I really didn't even knit that much. Maybe next Christmas everyone will get hand knitted wool socks from me.

I went through a long and difficult depression. As lonely and painful as the experience was, I learned from it and respect it's place in my life. I feel at times emotionally fragile and easily swayed back in that direction. I'm trying to balance my life in a way that will not hide my true feelings, but that they won't take control of me either.

I'm proud of the fact that in 2008 I read 22 books. Reading has always been a favorite pastime, but after years of school, study and parenting, I got burned out and put it aside. I really wanted to get back into in with a vengeance. One thing that made it fun was setting up an account with Goodreads. I can keep track of what books I've read, or what I want to read, and see what books my friends are reading. I highly recommend it. Another site I love is Bookmooch. Here you log on any books you are willing to give away, and you get points for each book. With your points you mooch books from others. It's basically free, aside from the cost to ship your books to those who have mooched them. I know that I will continue the reading frenzy in 2009, as the stack of books on the side of my bed continues to grow.

2008 was also a time to be more committed to the planet earth. I have always recycled and tried to do my part. I'm no where near where I want to be, but I have made small changes that feel important to me. I use my own bags at the grocery store and limit our use of disposable paper products (though there are times when I just can't give the conveinence up!). I have replaced the majority of lightbulbs in our home with compact flouresent. Just a few more to go! When the cost of gas went up I limited my driving as much as possible. My family loves thrift store shopping, and this is the ultimate in recycling to me! Shopping on the cheap! Craigslist is a big part of this, too. I have had such success getting rid of things I don't need, and buying the things I do. I save money, time and the environment! I finally have a worm composting bin and it's a smart way to use our food waste. I've always limited my use of cleaning products, and try to use environmentaly safe ones when I do. I don't buy tampons or pads anymore because of this. Of course the girls aren't ready for this kind of change so I still buy for them!

We are fortunate to get farm fresh organic eggs from a woman at Mario's school, and this year we are planning to buy a quarter of a beef, sharing with 2 other families in order to save money. I'm really looking forward to this change in eating. Savannah has been a vegatarian for almost 2 years, but I can't give up the meat. I don't feel good about the meat we are eating, so this is exciting to me. I have a friend who raised chickens and turkeys this last year, but I found out about it too late. This year she said she'll raise some for me, so next fall we will be eating the best chicken and turkey ever!

We discussed having laying hens this last spring, but it didn't happen. It is still on the agenda for next year, but we'll see. I'm not going to stress about it. I want it to be a fun family project, not a burden.

All of these changes have been sometimes intentional, sometimes not, but small ways that I have tried to improve the life of me and my family. I look forward to a new year, learning new things, trying new ways, and growing along the way.

I am grateful for all that I have been blessed with and pray for a healthy and joyful new year for my family, my friends and myself.

When it Rains it Pours

Just when we've recovered from the last storm (there was still a small patch of snow near my waterfall today), we are on to another, more urgent storm affecting our home.

Rain, Rain
go away
come again
another day

It has been raining cats and dogs all day.
Torrential.
Heavy, thick and wet raindrops.
Loud and persistent.

As Mario and I were working on tiling our bathroom floor, the dam burst open and our poor little sump pump in the basement could not keep up. Since our bathroom is torn apart, Mario went downstairs to use the kids bathroom and discovered our own little lake in the basement.

Some of you know this has been a recurrent problem since we moved in two years ago. I believe we are on our 3rd serious flood. We have seriously considered filling in the basement with dirt and building up (not realistic. too much money). I think we will be seriously considering a move in the near future. I can not imagine how we will sell our home in it's current condition in this economy.

But I will tell you one thing....
the next home will NOT have a basement!!!!!

The troops outside in the torrential storm in the middle of the night

And a cute video to top it off

Merry Christmas!

So many new posts in one day. One reason for this is because my laptop is in need of repair. I haven't been online much lately, and unable to download my photos on the home computer because it sucks! But Santa brought a new computer. So while the kids are with their dad, and Mario is talking to Chial in Fiji, I put the computer together all by myself.

With nothing else to do on Christmas day, I'm catching up on blogging. I was going to go to a movie, but I thought if I was going to be alone and pathetic, I might as well do it in the privacy of my own home.

So without further ado....here are some Christmas photos! And then I'm going to hook up the Wii.

Happy Birthday to me!

Our tree

Kelli & Gretchen with Mom

Me and my grown up boys

Grandma Bonnie, Papa Don and all the kids

Christmas morning...apparently they aren't presentable

Santa brought a new computer!

And a Wii, with Guitar Hero!!!!!!!!!!!


