Jolly January.

Now that February is almost over, I'm going to scoot back in time a bit and chat about January. I actually bothered to write stuff on my wall calendar as the month progressed, so by golly, I'm bothering to type it out here and now.

-January dawned with DQ's annual customer appreciation day on Saturday, the 1st. Everything 1/2 price! I mostly wanted to go so I could get a cake or two 'cause I love 'em so much. The kids and I arrived before they opened. There was a line forming and we were just a few clusters back. The minute the doors were unlocked, everyone involved swarmed in and either stormed the freezer case or got in line to order. People were grabbing boxes of Dilly Bars and armloads of cake. I came away unharmed with one cake and stood in line to order 2 chicken strip baskets to share with the kids, a couple of Blizzards and selected other 'cool treats'. The customers in front of me were eagerly ordering their weight in food. It was pretty crazy. Renee and Quinn met us there with their kiddos and we ate amid the chaos. Before we left, I bought another cake because I knew I'd wish I had more if I only got one. One was original style, one was a Reese's Blizzard cake. Yum!

-Sunday, the 2nd- Oliver's first day in Sunbeams! I can't believe he's getting that big. He really didn't want to go to his new class. He wanted to go to nursery to play with the trains.

-Monday, the 3rd- The girls' first day at their new school, Joplin Elementary. They miss the school they just moved from, but so far (almost 2 months later), their biggest complaint has been the school lunches. I thought they were the same everywhere. I guess some lunch ladies just don't have that magic touch.

-Tuesday, the 4th- Ryan had the day off, so we went to look at light fixtures. We dropped Ollie off at Shirley's and went to a few stores. We stopped in at Home Depot to get something. We were standing there looking at shop vacs. I looked over when some guy passed by. As he walked to the end of the aisle I could only see the back of him, but I was sure who it was. It had to be Darin, my ex from '98-'99. We worked at Loomis, Fargo&Co. together. The last time I saw him was weeks before Cora was born. She's 9-1/2 now. Anyway, back to Home Depot. He turned to look at something and I verified that it was indeed him. I approached him. "Darin?" He looked up, the spark of recognition occurred and he said something about how it had been forever since last we met. Then he said, "I was just wondering about you the other day, if you were still around." I told him that, no, I had died. It was strange seeing him after all those years. As he and I made small talk, I tried not to think about any Levi lovin' that may or may not have taken place when we were dating. *gag* Ryan wandered over to see who I was talking to. I introduced them and I was surprised at how easily they chatted. They could be best buddies. Too bad I didn't get any contact info. Think of all the double dates we could go on. . . not! Anyway, that was that. It was interesting to see him again for a few minutes. Who knows if we'll ever cross paths again. I mean, what are the odds?

- Thursday, the 6th- I went to a Glee Karaoke party at Erin's. It's a Wii game. It was fun! She had a mini cupcake bar set up with assorted frostings (in pastry bags!) and toppings. Cute and yummy! She had quite a few gals show up, making the evening a delightful success.

- Sunday, the 9th- Our first time having the family over for dinner at our house. We finally get to be in the rotation. My side of the family gets together every other Sunday at different houses each time. It was fun having everyone over. I made stuffed pasta shells and Alfredo lasagna rolls. We also had garlic bread, salad and jello. I saved the DQ cakes as a special dessert for our first dinner guests. They were well received! (The cakes and the guests.)

- The morning of Tuesday, the 11th, Maria and I went to the Y to take a Zumba class taught by Renee. She looked so cute up there! I am not the most coordinated girl on the block, so it made me nervous to be surrounded by all those merciless mirrors. After we shimmied and sashayed Latin style, we went to lunch at The Blue Moose Cafe in Eagle. Yum! It's always a treat spending time with Renee and Maria.

- The 11th marked the one-year anniversary of my blog. Somehow it seems a lot older than that. :/

-Friday, the 14th- Becky and I went downtown to a place called Reef for some food and live reggae. I'm always impressed by musicians. I don't listen to reggae on my own, but it's fun to listen to on occasions such as these, and I always love "dates" with Becky!

-Tuesday, the 18th- University Singers started up again after Christmas break. Yay! I love choir!

