Confession 1: I feel slightly guilty about not updating my blog for so long. I haven't even written about our awesome trip to New York!
Confession 2: My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for a while now.
Confession 3: Sometimes when I see really horrible children or I see frazzled unattractive parents, I am glad that we don't yet have children. I don't know why the appearance of the parents makes a difference, but it does somehow.
Worry 1: I worry that when we do get pregnant my back will hurt so bad the whole time. I don't know if I can handle that given my history with back/leg pain. I am just at the tail end of another episode similar to last summer. At least this time I only had one night of no sleep and I knew enough to go and get some strong pain meds asap. But when you're prego you can't take strong pain meds right?
Worry 2: I worry that my friends will start giving me the fade because I'm so bad at returning phone calls. I don't mean to be that way. It's just that, for example, sometimes I can't call you back right away because my leg hurts really bad, or I'm loopy on vicadin. For some reason texting/emailing is so much easier for me. I'm trying to be better at it though. Don't fade me out just yet!
Worry 3: I get really worried when birds get too close to me. Like pigeons for instance. Birds like that. They're no good. They can poop on you, or they could try and land on you and their nasty little feet would get caught in your hair and it'd be a big scene. Oh one more confession... I'm kind of afraid of birds for the reasons stated above.
Nice things: I feel very overwhelmed by some of the nice things/people that I have in my life. I was thinking about it earlier today and it made me smile. Here are a few
My husband told me to go back to sleep after church (on account of my condition) today. During those 2 hours he prepared the house for our guests this evening. He did ALL the cleaning and folded up like 2 weeks worth of laundry that was just lying around in piles. He picked up the dog poop in the back yard and then brushed our dogs with the "furminator" so that they didn't look like mangy raggamuffins. Then when I started cooking, he stayed and helped me do that. After dinner he cleaned everything up. He's so awesome.
I left church early today because I didn't feel well. I had to find a sub to take over my sunbeam class. The lady I asked was so gracious and she just told me to go on home and feel better. I don't even know her that well.
The people I work with are so helpful all the time. Not to mention funny, smart and the type of people who have my back no matter what.
My parents are moving to Panama and while they are gone, they'll be letting us use quite a few of their things in our house.
The friends that came over tonight for dinner are friends that I have had for at least 20 years. That's so cool.
The end
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Fugitives
Kya and Pepper ran away last Saturday. Nathan had his MBA classes that day so I was home alone. I discovered a hole under the fence which at first did not look large enough for them to escape out of. When I went in the backyard though, and realized they were gone, I knew I was wrong.
The problem is that our new house is quite new. The two lots on either side of us are still empty. We also back up to an expansive green belt area which basically houses deer, raccoons and coyotes. I called up some friends to come help in the search. For three hours straight I looked for those girls. Our new neighbors were very helpful as well. One got his wiener dog on a leash and was basically using it as a bloodhound. It's pretty funny in retrospect. Anyway by noon I was exhausted and rather defeated. As I came back to a totally empty house the worry and panic set in.
I imagine my thoughts were similar to those of a parent who has lost a child though maybe not EXACTLY the same. At first I was worried I would never see them again. But then that paled in comparison to the thought that maybe they'd been hit by a car or had gotten into a battle with a pack of coyotes. I tried to comfort myself with the fact that they had their collars on, which includes my phone number. Surely someone would find them and call us. But what if they didn't call? What if they realized how great those two are and just decided to keep them? Worse yet, what if whoever found them was a horrible person and was in the dog fighting circuit and had plans to forever change their friendly personalities into unrecognizable aggressive beasts?
It was too much to handle. Eventually I fell asleep on the couch but even that was not peaceful. I dreamed that I discovered them in the back yard. At which point I actually woke up, got up and looked in the yard and of course found nothing.
When Nathan got home that evening we went out and looked in the wilderness again for about an hour and a half. It was difficult for me to actually get back to the to do list that I had originally had for the day. It was helpful to have Nathan with me again. He reminded me that we were hosting Easter dinner the next day. We decided to go and get the grocery shopping done to help take our minds off of the dogs.
About 10 minutes after coming back home, I received a phone call. The man on the line asked if we were missing two dogs. Long story short, Kya and Pepper and gotten about a mile and half away from the house. Somehow they got into this guys business building which is completely fenced off. He wasn't sure how they got in there but they were safe. Once we got there and packed the dogs in the car I was so overcome with joy I actually hugged that guy. That was pretty funny because he was like an awkward old man cowboy that doesn't know what to do when people show emotion.
