Be Still My Rapid Heartbeat

Aging stinks. I can't eat things I want to anymore without consequences, the aches and pains are more prolific, and what do you know? Stress causes palpitations. So, after going to visit the cute blue eyed Dr. in the ER last month and my first military medical appointment at Beale, I got to see Dr. Bajwa, everyone's favorite Cardiologist.

I arrived at my appointment last week and was greeted by the ultrasound tech, who did the echocardiogram and entertained me with stories of the horses she raises. She kept me as comfortable as one can be when wearing an attractive gown that opens in the front. When she was through, she told me to relax and hang out until Joe was ready to do my Thalmine Treadmill Test.

Soon, she was back and introducing me to Joe. Yeah, he was incredibly cute, but I knew he was going to be sticking me with a needle in the arm. I politely follow Joe down the hall and he explained the procedure to me. Then came the needle. I am not super good with wounds and skin integrity being broken but I tried to distract myself. Was doing fine until Joe told me that the vein had "blown"... not good to hear when you are a wimp. I started to pass out. What a humbling and humiliating thing to do. Not to mention you kinda feel like you are going to die. You forget that part if it's been awhile since you have fainted or passed out.

After I recovered, Joe was prepping me for the procedure and was getting the leads hooked up to the ECG monitor. To do this he needed to use... (play horror music here... dun dun dun...) the scruffy tape. I named it the scruffy tape after Joe broke off a piece and began to abraise my skin where the leads needed to go. I promptly told him that it didn't feel good and that I was going to blog about him and his scruffy tape. Needless to say, he said his friends don't request that he bring it to parties. Really? Duh...

So, to be true to my word, here is a picture of Joe's Scruffy Tape. May you never have to meet it in person.

Let it Snowglobe, Let it Snowglobe, Let it Snowglobe!

The dresser in our bedroom has many mini wonderlands on display in a row. I started the collection for Kevin before we even met, actually, and we have added new globes on our various outings and trips together. The first one I bought him was in Denver in May of '07, during the first weeks of our courtship. Unfortunately, I had decided to pack it in my carry on bag, and it was confiscated by security at DIA. Like I was going to hijack the plane with the sharp little plastic Rocky Mountains! So, the evil ones at security stole my gift (which I'm sure went straight to the gift shop on the other side of the checkpoint for some poor sap to buy for $3 more than I paid for it.) and I quickly dashed into the gift shop on the other side of the checkpoint and bought another globe for $3 more than I paid for the first one.

Here's a rundown on the other prized globes...

2007 Mickey Mouse from Disneyland, from Kevin's first trip to DLand. Sadly, it fell from the shelf in Kevin's room and has no glass, snow or water, but we love him anyway.

Next we have the Space Needle with the ring toss catching game in the water. This one was donated by Megan, who got it from Kevin via an Air Force trip.

Sideled up to the Seattle landmark is the penguin. Megan picked this one out for me for Christmas 07, our first one together. It is a big globe and the penguin is shiny.

In front of him is the Trees of Mystery tiny globe from our honeymoon in the Redwoods. We only stopped at the Trees to shop and go to the bathroom, but it was the only Redwood globe we could find. The tiny Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are quite ironic and make me laugh.

Musical Wizard of Oz is the next one. The WW of the W is flying overhead as the famous foursome, Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion make their way to Oz. I've had this globe for almost 20 years, and it has moved with me 4 times.

Where the little Mickey Mouse Christmas Caroler from 2003 came from, I'm not sure, but he is still welcome and adored.

Valentine Mickey in a small heart shaped globe is just to the right. Little red hearts flutter down when shaken. Love is literally in the air, I guess.

Ahhh... the Rocky Mountains replacement globe at last. Not as nice as the first one I bought, but Colorado-ish anyway.

A very skinny bride and groom are next. Also very ironic, but the words on the base are great. "Love is not about who you live with... It's about who you can't live without." Amen to that.

Next is a do-it-yourself snowglobe that I made for Kev with a picture of us kissing at Disneyland in it. I'm pretty sure we are the only ones to have one of those.

Lovely Lake Tahoe is right next door. We went for two nights in November and had a really good time seeing the sights and to a comedy club. Who doesn't like Lake Tahoe?

San Francisco Skyline in a tiny globe is next. Wonderful memories of the day I bought it and Kevin telling me he loved me for the first time make this my favorite. Good times in the city.