- Friday, the 21st- Cora and Jane didn't have school. Their former school had a half day, so I got permission from their ex teachers to bring the girls in to visit their classmates they miss so much. I'm so glad they were up for it. All the students were so excited to see them! I had to stop myself from getting emotional. I dropped Cora off to her old class first, then I took Jane down the hall to see hers. They were all so happy to see her. It was sweet to hear all the kids saying her name when she walked in. The teacher gathered all the kids to the back of the room and had Jane sit in a chair so the kids could ask her questions about her new school. It was so cute! I think she loved all the attention!
After a few minutes, Cora appeared in the doorway with a friend to ask if she could stay the rest of the day! Mrs. Roberts (the teacher) was encouraging it, so I couldn't say no. We had planned to just stop in for a little bit, but her class didn't want to see her go so soon. Cora really misses Mrs. Roberts and that class.
I let Jane stay with her class through recess. While they were outside, I did something I had wanted to do, but never got around to doing when the girls were actually enrolled there. I went in to say hi to my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Weathers. She taught at Mountain View for lots of years (where I went to school) , but moved to Shadow Hills (the school Cora and Jane just switched from) when it opened. Shortly after my girls started school there I noticed that she was a first grade teacher there. I wish I would have known that sooner so Jane could have been in her class. I know Jane would have liked Mrs. Weathers just as much as I did when I was a young'un. I wasn't very impressed with the teacher she did have.
And now back from my tangent... I was so nervous to just drop in on Mrs. Weathers. I stood hesitating at the door for a minute, then pushed myself forward. She looked up and there was no turning back! I had to speak, but hadn't rehearsed what to say. I went with: "Hi... You were my Kindergarten teacher." She stood up and I told her who I was. It took a second, but she remembered me! Probably only because she knew my mom. Also, her daughter and my sister were best friends in elementary school. She said it's strange to see former students grown up with children of their own because of course she remembers her students as the kids she knew. We only had a few minutes to catch up, but I'm glad I made myself do it. I told her what a great teacher I thought she was, and how I remembered more from Kindergarten than most other grades. She said it made her day that I stopped in. Awww...

- Saturday, the 22nd- Went to Ryan's niece's baby shower. She's having a girl any day now.
Ryan's sister, Jackie, came to town from Washington for the occasion, along with her kids, Ethan and Tomi. They stayed for over a week. Her husband came for a few days, but after that he had to get back home to work. We always love it when they visit!
That evening, Ryan, the kids and I met Lyle and Jamie's family at Jalapeno's for dinner. I had the Burrito Colorado: A flour tortilla filled with C.A.B.® steak simmered in Colorado sauce. Topped with white cheese sauce and more spicy Colorado sauce. (That's the restaurant description.)
I quite liked it. I can't vouch for anything else on the menu, but I would recommend that particular burrito. So tasty!

-Saturday, the 29th- Royce's 2nd Birthday party. Royce is Ryan's sister's kid. Such a cutie.

-Monday, the 31st- we got a new sectional for the bonus room. I'll post a picture by request only. ;) Now we have somewhere to sit when we want to watch a movie! The floor is only comfortable for a few minutes; after that, it's a pain in the rump! To celebrate the couch, I watched "10 Things I Hate About You". I can't believe I never saw it when it came out. I liked it. RIP, Heath Ledger. Ryan half-watched it with me as he was doing some programming on his favorite computer game.

And that's what I have to say about January.

Funny Kids

Oliver may need his ears checked, silly boy. The other night at the dinner table the family was gathered and somebody mentioned the Scooby-Doo episode the kids had been watching. Oliver commented about the scary monsters with a very expressive face and worried tone. I smiled and said to Ryan, "I love his wide eyes." Oliver quickly retorted, "I'm not white!"

Another similar exchange took place while riding in the car with Ryan and Oliver. I was saying something about sometime in the future (I don't remember the exact sentence) needing to wake up Oliver. From the back seat Ollie's displeased voice called out, "I don't have makeup!"

On our way to church last Sunday Cora was taking in the beauty of the earth as seen from the car window and lovingly said, "Oh, look at those little ducklings!.... Or maybe they're rocks..."
I think it's time to get her eyes checked. She says she can see everything just fine. I'm not so sure about that!

I love it when kids say funny stuff.

100 Years

Once upon a time, not too many months ago, Ryan fell in love with John Ondrasik. You know, the man that is Five for Fighting. Well, I guess I should say he fell for the guy's music.

Ryan listens to the radio on his way to and from work. Fed up with most songs that get played to death, he rarely heard songs he liked. I assume on one or more crummy drives home, choice songs like "100 Years" or "Superman" or "The Riddle" came on. He liked those. A lot. The voice, the meaningful lyrics, the catchy melodies. Not to mention John's rugged good looks. *giggle*

He looked up additional Five for Fighting tunes on YouTube to have a listen. He found printable sheet music for a few of his faves, including "100 Years" and "I Just Love You". It took him a while to do, but he learned to play them on the piano. He played them a lot at first, but that has tapered off a bit. Even when he would play them over and over, trying to get them just right, I never tired of hearing those songs. I love them!

I gave Ryan 3 F4F CDs for Christmas. We like them all, but the favorite album is the most recently released, Slice. It has been enjoyed numerous times by both Ryan and me, whether we are in the car together or separate. There isn't a song on there that isn't great. No "fillers" at all. And they are all so fun to sing along to. I would strongly recommend this album. Or any one of his. Long live Five for Fighting!

Let's close with Ryan's rendition of "100 Years". Feel free to hum along. He might be upset that I posted this unpolished video clip. (I wonder how long before he checks my good ol' blog.) He was nervous to be recorded, but I think he did just fine.