What A Day

What a daaaaaaaaaay. 

So we all know Mike is gone for the weekend right? And that both--yes BOTH--the kids are sick? And that one of the those kids is under 3 months? And that the other is 3? And that 3 happens to be 

THE AGE OF HORROR

that no one mentions until AFTER you've already born the kid so you can't turn back?

It shocks me that there aren't a lot more 3-year olds put up for adoption.

The first part of the day (aka: Pre-Zumba) went wonderfully. Madie was reasonably happy when she awoke, and although she had wet the bed, I was prepared for that, having not made her go before bed, not taken her in the middle of the night, and having given her a cup of water to sleep with because she has a cough. And because, if there is anyone out there who understands bedwetting, it's me.

At Zumba Madie was also very good. It helped that it was outdoors, so she got plenty of outside time in. And her friend Ezra was there--they were so cute to watch. She took his hand and held onto it for about 85% of the hour-long class. It was adorable.

She spent the rest of the day throwing tantrums and purposely doing things to annoy me after I had asked her over and over and over again to stop. I spent the rest of the day losing my temper with her and counting down the hours until I could reasonably put her to bed. It was miserable.

A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that her husband is always encouraging her to "just be more patient." "But," she said, "I feel like I'm patient all day long and then just snap at the end of it!" I hear ya, sister! The past two days I have been calm, collected, and tender towards my children even when, on Sunday, I reached THE POINT OF CONVERGING ANXIETIES:

~I am desperate to make it to church, knowing that--with Mike gone--it is likely to be the most adult interaction I get between Saturday and Wednesday morning. Madie is screaming in her bedroom; Finn is screaming in my face; I am in the midst of a poopy diaper, and suddenly a pale yellow stream flows up and soaks the bedclothes, his clothes, his swaddler (without which he doesn't sleep well) and I end up doing laundry on the one day I never have to do laundry. As I watch that stream flow it dawns on me, "This is it. That moment where all the bad things that can happen are happening at the exact same time."~

But I've noticed that if the CONVERGING ANXIETIES hit me as CONVERGING ANXIETIES as they are happening, I am able to suddenly see an irony to it and laugh it off. If, on the other hand, I take them as they come, they pile one atop the other until I reach another point:

THE POINT OF LOOMING OUTRAGE.

That point is as scary as it sounds, and usually is dissipated slowly after a separation of myself from the cause, which is always a child, and this fact means it ultimately ends in a pit of shame. Today, THE POINT OF LOOMING OUTRAGE was reached shortly after Madie backed out of her promise to be my big girl.

I am, overall, a very capable, independent sort of woman. Having my husband gone doesn't necessarily put me out in ability, mood, or even efficiency. But I must say, I am so ready to have him come home. So, so ready.

Let Me Whine Just A Minute

So I was lucky to land the easiest babysitting job in the world about a month ago. A divorced man was looking for someone to watch his kids 2 or 3 times a week for just a few hours in the morning and then drop the kids off at their preschool. The preschool was right down the street from me, so I didn't even have to drive. I made a decent amount--not spectacular, but decent--for basically doing my own housework in the morning while they slept and then played with Madie and Kaleb (the other child I watch). I had to get up at 5:30 for it, but that was only an extra half-hour earlier than I normally do anyway. The kids had a habit of tattling a bit, and the boy for some reason struggled to learn Madie and Kaleb's names (which, for some reason, really bothered me--I kept saying, "Don't call them 'babies.' I've told you their names." Probably mostly my problem, I know.) Other than that though, these kids were about as easy as they come, and Madie loved having kids she could talk with, etc., over on a regular basis.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we had some bad bouts of rain early in the morning. Their father and I had already discussed this possibility in our initial meeting: if it was raining, I would just keep them at my apartment or walk them over at the first break. He was even the one who suggested this. Yet on these mornings I woke two days in a row to find a text telling me he was "concerned about me walking in the rain."

I'm rolling my eyes even as I type.

The next week, with a clear forecast ahead, I woke three days to find texts saying, "The kids are throwing a fit about coming to your house. I think I spoiled them a little last week. I'll just drop them off today and we'll try again tomorrow." (In my mind I'm thinking, So, you spoiled them last week, and your best idea is to keep doing the same thing?) This week, Monday morning the kids, of course, threw fits--why would they not when they know it'll keep their dad home longer in the mornings? This time, I never got a text. He just didn't show up. Finally, he left a message later in the afternoon, saying he would bring them by on Wednesday afternoon so they could get used to me again.

