Safety Violation

So, I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile now....I was in my one-butt-kitchen not too long ago cooking something. (I can't remember if it was breakfast or dinner?) Ryan was sitting on the other side of the counter "helping" me. (Actually I think he was on the counter, in the sink, standing on the dishwaser and under my feet....) As I turned from the stove he said, "Mom, SAFETY VIOLATION!" Aside from being quite suprised at his warning, I nearly fell over from his choice of words...this is not a phrase that to my knowledge has been used much in our home. I was incredulous--not sure what kitchen sin I had committed. He pointed to the open cupboard door above my head and said it again, "Mom, SAFETY VIOLATION!!!" I laughed and closed the cupboard door thinking it was over. However for the next 15 minutes, every time I turned around it seems I was commiting some sort of culinary infraciton. "Mom, SAFETY VIOLATION!!!" (I had turned on the tap in the sink.) "Mom, SAFETY VIOLATION!!!" (Too much salt in the soup?) "Mom, SAFETY VIOLATION!!!" (I didn't wash my hands after blowing my nose?) "Mom, SAFETY VIOLATION!!!" (I put the yogurt next to the ketchup in the fridge?) I guess I should be glad (?) that I have someone to help me be safe in the kitchen....One additional funny thing that Ryan said lately was when he told me that some girl in his preschool class was "hot." While waiting to go into school one morning I asked him the name of the little girl crossing the parking lot. He replied, "That's Jeannie-she's kinda hot!" (Not the answer I was expecting at all...) In my suprise I asked, "What did you say?" This time he repeated it with a tone and tempo meant for someone who was really dumb or extremely hard of hearing..."THAT'S JEANNIE....SHE'S KINDA H-O-T!!" He cracks me up!

When Christmas Comes to Town - done (whew)

Okay, for those of you that weren't able to make it to last night's performance for one reason or another, you really missed something great. I must admit that, according to my totally unbiased opinion, Amy was AMAZING! She'd been fretting about doing "The Mom Song" for a couple of weeks because it is so hard to get all of those words out and she absolutely nailed it! A big thanks to Terry Hritz for being a driving force behind putting together the show - both Amy and Delmo usually need a little spur to get them going to start putting together the show. He did a great job of keeping things on track and took care of so many of the tasks that often go unnoticed. Another thanks to Kari and Suzanne for helping Amy out with her wardrobe, hair, makeup, and other appropriate "primping" - she felt really spoiled.
The audience was really great last night with about 25 people standing up in the back of the theater to see the show and every seat taken five minutes before the show began. Troy Eden and Tera Hooiman sang some songs before the show to warm up the crowd and did a great job of it - everyone really appreciated their participation and I hope that they felt good about their performance.
So what's next now that the show is concluded? Well, Amy's got about 150 pages of her textbook to read and her final test in her nutrition class that she has to take before Wednesday - so there's still plenty of stress for at least a few days.
Thanks to everyone that came to the show and/or expressed support for Amy, Delmo, and Connie in whatever way you could!

"I'm actually feeling much better..."

Okay, so we're not totally dead yet. Even though Amy is still sleeping currently (6:30 - who can blame her?), I thought I'd take a few minutes to update our blog just a touch...

We had a great Thanksgiving with both sides of the family (most of them) coming to Elko to share in the holiday. On Wednesday, my brother Matt, wife Raylene, and way-cute daughters Natania and Elise came from Sunnyvale, CA. I personally haven't seen the girls (Raylene included) in what must be a couple of years so it was fantastic to see them and get to hear all of their funny stories about parenting such intelligent children. We all got together at my cousin's house that lives in Spring Creek for Thanksgiving on Thursday. The extended list included my parents, my brother and his fam, our six of course, Troy & Kirin & their boys, aunt Kris, cousin Jon and Allie and their son Liam, and a couple of other friends of Kirin. We had a lot of great food and only had to reach around the fig jelly and pickled watermelon rind to get to it. Amy made Chocolate Frango which was exceptionally good (an old family "tradition" from my grandmother) and all seemed well with the world.

