Kind of a Stressful Week

This week was STRESSFUL.

My boss was out of town, so I had plans to work an archiving project for him, but my days were somehow filled to the max with day to day operational stuff.

I also had other big projects on my plate, such as...

-writing Ernst and Young Award Application...due Friday

-Annual March Madness party for One on One...also Friday

-car is in the shop, needs a new engine, got to decide what to do...by Friday

-driving Mom and Dad's 15 passenger van and ran out of gas on the freeway

-got a speeding ticket

-finishing my solo for our concert in April, driving to SLC 3 days this week

I was kind of a basket case-hello emotional eating... yikes!

I have been having my green smoothies in the morning and oatmeal with raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds in it. But I snacked a lot... on chocolate and jelly bellys, shoot.

So, the story with my car.

I blew the head gasket and when they tore it apart, they found some scarring on the engine.

My options:

-fix the head gasket for $1800

-get a new engine for $4000

-fix the head gasket and sell it, probably get $1000

-fix it sell it, buy a cheap-o car

-sell it as is, get....?

-see how much Tunex (the shop fixing my car) would offer me

It was a wild ride with this and I was really frustrated on Monday that I am in this pickle feeling unprepared and like a total victim of circumstance.

Needless to say, I had a good cry and a long chat with my journal after calling my Dad and Rose.

My conclusion: this could be an awful experience, or it could be a great one.

Okay, okay. I can see a positive side to this.

Anyway, I finally negotiated to sell my car to Tunex for $1750. I owe them $750 in labor costs already, so they will cut me a check for $1000.

And i am done. finished. moving on. hooray.

Sad to lose Georgie, he is a great car, but ready to move on, get out of debt, etc.

I will get the title from Curt and Dad and do the deed this week.

Also, it didn't help that the couple of guys that I am interested in were totally withdrawn and dumb this week. I was in my stuff, a little more whiny and needy than usual, so the guy situation just added the cherry on top. I am a little frustrated about that.

Now that I feel ready to date, there are no guys to date.

Anyway, enough about that. I decided to cut the drama, I could feel myself building up a lot of drama over these male interests and it was kind of tying me in knots.

Stop it!

Yes, thank you.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I went up to Salt Lake to work on my solo with Laura (my dance friend who choreographed my solo). It went really well. It is the piece I did for my OSU audition last year, so we remembered a lot of it and shaped some new stuff in it as well.

I am happy how it turned out. Can't wait for our show April 8th and 9th. Actually I can, there is so much to do before then. And I will be grateful when it is over. It's kind of a milestone. First performance since graduating and this show officially makes me a professional dancer...

Well, Friday came and March Madness was going to happen ready or not. And it was going to be a total flop or a smash hit success and I was prepared for it to go either way.

Every year for March Madness, One on One does a March Madness Party at NOAHs where we take the first Friday of March Madness off and just play, all afternoon.

Ping Pong, Raquetball, Wallyball, Pool, Games, and this year we had Rockband and Just Dance on some wii consoles.

I was nervous about how it would turn out

BUT IT WAS GREAT!

Thank you Thank you Thank you is all I can say. Everyone had fun, the caterers came through, there was something for everyone, and it was relatively easy set up and clean up for me. (I simplified :))

Anyway, I was so relieved when it was over. But typical schedule for Mere, I was done at NOAHs at 5 and went to rehearsal at 5:30 til 9 pm. It was brutal for the last hour.

Then Saturday morning I worked on my solo with Laura up in SLC and THEN I was free for the weekend.

I ran my errands, unloaded from March Madness, visited with Mom and Dad, etc. Then Bonnie and I had a roommate date.

We went to Bajio for dinner, cleaned up our condo, did manis/pedis, talked, laughed, and unwound. This is us on Saturday night soaking our feet.

Finished product. mmmm.... love pedicures. And the budge was happy that it was self served :)

Note my poor wounded feet. I acquired a big blister on the bottom of each of my big toes, a large split under my second to last toe, and some floor burns on the tops of my feet.

...the things we do for the sake of our art.

And my gorgeous manicure. A light pearl polish. Yes, thank you I know I am very professional :)

Oh boy. Nothing beats natural beauty.

