7 Quick Takes about Surprise Eggs, Making a 20-Foot Commitment, and Reliving the Glory Days

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

Our parakeet Pringles had an Easter surprise for us. She'd been acting weird for a couple of weeks prior, spending a lot of time in her house scratching around. And sometimes she would go stock still for a moment and lean forward oddly. Something was definitely going on with her.

If this isn't a bird with a secret, I don't know what is.

On Easter, Pringles laid an egg, and then it all made sense. At least, it all made sense when we figured out the egg was real. When the 10-year-old alerted everyone by yelling, "Pringles laid an egg! Pringles laid an egg!" we all thought he'd put one of his candy eggs in there as a joke and was playing a prank on us. We didn't even realize that parakeets laid unfertilized eggs until we Googled it.

—2—

In third grade, kids in our school district bring home a tree sapling for Arbor Day, sponsored by a local garden club. Which sounds like a nice idea but if planting a tree in your yard that will grow to 20-30 foot tall and wide is a big commitment. I don't know what kind of acreage these people think we have, but we don't have room for 6 full-size trees. I'm so glad this is our last third grader.

—3—

This week I took my 13-year-old daughter and went to visit her two older sisters in college. We're enjoying our girls' trip.

Our college girls have been showing us around campus and introduced us to their favorite thrift stores, which has the best name of all the thrift stores:

I'm not a cheapskate. I'm an uptown cheapskate. A classy cheapskate.

—4—

We also visited this flower garden for a tulip festival. It was a beautiful day and a nice walk through the flowers.

—5—

When I'm not seeing my college daughters, we're hanging out with the extended family that we have in the area. Spending time with my 2-year-old niece is one of the highlights of the trip and has confirmed to me yet again that the best time you will ever have as a parent or as a human being is when you have a child between the ages of 18-36 months. I thought so at the time I had kids that age, and I still think so now. 

Everything toddlers do is cute: they walk cute, they talk cute, and they imitate everything you do. They have no expectations—all you have to do is insert silly sound effects into your normal daily routines and it's the best day ever. Don't talk to me about stupid stuff like tantrums. They're too little to know better (and besides, they're going to keep doing that into the teen years and it's way less cute then). The toddler years are the best it gets, hands down.

A couple of times while playing with our niece, my 13-year-old and I have started dancing and she vigorously shakes her head and waves her hand at us like "Stop! Please, stop!" But when we mentioned how funny it was that she forbids people to dance, our family had no idea what we were talking about. 

You guys, it's just us. Ours is the only dancing she can't abide.

—6—

At home I run a regular route a few times a week that is 2.5 miles long, but here I've just been going out and doing a loop around the neighborhood with no idea of how far I'm going. I finally looked it up on Google Maps Pedometer and I've been running 3.25 miles! My family's neighborhood is super-flat compared to mine so I'm sure that helps, but still. I'm not going to let a little thing like gravity get in the way of feeling proud of my accomplishments.

On the days when I don't run, I've been doing Kaleigh Cohen strength training videos on YouTube and she's amazing. I only discovered her like 3 weeks ago and I already look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Just kidding. Although she does have a move she calls "The Arnold."

—7—

I started reading the book Atomic Habits. I was excited, after hearing everyone gush about how ground-breaking it is. But I have to say that so far, I'm extremely underwhelmed.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through, and so far I haven't read a single idea or concept that I haven't heard hundreds of times or are just common sense (i.e: don't keep soda in the house if you're trying to stop drinking soda.) 

Basically I'm getting the sense that if you've ever read a listicle about motivation anywhere on the Internet, you've already read this book. Am I wrong? Should I keep reading?

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7 Quick Takes about Creativity with Paper, Resurrection Plants, and Alternative Methods for Carrying Books to School

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

I taught the lesson in young women (the teenage girls' class) at church on Sunday. One of the points of the lesson is that we're all unique and that God works with our different needs, talents, and abilities, so I gave everyone a sheet of paper and gave them three minutes to turn it into something useful or interesting.