When we got back to the house on Thursday night, Dennis & Kaley and their five kids had made the trip from Alpine, UT even though Kaley wasn't feeling 100% up to snuff. Mike and Kaye had arrived on Wednesday to help work on the bathroom in the basement and work towards completing that project so that our boys don't have to just try to pee down the drain in the floor. We guys spent a good portion of Friday puttering with the tile and working on other small-ish projects that have been waiting for me to have a day off and a bit of motivation to get to them. When the time came, we were priveleged to get to have a big Thanksgiving meal all over again on Friday afternoon. Quite delicious (even though I expected it to be a bit diminished because it was a lot of the same (or similar) foods that we'd had just the day prior) I must say.

On Saturday, everyone sort of split up and Mike & Kaye and Dennis's family all headed back to Utah. I had to work but Amy was able to spend a good portion of the day with Matt & Ray & the girls as well as my parents as they headed out to Lamoille and played in the leaves, had lunch at O'Carroll's, and got to visit some more. That night, Amy and I went bowling with Troy & Jon as well as the D'Arrieta's that we kidnapped to take with us. We had a really good time and got to bowl three games each. Towards the end of the night (about 11:45), the group on the lane next to us packed it up and so we got to have a goof-off lane and see how much spin we could put on the ball while keeping our "serious" lane that was tracking our scores. Troy and Jon ended up being the "Champions of the World" by besting Amy and I by a measly 7 pins. I'm not sure that win would qualify them for any soft of tournament in Reno but we all seemed to relish the good times.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, family, loved ones, pets, neighbors, companions, strangers, the housing department, social services, public employees, and whomever else you were able to be with!

When Christmas Comes to Town

Hi everyone! Just a quick plug for an upcoming show. Connie Muir, Delmo Andreozzi, and I are putting together a Christmas show again this year in cooperation with Terry Hritz. It will follow the fireworks (Christmas in the Nighttime Skies) on Saturday, December 6th. Tickets are JUST 5 bucks each and the show will be held in the GBC theater. (Give me a call or email--I have tickets and can hook you up!) We'd LOVE to pack the place as the money collected will be donated to a charity chosen by Delmo, Connie and me. (We haven't picked yet just what that is--past recipients have included, Relay for Life, Hospice and a few others...) Hope you'll come and kick off the Christmas season with some good music and fun!

I'm not dead.....yet

"Bring out your dead!" "I'm not dead yet!" Movie anyone? I don't have time to post but just wanted to put something up so my sister would quit bugging me about it! A Nisbet update, soon to follow.

Just passing along some good advice...

Tough Love vs. Spanking - Good Argument

Most of the American populace thinks it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of 'those moments.' One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk.

Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc.

Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps a lot too.

I thought it'd be really funny to paste a picture of Ryan onto this kids face but I didn't have the time to do it...Sure do love my kids but don't we all have moments like this?

Tagging

Isn't that illegal? Tagging things? You know, I was never very good at that game. Much too slow. When playing "tag" as a youth I used to try and outwit those who were after me because I never had the speed (or the desire, actually) to out run them. You can imagine how well THAT went...anyway, Suz, here ya go. (And, why 6?)

6 favorite TV shows....(Tough because we haven't had tv service for the last 4 + years...I used to like a few though. You know, back in the day my homies!)

*ER
*CSI
*Brady Bunch
*Sesame Street (WAAAAAAY back in the day...)
*The Muppet Show
*Pretty much ANY game show...I'm a junky

6 restaurants where I like to eat

*Kaye's Kitchen
*Johnny Carinos
*Cafe Rio (yummmy.....pork salad)
*Sergios
*The Star
*Flying Fish--but only because when I go there it is because I get to go with people whose company I enjoy. (The food is just NONSENSE)

6 things that happened today

*I swore at Ryan
*I made pizza and sandwiches at work (shocker...)
*Went to Ian's soccer game
*Wished Suzanne would come over and do my laundry
*Visited Jim at the drive up window at the bank
*Went to a violin recital--it was very well done!

6 things I am looking forward to

*financial independance (come on Publisher's Clearing House!)
*singing with Delmo and Connie at Christmas
*going to bed after finishing this blog entry!
*going on Courtney and Suzanne's 20th anniversary cruise (Where are we going?)
*Watching Mama Mia AGAIN (and again and again and again and again.......)
*Going to see Wicked---someday...