Sunday I went Visiting Teaching in the morning. First time in 3 months, since moving and getting in the system. After church I was asked to deliver some of the VT assignments and also drop by to visit a few of the inactive ward members. Bonnie and I went together and had about 2% success. It was super deflating.

I didn't know that gathering sheep was hard. It's not a cake walk.

But as Bonnie and I talked about, the goal is not to 'fix' them and make them come back to church. It is simply to extend the invitation and let them know that I am here for them. Anytime. Just as Christ is. He doesn't make the sheep follow him. He seeks them out, loves them, and they choose to follow Him.

Wow. I am working on living and being as Christ is and today I saw the next level of embodying that.

That experience really made me think.

BABIES!

So here are the pics of baby Sid, Deepthi and Chola's baby. I work with Deepthi at One on One, and she is an only child, so I naturally stepped up as Sid's favorite aunt-someone's got to do it. :)

He is so cute!

So much hair!!

a little screaming Sid

Swathi and baby Sid. I work with Swathi-she's great.

Auntie Mere and baby Sid. Deepthi (the mommy) on the side.

Bonnie and baby Sid.

Did I ever post this picture? I don't think so. This is from a "Red Carpet" event that we did at work for Powerstand one week. Bonnie was announcing the new website, so she got a red carpet, balloons and ours d' ouvres (donuts). As we announced people involved with the project, they walked the red carpet. It was super fun! Bonnie and I both rocked our outfits that day, so we walked the red carpet and took a pic. So glad she convinced me to pull out my white blazer.

Totallly Brill!

Thursday I went to pick up Kim for her birthday date with me and I met Max-the newest addition to our family. Yes, number 20. And he is cute. Very energetic, like a typical 8 yr old, and very sweet. I pulled out my camera and asked him to come take a picture with me and he ran away-teasingly. So I followed him all over the house and he finally agreed, like a typical brother reluctant to snuggle up with his sister in front of the camera, it was pretty funny.

I got season tickets to the Hale this year and Hairspray was playing. It is my sister Kim's all-time favorite show, so I decided to take her for her birthday. We went to Zupas for dinner. Everyone was staring at us, I forgot what that felt like, but I was okay with it. I remember being really embarrassed when I was younger, but I am grateful for a broader perspective that makes it easy to allow people to stare without me getting uncomfortable or impatient to leave.

So here we are enjoying Hairspray-the show was FANTASTIC!!

Okay, note the cute boy behind me. HA. Funny story. I noticed him waiting in his car before the doors were open and we were waiting as well. He was chauffeuring 2 older ladies, he wasn't wearing a wedding ring, and he was cute. Hmm...

We go in and I forget about it because I probably won't see him again.

Oh wait.

His seat is right behind ours.

Hmmm... how am I going to start up a conversation with him to find out if he is available or not?

At the end of intermission based on my keen stalking abilities, I gathered that he was from out of town, here to see his girlfriend perform in the play and that he was here with her mother and fan club.

Okay, but I still got to know. What am I going to say?

Got it.

Mere: "Hey excuse me, what's your name?"

Cute boy: "Cory"

Mere: "Oh. You look like someone I know."

Cute boy: "Who? Brad Pitt?"

Oh, he's funny too.

Mere: "umm... yeah, actually yes. So do you know someone in the play?"

Mother: "yes, my daughter Tami."

Mere: "ohhhhhh. Well tell her she did a great job tonight!"

shoot. he's taken. Oh well. It was fun to put it out there.

So Friday morning I got a text message saying that Jonathan Charles Little has arrived that morning at 7:58 am.

I gasped and almost fell off my ball.

Hooray! My sister Christina's first baby! She's a mother!

My boss was out Friday afternoon, so I took a long lunch and headed up to see baby JC! and the mother of course :)

He is cute.

Friday night I had a time management issue. I planned to tend Ellis and Hugh while Curt and Mand went out. We decided that I would be there at 6 pm. I was running late from finishing up work and then I stopped for a sandwich and didn't get there til 6:20. Bad news. Curt and Mand were good about it, but time management is one of my weaknesses, so when it flares up, it irritates me. Shoot. I am working on it. Thankfully I live with Bonnie, who is an expert on time management and coaches me. Very often. And encourages me to simplify :).

So anyway, I hung out with Ellis and Hugh on Friday night and it was SO fun. Some good quality time with those two CRAZY hoodlums. They actually weren't TOO crazy, mostly just hilarious!

