Domestic Re-Orgs > Egg Nog

Josh got his final grade for his final assignments and final final for his final class of his final semester to get his Bachelor's Degree last week. He got a great grade and now the celebrations officially begin!

Last week we cleaned out our cold storage room, moved a desk into our "Room Without a Name" (which is now, naturally, "Juliana's Office :: STAY OUT"), reorganized the nook over our garage (which is now, happily, "The Library :: Sit Down and Relax (Kids STAY OUT!)") and started a new mail sorting system. If that's not festive, I don't know what is. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of his Bachelor's Degree.

Okay, so maybe Sandra has the right idea with booking a cruise, but well, cleaning out a cold storage room is kind of fun, too. (I'm trying to enter a delusional state where I actually believe that's true. I'll let you know if I can abandon reality enough to make it happen.)

It would be appropriate for me to acknowledge the holidays last week and list the cool, fun, family-oriented stuff we did for Christmas. In case you missed it, refer to paragraph (2) above. I could also write about boring stuff like Stocking Stuffers, chocolate cake, delighted looks on the wee ones' faces, and board game until midnight, but that stuff is tame compared to domestic reorgs. (Yes, a few mattresses were laid off during the internal restructuring. Our best wishes to them during this time of unemployment until they hit the land fill.)

Still Green

It's still good to be green. Dark green, even:

http://www.loanperformance.com/pressreleases/pr121907.aspx


There are many different reports I've perused regarding the current housing crisis and each paints a different picture. Each morning I glance at the headlines for an RSS feed called HousingWire. Each day, there is some new mortgage company in crisis, some new scandal regarding a well-established company or news of a plan to fix it all.

Most of the news is quite bleak. I have seen for myself in recent months the effect this is having locally.


1. Increased housing supply leads to ...
2. Stiffer competition to sell homes, which leads to ...
3. Panicky sellers who want to move their homes quickly, who then drop prices to incentivize buyers, which leads to ...
4. Dropping prices.


I was starting to worry that this would become a widespread phenomenon as appraisals started to use those panicky buyer's homes as comparables. In fact, how could that not happen? Despite my optimism that Utah will not spiral wildly out of control like other markets**, it seems logical that we'll experience at least a temporary, slight suppression of prices.


So, when good news comes along, I gotta embrace it. According to the above-sited source, the Salt Lake metro area is second only to Honolulu for U.S. home price increases over the last year.


I'm not sure why different articles' statistics are so divergent, but luckily I'm not an economist or realtor. I can just sit back and enjoy the show. And occassionally clap when I read an article like this. And wish I had some spare $100Ks sitting around to show my appreciation for the current levels of supply and demand.

** I earlier posted why Utah wouldn't see home prices drop. The great thing about life is that people can change their mind. This is called "growing up" and "keeping an open mind." I still reserve the right to enjoy the ride without defining myself by my past. :-D Cheers!

Mixed Feelings

For some reason, I used to have really unfriendly feelings toward our local HMO. Those feelings started to disappear when they hired my husband. It's hard to hate the organization that provides your family's paycheck. It's even harder to hate them when the per-paycheck premiums for health insurance are about half of what we used to pay.

Then you read the fine print: a deductible? That's evil! Here's what it means: your kids get sick and instead of paying a $15 copay to have the kids ears and throat checked, you start to stress. You think, "How much will it cost to take the kids in? Will it cost extra if they have to do a nebulizer treatment in the office? Will my flu shot cost extra? Will they charge me more if I see them for two problems in one appointment instead of just one?!?!" And you find yourself saying, "Well, maybe I'll take the kids in tomorrow. He only looks a little dehydrated" .. or... "There's only a little bit of blood" ... or... "His breathing isn't that labored. He'll make it through the night."

Okay, so I'm exaggerating a little bit with the "make it through the night" bit, but the point still stands. Instead of being able to go in to the doctor and get some reassurance (or a prescription, or advice, or whatever...) you start thinking, "The doctor probably wouldn't be able to do anything anyway."

Of course this is the reason evil HMOs came up with deductibles: it encourages people to stay home instead of going to the doctor, which is good financial sense for them. That's what they mean when they see "keeping costs down." Peace of mind is out the window, but whatever. They seem to be able to sleep through the night, even if my two-year-old son cannot.

This was on my mind a bit yesterday, since 80% of my household is sick right now. Nothing major, but it still got me thinking: I hate IHC.

Change of heart: My husband just got the details of his annual pay raise. I love IHC. I always love my husband's employers this time of year. My heart softens and I start to compose sonnets to the people who make it possible for me to have the best job in the world: a stay-at-home Mom (which, incidentally, is also the stinking stinkiest job in the world sometimes. See previous posts. But it's also the best.)

I'm almost resolved not to say the word "evil" when I pay $200 for a 15-minute visit to my wrist specialist next January.

But I might think it.