He brought them by yesterday and they were perfectly fine. (I was a little miffed, at him, but the kids were fine.) We talked about how he didn't need to worry about me walking myself, my 2-year-old daughter, and three other young children through the POURING RAIN. We also talked about how he didn't have to worry about me handling the kids crying. They've cried before after he's left and it lasts all of five minutes. Not a big deal. He said he'd bring them the next morning to be dropped off and we thought things were going along fine.

This morning, I was up at 5:30, getting ready for the kids, when finally, at 6 am I decided they were, again, not coming. Again, I got no text or phone call until much later in the day. He said exactly what I was hoping for: "I think I'll just need to find another sitter. Thanks for all you've done!" Hallelujah.

I'm still a little put out by it all and missing out on the extra money is kind of lame, but at least I know I won't have to get up for nothing at 5:30 am a few times a week. I'm also glad I won't have to listen to how "concerned" my client is for me. And besides, the goodbyes in the mornings were extravagant and noisy; lots and lots of kissing noises, and all from Daddy.

Keeping Busy

You know those days where you think you'll lose your mind if you have to stay cooped up in an 850 sq. ft. apartment with two kids BUT you don't want to actually go on a big trip that requires forethought (partly because this is a spur-of-the-moment feeling) and snacks and diapers and scheduling around nap time? 

I get that feeling about 4 out of 5 days; though, admittedly, Kaleb has gotten better since he's been able to point at things accurately.

So, one day a couple weeks ago (yes, I'm a tad bit behind--that wedding and all) I decided we had to get out, for the safety of everyone who spends most of their time here (can't really say "live" since technically, Kaleb doesn't live here). I have an annual zoo pass, and I guess I could have popped on over to Oakland to take the kids around, but it was like 9 am and I had to get out IMMEDIATELY. No snack-packing for this trip. So I just grabbed my purse, stuck the kids in the car and we left. Our first stop was the cheapest, most kid-friendly zoo on the planet:

PetCo: where the kids go. 

It's perfect. All the animals are kept in small, confined spaces, with nothing to obstruct the view, like trees or caves. They are always visible. 

One of Madie's favorite exhibits: the fish. Seriously, there are a whole bunch of soft, fuzzy little kittens and creatures at the front of the store, but she asks to go see the fish first.

The only drawback is I spend a lot of time keeping Kaleb out of the dog frisbees and balls. Really. A lot of time.

I wasn't quite ready to face going home yet--I had a good hour and a half before nap time, so we went over to Cafe Art. I just wanted something kind of cheap, and I'd been looking for a simple vase recently, so I grabbed this "coffee mug" and Madie and I turned it into a vase while Kaleb pooped his diaper and played with the toys in the corner. It's a miracle how well-behaved they both were. It's a studio filled with messy paint and breakable pottery and I left without buying anything I'd have to glue back together!

Madie, picking at her dry lips--UGH!--while she waits for me to get a paint color. Our blank vase is on the table.

Cleaning off her paintbrush. She loved this so much. And she did a decent job of staying clean!

We picked the finished, fired product up a couple days ago. Here she is showing it off:

It has irises and "Madie and Mum" is signed across the bottom.

Madie helped paint the base coat--a light pinkish-beige. Then, while I painted on the irises, she went all out on the bottom. There is every color on the bottom than was involved on the sides--and then some.

By the time we were done, we'd blown two hours and Kaleb was getting extremely hungry (read that as "cranky;" read that as "annoying"), so we ran home, I stuffed some food in them, and got them both down only a little late for their naps. 

When they got up, we got ready to go out again. This time for a legitimate errand. We were leaving for Utah the next day so I needed to get the oil changed in the car. I ran it downtown and we spent half an hour at the little village green. We got there about five minutes before a horrendous group of elementary school kids arrived and started playing freeze tag. One little girl came up to me after maybe ten minutes and said, "Could you keep your kids over there," and pointed to the fountain. I said, "Sorry. We were here first," and shrugged my shoulders. One of the great things--and possibly the absolute worst thing--about gradeschool children is their sense of justice. She looked at me with a face that said, "Oh, that's true. Lame, but true," before she ran off.