The famous Winchester Mystery House towers over the tiny city by the bay, and reminds me of one of our first blended family outings and Kevin keeping me calm when I felt like I was falling apart from cranky tired kids. He is a keeper, isn't he?

The newest addition, a very small Bubba Gumps light up stamping snow globe with the shrimp logo was purchased last weekend when we had lunch in SF with Angel and her hubby, Bob. Yay for fried fish and shrimp!

Last, and certainly not least is the Yuba City snowglobe. Yep, you heard me, Yuba City. Purchased at Walgreens, where you can purchase many other tacky tourist items. This was to help Kevin not miss me when we were still living in two houses. I think it worked. The gold panner inside was probably a very nice companion to chat with, when I couldn't be there.

For some reason, we also have a Fisher Price Little People Safari Lady figurine and then there's the little Tahoe Joe's skier chick from our 4 month dating anniversary dinner out. They seem to fit the quirkiness of the scene and they act as global security agents, I do believe.

Sleepover at Grandma Alice's House

This weekend, also know as the weekend of love, one of the kids is going to Grandma Alice's house to stay while Kevin and I go to San Francisco for a couple of nights.

Grandma is so thrilled to have one of her little darlings stay and play with her. We took him over to her house last night, and boy was he sniffing around and checking things out. He had never been there before, so there was a lot to explore. We showed him where the potty and food were and he soon disappeared under Grandma's bed. What a silly guy! I hope that he helps her with her very hard jigsaw puzzle. He would be really good with the lost pieces.

I told Grandma that we will call and talk to him a couple of times during the weekend, and that it was ok to leave him alone all day if she wants.
We'll miss you, Carl. Be a good boy and don't purr too loudly in Grandma's ear while she is trying to sleep.

Weather or not to Puzzle

A couple of weeks ago, while shopping with my mom in Sacramento, I picked up a colorful 1000 piece puzzle for the family to work on together during the rainy weather. Well, we unsealed the box 2 nights ago, and the piece matching began. Kevin immediately started looking for the edges and I helped while he started to get the edges put together. Megan was a great help in getting the pieces organized by color. Tonight we got quite a few put together, but the problem is two-fold. The inside sections that are left are, of course the hardest parts (we did the easily identifiable building and semi-difficult sky parts) AND the puzzle is taking up the entire dining table. Thomas keeps asking when we are going to get it off the table. Not very soon, if he doesn't start helping! The big kids get back tomorrow night from their dad's house, so maybe with all 7 of us working on it, it will be done by Friday.
Meanwhile, my mom has started the puzzle she bought at the same time, and is having a slow go of it. I wonder if she wants to rent some Junior Puzzle Doers from this house..... She claims her puzzle choice is harder. We are going to switch when we get done, so then we will know if she is just crying wolf or not.

Cat Drama Island

As you may know, we added a sweet little kitten named Carl to our home in early December. We already had two very sweet cats, Trixie and her son Reebok. That was BEFORE Carl came to town. Now we have a contstant state of growling, hissing, and much pawing and clawing.

Carl wants to play and be friends with both Reebok and Trixie. Reebok has learned to somewhat tolerate the jumping on the back and general craziness from Carl. As you can see in the picture, they have even taken a nap ( for about 10) seconds together. We all know Reebok can kick Carl's booty any time he wants, but I think he kinda wants to be buddies. Foolishly, Carl just can't help but start a fight by biting Reebok's neck or plain ol' ambushing him as he walks down the hallway.

Then there's Trixie. She hates breathing the same air as Carl, and most of the time Reebok. She can sense the alliance between the two of them. It can be a juggling act to sequester each cat from the other. Mostly, this means that Trixie is closed away in the front living room and Reebok is hiding out in a bedroom somewhere. Carl, therefore, is free to terrorize and delight the rest of us.

Publisher In the House

Once again, our 2nd grader has been published in the Appeal Democrat. This time her holiday jokes were printed on Christmas Day. We sure hope you enjoy them, as she made them up herself. "My holiday joke is right here. Knock, knock. Who's there? Donut. Donut who? Donut Open 'til Christmas! And I have one more for you. What do you call an elf that steals gift wrap from the rich and gives it to the poor? Ribbon Hood!"

Great Job, Megan! Keep up the good work!

Snow What?