I was relieved when the three minutes was up and that object lesson showed what I hoped it would, and everyone ended up with something different to show the rest of the class.

We had a cup, an origami lotus, two styles of paper airplanes, an origami rose, a fortune teller, two folded paper hearts in different styles, a lizard, a snowflake (the girl used her fingernails to make decorative slits in it), and one girl who left hers as is because "a piece of paper is already useful." Smart girls.

—2—

Also on Sunday, my ministering sister gave me a dried-out, brown ball of roots the size of a golf ball and explained that it was called a rose of Jericho. 

If I put it in a bowl of water, it would open up and turn green. Because of that, it's called a resurrection flower and makes a nice Easter decoration.

I wish I'd taken a "before," but this is after.

Once Easter is over, I can dry it out on a paper towel and then store it with my Easter decor until next year, when it will come back after being placed in water again.

I know my ministering sister gave it to me because she thought my kids would find it cool, but I'm pretty sure that as someone who has a hard time keeping plants alive I am infinitely more impressed than they are.

—3—

I just went to see the middle school production of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical. (Everything's a musical now, I just heard about a bunch of Tony Awards that went to a musical about a teenage girl with a rare genetic disorder, which makes Sponge Bob not even seem like a stretch.)

I haven't seen an episode of SpongeBob on TV, but the musical was cute. My favorite song was "I'm Not a Loser," a self-depricating aside that one of the characters sings to himself after someone calls him a loser. At first he doesn't believe a word he's saying, but then a whole imaginary chorus line shows up and by the end of the song, he accepts himself and finds his confidence. 

The next time I feel bad about myself, I think this silly song is just what I need to make me realize how much work it is to be negative and just forget about it.

—4—

I tried to do a little lawn cleanup but I couldn't get the leaf blower started. Even though I followed the instructions, the pull cord didn't feel right and the engine wouldn't turn over. 

After monkeying with it for a while, I started to wonder if maybe it had stopped working last year and it was one of those things where we put it back in the garage thinking we'd fix it later and then forgot about it. NOT THAT WE'VE EVER DONE THAT. 

Anyway, it was all a big waste of time and I never did get it to work. Maybe this weekend.

—5—

My 11-year-old picked up some library books from this series called Animorphs, about kids who shapeshift into animals. The covers have lenticular images on the cover so if you tilt it one way it's the main character and if you tilt it another way it's the animal they morph into.

I wonder how the cover model feels about having his photo looking like a mug shot above the words "THE PREDATOR," though. He probably doesn't showcase this one as part of his portfolio when he auditions for modeling gigs.

—6—

My mom sent us an Edible Arrangements for Easter, which happened to arrive on the same day Phillip got back from a work trip so I told him that we bought it in honor of him coming home.

The orange strawberries were especially delicious.

He must have been gone for too long, because he believed me. But only for a minute. I'm such a cheapskate, he knows me better than that.

—7—

I overheard the kids talking about Spirit Week in middle school, and the 5th grader was asking questions about Anything But a Backpack Day.

"What do people put their stuff in?" he asked.

"Some kids used a stroller or a shopping cart," his 7th grade sister said. "I used a wagon. One kid carried his stuff around in a microwave-"

"Ewww!" The 3rd grader shouted.

"Well, our microwave is probably way dirtier than theirs," she explained quickly.

To be fair, she's not wrong because our microwave does regularly look like a cat blew up in it.

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7 Quick Takes about Blankets for Refugees, Browsing Bonsai Trees, and Motivation for Adults Who Are Absolutely Grown-Up

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

This past weekend was spent watching general conference, two days of inspirational talks from the leaders of my church.

In order to keep the kids' hands occupied while listening via YouTube, I brought home some fleece blanket kits for them to cut and tie while they listened. My stake (a group of local congregations in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints) is making these blankets to distribute to area refugee families with children later this spring.

And while I'd like to report that they didn't fight with each other OVER general conference talks about loving others WHILE making blankets for charity... I can't. But for the most part they tried not to, and the blankets will hopefully make someone happy to receive regardless.