But before any of the raucous kids got there, we were in the green completely alone. A group of 8th or maybe 9th grade girls came up to us carrying oxygen-inflated balloons with stars drawn on and encouraging phrases and asked if they could give the each of the kids one. "Yeah! Oh yeah, they'd love some!" I tried to get a picture of Kaleb with his but he was way to busy to hold still long enough for a clear shot. Anyway, his said, "You're pretty awesome!" Here's Madie's: 

  

Mike and I get a kick out of her face here!

It stayed inflated pretty well for two and a half weeks. I finally cut open the little toad-sized bubble today during nap time and tossed it out. So far she hasn't noticed...let's hope it stays that way.

Tread On, Worn Down, Stressed Out, and Thrilled

Let me tell you a little about my day. I'll try to keep it in a nutshell, but I make no promises--especially since it starts last night...it's been a long one.

I found out last night some sad news. I won't go into detail since the rest of this post would seem odd, if not inappropriate. Just know that although sad, it was also expected and in many ways (to me at least) relieving. With this news though--however lacking in shock I may be--came a lack of sleep. I fell asleep two hours later than usual. This morning, I was opening my door at 6:45 to greet the baby boy I've been watching all week. Normally he pouts for a bit after being dropped off, but this morning I had to literally pry him off his mother. 

"Sorry, he woke up really grumpy this morning," she said. 

"Oh, not to worry! Come, little guy, let's be happy!" I said cheerily as I pulled him screaming from his mum. 

He cried for a half hour. Madie--who had been happy and perky when I put her to bed 12 hours earlier--also awoke slightly disgruntled. But who can blame her--she was woken by a wailing 11-month old. 

The real fun began when another friend knocked on the door at 8:40. 

"Madie! Your friends are here!" I chirped. Addison and Madie knew each other well and I was sure this would entertain her. Everything was great for the first hour: Madie, Addison, and Emma (Addie's older sister) watched some Winnie the Pooh while I picked up, showered, etc. and Kaleb napped. But sometime right before we hit the home stretch before their mum showed up it all fell apart. Kaleb woke up still not happy; Addie kept experimenting with Kaleb's face ("What will he do when I poke him in the eye? What will he do when I pinch his cheeks?"); Emma kept informing me of Addie's misdeeds even as I witnessed them; and Madie kept screaming at everyone to STOP TOUCHING HER THINGS! (Like the animal crackers Addison and Emma brought.)

My friend probably thought Armageddon had started in the small upstairs apartment in which I live. An hour later, with both her daughters gone, Madie and Kaleb fed and down for their afternoon naps, I thought I would enjoy a relatively quiet afternoon. But Kaleb and Madie woke very much in the same moods as before. Kaleb cried over any reason he could find, and Madie gave him plenty of reasons to cry. But a few hours later, as Kaleb's mum came to pick him up, I again had the feeling I would be enjoying a nice evening, with my husband home and a daughter who no longer had anyone to be stingy to. Again, I was proven wrong. 

I thought I'd go nuts if I had to listen to Madie scream or cry one more time while I was making dinner and Mike was in the bedroom listening to his lecture, so she was shut in her room. Shut. I don't usually close the door when I put her in her room since she can't open it up again when she's calmed down. But today I felt it would be safer for everyone if her door was closed.

At the end of dinner--and my rope--my neighbors knocked on the door.

"Here we are!" 

"Yes! Here you are! Come here, Vahan," I said as I reached out for their 11-month-old son. I had forgotten I'd agreed to watch him for an hour. Normally he's a very relaxed kid, though, and I was ready for a happy baby. They closed the door and he started crying. Of course.

And of course, Madie was as stingy with him as with everyone else. In a fit of rage over not being allowed to steal Vahan's own toy from him, she threw a block across the room, so I foot-balled her and flossed and brushed her teeth. When I set her down to undress her she screamed, "Poo-poo!" So I stripped her and sat her on her toilet seat and in the middle of my heated lecture to her on sharing (what can I say? I'm my father's daughter.) I heard it. I heard it!

An unmistakable and continuous tinkling.

It was like a church bell at noon.

I stopped mid-sentence and she stopped mid-cry. I smiled big while she gave me a startled stare. 

"Oh! Madie! Oh, Madie! Give me five!" She grinned and gave me five. Then five again. "Do you want THREE POTTY CANDIES!" (Yes. I've been bribing her for a week now, and to no avail.) 

"YESH!" she shouted.