6 things on my wish list

*1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets
*a maid
*a debt free life
*new socks (this is always and forever on my wish list...if I could I would open a new pair EVERY time I had to put socks on and never wear them again after that time I would.)
*a faster metabolism OR that all the foods I love that are not good for me would suddenly have a negative caloric value like iceburg lettuce does...(HEY, it's a wish list, it doesn't have to be realistic...)
*to make a CD of me singing that might actually impact someone other than my mother!

6 people to gag (sounds rude to me....I don't like gagging but I said I'd play so....)

*that mean man at work who complained today that his pizza cheese was not "toasty" enough
*people who throw their cigarrette butts out of the car window. (Just who do they think is going to clean those up?)
*men who have crack showing--they make me gag so making them gag seems fair enough
*the dentist (or anyone else who has ever made me gag when taking impressions)
*gangsta rappers
*whomever it is at JR's that keeps putting loogies in our drinks

Scott

I realized that not much has been said about Scott. At 13 years old, he is our oldest... He currently has the deepest voice out of all the kids living at this address and as a result he no longer gets confused for his mother by those who call on the telephone... He is a very good student... (This year he begins his school day with a geometry class at the high school, then finishes up with 6 more classes at Adobe Middle School. He loves this because he finishes the school day one hour early...) He has great taste in books... He generally gives his all in whatever he endeavors to do... He has recently begun eating all the food that I fix, without complaint AND he even likes most of it!.. He is only 5 merit badges (and a project) away from completing the requirements for his Eagle Scout... Scott is learning how to deal with peer pressure by resisting efforts of a few lady friends to pair off with a certain girl he has had a crush on since, OH 3rd grade... He is readily integrating the current hip vernacular into his vocab (everything he thinks is cool is actually "sic!" I still haven't figured out how being sick is cool--I don't think being sick is cool at all)... We recently finished his bedroom in the basement and he showed potential in decorating, picking out all the paint and bedding colors (and they actually all match)... He loves his Aunt Lisa... He does not get scared while going through the Haunted House... He has a great sense of humor and readily laughs at himself, which brings me to the reason I wanted to blog about him tonight. As we finished up reading scriptures he whipped off his sock to reveal to me (it was good I was sitting down) that he has hair growing on his toes! A FANTASTIC DISCOVERY! I guess I should have known it was coming. After all, he has shaved his peach fuzz TWICE already. I called him "hobbit" and he assured me that he was not a hobbit because their hair grew under the toeNAILS. (I will have to check this fact in my copy of the Hobbit, but I think it is incorrect!) Anyway--he's an awesome kid and I am just tickled that he belongs to our family.

Here come the chiclets--a time for loose teeth

So, after many weeks of "I've got a loose tooth!" from Carly, the rascally wiggly thing finally gave up this morning before school. Jim was gone to Rotary, and I could tell it was ready to be wrested from it's precarious location but I am not good with teeth--makes me queasy--so I asked Carly who she would like to pull it. I was expecting her to say "Ian" because he was really begging to do it, but she said, "Courtney--I want my Primary teacher to get it out!" So, I called him up and he came down to do his duty as her primary teacher. (I'm sure there is something in the church handbook that includes a provision for this type of thing...) Lucky for him, Jim showed up at home 1 minute before he got here and soon after the offending tooth, bloody it was too, was sitting in my kitchen windowsill. Lucky me! After seeing the Welches blog for today, it seems that Car's "emergency" was just a warm-up for Courtney!

And so it seems that Carly has officially entered the "snaggletooth" phase of her growing up. (Sigh--before I know it, it will be homecoming dresses, a driving license and buying ice cream.)

Here is also a picture of Ryan who was nearly as excited about the lost tooth as his sister. He was immediately putting his fingers in his mouth to check for possible loose teeth. Much to his dismay, they were all quite resolute to the investigation.

But wait, there is one more to add to the lost teeth count. My neice, Natania (who is only 15 days younger than Carly) also lost her first tooth recently. Here is a picture of her and her younger sister Ellice (who is only 5 days older than Ryan...sure wish the 'cuzins could spend more time together!)

ANYONE ELSE HAVE A REPORTING ON TEETH TO MAKE? (Besides the fact that I have to get mine cleaned next week--yuck.) Please comment!