We were definitely blessed that we got them back at all, let alone before nightfall that day. We pretended to be mad at them but if I remember correctly they got a pretty awesome meal of raw chicken that night.
The problem is that our new house is quite new. The two lots on either side of us are still empty. We also back up to an expansive green belt area which basically houses deer, raccoons and coyotes. I called up some friends to come help in the search. For three hours straight I looked for those girls. Our new neighbors were very helpful as well. One got his wiener dog on a leash and was basically using it as a bloodhound. It's pretty funny in retrospect. Anyway by noon I was exhausted and rather defeated. As I came back to a totally empty house the worry and panic set in.
I imagine my thoughts were similar to those of a parent who has lost a child though maybe not EXACTLY the same. At first I was worried I would never see them again. But then that paled in comparison to the thought that maybe they'd been hit by a car or had gotten into a battle with a pack of coyotes. I tried to comfort myself with the fact that they had their collars on, which includes my phone number. Surely someone would find them and call us. But what if they didn't call? What if they realized how great those two are and just decided to keep them? Worse yet, what if whoever found them was a horrible person and was in the dog fighting circuit and had plans to forever change their friendly personalities into unrecognizable aggressive beasts?
It was too much to handle. Eventually I fell asleep on the couch but even that was not peaceful. I dreamed that I discovered them in the back yard. At which point I actually woke up, got up and looked in the yard and of course found nothing.
When Nathan got home that evening we went out and looked in the wilderness again for about an hour and a half. It was difficult for me to actually get back to the to do list that I had originally had for the day. It was helpful to have Nathan with me again. He reminded me that we were hosting Easter dinner the next day. We decided to go and get the grocery shopping done to help take our minds off of the dogs.
About 10 minutes after coming back home, I received a phone call. The man on the line asked if we were missing two dogs. Long story short, Kya and Pepper and gotten about a mile and half away from the house. Somehow they got into this guys business building which is completely fenced off. He wasn't sure how they got in there but they were safe. Once we got there and packed the dogs in the car I was so overcome with joy I actually hugged that guy. That was pretty funny because he was like an awkward old man cowboy that doesn't know what to do when people show emotion.
We were definitely blessed that we got them back at all, let alone before nightfall that day. We pretended to be mad at them but if I remember correctly they got a pretty awesome meal of raw chicken that night.
EZ's
When I first moved to Austin in 2003, I lived fairly far from the UT campus. Occasionally I would shake up my driving route and drive south on Lamar. When I did that, I was always grossed out as I drove by "EZ's Diner".
It looked like a dive and the marquee reading "pizza, burgers and more" did little to convince me that I was missing out on anything. Anytime I saw cars in the parking lot I'd wonder WHO on earth would eat there?? So gross.
In time, I found out. My best friend,Erin. She and I wanted to go eat somewhere and she suggested EZ's, to which I said, "YOU eat there??" I knew Erin to be of discriminating taste and have not a small amount of class so I was obviously shocked but, decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
I'm sure you know where I am going with this... EZ's is now my FAVORITE restaurant. Yes, yes, I learned a valuable lesson that day. "Don't judge a book by it's cover" for if you do you might miss out on it's fantastic alamo bowl, amazing calzone trio, delectable basil chicken pasta with foccacia bread so incredible it makes one want to cry, or the out of this world, so delicious it should have shrines built in its honor, chocolate shake (made with Blue Bell ice cream of course).
When Nathan and I moved to Utah back in '06, I had to be put on suicide watch when the reality of an EZ's free existence awaited me. Surely a life without the basil chicken pasta and a chocolate shake was not much of a life at all! :)
Our time in the Salt Lake area turned out to be just a mere 10 months. The move was long and arduous. Traveling in a moving van does not make for a speedy getaway. We arrived in Austin on a Sunday. The hottest Sunday that was ever created in the history of all mankind. We had to move the contents of our van into a storage unit because the van was to be returned that very day. Our new house was still not quite ours so we were in this horrible transitional state. Being that it was Sunday, we were also reluctant to call any friends for help with the moving because we knew they'd be at church and so forth. In short, moving into the storage unit was a heinous experience. Eventually we made it to our hotel and cleaned up. The question of where to eat was no question at all.
