Congrats to my hubby :)

Iain found out on Friday that he is getting promoted! He's going to be the Presales Director for the Western Americas and is very excited! He has done an awesome job at ca (Computer Associates) this past year and I am sooooooooo proud that his hard work is being recognized. His boss told us to have dinner on the company, so the four of us went out to P.F. Chang's this afternoon. It was great!

p.s. - leak update: the water is still coming in, but we've had a few very cold nights so we think it has slowed the flow a little. Warmer temps again this week, though, so we're by no means home free. We've decided there's no point in opening up the wall until some more of the water has gone - the ground is so saturated that it just needs to dry out some more first. Thank you everyone for your good wishes :)

It's hard to try and catch some zzzzz's at a sleep center :)

Last night I had a sleep study done at a Sleep Center down in Lakewood. I'm told (by my hubby) that I snore really badly - so much so that he spends more than 50% of his nights on the couch in his office :) I saw an ENT doc a couple of weeks ago and he recommended the study.

I went down mid-afternoon (we were expecting snow in Conifer and I didn't want to be driving in it), and hung out at Starbucks for a few hours working on my school paper. Around 9pm I checked in at the sleep center, not knowing many details about what to expect. It really was a bizarre experience: a big battery-pack type thing strapped around my waist, and electrodes on my legs, chest, neck, scalp and forehead. I looked like Medusa with all those wires coming out of my head. Going to the bathroom was quite an ordeal: lots of wires to take care of and make sure they didn't dangle into the toilet, LOL!

I got an oxygen monitor on my finger and around 10.30pm tried to go to sleep....and tried....and tried. I must have been awake for a couple of hours trying to get comfortable - not the easiest thing with 20+ wires to become tangled with :) The technician came in at one point and asked me to switch from my side to my back so that they could "hear the snoring at its worst"; I switched positions and the next thing I knew I was being woken up at the glorious hour of 5:30am - and it was snowing!

The technician told me that I did snore and that I woke up a lot - without even being aware of it. Also my oxygen dropped by 3%, which isn't great either. So now I just wait for the report and see what's next. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a nice deep sleep tonight - watch out, Iain!! :)

Timmmmmmmmmmberrrrrrr!!

The kids were playing with some sticks out in the driveway this afternoon; they were over 8 feet long and the kids were standing them up, and letting them fall while yelling "timmmmmberrr!". They were doing big, hearty laughs...when I hear that sound it just makes me happy too.

Music :)

Today's Two Peas Blog Challenge Question is: "Which musician would you like to see in concert?". Without hesitation, my answer would be Elton John live in Las Vegas (the Red Piano show). I love everything he does; he is a musical genius!

I just finished working on a "Music" circle journal and we were asked to do a layout on our favorite songs and the memories associated with them. I've posted my layout up above.

I'm off to get busy with some schoolwork - so that I can enjoy "Dancing with the Stars" guilt-free later tonight! Yes, I am easily pleased...LOL!

Childhood and Sundays

"If there was one thing you could go back and learn growing up as a child, what would it be & why?" was the question on the Two Peas Challenge today. I'd take piano lessons. I asked my parents for them for several years and didn't get to learn, and it's something I still regret. Nattie has taken lessons for 18 months and I love listening to her play (although we still have to find her a teacher here in Conifer). In addition to the sounds of music, I think it's a great tool to have for discipline and sticking with something and seeing the improvements :) Maybe one day I'll take the plunge!

On another note, I love Sundays. I try and plan my schoolwork so that I can take Sundays off. Iain makes me a cup of tea and he reads the newspaper and I usually go through a scrapping magazine. The kids watch cartoons and it's just a nice, relaxing hour or two. Today I'm going to try and get some cards done for my justjohanna assignments. I'm also excited because I'll be receiving the Summer stamps from The Cat's Pajamas later this week...Alma sent us a preview last week so that we know what we'll be getting to play with and all I can say is - those of you who are stampers are going to looooooooove them! There's nothing else like them out there :)

Bed shuffle :)

Well, the water is still here, but Iain found a way to rig the submersible pump last night which allowed us to get a few hours of sleep :) Both of us were very cranky by the end of the day. Because we thought we were going to be up all night, we told Nattie to sleep in our room. She wanted to sleep on the sofa we have in there, so we said that was fine. Well, as soon as Jamie heard Nattie was having a "sleepover" in our room, he wanted to be in there too, so he climbed into our bed. I ended up on the couch downstairs, just in case, and Iain slept on Nattie's bed in the basement to save him having to run up and down the stairs :) Tonight, we will be in our own beds!