I wanted to get a picture with Elle and her two front teeth missing, here are the attempts to get the pic. :)

My Hugh-be-doo.

Doesn't get much better than this.

We read scriptures and Fantastic Mr. Fox, it was so fun. While we were reading scriptures, Ellis would interject bits of her testimony. Here are a few insights from Elle :)

"And everything is about Christ. Whether you like it or not. Or can see it or not."

(Talking about sharing talents) "It's like if I had an egg, Amanda had a frying pan, and Hugh had some milk. They aren't useful by themselves, but when they get together, they make....

Scrambled Eggs!..."

Yes. That's exactly it Elle! Love her.

Saturday was Christina's baby shower...minus Christina. She was still in the hospital. Obviously Jonathan didn't get the memo to wait 1 more day. Totally fine.

It was good. Good to see friends and family.

Best thing... So my brother David was there and totally waltzed across the room and started up a conversation with 2 random people, like extended family on Sean's side. He is maturing in his social skills and it is so fun to see.

After the shower, I transferred the texture boards from One on One to Margaret and then we went to Chipotle for dinner.

I forgot how good Chipotle is! We had them catering some of our corporate lunches and then they "changed their rates", so we haven't had them back since then and my team members are begging them to come back.

Pretty sure I called them Monday and they are coming next week...

Not only was the food great, but I love hanging out with Marg and Nate, and Maya, and Dave.

Maya was totally in to drinking her milk with this straw, so cute.

And here is me and Dave.

Oh hello tired Mere....

Saturday night, first night without the Halls. Weird.

So I stopped at whole foods for some Agave Nectar and some Kale (I am starting my raw eating adventure with green smoothies in the morning and I just need a little more sweet.)

Then I lit a bunch of candles and had a long luxurious bubble bath. mmm... pretty sure I fell asleep in the tub. So nice.

kind of a monumental week

I put my room together this week! So nice to have closure. Here is my fabulous bed with my headboard and bedskirt put on-first bedskirt of my life-so happy! And I put my bed on the diagonal in my room. Oh yes, and those are my fabulous curtains in the back. And my hope chest at the foot of my bed since my mattress doesn't quite line up with my box-love my gel-ly bed.

Bonnie hung these fabulous shelves

I rearranged my cubicles shelves to be 'aesthetically pleasing' as well as functional. AND I found white totes! Happiness. I found 1 at Wal-mart a while back and went to 10 other Wal-marts to find additional ones with no luck. I called around, looked online, but all they had were beige, blue and purple. I was about to give up and settle for the beige ones, I went in to exchange my 1 precious white tote when a fabulous customer service guy searched and found 5 white totes at the Sandy Wal-Mart. I was SO happy.

These photos don't do it justice, you will just have to come see it in person.

Oh yeah, and that's my fabulous berry wall in the background.

Tuesday night I went to the temple and afterwards I went over and talked with Heather and Jeremy and told them it was time to be done babysitting. After 6 years of tending on Saturday nights, occasional weekends, and extended trips, it was time to be done. Heather and Jeremy were great about it, so it was easy to talk with them. It was a sweet conversation, very appreciative on both sides and I felt really good about it. We decided Saturday as the last day.

Wednesday for powerstand I did a whole green spread for St. Pat's Day. I was a bit nervous about how it was going to turn out, but it rocked. Here is what I did:

Green bread: Great Harvest

mini tarts, key lime and cream with kiwis: Kneaders

green grapes and green apples

activia yogurt (green packaging) and granola: Costco

limeade and Odwalla green drink

Saturday was regular dance rehearsal, we were at a freezing cold studio in Payson-the things we do to dance. Then I went to Halls for the last time. It was just Taylor and me, so we vegged with a movie, relaxed in the hot tub, cleaned up and had enchiladas for dinner. Great last night with the Halls. I have so appreciated being their babysitter for so long. 6 years.

After finishing at the Halls, I went to get a case for my new phone-an iphone. It's fun, but how do I use the dang thing? Still getting used to it. But I do love it and thanks to my boss who gave it to me. While I was at the counter I get a call from... my date that stood my up on Friday...

Okay so, I was stood up for a date on Friday. We were going to go the Flash game and he ended up going skiing all day with some guys from Google. Got back late, couldn't get my number and thought that it was more of a group hangout rather than a date. I called and left a message, but didn't hear from him at all Friday.