With the potty candies distributed I lifted her up and wiped her clean. Oh, finally! FINALLY! This is it folks! That first one has got to be the hardest one, I'm sure of it. And I know Madie--now that she's done it once, she'll do it again and again. Oh happy day! All my trials have been redeemed! Who knew I just needed to get her so upset she would stop thinking about it?! EUREKA! Glorious day! And now, it will be recorded forever in the annals of Watkins Family History. Let the headlines read: 

"On September 21, Lady Madeleine Pees!"

Things I've Learned

Some of you may know Mike and I have been watching the three children of some friends of ours while they're in England for the week. We're almost done--they get back on Saturday morning--but it's been an interesting experience. Let's just say we are glad twins--and triplets--don't run in either of our families! I thought I'd share a few highlights.

Deep thought:
~If Wish Bear can grant pretty much any wish, why are there any other Care Bears? And for that matter, is there really any risk in any of the episodes?

Proud moments:
~The food is a little different than what we normally have at home. I don't know that it's worse or better, it's just--mooore--what exactly? Faster? Yes, it's faster. Much faster. I was a little worried Madie might end up not feeling very well after a week (she's got sensitive bowels, if you know what I mean) or worse: that her tastes would be spoiled. All my work! Not that we only eat organic foods or even all good foods--I love to bake and Mike's obsession with homemade ice cream is hard to reel in sometimes--but we eat a lot of vegetables and fruit and vegetarian meals and fishy meals--a nice balance I think. Madie eats two or three whole fruits a day. So last night while the other three were chowing down on saucy chicken and rice (with extra sauce poured on top), I was very happy to see that the first thing gone from Madie's plate was the broccoli. :)

~Despite all the craziness and extra kids, I've gotten a lot of reading done. In fact, I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Oh so good!

Breakthrough:

~I realized what it was about some friends' houses that really turned me off as a kid: the smell. It's not the smell of poopy diapers or pee-soaked beds. It's the smell of microwaved corn dogs and maple syrup long after breakfast is over.

Freshmen Say the Darndest Things

The following are actual lines from an English 101 class I TA for. I have all the papers I'm taking these from right here with me, except one, but believe me, I remember exactly what it says. The prompt isn't always important, but I'm including it anyway for the ones that do. I'm also including my comments and, in rare cases, the comments I wish I could've written. I have made NO variations to what they've written in these quotes.

Prompt: What do you think the difference is between an educated person and an uneducated person?

"For all intensive purposes..."
I believe it's, "for all intents and purposes"

Prompt: What is your favorite book and why?

Sheila B. Favorite book: Bloody Jack, by L. A. Meyer
"You can always tell if a book was well written because it will be turned into a movie."
"Always" and "will" are absolutes. I advise you not to use these.

"I bet if every story had a character this loveable, there would be better books around so you wouldn't have to resort to classics for good reading."
I don't think people really "resort" to classics. I think they just like them. Also, there are some great contemporary novels. I bet you'd love them.

Cherie L. Favorite book: Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer
"The love in this love story feels so real, the feelings that the characters feel instantly grows onto the reader."
LOTS OF FEELING GOING ON HERE.

Jennifer G. Favorite book: Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer
"This is a type of fairytale that isn't for 5 year olds, but it is a kind of fairytale that's only found in the super natural world."
How do these two clauses relate at all?

Jake R. Favorite book: Sahara, by Clive Cussler
"Then in the present day Dirk and Al are trapped between some terroriests and an evil corporate Executive are polluting the Nile, which is spreading towards the ocean."
What exactly is going on? And who exactly is involved?

Rebecca K. Favorite book: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Anne Brashare
"Turns out her father was preparing to be remarried to beautiful blonde woman and her two children."
(Aside from the grammatical corrections): He's going to marry her two kids?

Kayla B. Favorite book: The Chamber, by John Grisham
"...it makes since that this fear will be different for each individual..."

AND THE WINNER IS...
Jon W. Favorite book: Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer
His closing sentence is: "A book that will leave you crying at the end to finding out that you are not actually Bella."
So, you didn't want to be like the main MALE character of the book? You want to be like Bella? (This one left me in utter perplexity, but I refrained from making any actual comments.)

Great Potential...Oh! There it goes!

Tuesdays and Thursdays I have decided are both my favorite and my least favorite days of the week this semester. I only have one class and it's at 8 a.m. to 9:30. That is awesome. I love that part of it. It leaves me an entire day to get homework done for my Wednesday and Friday classes, of which there are many. I also have plenty of time to get some work hours in without feeling overwhelmed like I would if I were trying to squeeze in a few hours at the end of a full day of classes. Best of all, it gives me plenty of time to catch up on sleep.