I'm not sure if the plumber will even come today. We're expecting over a foot of snow by dinnertime, so I don't know how much he would get done if he did make it. Iain's supposed to be leaving tomorrow for a trade show in Las Vegas but if we're still having problem with the leak he's going to stay home.

To completely change the subject, the challenge on Two Peas today was: "what was your favorite childhood game"? Mine had to be good ol' hide and seek :) There was something so exciting about finding a special hiding place and peeping through as your friends searched high and low...what fun! Iain and I still play it with the kids sometimes and we love jumping out from a new hiding spot to give them a fright!!

Spoke too soon....the water is back...

The basement leak is back...so much for the sump pump being the cause of the whole problem. We now think it is moisture leaking in from all those feet of snow we had which are now melting into the already-saturated ground.

Plumber can't be here till tomorrow (Saturday) lunchtime, so it'll be another all-nighter here - and not the fun kind!

TGIF

Yahoo! It's Friday :) The kids are off school for Spring Break all next week. It will be nice to have a week off from the morning rush. I can't believe we're so close to the end of the school year - I got Nattie booked in at a couple of summer camps, one at our local art school and the other is a horse camp where the kids "adopt" a horse for the week and learn all about taking care of them. There's also a riding lesson each day. Nattie is very excited about it!

Have an excellent weekend :)

Please say "thank you"

I am really into good manners. From a very young age, I was told to always say "please" and "thank you", and as soon as I could write, the thank you letter became a regular part of the days following my birthday, Christmas, or any other time I received a gift. When I lived in Scotland, I often wrote to my Nana in England. She told me that receiving anything in the mail that wasn't a bill could really brighten someone's day, and that stuck with me. I love the idea that someone receiving a card or note from me will go to their mailbox, check their mail, and smile at the one thing they open which isn't junk or a bill. I see that in my kids' eyes too, when a friend sends them a postcard from a vacation, or a note just saying "hello".

Now that Iain and I are parents, the responsibility of teaching good manners has shifted to us. We are teaching Nattie and Jamie the same principles we were taught, and (so far) it is working well :) Of course, getting them to write their thank you letters to all the relatives and friends after birthdays and holidays is no easy feat, but I hope they "get" how important it is and how much these notes can mean. I try to encourage them with special notecards of their own, or even get them to make some by hand, if they are in the mood. And e-mail thank you's are a no-no :) I tell them that if someone took the time to send them a gift and write a card, they deserve the gift of a thank you note in return. It only takes 10 minutes to make someone's day.

Plumbers and fans and carpet, oh my!

Well...our basement today is looking lots better than it did 24 hours ago. Turns out our sump pump was done for. For those who don't know what one is (that would be me 24 hours ago), it's a pump which sits under the house and pumps out all the ground water which gathers under or next to the basement, supposedly keeping the house dry. The motor on ours was completely broken, so after his initial visit and crawl under the house with Iain he had to go down to Denver to pick up the new pump. In the meantime Iain went to get a submersible pump - we couldn't believe how much came gushing out into the back yard...pretty scary stuff! We're glad we weren't away on vacation or even just gone overnight; it would have been awful to come home to. The restoration guys came by lunchtime and got their big extractors and fans going, so they'll be here for a few days and then they'll come back and replace the carpet and pad which was damaged. Poor Iain, he fell asleep before 8 last night...

Jamie and I went shopping today. He was badly in need of a few pairs of pants after a recent growth spurt. We got to the mall, found his pants, bought some cool stationery at Papyrus, had a cookie at Mrs. Fields :) and headed home! It was nice to get out after all the house drama yesterday.

I see it this way: it could have been lots worse - I mean, it could have been sewer water, not ground water. Then we would have been in real trouble :) Happy Wednesday!

Don't you love those evenings when....

you discover around 9pm that the basement has a leak? Iain and I had just tucked Nattie in and as we got to the bottom of the stairs, our socks got soaked....to cut a long story short, we were up all night. Iain spent the whole night scooping up water so that it didn't extend into the rest of the basement; I was at the grocery store at 12.30am looking for mops, calling Allstate, trying to call plumbers....

Hmmm...plumbers. So much for those 24-hour "emergency" plumbers. I left messages at 3 numbers at 10pm. Only one even took the time to call back, and he can't get here till this morning (hopefully any minute now). Hopefully he can figure out quickly what the problem is.

I tried to stay awake. I think I fell asleep around 3am, and woke up at 6.30am to hear Iain still scooping. A nap will definitely be in order today - for everyone except Jamie, who slept through the whole thing. Oh, to be 5 again :)

Random stuff...