—2—

We also brought home a bunch of snacks and had the kids attach pictures of the speakers to each one, and then they could eat them when they heard that person speak during the conference.

Usually I'm the one sourcing the snacks, but this time Phillip was in charge. And I think from now on this is going to be his job, because his talent is finding interesting things at the grocery store:

I like how the kids placed it so that Elder Christofferson is exclaiming "Big crunch!"

The pickle balls had a fun name, but in theory they were not a good product idea. They looked like moldy cheese balls, and tasted like dehydrated pickles. It was just weird.

Eventually they were all eaten, but only after the other snacks were gone.

—3—

My favorite general conference talk was "Receive His Gift" by Elder Kearon. He talks about how God gifts many gifts to us, but one life-changing gift is the knowledge that we are actually His children, which "contextualizes the joy and hardships of life and our unanswered questions... That truth is breathtaking."

If you felt moved by this talk, another place to go next is this page which explores our relationship with God and some ways to feel more connected to Him. Wherever and whoever you are, I know for a fact that He wants a closer relationship with you, too.

—4—

There is a nearby bonsai nursery, and we've lived here 15 years but I've never gone in until this week. This is because:

1. It looks small from the outside
2. Plants die when I even look at them
3. I only see the place when I'm speeding past on the way to pick my son up late from gymnastics

However, when Phillip's parents were visiting, they spotted it and expressed an interest so we stopped in to look around.

It was much bigger on the inside.

At some point, Phillip and I will have to come back here on a date. He wasn't with us this time, and I definitely could have spent more time looking at all the variety in the different sizes and shapes of bonsai. Most of my attention on this brief visit was devoted to making sure the 8-year-old didn't touch the $450 trees planted in 1978.

—5—

While trying to stuff various comforters in our linen closet, and wondered if there was a better way to do it that took up less space and maybe looked a little nicer. I looked up a video called "How to Fold a Comforter" and found one!  

After folding the comforters fancy had been such a big success, I wondered if maybe it was time for me to learn how to properly fold a fitted sheet. After all, I am a 42-year-old woman with a mortgage and other grown-up responsibilities.

But apparently I'm still not ready.

I looked up a YouTube video on how to fold a fitted sheet, tried and failed to follow it at least 5 times, and indignantly decided that my roll-it-into-a-ball-and-flatten method is superior. Besides, the entire bedding set gets stored inside of one of the pillowcases afterward so it looks fine, anyway.

—6—

I'd like to get more sleep, but the truth is that unless I'm sick, pregnant, or dying, I'd rather do pretty much anything besides go to bed, even unpleasant household chores). As you can imagine, this makes getting enough sleep challenging. 

I've tried bedtime alarms, making myself accountable to others, turning off the wi-fi at 9 PM, putting Post-it notes for myself around the house... none of it works. 

Then I remembered the self-improvement journal I brought home earlier this year, with a fitness tracker that motivated me to start a habit of regular exercise that is still sticking now, almost 6 months later:

Full disclosure: I misread the instructions and colored in one per day instead of one per week.

Since it takes 66 days to form a new habit and I'm apparently highly motivated by pretty charts, I went searching on the Internet and printed off a 75-day habit tracker from this site.

My goal is to have the lights out by 11 PM each night, and I also decided I'm also allowed to fill in a blank space that I missed if I have the lights out by 10 PM. (I may have to put myself to bed with a preschooler's sticker chart but I'M AN ADULT AND I GET TO MAKE MY OWN RULES.) 

—7—

Life has seemed a bit chaotic lately between work and church responsibilities, keeping everyone clothed and fed, running errands, and dealing with assorted child dramas that require my help/advice/time. Unfinished tasks on my to-do list app automatically roll over to the next day so I have about 100 items to complete in the next 12 hours. 

On Wednesday morning I was up early for my shift working at the temple and saw that there were at least a day's worth of crusty pots and pans piled on the kitchen counter. (We cook almost everything from scratch so that's more than it sounds like.) Since I had a little extra time I filled a sink with dishwasher and started in on the pile, thinking that it would be a nice win to start out the day.