Now here's the problem: my mentor teacher, whom I TA for, hasn't gone far enough in the semester for me to have any papers to grade, grades to enter, or students to counsel with papers on. So, no work there right now. I'm also in charge of the scholastic book orders that the teachers teaching Young Adult and Children's lit. classes use, but right now they have their fliers and students are just entering online orders. Really no work there right now. The accreditation binders I'm in charge of aren't due until April, so naturally they've taken a back burner in the teachers' minds. Again, no work. And I've done some Russian, but I can only do that for so long before my mind kind of starts to shut down.

So, this week's anticipated glorious Tuesday and Thursday have both been extremely dull as I sit on campus, usually in Rigby Hall where I work, chatting it up with the secretaries doing absolutely nothing but entertaining them - which is fun 'cause they are hilarious - and eating my lunches over long, drawn out periods of time as I wait for Mike to be ready to go to the gym and then home.

Next time I think I'll just head home and call the walk my exercise. It is nearly a mile and at a brisk pace with my backpack on, I'm sure I'm putting in more physical work than most people do running a marathon.

Dorm Fire

If that headline doesn't catch your eye, I don't know what will! I'm actually reporting on something that happened a couple of weeks ago. As I have mentioned before, I work at the BYU-Idaho Safety Office. We work on the preventative side of things, and decided to promote fire safety. It's kind of funny, because we had a grease fire this last Summer in one of the girls dorms on campus. Surprisingly, not too many people evacuated the area during the episode. There were actually videos on YouTube before the newspapers could print out the next days newspaper covering the event! So, with those ideas in mind, we decided to build a mock dorm room. The room was 8'x4'x8', with one side of dry wall missing for demonstration purposes. The small room was equipped with a desk, fabric chair, blankets, clothes on the floor, empty pizza boxes, computer, etc (sound familiar to anyone?). We promoted this thing with posters, booths, and word of mouth. One of the more effective methods was spray painting the outside walls of the dorm room "Watch me burn at 12:30", that really gets people curious. I mean, who doesn't want to see something get lit on fire?? We had it set up to start burning right when people got out of classes, and it was strategically located in a high-traffic area for maximum exposure. There were about 200 people in attendance, and many others just watching from a distance. Everyone really enjoyed the blazing flames! Considering how cold it was outside, the huge flames actually were quite warm and refreshing even though we were about 50+ feet away. We got the fire department to attend as well, just in-case. The smoke detector stopped working after two minutes, and the whole thing was fully engulfed within three minutes (despite missing an entire wall). Anyways, enough babbling. Here are the pictures.

We simulated a candle fire, candle falling into the trash can.

If you look at the top portion of the dorm room, you can see a sheet of plastic entrapping the smoke. That thing actually melted and splattered all over the asphalt in-front of the dorm room. In the next picture, you can see the asphalt on-fire.

Those flames were so intense!

The smoke eventually began to funnel...

Then the fire fighters put it out. I was actually disappointed, along with everyone else, about how soon they put it out. It would have been cool if they let it burn to the ground. It certainly would have been easier to clean up.

Rammifications of a four and a half minute fire

In this picture is what's left of the computer, and the smoke alarm.

A day on the job

Well, Mal and I are on break right now. We have an entire week off of school! For some that translates to sleeping in, lots of movies, and lots of football. For Mal and I, that means no school work and extra time to earn money at work. Mal said she can work between 20-30 hrs this week, I can work up to 40 at my job. Today I got rewarded for working during the week long break. We got the opportunity to drive up to Teton County to check some fire extinguishers at some of the lodges that the school/church owns. We own three properties with many lodges on each! It's pretty amazing actually. Here is a photo album of some of what I saw today.

Here is one of the barns owned by the school that we checked. There are a few cabins, or 'camps' as they say back east (new terminology I learned this last summer), right near here.

A 'vintage' covered wagon...they actually manufacture them at this warehouse for some reason.

Buddy decided to spend some time with us today. He is a nice looking Collie, owned by the care takers of one of the lodges we checked. Looks like he is just trying to stay warm on top of a hay stack.

Peering through the aspen trees.

A funny little "Java the Hut" cafe in Driggs.

A closer look at the Grand Teton, standing almost 14,000 ft. above sea level

Here is a great picture of the mighty Tetons.