One Bedroom--11th Birthday

It is hard to believe, but Ian is now 11 years old. Yikes, where did the time go? It doesn't seem that long ago--I remember how the night before he was born we were all having dinner at my parents house. My grandmother was visiting in town but was planning to leave the next day--coincidentally, my due date. After dinner she joked about my going home to "start having pains" so she could see her new great grandbaby before she left to return home. I laughed at this as I had gone a week over when I was pregnant with Scott. However, being the obedient child I am, sure enough at about 10 pm that night I went into labor! Jim and I walked to the hospital at around 2 am and Ian arrived on the scene shortly before 5 am. We were thrilled to have him join our family--and we are still thrilled to have him.

Happy birthday Ian! (Well, it was two days ago, but I do the best I can.) To celebrate, we went bowling after school and had tacos and chocolate chip cookies for dinner. (My parents were here to share it with us...) It was very fun, AND, we were even able to "finish" his new bedroom in the basement enough that he could sleep in it that night. We still have quite a bit of work to do in there, but here is a picture anyway! Watch future postings for more info on the neverending basement project...

WICKED--UPDATED POST

I found it! Wicked is coming to the Capitol Theater in SLC beginning in April of 2009... Wahoo! However, ticket prices are quite spendy. Do a whole bunch of you who read this want to go in together and buy me a ticket? Christmas is coming, and my birthday isn't too far distant after that... LOVE YOU! :)

So they are WAY expensive....we're talking a combination of Christmas, Birthday, Valentines, St. Patty's and Groudhog Day presents. I hope you know I was just kidding about anyone else buying me the ticket, but it sure would be amazing to go and see it. Anyone has a windfall and just don't have anything to spend it on, keep me in mind! Otherwise, here are links to where I found the cheapest tickets for Salt Lake. I'm still searching for somewhere else to get them that is not so spendy.

http://www.ticketzoom.com/ticketresults.cfm?e=4167&gclid=CMGk9Pi7hJYCFQpYbAodwwzCEA

http://www.ticketliquidator.com/tix/Tickets.aspx?evtid=868033

Why men don't leave notes.....

I got this image in an email today. TOO FUNNY!

So life is BUSY....work, church stuff, all you can eat pancake breakfast fundraisers, soccer games, track meets, dance class, painting the basement (which by the way is ALMOST finished!), and school. (I am 3 chapters behind....ugh.) Everyone is doing great--I just wish there were more hours in the day. (About 4 should do it---3 more for sleeping, and one more just for doing things like taking bubble baths, reading (not a textbook), playing the piano for fun or whatever...

What an amazing experience!

A few weeks ago, I was informed that I had won a "contest" at work by answering some questions that were asked in our quarterly newsletter. So what was the "Grand Prize" you ask... was it a "leg-o-lamp" wrapped up in a nice fishnet stocking that I could place in our front window? Well, no, I was a bit disappointed as well - but not for long because I found that the winners got to ride in a hot air balloon during the Ruby Mountain Hot Air Balloon Festival which happens to be taking place this weekend.

As you are aware, the balloons depend very heavily on the weather so all eyes have been to the western horizon this past week wondering what the weekend would bring. I had to work yesterday (Saturday) and left the house a bit earlier than usual to see if I could catch a glimpse (my scheduled ride was for Sunday morning) of any balloons that would still be up in the air at that point - only to see that they hadn't been able to launch at all because the winds were just too strong and wouldn't allow for a safe flight or landing.

This morning, I awoke to the sweet sounds of the alarm at 5:00 and peeked outside - still, calm air and clear skies - a perfect day weather-wise! Amy and I got everyone up and out of bed, bundled up, and on our way out to Spring Creek by 5:30 a.m. When we got there, they were just about to start their pilot's meeting so we listened to that for a bit and then met the pilot of the balloon that I would be riding in - "Kearney". I do need to mention that it didn't take long for the kids (especially the younger-more-prone-to-whining-ones) to start freezing because they hadn't heeded warnings and encouragement to wear heavier coats and such. Finally fed up with it all, Amy took Carly and Ryan back to the van so that they could warm up a bit and watch from afar. Scott was alternating between taking pictures with our camera and trying to keep his hands and lips warm - I had some suggestions on how to accomplish this but he wasn't too keen on performing those maneuvers in public...? I found out as the balloon was inflating that there would be room in the basket for Ian to come with us "if he wanted to" - "DUH". He was absolutely ecstatic!

