New Videos

Just a heads up--there are two new videos posted over to the lower right, one featuring one of Sadie's brand new skills: crawling! She also has a surprise ending for you. It's been way too long since I've posted--so sorry for that--but I've been just trying to keep my head above water in a very challenging Cal Poly quarter. My main project is coming together, using The Giver to bring out themes of identity and memory. It's made me stop and wonder at our ability to remember, from which flows our ability to experience and learn and know who we are. Unbelievable!

Alone Time At The Dentist

So I'm actually starting to look forward to my dentist appointment tomorrow just so I can have some alone time!

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't been to the dentist in years and I probably have cavities but I'm looking forward to just being with me, myself and I. I can't wait to drive there ALONE, to sit in the scary dentist chair ALONE and I don't even mind the idea of being scolded for not properly taking care of my teeth...as long as I'm ALONE!

I love my girls but I need a bit of a break! Lately they won't leave me alone (or get anything done around the house)....when one goes down the other wakes up, when I'm helping one with something the other needs something also, when I just want to poor myself a cup of coffee in the wee hours of the morning I get help!

Well, I'll let you know how painful my alone time is tomorrow :)

Pearly White

My little Sadie Joan has her first tooth in and is army crawling, sitting up on her own and "talking" in her own special baby way!!! She's growing up so fast and is the sweetest little girl. I'm so thankful that I get to see her grow up and change - I love my little brown haired girl!

Yummy Cookies!!!

I found a really yummy oatmeal cookie recipe the other day.... the cookies are already gone. I can't say that they are good for you but I was able to sneak some flaxseed in without Bekah knowing and they do call for raisins instead of chocolate chips. So here is the recipe just in case any of you feel like warming the house by turning your oven on for baking :)

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies (off the crisco container)
3/4 cup butter flavor crisco
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 milk
1 1/2 vanilla
3 cups oats
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (I did have any so they didn't make it into this batch)
1/2 cup flaxseed (I added this ingredient)

Next time I'm going to try to us 1/2 whole wheat flour and real butter instead of the crisco...happy baking!

Anyone else have a yummy cookie recipie?

Online Music Solutions

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

For those of you who love music and find yourself working online often, here are two great websites:

1) listen.grooveshark.com
This one I just discovered thanks to my buddy Dane. It is a music site that allows you to listen to "any song in the world, for free!" It doesn't have every song, but it does have a ton, allowing you to create your own playlists and discover new tunes. As an aside, I was using it yesterday to listen to Kutless' new album "To Know That You're Alive"--yeah, they're not so good anymore. No passion--a bunch of shallow pop songs with some crunchy guitars thrown in. Anberlin, on the other hand, continues their excellence with their newest release, "New Surrender". Check it out!

2) Pandora online radio
The offspring of the Music Genome Project, which just sounds cool, you can type in your favorite band or artist, and it automatically generates a suggested playlist of other similar artists based on pretty complex criteria. It is a great way to discover new music.

Happy listening!

And now something just for fun

This Christmas, Cara got me a page a day calendar called " The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said", featuring thoughtful (not so much, actually) comments by celebrities, politicians, and everyday people.

From Jan. 27, here's some messed up cliches regularly uttered by a Missouri ad exec:
*The role of the lead goose is to break wind on the other geese.
*He was running around like a chicken with his legs cut off.
*It's all water under a camel's back.

From Jan. 31, here's an actual comment from Bob Eubanks to Stephanie Edwards at the 2006 Rose Parade:
"There's no end to your limitations, Stephanie."

Lookin Good

I had a PET scan last Monday and it was NO fun! I went to bed the night before with a headache and it never went away. I couldn't eat anything that wasn't a lean protein for breakfast Monday morning (and I had to fast after that), I couldn't have coffee, my test wasn't until 3pm, I had to drink some nasty contrast stuff for the scan and I ended up with a terrible migraine before the scan even started! I couldn't cancel it or take anything for my pain because they will charge you $1,ooo dollars if you don't give enough notice or prep incorrectly. I was in so much pain by 10am my mom had to come and get me and the girls because I was unable to take care of them. Somehow I was able to barely make it through the scan...I had to lay motionless for 1/2 hour. When it was over I walked down the hall to my room and "lost it"....I proceded to "lose it" again on the way home and once I was in bed until my girlfriend came over with her migraine meds. WOW - migraines are terrible! I'd never had one before and I feel sorry for anyone who has, my head was sore for two days after that.

Well, at least the scan came back clean and my labs show no sign of thyroid problems (I guess I have a high chance of my thyroid getting funky becasue of the radiation). My hair is growing in so I don't look so much like a cancer paitent....I just look like a mom who doesn't want to fuss over her hair :). We are loving our new home and I'm so excited that I'm a functional mommy again! It constantly amazes me that 6 1/2 months ago I had my precious baby Sadie, 51/2 months ago I was diagnosed with cancer and 2 1/2 months ago I was given the news that I'm in remission! What a worlwind!