Nathan and I ordered enough food for a family of 10. Not only had we worked up quite an appetite, but this was a reunion meal with EZ's. It's very rare, and very special. As we looked at each other across the table, he with a mouthful of cheese fries and I with whipped cream from my shake on my top lip, we knew we were home.
It looked like a dive and the marquee reading "pizza, burgers and more" did little to convince me that I was missing out on anything. Anytime I saw cars in the parking lot I'd wonder WHO on earth would eat there?? So gross.
In time, I found out. My best friend,Erin. She and I wanted to go eat somewhere and she suggested EZ's, to which I said, "YOU eat there??" I knew Erin to be of discriminating taste and have not a small amount of class so I was obviously shocked but, decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
I'm sure you know where I am going with this... EZ's is now my FAVORITE restaurant. Yes, yes, I learned a valuable lesson that day. "Don't judge a book by it's cover" for if you do you might miss out on it's fantastic alamo bowl, amazing calzone trio, delectable basil chicken pasta with foccacia bread so incredible it makes one want to cry, or the out of this world, so delicious it should have shrines built in its honor, chocolate shake (made with Blue Bell ice cream of course).
When Nathan and I moved to Utah back in '06, I had to be put on suicide watch when the reality of an EZ's free existence awaited me. Surely a life without the basil chicken pasta and a chocolate shake was not much of a life at all! :)
Our time in the Salt Lake area turned out to be just a mere 10 months. The move was long and arduous. Traveling in a moving van does not make for a speedy getaway. We arrived in Austin on a Sunday. The hottest Sunday that was ever created in the history of all mankind. We had to move the contents of our van into a storage unit because the van was to be returned that very day. Our new house was still not quite ours so we were in this horrible transitional state. Being that it was Sunday, we were also reluctant to call any friends for help with the moving because we knew they'd be at church and so forth. In short, moving into the storage unit was a heinous experience. Eventually we made it to our hotel and cleaned up. The question of where to eat was no question at all.
Nathan and I ordered enough food for a family of 10. Not only had we worked up quite an appetite, but this was a reunion meal with EZ's. It's very rare, and very special. As we looked at each other across the table, he with a mouthful of cheese fries and I with whipped cream from my shake on my top lip, we knew we were home.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Queen Bee
Last week I went through this terrible phase where my work life is concerned. I was so unhappy and I wanted to leave my job forever. Then all of a sudden, this past Monday all of that left and it has been a terrific week. I am not hating waking up, and dreading the drive to work. I am back to having a good time with my class and enjoying the funny things my students do.
I suppose to ensure that I keep up this good feeling, God inspired one of my students to write me the following letter to. I'll keep out the spelling mistakes because it's very difficult to decipher to the untrained eye. Also, my class mascot is The Bees.
"My teacher Mrs. Baumeister has two dogs. They're very fat. They're fat as a pig. (*sidenote, I've been teaching the class about similes. It's good to see it in use!)
They're fluffy as a cat. They sleep all day, unless you say treat. They eat like a fox eating something dead on the ground. (*also, we're currently doing a poetry unit. I wrote a poem about my dogs and read it to the class. I mentioned a bit about them... it's interesting what she then inferred from my information)
Mrs. Baumeister her bees work very hard. They won't stop until they get some honey from the queen of all. Mrs. Baumeister the greatest queen and teacher of all the teachers in this school."
Don't worry. I won't let it go to my head. On an unrelated note though, I would prefer to be addressed as Your Majesty from now on. :)
I suppose to ensure that I keep up this good feeling, God inspired one of my students to write me the following letter to. I'll keep out the spelling mistakes because it's very difficult to decipher to the untrained eye. Also, my class mascot is The Bees.
"My teacher Mrs. Baumeister has two dogs. They're very fat. They're fat as a pig. (*sidenote, I've been teaching the class about similes. It's good to see it in use!)
They're fluffy as a cat. They sleep all day, unless you say treat. They eat like a fox eating something dead on the ground. (*also, we're currently doing a poetry unit. I wrote a poem about my dogs and read it to the class. I mentioned a bit about them... it's interesting what she then inferred from my information)
Mrs. Baumeister her bees work very hard. They won't stop until they get some honey from the queen of all. Mrs. Baumeister the greatest queen and teacher of all the teachers in this school."