But since everyone else in the house was already up, as soon as I washed something it got snatched up and ended up dirty on the counter again 30 seconds later. Thank goodness the friend I carpool with arrived so I could leave instead of throwing more time and effort into the abyss!

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7 Quick Takes about Cute Jellyfish, Wanting to Escape the Tan Menace, and Cracked Windshield Confessions

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

In a phone conversation with Phillip, I was venting about feeling like we are perpetually behind. We consistently have 3 million projects that we're "working on" but only time to work on them once a week if we're lucky, and every time we finish something it's like three more things have been added to our plates in the meantime. Does everyone feel like this, or are we doing something wrong to be particularly ineffective at life?

That seemed like a perfect moment in the conversation for my phone to run out of battery and just up and die. It was a clear confirmation that no, we are not on top of things. But we never did get to resume that conversation and decide whether it's just us.

—2—

Phillip's parents are here for the week, and we've been having fun. They got to see the 8-year-old compete in a gymnastics meet. Unfortunately, the gym was sweltering hot so they had to step outside and cool off between every event, then I would text them when it was time to come back.

Another day we went to a local lunch- and brunch-only restaurant. It's locally known for its cozy cottage vibe and also its good food.

I got the crepe. Look at that presentation!

After lunch, we walked around the grounds of the restaurant. The end of March and beginning of April are objectively the ugliest months in New England, but even so, we could appreciate how beautiful everything would be during the summer months. 

—3—

My in-laws and I also peeked into a greenhouse and gift shop, and I just died at these cute little air plants that they made to look like jellyfish:

—4—

Another day, my in-laws and I took a historical trolley tour. We learned a lot and it inspired me to plan some history-themed day trips for my kids to suffer through this summer vacation. The kids truly do not appreciate how lucky they are to live here, but when I remember how dumb I was and how I cared about nothing except for my friends and Blink-182 until I was 20, I think there's still hope for them.

Side note: my parallel parking job outside the tour site was perfect. Both wheels were millimeters from the curb and I slid right in there like butter. 

—5—

I've been playing around lately with the Benjamin Moore personal color viewer. You upload a picture of your room, outline the different areas to be painted, and then go to town seeing what it would look like in different shades.

It's time to repaint our living room, and I'm looking for something other than its current "boomer tan," as the kids would say. I don't really want to go gray because like every new build home in the country, because that's just going to be what the kids call "Millennial gray" in 10 years. But everything else seems either boring or too much.

On a plane last summer I watched a TV series about home design, and I've been thinking about making a mood board for my living room ever since to help me decide. Maybe I'll do that soon.

—6—

The windshield of the car recently developed a nasty crack that went alllllll the way across the windshield and splintered into a dozen branches at the end.

"I don't know what happened," the 16-year-old said, who was driving when it appeared. "All I did was turn on the defroster."

"I've never heard of that causing a windshield crack, and it's not even that cold out right now," I said.

"I looked it up and sometimes it does, especially if there's already a little crack and the defroster makes it spread," he answered.

That's when my 11-year-old confessed that his friend had hit it with a basketball the week before, and they didn't say anything about the crack because they didn't want to get in trouble. So he and I had a good talk about taking responsibility for mistakes. I explained that it was an important thing for Dad and I to know, and I was disappointed that he didn't tell us when he knew he should have.

A few days later, I followed up. "Remember the basketball thing, and how you said you didn't tell us because you were worried about getting in 'big trouble'?"

"Yeah."

"So what happened when you told us? Did you get in trouble?"

"Sort of," he said. "I mean, not for the basketball, but I did get in trouble for not telling you."

So I either taught him that honesty is the best policy, or I taught him that he should hide his mistakes better. I guess we'll find out in the coming years.

—7—

I'm looking forward to general conference this Saturday and Sunday. I keep feeling like the world is going too fast, and I'm excited to opt out of it this weekend to sit down and focus on encouraging words from God. 