Here are a bunch of pictures of our grand adventure (the ones on the ground were taken by Scott and the others by me up in the air). When all was said and done, we'd travelled about a mile and had reached a height of about 200 - 250 ft above the ground. If you ever get the chance - I would VERY highly recommend taking advantage of it!

Enjoy

... and here is "Kearney's Mistress" after dropping us off and picking another pair of passengers.

In my daughter's eyes

You can play this song in my playlist....


In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes
In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe In my daughter's eyes
And when she wraps her hand around my finger
It puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about
It's hangin' on when your heart has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes
In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy she made me
For I'll be there -- In my daughter's eyes....


I am grateful I have Car. (And thanks Kari for the fantastic picture!)

Names

We all have them...most of us even like the ones we have. Seriously though? FURPLE NEEDERMEYER? (See "Random thoughts and wonderings...") Were those people smoking crack when they made that decision? It's nearly as bad as the twin girls that Jim's grandpa delivered. The Mother named them (no joke) Syphillis and Gonorrhea--she pronounced them "si-phyllis and gah-norrea with the emphasis on the second syllable of each word--OH MY.) Other noteworty famous names....Dweezil and Moon Unit, Picabo, Englebert Humperdink (Humperdink, Humperdink, Humperdink!), Apple....and then there are the one name wonders--Sting, Madonna, Elvis, Liberace... Here is some information on my name:

AMY
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-mee [key]
English form of the Old French name Amée meaning "beloved" (modern French aimée), a vernacular form of the Latin Amata. As an English name, Amy was in use in the Middle Ages and was revived in the 19th century.

My maiden name means "twig" in Swedish and my married name means "bent nose" in Scottish. I guess all told that means I am a "beloved twig bent nose?"

Not as dumb as I thought?

So after much sweat, much study (more than I EVER did the first time in college--sorry Mom and Dad), and some pretty intense prayer, I took my first exam last night. I am happy to announce that I scored well--receiving 46 out of 50! That is a 92%! Whoopeeeeee!!!! Although the perfectionist in me is a little bit disappointed about not getting a perfect score, I'm still happy with the A and am feeling less stress about future tests now that I know I can actually do this.

Regarding Jim's comments--flesh? I don't have any idea what he could be referring to, and if ANY of you on the trip seem to recollect something I will have to say that I have no problem making up something revealing to post here...you KNOW what I mean!

I'm just putting this on our blog because it's been a while since we've seen any pictures and both Amy and I have mentioned in the last week or so that we still really miss having Diego be a part of our everyday lives. It was a really fantastic experience for all of us and even Carly has said that she wishes she would have been "a little bit" nicer to him while he was here because she misses him too!

A Hostile Takeover!!!!

Okay, so it's like this... Amy put the blog editing page on our favorites and I found it so look out now! You thought Amy was a bit raucous... just wait and see what happens if/when I get my "stuff" goin'!

I'm not really in a terribly funny mood tonight so just a quick update on the last few days from my perspective: Amy and a whole gaggle of gals went to a "Time Out for Women" in Logan and somewhere along the way, there were several showings of flesh and I MISSED IT! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time... GEEZE! I had to work on Saturday so didn't get to be with the kids as Scott participated in his first track meet (doing mostly field events so he doesn't have to run - he really does have some of my genes!) or see Carly's team win and Ian's team lose their respective soccer games. That was a bit of a bummer but they were all pretty good about telling me about it so no major complaints I guess. On Sunday, Scott had to both give a talk in Sacrament as well as play a piano/violin duet with Elizabeth Eardley. He did really well on both and it was very nice to have my parents in attendance. To finish off the weekend, Amy got home safe and I am so very incredibly glad (as I am each and every time that I get to play the role for a bit) that I am not a single parent. I have a lot of respect for those single parents that do a good job of raising their kids because I sure wouldn't want to have to go it alone.

So anyway, keep an eye on the blog 'cause you never know when I'll sneak something in without Amy even knowing - and it just may be cause for hilarity!

Just for Kari.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRl1OJLZUbE

an explanation....

I don't expect that ANY of you except my sister will understand the previous post...it was for her I put it on anyway. Love you sis....hope you enjoyed it! We'll discuss my opinion of the current political climate another time! For the rest of you, check this out. It is HILARIOUS!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO_BnsrWMnI

A real update on the Nisbet household is coming soon........