Over the river
and through the snow
to grandmother's house (and grandpa's, too) we go...
on Christmas evening to spend with the McIntosh side of the family.
Dad and Mom McIntosh


The Girls: Linda, Gretchen, Me, Tammy

Gretchen, Tammy and Me, with my dad and step mom

Christmas Eve Surgery

My nephew, Nicholas, pulled a shelf over on himself at my house and got a nasty cut on his head. Gretchen's friend Julie, a nurse, happened to be coming over so we assessed his injury and decided that he should get some stitches. Any why bother heading to the ER when your aunt is a midwife, and your mom's friend is a nurse. I have all the fixings for suturing, so at the dining room table on my 44th birthday I did something I've kind of always wanted to do....gave him stitches! 6 of them! He was a brave guy and didn't flinch at all.

Arctic Blast Update

Our first storm system hit us on December 14th We've been enjoying a white Christmas for 12 days now. Each storm that come in seems to be bigger than the last. The temperatures got above freezing for the first time yesterday, but I think it will take us a little while to thaw out.

Looking south on Linden Lane

Mario's car

On a walk

Knee high snow

Our yard....early in the storm

Same shot.....after the "big" storm
Keep in mind, this area is under the trees

Me and my sister, Gretchen

31 inch icicle

Mitten Making

Here is some of my Martha Stewart magic. So easy I just had to share. Use an old 100% wool sweater (I bought some at my favorite thrift store, "Red, White & Blue". Wash the sweater in hot water, and dry it on hot heat. This will "felt" the wool (making it tight, so you can cut the sweater and it not unravel). Next make a pattern for your mitten. I traced my hand and added a 1/2 - 1 inch to it. The first pair I made were a little tight, the next pair a little large. You may have some trial and error, or you may not be as picky as I am!

Next, pin the pattern through both layers of sweater and cut out. Repeat for the other hand. Sew together using a zig zag stitch. I didn't use the zig zag stitch the first time and it made a difference in durability.
Here is the finished product of my purple ones. I gave Mario the grey stiped above and he LOVES them. I'm not kidding, that wool keeps your hands warm and dry. And we had plenty of opportunity to try them out the last 12 days during our "Arctic Blast".

I'm off call for the holidays!

It's been snowing and freezing around here. I'm enjoying having my sweetie home....5 days and counting now. We've been taking walks in the snow, running errands, shopping for treats to eat while we're snowed in.

Yesterday on our way out we passed an old man lying in the snow and ice just a few houses away from ours. Mario didn't even see him. I saw him, but absentmindedly. It was only after we passed him that I realized the seriousness of what I saw. I made Mario slide to a stop, reverse and help him. Poor gentleman had gone to get his mail, (no hat, no gloves, thin jacket.....it was FREEZING out there) he fell and the best we could figure he had been lying on the ice for ten minutes. He was bleeding, shaking and unable to speak much. When we lifted him off the ground he was unable to stand, so we held him until another neighbor came out with a blanket, hat, and chair for him to sit on. He seemed pretty hurt, especially complaining about his hip, so we called 911. It took another 10 minutes for them to get to us, but they were kind and thoughtful and we left him in good hands. It was so scary to me that he could have been laying out there in the cold for any longer if we hadn't decided to brave the ARCTIC BLAST and go to Ikea.

Today was an even better day! Woke up to a mom calling in labor. I decided to ask Mario to drive me to the birth. I knew the roads were relatively clear, but I was worried about the hill that they lived on being steep and icy (it was!) and I didn't want to get stranded by myself. We picked up my apprentice on the way, and in the excitement and adrenaline, we didn't check the address of the house and went to the wrong house! Waking up a poor woman at 7:30 am to two women and one man and a whole load of baggage! We apologized and then headed up the street a little farther to the correct house, that seriously looks just like the wrong house! A sweet baby girl was born a little over an hour later. A surprise breech. When we first walked into the house the mom said she thought the baby was breech. I palpated but didn't concur. We heard heart tones low on mom's belly and were reassured until we saw a steady stream of meconium. Not a lot, but enough. By the time we knew it was breech, she was coming fast, just a couple minutes later she slid right out. Mom lifted her out of the water and that little girl lifted her head up in a way I have never witnessed---I mean she REALLY lifted her head---and looked each one of us present at her birth straight in the eyes, telling each of us of her presence. It was a blessing.

I began this year with a surprise breech birth that ended in a death. I ended this year with a surprise breech birth of a healthy baby. Both girls, with heads full of dark hair, beauty beyond looks, and loved by many. I thank them both for their gifts to me, for the journey they have helped me take.

So much to be thankful for.

And now I'm off call for the holidays!