This afternoon we took the kids to play in the snow east of Nevada City. We all had a really good time, and I think the kids did too. Megan had told me that she had never been "real sledding" only on cardboard at Grandma Karen's house when she was "little". So, we packed up the sledding toys, some hot cocoa, and extra changes of clothes along with the 5 kids in two cars and headed off. We found a wide spot in the road to park and found an ATV offroad access road that made for a nice low slope. There was laughing, screaming, and warnings from behind the trees of "Don't eat the banana colored snow!"

After a lot of sledding and some snowball throwing, it was time to get out of the wet jeans and underwear and get a cup of cocoa. It was a short but sweet trip, and I think we should do it again this winter. Sure was fun to hear them laughing and having such a good time being rowdy and loud and knowing they weren't bothering anyone!

Funny Accents

Where do silly accents come from? Why do they sneak up out of nowhere and just overtake us? Sometimes they get a life of their own and don't know when to leave. Kevin has been putting on an accent each night lately. Ok, just for the last two nights, but it is a little concerning. Last night was Italian and tonight it is an Okie drawl. It doesn't help that we watch COPS every night. There is a direct correlation between the region of the U.S. that the episode is filmed in and Kevin's new "personality". I think we'll have to select his programming a little more carefully. It IS very entertaining, though...

No Knives at Pizza Hut???

About a month or so ago, Kevin, Megan, and Thomas called me at work and said we were going to meet at Pizza Hut in Yuba City for dinner. We ordered our pizza, and when it came it wasn't cut all of the way through. No problem, right? I mean, any other eating establishment would have the proper cutlery to do the job. So, I send Megan to the counter to get a knife. Big mistake.

Apparently, they couldn't see her at the counter and the employee that was working was doing something out at the tables. (Mind you, we were one of just 3 families that were even in there.)
Anyway, I went up to help Megan at the counter and the employee asked if we needed help. I told her that the pizza wasn't cut all of the way through, could we please have a knife? Seriously, a plain old plastic knife would have been fine. BUT NO... they didn't have ANY knives. For real. It was ridiculous. How expensive are plain ol' knives anyway? I think they are 4 for a buck at the Dollar Tree. For real metal knives. That would cut through pizza.

So, be warned. If you go to the YC Pizza Hut, take your own camping utensil set with you. It may come in handy.
Again. CRAZY.

Megan's Mysterious Bumps

Megan has a rash of bumps on her arm. They itch but aren't fluid filled and haven't spread much in 3 days. I really don't feel like going to Urgent Care today, so if anyone knows what it might be, can you let us know? She's a cute girl, but we could do without the spots. Even though the kids say I am a doctor sometimes, this is out of my realm of expertise. Once we know what it is, I can come up with a billable code, though.

Ringing in the New Year

Well, 2008 was quite a year for our family! First of all, we had not one, but 2 weddings... ok, the same people got married twice, but both weddings still count. Next we had a graduation, a surgery, and of course the moving process to contend with. So, the fall of '08 was spent getting kids settled into new schools, new bedrooms, and dealing with 5 kids sharing a bathroom in the morning! We did quite well, actually, and mom and dad are very proud.



New Year's Eve came to the Potts' house in festive form. Grandma Alice came over for tacos, snacks and games. Yes, she played Wii bowling with Megan and laughed the whole time. Joey came over that night to stay with Megan and Thomas. He always adds a pleasant attitude to our mix, and we love having him over. In addition to the Wii, we played Scrabble and Yahtzee turbo until the wee hours of 8:oo. Then it was time for our sparkling cider toast, and off to bed within the hour. We had big plans for an early start to 2009.



Meanwhile, the Smith kiddos were at the "Tall House", aka: their dad and Krista's house. They had a good time with some friends and Grandma and Grandpa. They also played video games, but stayed up waaaayyyy later than we did at home. They were staying in town on the first, so they could party all night.



The alarm came early on 1-1-09. We got up around 5:45 and headed to San Francisco. Grandma Alice had given the family a membership to the newly remodeled and reopened California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. We got there in plenty of time to stand in the cold with everyone else who got up early on New Year's Day. The new building is amazing and we had a great time. We saw the wonderful show in the planetarium, learned about wolf eels, saw leafy seadragons, and the T Rex skeleton. We made sure to save some fun for next time. What a great gift idea that we can use for making memories and learning all year long.