My sister

Once upon a time there was a girl named Lisa. She was a nice girl. Lots and lots of people liked her. One day she was walking down the street just whistling a nice non-denominational tune she had picked up while going to Dragon Fest. It had an Indigo Girls-esque sound to it, but was something that she also might have once heard while watching an episode of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Anyway--not a care in the world, Lisa was not paying attention to where she was going when she stumbled on a crack in the sidewalk and fell! OH NO! But wait, it gets worse...hard to believe I know that something so tragic could happen to such a wonderful person. Indeed, my heart aches in relating the tale to you. Still--I must. What you don't know is that Lisa fell immediately in front of a store filled with fine home furnishings. In the front display window was a lovely sofa with two adorable children sitting on it. (Their names were Susie and Jack but that is irrelevant to this particular tale...) To Lisa's utter and complete horror as she looked up into their angelic faces, a GIANT PIT BULL jumped over the back of the sofa and ate them up. The end.

Loved it...

Hey all....just a quick post. Loved the weekend, even though it was crazy. I am especially to be back home in Elko with ALL of my family safe and sound. Thanks a ton Tami and Dan for playing host and for showing so much love to my gang. Can't wait for a trip to Elko from your group so we can return the favor. Jim enjoyed the quick trip to So Cal, even though it was a lot of driving in such a short time. (Upon arriving home today there has been 1800 miles plus put on our van since last Friday...sheesh. Can't wait to get the gas bill!) The kids loved boating in Newport harbor--glad I wasn't there because for one, I get seasick and B, I would have been paranoid about them taking an unplanned trip into the ocean. Jim was definitely the parent to be present on that adventure. My love to all you who were at the temple on Saturday with RayLynn. Thanks for including me in the day. The wedding on Tuesday was lovely. I enjoy attending those types of things as it reminds me of my own special day many moons ago. I loved spending some time with Jim without having to care for the kids' needs at the same time. And that brings me to a BIG thank you to Jana for keeping track of the kids while we were away. Dennis--you are a fabulous big brother. We are so thankful for the chance to spend a few minutes with you. Thanks for hosting us for a day or two! Love you guys!

I only thought I was tired yesterday...

Little did I know I didn't really know what tired was. I worked today from 8:30 this morning until 10 pm tonight. I think we put out over 100 pizzas! Today was an exception and I will not normally be working that much, but it was good to get experience I guess. Jim and the kids are en route to Mission Viejo for his grandmother's memorial service tomorrow afternoon. Thanks Tami and Dan for keeping them tonight in Vegas! We truly consider you to be part of our family. MUAH! I am taking a trip to SLC tomorrow with "the girls" but will be home tomorrow night. Church on Sunday followed by homework and hopefully taking my first quiz. Jim and the kids will be home mid-day Monday and then Jim and I hop in the car for a jaunt to SLC for Jon Hooimans wedding Tuesday, then home again Wednesday. (I have to work Wednesday night from 6-10.) So, life marches on and I am doing my best to keep up with motherhood, wifeyness, nutrition class, yw president, new job and being a good friend. Phew......

tired....

OK, so I'm 4 days into the new job. I am wondering what to say about it. Perhaps.....I think it will be a place where I can learn a lot about myself and how I interact with others? The pizza is yummy? People have many different interpretations of what it means to "be working?" I never knew that so much went into making a pizza? How many pepperoni's go on a large "Breath Buster?" I DO know that it is going to take a while for me to get the hang of this new adventure. Combined with beginning my college class (Nutrition 223) and trying to keep up with school and extracurricular stuff with the kids (AYSO began this week) etc...I am one tired mom. This weekend however, Jim is taking the kids to Southern California for a memorial service held in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few weeks ago. That means I will have a few days to try and get ahead in my class--or is it to catch up in my class? We'll see how the weekend flows.

New new new....mew mew mew....