General conference is like a weekend of TED talks from the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but everyone is invited and it would probably be worthwhile to anyone who is at least quasi-interested in spirituality or self-improvement. There's more information about it here if that sounds like it might be you.

Talks are given live on YouTube or the church's website from 12-2pm and 4-6pm EST on Saturday and Sunday, with more from 8-9:30pm EST on Saturday. (Don't forget to bring your snacks!)

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7 Quick Takes about Bedsheet Drama, One Allergist's Opinion, and the Great Seasonal Changeover

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

For the past several years, people who come to visit us have been kind enough to sleep on a mattress on the floor in our partially finished basement, which is basically one step up from couchsurfing in college. But I'm pleased to announce that we now have a fully functional guest bed!

We moved the mattress upstairs and I scored a great deal on a bed frame and a box spring for it on Facebook Marketplace. I was really proud of myself. 

And this isn't a sponsored post or anything, but let me say how much I love Facebook Marketplace. Our dishwasher, fridge, and microwave are all from there (and they've lasted longer than the brand new appliances they replaced). Even the last car we bought was from Facebook Marketplace, and we got a nice deal on it, too. 

—2—

I guess it's a generational thing, but young people just don't use a flat sheet under their blanket anymore. I've begged my kids for years to start using one, because I think it's frankly disgusting not to have a sheet as a barrier between you and the comforter. After all, sheets are easy to wash frequently and comforters are not.

But the kids resisted my attempts to domesticate them, and I started questioning whether this was really the hill I wanted to die on. I quietly admitted defeat, and tried not to think about it too much or I would throw up in my mouth.

Until I got up one morning to find one of the kids sleeping on the guest bed from Take #1. I hadn't yet outfitted the bed with sheets, so they'd dragged their comforter over and were sleeping ON THE BARE MATTRESS without a top or bottom sheet! I lost it and we had a family meeting that night.

I clearly outlined 4 facts for the kids:

1. The average person sweats 6.5 ounces every night.
2. Their large comforters cannot fit in our old-style washing machine.
3. The high-capacity washers at the laundromat cost $8.25 per load.
4. They can either start using a flat sheet under their comforter, or I will start driving them to the laundromat twice a month so they can wash their comforters with their own money.

They're all using top sheets now.

—3—

I saw this online and laughed because this has literally happened to us. 

Phillip and I must have been parents longer than this guy, though, because when our kids lost the remote we didn't even bother looking. We knew they'd just lose it again immediately.

The remote was missing for months or maybe even years, until one day we were moving the couches to the other side of the room and the remote fell out. We were pretty excited to have it back again, but it disappeared within two days.

Guess how much time we're going to spend looking for it.

—4—

I've been concerned about my 10-year-old's growth for forever. Even though his pediatrician assures me he's small but within the range of normal, something seems weird to me about the way he can't put on weight and height even when he tries. Add to that how kids randomly complain about aches and pains and being tired, and I've gotten to wondering over the last few years if a food allergy could actually be to blame.

Now, I don't run my kids to the doctor about every little thing, but I finally decided to take him to an allergist and ask for a skin test. I didn't have an airtight reason to suspect a food allergy, but if we tested I could know once and for all and stop worrying about it.

The good news is, my son tested negative for all major food and environmental allergens. The bad news is that the allergist clearly thought I was an idiot for even coming in and made no real attempt to hide it.

Basically my conversation with the allergist in his office.

It was embarrassing, but whatever. At least my mind is at ease about the food allergies now.

—5—

Here's a fun video where kids talk to an ex-con. The kids roasted this guy without even meaning to. I'm surprised they didn't make him cry.

Apparently there's a whole "Kids Meet" series, and if you liked this one I recommend "Kids Meet a Plastic Surgeon" and "Kids Meet a Body Builder."

—6—

My 13-year-old usually gets up before me on weekdays for school, but one morning I woke up to find her collapsed on the couch wrapped in a blanket. 