Saturday he calls and apologizes profusely. I decided to stand my ground and accept the apology but let him know that it was not okay that he stood me up. It was weird, I am usually don't do that, but he knew that it was not okay and I agreed.

But I was kind of bugged afterwards and called him back to let him know I appreciated the call and realize he did his best and I didn't communicate or plan the date very well. I just left another message.

Then I put it out of my mind and moved on to planning for Sunday with the fam since my parents are in Baltimore this weekend picking up a new brother. I get home and pack up my stuff and I am just exhausted. The kind of exhaustion that just paralyzes me and I couldn't even think of what I needed to do or get motivated to move.

After the paralyzation subsided, I looked at my phone on my way out the door and saw 2 missed calls from him. What? His message said to call him back. I did and he was on his way to see me. He thought I lived in Cambria, a complex close to mine. Anyway, I directed him to my place as I am rushing to put on some makeup to look somewhat presentable and he shows up with these...

Are you kidding me? I know, totally gorge. This completely makes up for the confusion the night before.

The flowers were accompanied with a note on the back of a picture of Fesenko-it was the only paper he had, Ha! So cute.

He stayed and we chatted for a while. He is pretty great.

After he left, I went over and slept at the folks'. I went with my family to stake conference since my parents were in Baltimore this weekend and it was great. We had a pancake breakfast and got there 20 minutes early-I know! And everyone behaved relatively well. Bobby only hit me once, but Joy did bite me. :)

After stake conference I went to my ward where I was sustained as a VT supervisor. New ward and it was good. Totally exhausted, so I was surviving today.

Bonnie and I had Sunday dinner together after breaking our fasts and it felt really good to just chill out and decompress. I feel really drained, wrung out completely. It's time to recharge.

This week was great

Don't really know what to title this post...just the happenings of this week.

2nd week at the Halls this week. Everything went well, smooth, to routine, etc. Except Taylor didn't poop for a couple of days and I was a little worried. Ha! Last week it wouldn't stop and this week it won't come. Sigh, the grass is always greener on the other side. :) Monday night for FHE, 5 minutes before start time, Spencer informed me that I was in charge of the lesson and treats, (filling in for Mom and Dad)and since Allison wasn't feeling well, the songs. What is this, the 1 man FHE-the 1 Mere FHE? Luckily, Spencer suggested we talk about temples from Ward Conference and there was hot chocolate and 'dunkers' in the cupboard.

Phew! FHE on the fly. Perfect.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were regular days. The only exciting thing that happened was that Rocky ran away again. Then came back the next day. Thank Goodness. I am never in the mood to chase a big black lab around the neighborhood at 9:30 pm on a cold winter evening. I'm just not.

Oh. My parents came over Wednesday night to catch up, deliver mail, AND hot tub. It felt SO good. I love hot tubbing in winter. We chatted and caught up, mostly on my life, kind of a luxury to have both my parents' undivided attention for a couple hours. It was great.

Oh, the one funny thing this week. We ran out of milk on Tuesday and I had a window of time to stop at the grocery store on Thursday, so we went a day or so without milk and had juice instead. There was a 3rd of a pitcher left of pineapple, strawberry, banana juice and in preparation for the next day, I added a second can of juice to it. The second kind was pineapple orange, strawberry-close right? The combination is not a big deal. My dad mixes juice flavors all the time, so I thought nothing of it. Until the next morning when it totally threw the kids for a loop. They were super hesitant to taste it. Kind of hilarious at 7:30 am when they are running out of time to get ready and all they are focused on is this juice. Taylor loved it, Allison finally tried it and exclaimed, "wow, this is good!", Robyn followed Allison-almost exactly and Spencer mumbled something under his breath before he drank a big glass of it. So we got through it :) Then I was off to work, smiling to myself.

Thursday night I dropped Allison off at dance and went grocery shopping with Robyn, we had a few minutes before Allison was done, so we tried out the Yogurt Bliss place next door. Here we are at the shoppe. Robyn thought it was pretty cool, especially since it was much healthier than real ice cream :). She is so cute, I love hanging out with Robyn!