Don't worry. I won't let it go to my head. On an unrelated note though, I would prefer to be addressed as Your Majesty from now on. :)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Christmas
I was a little worried about how Christmas would go this year. Coming from a large family, I have just gotten used to having quite a few siblings to share the holiday with.
However, this year was different because I only had one other sibling home for the holidays. Of course spouses plus mom and dad were there.
I am happy to report though that Christmas was still awesome! I had a great time with my family as well as Nathan's. In fact the two families got together twice (Christmas eve party and joint birthday party).
Some highlights and memorable moments include:
shopping with dad (never got to shop with mom, don't know how that happened!)
shopping with in laws and Sherry
Christmas Eve party
Christmas morning breakfast/gift opening
shooting guns at the gun range
being awesome at shooting guns ;) By awesome I mean I hit my target a few times.
birthday dinner at Costa Messa (I didn't misspell Messa, the restaurant did)
birthday dessert and rock band party
Nathan trying to play the didgeridoo
Spending time with some old friends
Going to see Sherlock Holmes with the family
home made cinammon rolls
Taco Zarape
In short, it was a great holiday. Pictures will have to wait a litle while. They were taken by my brother and I haven't recieved any as of yet.
However, this year was different because I only had one other sibling home for the holidays. Of course spouses plus mom and dad were there.
I am happy to report though that Christmas was still awesome! I had a great time with my family as well as Nathan's. In fact the two families got together twice (Christmas eve party and joint birthday party).
Some highlights and memorable moments include:
shopping with dad (never got to shop with mom, don't know how that happened!)
shopping with in laws and Sherry
Christmas Eve party
Christmas morning breakfast/gift opening
shooting guns at the gun range
being awesome at shooting guns ;) By awesome I mean I hit my target a few times.
birthday dinner at Costa Messa (I didn't misspell Messa, the restaurant did)
birthday dessert and rock band party
Nathan trying to play the didgeridoo
Spending time with some old friends
Going to see Sherlock Holmes with the family
home made cinammon rolls
Taco Zarape
In short, it was a great holiday. Pictures will have to wait a litle while. They were taken by my brother and I haven't recieved any as of yet.
What's Utah got that I don't?!
This week I lost another friend to Utah. In case you don't keep up with my personal life ;) that makes three of my best girlfriends now living among the Wasatch mountains. Now I realize that circumstances may lead people to less than ideal places. Even Nathan and I had a brief stint up there. But honestly, enough is enough. For my good friends and family living in Utah due to "circumstances" I think I'll just take a moment to remind you of reasons you may want to give yourself a timeline to get out, aka the cons to living in Utah. Now in the interest of fair and balanced reporting, I'll also include a pros list.
pros: Cafe Rio,great skiing, LDS church HQ
cons: eateries like Taco Time and Taco Bueno, winters that go on FOREVER, Utah drivers, Judgey McJudgertons, inversion, the smell of cows, backcombing (aka-teasing) hair is considered a good fashion for ladies,and of course a surprising number of people who consider any place outside of Utah the "mission field". I mean really.
By the way, this is one of the images that came up when I googled "Utah hair"
After reading this I highly suggest you sit down and create your exit strategy. No one is saying it must be immediate, but really, how long can you live in a place where people thought it was a great idea to build houses on sand. (If you don't know what I'm referring to, drive by the point of the mountain. Literally the houses were built on SAND!!)
I'll be here to help every step of the way. You may also need some suggestions on where to relocate. I'd be happy to help on that front as well.
pros: Cafe Rio,great skiing, LDS church HQ
cons: eateries like Taco Time and Taco Bueno, winters that go on FOREVER, Utah drivers, Judgey McJudgertons, inversion, the smell of cows, backcombing (aka-teasing) hair is considered a good fashion for ladies,and of course a surprising number of people who consider any place outside of Utah the "mission field". I mean really.
By the way, this is one of the images that came up when I googled "Utah hair"
After reading this I highly suggest you sit down and create your exit strategy. No one is saying it must be immediate, but really, how long can you live in a place where people thought it was a great idea to build houses on sand. (If you don't know what I'm referring to, drive by the point of the mountain. Literally the houses were built on SAND!!)
I'll be here to help every step of the way. You may also need some suggestions on where to relocate. I'd be happy to help on that front as well.
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