When I shook her shoulder, her eyes fluttered open. They focused on me, but they held zero hints that she had any comprehension of who or where she was. "What the freak?" she finally squeaked in a falsetto whisper. "I woke up at 6, what happened?"

The night before, she and I had been watching some funny videos of people waking up from anesthesia high as a kite, and she actually reminded me of them.

My oldest two have had their wisdom teeth out and were both disappointingly lucid when waking up, but maybe for this child I'll get it on video just in case.

—7—

Right now I'm in the middle of switching over my kids' clothes for the season, which sounds like an easy job unless you've done it before and then you know better. 

It sounds easy: just swap the winter wardrobe for the summer wardrobe. It should take 15 minutes, tops. But the system quickly starts to break down. You can't do that, because kids will still need some warm clothes, even in the summer. After debating over how much to leave out, you start sorting the rest into piles: donate, keep for wearing next year, toss because they have holes or stains... before you know it, you're sitting on the floor surrounded by piles going, "Wait, which pile is which again? Why does my son have 3 million T-shirts and only 2 pairs of pants? No wonder he can't close his dresser. Ugh, I can't believe he never even wore this sweater, that was expensive!"

The best part is how you do all that work, and then for months afterward your kid keeps wearing a pair of highwater pants that snuck past you in the dirty laundry while you were in their room having a midlife crisis sifting through it all.

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7 Quick Takes about Keeping Our Mouths Shut, Counting to 1,800 Every Day, and Inspirational Art

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It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

 

—1—

There's a gorgeous hike a few hours from us, and I just found out that it's also a beautiful place to go in the winter.

I actually like it more because there are no crowds and you don't have to pay to park.

Temperatures were above freezing, but still cold enough that it was a real problem when somehow the 10-year-old got water in both boots halfway through. Luckily, I was wearing two pairs of socks, so he replaced his wet socks with my extra pair and then slid his feet into empty Ziploc bags from the trail mix we'd brought with us before putting his wet boots back on. It worked well enough to keep them dry until we got back to the car. 

—2—

At one of the frozen falls, we stopped to watch an ice climber pickaxing his way up the cliffs. We don't know anything about ice climbing, but I asked Phillip, "Do you think we should start yelling tips to him?"

Phillip shrugged. "It's not like he can stop us."

Don't worry, we didn't say anything.

The scenic overlooks had guardrails at the edges, and like usual most of them were covered in "Justin + Kim 7-6-22" and "Jack was here" type graffiti. 

But this one in particular caught my eye:

I realize it was probably the work of a kid with a crush on his fourth grade teacher, but I prefer to think that Mrs. Corbett took her class on a field trip and just couldn't contain her rebellious streak.

—3—

Honestly, other than the winter hike which was nice, it's been a tough week. Phillip was gone for most of it on a work trip. I'm struggling with crippling inadequacy as it relates to my calling at church, kicking myself over a parenting decision I wish I'd made, tried and failed to help a friend with a project, and my 3rd grader's music class started learning to play the recorder. Basically, I want to crawl under a rock.

ANYWAY.

The kids have been super-helpful, both in terms of cooking dinner and giving hugs, and I appreciate that. Things will be fine, but I'm not sad to leave this week behind and start over again next week.

—4—

When my son was 5 years old, I started to get worried about his growth curve. We started counting calories, got special eating reward plates, and made him eat more at mealtimes, and he jumped way up on the charts. Of course, we got more and more lax over the years, and something keeps nagging at me again to start paying attention to it.

So guess what's back?

1,800 calories fills up the thermometer; 200 more earns a bonus of 10 extra minutes of screen time the next day.

We used a variation of this chart back when he was 5, but now that he's old enough to check the nutrition label (or Google "how many calories is in a banana?") and mark the chart himself, the user experience is way different.

—5—

For you, what is the worst part of grocery shopping? Is it finding all the items to put in the cart? Unloading them at the register? Unloading them into the car? For me, the most tiring part is carrying the bags into the house.

But I discovered something brilliant: the four kids and I can make a line all the way from the car to the kitchen counter, pass the bags down the line, and have everything inside in less than 30 seconds.