When I got home, I think I finally felt the wear of being a working single mom. I was tired and not in the mood to do showers and beyond the minimum, it was Friday the next day, and my last day, so I sucked it up and showered Taylor with all the TLC in the world and put him to bed. This experience is really good for me. I feel it purging the selfishness right out of me, but it's a bit uncomfortable.

Friday morning we woke up to a lot of snow on the ground, so we prayed that morning that Heather and Jeremy would be safe traveling and would make all their flights.

Friday at noon, Bonnie and I threw a baby shower for our good friend and coworker Deepthi. Baby Sid is due March 1 and we told him he had to stay in til after the shower. He agreed. So at noon, all the girls in the office brought their salads and goodies to the large conference room and we celebrated. We played the poop game and did a cash jar. Deepthi loved it. Swathi took pics, so I will post them when she sends them over.

Friday night we were out of pizzas for pizza and movie night at the Halls, so we had nachos instead, at this point I was so lenient on portion sizes, combinations, the amount of cheese Spencer insisted on having, etc. Sure, whatever you want.

Let's celebrate a successful 2 weeks together!

While the kids watched a movie, I cleaned up a bit, did some laundry, etc., getting ready for Heather and Jeremy to come home. They made all their flights and arrived home very tired and very appreciative. It was funny to see Heather after being up for 26 hours. She does better with sleep. :)

Saturday was, on a scale of 1-10, a 4. One of the worst days I have had in a long time. I was driving to rehearsal and my car overheated on the freeway just over the point of the mountain. There was an accident a little ways up, so I was rolling at about 20 mph. My car has been having overheating issues, but this time felt urgent-I needed to get it to the car doctor ASAP. After clearing the accident, I got off on 12300 S and went to Tunex Car Care. Diagnosis-probably a head gasket issue and possibly a crack in the engine. "Oh, what does that mean?"

"If there's a crack, the only option is a new engine."

Oh. Great. I don't know a lot about cars, but I do know that replacing an engine is expensive.

Shoot. I am not in the mood for this. I am tired, exhausted, I've got to get to rehearsal, and I have a date this afternoon that I need to not be grouchy for.

So they kept it in the shop to look at it, did an oil change, yada yada... who knows what they really do. And I shot the breeze at the shops down there. Total waste of time. Not happy about it. No rehearsal for me.

Anyway, they ran a test with the cooling system and if it overheats in the next 600 miles, then I need to replace the head gasket. Okay, great.

I get home with about 15 minutes to change, spruce up, eat lunch, and get ready for this snowshoeing date.

I went out with Benj. He is a good friend of Scott and Stefanie Hathaway (I work with Scott at One on One).

It was really fun, we went snowshoeing up AF canyon for a couple hours. Benj is super nice-a total gentleman. This guy doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I was very impressed with how chivalrous and gentlemanly he was. He opened all my doors for me, grabbed my bag to carry it as we were leaving (hello impressive, I am not used to guys stepping up like that), and did up my snowshoes for me. Just little things. Put his arm around me when we took pictures, it was so nice to be treated so well, and just taken care of. Here are some pics of the date. Scott fell down about 18 times-pretty funny.

Lacing up my snowshoes and putting on my ankle protectors-he worked hard on those to fit them over my big fuzzy boots. He was a champ!

Stef was getting super cold, so Scott took care of that...

Great smile. Great eyes.

The snowshoes belong to Scott, that was the ending of his attempt running down the mountain. HA!

Snow Angels! with snowshoes.

We are snowshoers!

Saturday night Mags talked me in to coming up to visit, so I went up to Ogden for the evening and Sunday. It was great to catch up with Mags and Nate and David was up there too.

Sunday I went to dinner at Bonnie's parents'. So fun. They were a little more laid back and joking around, totally fun. We looked at scrapbooks and just chatted. I took Sarah (Bonnie's sister) and her husband Kevin home with me so that Bonnie could call her new interest Adam...:)