Well, I'll bet all of you figured that the "newness" had worn off and that I wasn't going to blog anymore...wrong! I just haven't had the time or the inspiration to sit down and dish. Speaking of dish, I started my new job today! I am managing the newest pizza place to arrive in Elko. It is located directly across from Bil Toki on Silver Street, right next to the Telescope Lanes bowling alley. In fact, it is connected to the bowling alley. My hours will be from 9-2 Monday thru Friday. Great timing for me as I can send the kiddies to school before I have to be to work and be home before they get out in the afternoon. I will be making food, bussing tables, serving drinks, mopping up and washing dishes--pretty much whatever might be required of me while I'm there. I made 6 pizzas today, even though we aren't officially open yet. It's not something I want to do for the rest of forever, but I think it'll be a good job for the interim. Watch the blog for my upcoming poll on which pizza from the Blind Onion is the "fav" of all those who can get to the restaurant to try them. Jim and Ryan ate one today and they seemed to think it was pretty tasty... Here is a picture of Ryan eating my delicious creation! Doesn't he look happy?

Other news of note from the weekend? Jim played on Saturday afternoon in the Elko High School alumni soccer game. This is a tradition he began several years ago while he was coaching and this year was the first he was able to participate fully as a player and not have to divide his time between player and coach. He even scored two goals! Also this weekend we have had a visit from my "sister" Mary Baer. I cannot remember a time when Mary was not part of my life and it has been so fun to have my kids get to know her as well. Shortly after Mary arrived on Saturday evening, Oscar also arrived! Who's that, you say? Oscar is our newest pet--an adorable kitten that we adopted from our friends the Gardners. He seems to be adjusting very well to living with us--Katy is not very happy, but we are trying to make sure she doesn't feel left out. Here is a picture of Jim catching a few zzzz's following his big soocer game!

Am I crazy?

So today I signed up for a college class and received academic advisement on entering the nursing program at Great Basin College. I'm still having sticker shock over purchasing my one book for an online class. YIKES! $166!!!! For a book? I realize that knowledge is power, but holy moly. Anyway--I am really nervous but excited to be getting back to classes after all the time away. (My last college class was when Scott was only a brand new baby.) My goal is to finish all the necessary pre-requisites by the time Ryan is in school all day, so two years from now. I am hoping to be accepted into the nursing program for fall of 2010, and have my RN before Scott graudates high school, followed soon after by receiving my BSN--hopefully before Ian graduates high school. Wish me luck, and keep me in your prayers.

more family to introduce

Hooray! The toilet is working! YAY! Kudos to Jim who manhandled the porcelain throne into our bathtub and weilded his wire hanger to combat the clog! MY HERO!

Well, you've all heard about the people that live under this roof--so now I thought it time to introduce you to the 4 legged critters who reside here as well. Neither one of them was overly thrilled to be posed for this picture. Perhaps it was because they had to be next to Ryan? Anyway--Katy is our 4 year old bassett hound. She is really a good pet (except she's a dog)--mellow with the kiddies, only occasionally terrifying the neighbor's daughter. (Sorry T.) She doesn't bark too much and it could be said that her biggest faults would be that she likes to lick toes and has been known to eat a poopy diaper. (However, if you read yesterdays post, you'll already know that we don't have anyone living here wearing those! )HOORAY! Stanley, named after the character in HOLES, is our Bearded Dragon. He is nearly 3 years old and has been living in my kitchen for the last 2 1/2 years. He was only the size of a palm when we brought him home from the pet store but he has grown quite a lot. It's because of Stanley that we also have additional transient pets--live crickets and meal worms that we buy to feed him. It's pretty exciting actually at feeding time. The whole family gathers around the tank and it's like watching the Gladiator and the Lions! (Thankfully, the crickets NEVER get the best of Stan--he's tops at stalking them.) Interesting note--if Stanley is not hungry he is not tempted to eat them and in fact will even let them sit right on his nose without so much as a twitch. Perhaps there is a lesson here for me in self control?

...I guess it could be worse

got this in an email from Jim's aunt. It's a short newsclipping. Hope you can read it...

Indoor plumbing....wonderful to have--when it's working...

I'm taking suggestions for the caption on this picture.....in the meantime, here is a list of 5 things I hate going to Wal-Mart for after 11 pm

*diapers (although thankfully, we have passed this milestone!)

*feminie hygeine products (also no longer a concern! Let's hear it for hysterectomies!)

*toilet paper

*ginger ale (usually means I have a puking child at home and it is going to be a long night.)