I'm trying to time my grocery shopping trips to end on Tuesdays when they get home from school, so hopefully the bucket brigade will become a regular thing.

—6—

I started listening to a new Spanish language learning podcast. It's for intermediate learners and I definitely don't catch everything, but I know I'm improving because (1) I can get the gist of what's being said and (2) my brain still feels okay after listening to a few episodes in a row. 

Really, it used to be that after 15 minutes of trying to understand spoken Spanish I would get sleepy or feel like I needed to zone out and go to the fifth dimension for a while.

I think this is a good sign. 

—7—

I made these inspirational art pieces with the girls at church this week, aren't they cute?

We combined this tutorial with this one, and it was a really easy project that turned out looking nice! Just make sure to use heavier paper like cardstock or artist's sketchbook paper, but all the other supplies you have at home already.

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7 Quick Takes about Jane Austen, Aiming for Sixth Place, and Buying Cereal in Bulk

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

I overheard a conversation between my kids in the backseat of the car.

"The forest near our house used to seem so big," the 10-year-old said, "but now that I'm older I realize it's really small!"

The 8-year-old said "That's because you've become—"

I thought he was going to say 'older,' 'wiser,' or 'more mature,' but then he said: "Fat."

—2—

I've been struggling with the daylight savings time change, and I guess with sleeping in general. I just can't seem to get caught up on sleep, and for one reason or another I'm up too late every night or up too early every morning. Sometimes both.

I'm in such a sleep deficit that my usual YouTube sleep meditations (I like Jason Stephenson in English and Zentopía in Spanish) haven't been working that well, so lately I’ve been listening to a British guy on barbiturates read Pride and Prejudice with rain sounds in the background. 

Every night I just skip back to the last part I remember hearing and continue with the story. It either works fantastically at putting me to sleep, or I spend time with a classic novel I know all about but have never actually read before. So it's a win-win. 

—3—

My daughter was wondering whether anyone has ever remembered their own birth and decided to google her question.

Google autocomplete gave her these suggested searches she might be interested in:

Everything we ever wanted to know about dying is right here, but unfortunately that's not the information we're looking for.

—4—

Our 8-year-old gymnast gets to compete in the Men's State Championship! Typically, States are held over the weekend and my son's level/age group competes on Sunday, which he forfeits for religious reasons. This year, he's scheduled to compete on Saturday, which we're all thrilled about, but I thought the schedule looked a little suspicious. I asked the coach of his new gym if she had anything to do with it and she said, "I made some requests."

She also explained to me that if his performance at States qualifies him for Regionals, his level will also be competing on Saturday. UNLESS he is in the top 5 gymnasts in his division in the state, in which case he would be scheduled on Sunday and therefore have to drop out.

On the way home from gymnastics practice I explained this to my son and he said, "So I should try to do good but not too good?" A certain scene from The Incredibles comes to mind here:

—5—

I passed some employees in the grocery store using shopping carts to move around Kellogg's promo displays that looked like giant boxes of cereal. 

Or maybe this is just a mom of teenagers making a midweek Costco run. Hard to say.

It was a hilarious sight, and it was even more hilarious because they didn't seem to think it was hilarious. It was just a normal Tuesday.

—6—

Basement finishing update: we have officially applied polyurethane to and sanded the stair treads and risers!

By "we," I mean Phillip. I helped with this for 5 minutes.

That night I went to a welcome home party for a friend's returned missionary daughter, where I was talking to someone else I know who is also finishing her basement. After chatting for a while about our progress, I said "we both keep saying 'we', but 'we' is our husbands, correct?"

"Correct," she said. And then we kept talking about what 'we' were planning to do next. Don't hate us, every project needs a project manager. It's called teamwork.

—7—

To make sure I wasn't a bot, a box popped up on the ChatGPT site that said "Are you human?" 

The irony.

"Yes, are you?" I muttered as I completed the stupid Captcha puzzle so a robot could decide whether I was not-robot enough to talk to it.

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