one week down

One week down, one more to go, not really counting because it was a great week, just cheering for the success! As I mentioned in my last post, I am babysitting the Halls kids while they are cruising over in Europe for 2 weeks. Our prayers this week, I told the kids on the first morning to include in every prayer protection and health & strength. As long as we all stay safe and healthy, we will be just fine. As a result, I have felt a nuclear bubble of protection around the Hall house this week, a literal sustaining watchful care holding the energy of protection and power. Thank you.
I was surprised at how relatively easy this week was, it was actually a lot of fun. Heather had everything organized, right down to Valentine's and 'ask the kids to take notes at ward conference today'-I don't know how she does it. That is why I babysit these kids, it's actually to watch how Heather and Jeremy run their home and raise their family. They are incredible.
The week was pretty regular, I was extra tired, so when the kids went to bed, so did I. It was actually really nice to go to bed at 9:30 and get up at 6. I function SO much better with good sleep. Hmmm, weird.
Anyway, a little more about this week. Taylor pooped everyday this week. Like full to the max diaper and beyond, I have never seen him poop that much and I don't know how that kid had that much poop in him. However, he ate REALLY well this week, was very regular, and was very happy, AND hardly any seizures which is always a plus. No complaints changing poopy diapers if this results in a happy Taylor.
Valentine's day was great. Heather had left full length mirrors with inspirational messages on them for Spencer, Allison, and Robyn and for Taylor and me she had left some divine balls of chocolate somethings...I think they were those cheesecake balls, anyway, WOW. They were my guilty pleasure throughout the week. :) And here is Taylor enjoying his... he LOVED them. I think its great that somehow, even though most of his food simply goes in and glides down the throat, Taylor always knows when it is chocolate or something yummy and perks right up. Happy Valentine's Day Taylor!

Yes, even a bit up the nose. :)

On Thursday it was a full moon, so Allison and I (Robyn had already gone to bed) did the 'moon dance' and on Friday all 3 of us did the moon dance even though Spencer announced that it was only 99% full. (sigh) gotta love that boy. The background on this is, one weekend my sister and I were goofing around and dancing outside under the full moon and we found this great 'moon dance music' so whenever there is a full moon we do the "moon dance" and play this music while we dance under the full moon. Well, there was a full moon one weekend that I was at the Halls, so I went out with Allison and Robyn and introduced them to the 'moon dance'. This was a couple of years ago, but it is one thing they still remember and remind me of. Allison actually choreographed a little dance with Robyn and performed it for me. Too dark to video, but here are some pics.

Friday night crisis-couldn't find the TV remote! This is serious for the Halls on the weekends, especially pizza and movie night. So they watched it on the computer and settled for that. Phew! If the technology breaks in this house while I am here, good luck. I am of no assistance in this department. So this is the other thing I pray for-it's right up there with no medical emergencies.
Saturday I went to my dance rehearsal and Kelly, Heather and Jeremy's sister-in-law, covered for me. Saturday afternoon I made my list of errands-drop off t-shirts, pick up at Wal-Mart, groceries, fill prescription, etc. So the kids were really good as we went around town crossing these off my list because one of the stopping points was my office. We stopped there to play games. Spencer and I played ping-pong, we got pretty good at rallying after a while. We played some air hockey with Allison and Robyn and Taylor loved the giant love sac that he hung out on. Something for everyone for an hour or so. Then I took them to see my desk and raid the candy jar and jelly belly bowl. They just had to test every flavor... shoot. I was right along with them on this. Then we went to Denny's for dinner-kids eat free on Saturday nights. Perfect. Since Taylor was technically the adult over the designated child age, but eats like a child, Spencer got to pick his adult meal. Spencer was VERY happy about this. And go for it he did with a ginormous cheeseburger and fries. I got their hickory chicken sandwich that was not so good, so they swapped it for a burger. Allison and Robyn had their grand slam-breakfast for dinner, and Taylor had mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets (super clean and easy foods to feed him since I totally forgot his wheelchair). Everyone had a good time.
Sunday I made pancakes for breakfast, I learned my lesson last week after hungry and grouchy kids after church, they need substantial breakfasts on Sunday morning. It was ward conference and it was really really good. Centered on Temples, so the Stake President and Bishop spoke about going to the temple more frequently and maximizing our attendance. The sunday school lesson was AWESOME! It was given by the stake sunday school...counselor (I think). Anyway, he had been preparing for months, so the discussion we had was very rich and mature. They are making an effort to point primary children and youth in the direction of the temple and basically having everything we do lead and point to the temple. Wow, that seems young to me, but it is very wise being that that is the broader goal even to baptism, church attendance. It reminded me of the principle I have been thinking about recently and that I spoke about in church a few weeks back about 'all going home together'. AND connecting to the Tribal Leadership book I read, we are all on Heavenly Father's team (tribe :)) and we are all going home together. The goal is to go home together-not alone, that is why we are in families and grouped in wards and stakes-to strengthen each other to all go Home. This principle also bleeds into many arenas and I was thinking about it in the context of parenting and families. Kids deserve to know that their parents are on their team (routing for them, committed to their success, etc.) and when we are all on the same team, then we support each other, we route for each other, and we create a family network that is extremely powerful.
I have been thinking about mission statements recently and thought this would be a great mission statement:
"We're all on the same team!"
Some food for thought.