St. Patrick's Day is approaching! This card, made with stamps from The Cat's Pajamas, features Sprinkle the cat :) Very sweet!

The blog challenge over at Two Peas today is an interesting one: if you could give all human beings one virtue, what would it be? Mine would be tolerance - so much trouble is caused by people not understanding that differences in opinion, religion, race, sexual orientation - the list goes on - make our world a better place, not a worse place.

We are getting some new furniture delivered today! 2 sofas and 2 end tables, with a matching chair to follow in a couple of weeks. Our living room is finally starting to come together - Iain and I have been joking about how it looks like a "grown up" room since everything actually matches! Over the years we've had lots of nice furniture but in this house it seems different - as if we know we're going to be here for longer, so we're taking our time and really planning it well.

We can see our grass!

The snow is finally melting down to ground level in some areas of our yard :) Yesterday I was able to snap some fun shots of squirrels and woodpeckers hanging out enjoying the bird feed we have put out for them. They have gone through 5lbs of the stuff in one month, but I guess they have all been very hungry with the long period of snow coverage we've had here in CO.

Happy Birthday, Dude!! 5 today!

Today is Jamie's birthday. Wow. I can't believe our little guy is 5 already. He already opened his presents before heading to preschool. He said his favorite was his Pizza Hut food set; he's already made us pizza and spaghetti this morning :) I took him to school with juice and cookies for the class snack, and this afternoon we're going to play Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf at Colorado Mills...should be fun!

Have a great day, dude!

To Do List....

What are some of the things you would like to do in your life, as you get older? Hmmm....I still have lots to do! In addition to being around and able to enjoy my family, my list would include:

• travel to Alaska, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and more countries in Europe
• read lots more books
• complete my degree (I'm halfway!)
• see Elton John live
• have a scrapbook page published (only cards so far...but I'm trying!)
• skydive (perhaps!)
• improve my cooking skills
• become a better photographer

That's a good list to start with, right? What's on your list?

We've decided to head into Denver today and stay the night in the JW Marriott at Cherry Creek so that we can enjoy a special dinner for Iain's birthday. The kids are excited - they love hotels! Have a fantastic weekend :)

Happy Birthday, Iain!

Today my hubby turns 40! For his birthday breakfast I decided to finally try the croissants from Williams-Sonoma which I remembered had been on Oprah's "Favorite Things" list a couple of years ago...they were outstanding! A special treat for a special guy :)

Talking of my special guy, the challenge on Two Peas today was "what is the most important quality in marriage?". I can't narrow it down to just one thing, so I'd say trust, unconditional support, and a sense of humor (nobody can make me laugh like Iain can!). We've made it to 14 years, so we must be doing something right :)

Most Beautiful Place.....

Blog challenge from Two Peas: what's the most beautiful place you've ever seen? My first answer would probably be some of the scenery we saw on our trip to Maui in 2005. I have never seen anything like it!

Circle Journal Layout: Favorite Things :)

I'm glad that's over :)

Jamie did so well yesterday with the surgery. He had his adenoids removed, and this was his first surgery. Nattie wanted to stay home from school to help support her little brother, so the 4 of us headed to the Parker Adventist Hospital for 8am. Everyone was very friendly, and there were no delays or hitches. Jamie was very nervous, but perked up a bit when he got to change into those cook hospital socks and the little gown/shirt :) I got to wear the lovely sterile white overalls to accompany him to the OR (we were joking that I looked like kids in the Willy Wonka TV room on the movie); that was a good laugh for all of us!

It was hard for me to leave once Jamie was asleep, but the procedure was over in 40 minutes (just enough time for Iain and Nattie to run to Starbucks), and we were all relieved to see Jamie start to wake up in the recovery room. We stayed for about 1 1/2 hours to make sure everything was OK, and then headed home. To say Jamie's recovery was speedy would be an understatement; by the end of the day he wanted to bounce around on his space hopper!

This morning he's doing even better - has needed no pain medication and says nothing hurts. In fact, he's running around like - well - a four-year-old! Thank goodness for that :)

Things I love....

This layout is from a CJ entry I did - "favorite things" :)

The blog challenge on Two Peas today was: what's your favorite comfort food? That's a tough one...I'd say mine would be something warm like chili - in a bowl with cheese, green onion and some crispy, crusty bread...mmmm....just the thing on a snowy day! Have a great weekend!

Another treasure :)

Here is Nattie, complete with braces. I had to take photos to email to Iain this morning. She is looking so grown-up!! She said she just wants to "yank them off" and I am trying hard to reassure her that having the work done now will save lots more time down the road....

Off to pick her up from art class now.