*DRANO, Liquid Plumber, drain snake etc....see above picture.

So last night before retiring to bed I stopped off at the loo to make a liquid deposit. As in most households, this is standard bedtime operation. I finished, wiped and flushed, then left the room. Jim followed suit, but upon his flushing something went backwards, somewhere someone whispered some sort of voodoo hex and before you could say "obesity and bunnions" my bathroom was filling up with water. (And not nice clean water, but icky toilety water--YUCK.) I rushed to find our trusty plunger and began to work my magic (I am quite handy with the ol' plunger if I do say so myself) but to my chagrin I was not making any headway. (Pun intented for all you sailor types.) Soon, the floor of the master bath was covered in wet towels, and there stood Jim and me in our undies, puzzling over what to do next. It didn't take me long to decide for us that we needed a trip to the store to buy something to combat the clog. Long story short, we bought what we thought would fix the situation, poured it in the drain and went to bed. A few short hours later we awoke to the sun streaming in the bedroom window, and birds singing. (Much like in the cartoon of Cinderella....there could have even been little speaking mice, but I am not sure.) Jim went to the bathroom and hovered over the toilet....he flushed the toilet....he ran to the hall closet for more towels...we turned off the water and duct taped the toilet closed and tonight (OH GOODY!) we get to take it apart and see if we can find the obstruction. Never have I been so excited to get to the end of the day. Does anyone else ever have days like this?

Early bird or night owl?

The kids were full of fun news upon arriving home from school yesterday. Scott was just giddy over several things--all of them connected to a few girls on whom he has a carefully trained eye! (He even gets to sit next to Elizabeth in 3rd period English!) If you think of it, be sure to ask him about the suprise he had in 7th hour! Ian was very excited that he was able to pet the class snake--Lily....I hope he gets his "fix" at school because I draw the line at snakes. Lizards--ok, snakes--not ok. Carly LOVED her first day in the first grade despite feigned exasperation that the boys were chasing her at recess--AGAIN. Ryan enjoyed having mom to himself and also loved playing with his best bud Dallin Bates. Late last night found Jim and I at Wal-Mart (sigh) shopping for yet more school supplies, even though I thought I had been really on top of things and had purchased them all last week. And, speaking of Wal-Mart, can I just say, "OPEN ANOTHER #*#*&&(&)(* CHECKSTAND PLEASE!" (Sorry, should I have marked my blog for adult content?)

OK, so now on to the topic for today--are you kids early birds or night owls? Three out of four of our clan have adjusted really easily to the new schedule. They trot happily off to bed saying, "Thank you kind parents for caring for our welfare. We love that we now get to retire to our beds at 8:30...." However, Ian is struggling. I have to admit that getting him up to get ready for school is not my favorite thing, but I must need more practice because the last two mornings, I have had to waken him multiple times before successfully getting him up! He does not move very quickly in the morning so at times it is a bit stressful getting him ready to go out the door on time. To his credit (and it is one of the things I love most about him) he has a wonderful sense of humor most of the time and we can usually get him to school with a smile.

So, it's the first day of school.....WHOOPEE!!!! I put this picture on because it's just Ryan and me here at home today. Very very strange to think that I will not have to change one single diaper today! So glad Scott went to school so they take care of it there! (Just kidding---I KILL ME!) The three older kids were very excited to go back to school and greet friends and meet their new teachers. Each one of them is in a different school that begins at a different time. Isn't that fun? Scott is in 8th grade this year at Adobe Middle School. Ian is in 5th grade at Flagview Intermediate school (the old Elko Jr. High for those of you who used to live here) and Carly is in first grade at Mtn View Elementary. After Labor Day, Ryan will be in preschool 3 mornings a week as well. That means there is a lot of picking up and dropping off to be done. I am starting a new job (ta dah!) one week from today. More news about that very soon. I hope you will all check back regularly and post interesting comments so that I feel doing this blog blog gloggity splog thing is worth my time! Love you all!

Watch out now we're sneaking into your lives!!!

OK OK......after much pressure I have finally decided to begin a glog to try and entertain all of you "out there" with the antics of the Nisbet clan. I have always enjoyed reading everyone elses glogs. Glogging seems to be the new "it" thing so here goes.....What? What do you mean? OH! It's BLOG.....wow. I feel dumb.