This is the fort that Spencer and Allison built on Sunday...for reading and for the sake of building a fort-the best thing to do on Sunday of course. Speaking of reading, so Spencer is having a reading competition at school, so he is reading any chance he gets, LITERALLY. He asked me to sign off on his reading hours for each day this past week. 10.5 hours on 2 days and 9 hours on the other 2 days, WHAT?! That isn't humanly possible, he is not even awake and able to read that much in one day. He is so funny, he recorded that he was waking up between 1-4 am to read and then going back to sleep, that's how he got all those hours in. I didn't believe him, he would be WAY more grouchy if he was doing that. So I didn't feel good about signing off on it. Shoot. Spencer was not happy. We finally agreed that he would lower his hours even though 'I was making him a liar'-don't worry Heather, it was okay, I would be frustrated too if I was him. And that he would tell me when he was reading along the way to verify his hours. We also worked it out that he would not get up in the middle of the night, but go to bed early and wake up early to read. It was the most compromise-able I have ever seen him, Good Job Spence!

What is the world coming to?

So last night at dinner, Robyn (who is 5) asked me if I knew the 'Single Ladies' song because she did. Then she proceeded to sing it for me and I had her repeat it for the camera.
Hilarious, but oh my, 5 years old singing "if you like, then you should of put a ring on it..."

Best Valentine EVER!

Happy Valentine's Day!
It was a regular morning with the Halls with Apple Cinnamon Rolls, not waffles (much to Spencer's dismay-it's okay, waffles were for dinner) and then I was off to work with not much planned. I thought about doing company wide valentine's, but decided to simplify and forego it because with the Halls and working it would have been too much and I didn't plan enough in advance to do it before. Sigh. the consequence of simplifying, BUT it encourages me to plan ahead in order to do fun things like this rather than burnout trying to scramble at the end.
However, I did stop at Wal-Mart before work this morning and picked up some conversation hearts and chocolate kisses to put on the lunch tables. Lunch today was Nonna Lucia's Italian Bistro. The food was GREAT, but the service and presentation (specifically the sanitation side of things) was NOT... I got word on Tuesday that over half of our company team members were up in the night sick with the runs. YIKES!
I also picked up Bonnie's valentine: stuff for PB&J. This girl could live on PB&J sandwiches, its one of her favorite snacks, meals, appetizers, etc. anytime is the right time for PB&J for Bonnie. I put them on her desk with a note while she was in a meeting. Hehe... I love things like this.
It was getting close to lunchtime, so I went upstairs to set up the candy on the tables and get things in order for the caterers. I came back to my desk as Bonnie was hopping around the suite. She came out of the glass doors by my desk and thanked me for her valentine. We shared a little Valentine dance (Bonnie actually danced for me) in the hall and I went back to my desk, to this...The BEST Valentine EVER!!
10 things I love about Mere...hello full love tank :)
1...how you are so considerate & thoughful (your little notes and presents)
2...how you are motivated to organize & simplify your life.
3...your organized closet (I'm kinda jealous)
4...your insight on life...I love your wisdom (eg trees and roots)
5...your positive and bubbly personality...I love being around you!
6...your spirituality and sensitivity to the spirit and your willingness to follow His will.
7...your willingness to serve others (at church, the Halls, your family, ME!)
8...how genuine you are when you talk with people...your excitement meeting new people.
9...your desire to learn more about yourself (I think it's rubbing off!)
10...the fact that you're the BEST ROOMMATE EVER! (it's true)
11...shoooot! I couldn't just have 10!!!
-your beauty inside and out
-how you can tell when you are 'pet-peeving' me
-your humor
-JUST LOVE YOU!

I have the best roommate ever.
Happy Valentine's Day!