Exercise in Futility

As I was loading yet another load of laundry into the washing machine a few minutes ago, it hit me: THIS is why I sometimes hate being a stay-at-home mom. It's not the laundry per se. It's the fact that you're NEVER done! Unless you're doing laundry while you and your entire family are completely naked, there is more dirty laundry waiting for you! No matter hard you work to get it "done" it's never done. That small moment of accomplishment lasts no more than 12 hours when the kids start tossing dirty socks, pants, jackets, shirts, sweatshirts and underwear all over the living room.

Let's compare to my former life as a student: clear, concise, reachable goals with a definite deadline. And best of all, when you're done there is nearly instant feedback! Not only do you know if you are definitely "succeeding" or "failing" but you can even quantify your success or failure! My brain likes this. It's easy to wrap your mind around a 3.whatever grade point average and pat yourself on the back--it's not so easy to feel success when your kids reach some milestone. After all, shouldn't that be their success, not yours?

So where do we stay-at-home parents get our sense of accomplishment? Is it that laundry room that was totally clean for a record 45 minutes? Or the dishwasher that we unloaded barely in time to fill it up after dinner? Or is the dinner itself, which we spent four hours cooking and our families spent exactly 13 minutes gulping down or refusing to eat? Do we feel a sense of accomplishment when our kids clean their rooms after a mere seven weeks of being asked to?

Last night I went out to eat with some girlie friends from high school. We went to this cute little out-of-the-way restaurant called "Art City Trolley." Besides discovering that our server, Chris, was a really good sport with all of our giggling and snorting laughter, I also discovered there is a place that still serves that Heinz Ketchup that won't come out of the bottle. You remember those commercials where the guy would tip the bottle upside down, run down 99 flights of steps, buy a hotdog just in time for the ketchup to finally drip out of the bottle onto his plate? The motto was, "Good thing comes to those who wait."

I'm hoping that's true of parenting, too.

Flashback ~~ The Way My Brain Works

Flashback: It's 1990 and I'm in Junior High School. I've made the High Honor Role (or is that "Roll"? It is so not 1990 anymore) and I'm down in the foyer of Lakeridge Junior High, having my photo snapped with the rest of the 4.0ers.

** Open Mouth **

Me: "Hey Jerry, what are you doing here?"
Jerry: "I got a 4.o"

**Insert Foot**

Me: "Really?!?! I never would have guessed that of you."
Jerry, after a very, very, very slight pause: "Yeah, that's what I was just thinking about you."

I've never really given off "smart" and "academic" vibes and this is why:

The Way My Brain Works: The way I think and the way I talk are polar opposites. I don't mean to lead anybody astray. I just learned long ago that people give you funny looks when you sound like Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. I recently learned that being like totally bad at putting words together ... doesn't disqualify me from being an okay writer, because I can put my thoughts on paper and not my like totally valley girl lame convo.

The way I talk: "What it is, Bro? Oh duh. So, like, what's up with you? You good and stuff?"

The way I think: The door opened and my brother's distinctive voice echoed through the hall. As the sunlight fell on his profile, I saw unmistakeable signs of distress in his demeanor. As I meandered toward him casually, my eyes subtly scanned his face. His eyes looked tired and lacked their usual brightness. His eyebrows were slightly drawn together and his lips formed a slight frown until he noticed my presence. He smiled, but it was a tired smile--the smile you give to try to reassure other people--or yoursel--that yes, things are just fine.

I greeted him affectionately. [see above] He replied with an equally affectionate, and typically humorous, turn of phrase. His face and his sagging shoulders belied his light-hearted words.

Hi, don't be scared: No, but seriously, folks. I'm only slightly freakish in the way I think. The above example is much less frightening than what you'd get after I finish a good 200-year-old novel. I'm a cognitive chameleon--I can't help thinking in the phrases and expressions of the books I read: endless description with occasional dialogue after Dickens, humorous little social observations after Austen, and philosophical mental meanderings after Forster. I think that's part of why I love to read. For a brief time, it really changes the world I live in. If I could ever write well enough to create beautiful worlds for other people, I think that would be about all I could ask for from this crazy life.

My Swiss Heritage

This is where I was raised:

View Larger Map

This is where I could have been raised, had my great-grandfather stayed in Switzerland:

View Larger Map

Notice the greenness of Rueggisberg? The quaintness? The history that comes with being hundreds of years old?

Orem is less than 100 years old. It's full of streets. And houses. And really, really ugly cinderblock strip malls. And more strip malls.

I knew people made large sacrifices when they joined the LDS church and came to Utah to be with "the saints." But I never thought I'd feel that pain so intensely, removed several generations as I am.

I could have been raised in Switzerland...

I could have been Swiss...

The cuckoo clocks and the..

Dare I speak it?

The chocolate! Swiss Chocolate! I think I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep. *sniff*

Requested Recipe :: Chocolate Squares

Here are two recipes requested from my Book Group last night. I provided treats that centered around a European theme--focusing on Germany, where our selected book was set. Now you're all lucky enough to be able to make these unique Christmas goodies, too! Enjoy und guten appetit!



CHOCOLATE SQUARES
Elsa Siegmund

1 c. + 2 TBSP. flour (sifted)
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 eggs (separated)
3-4 squares (3-4 ounces) semi-sweet baking chocolate (grated)
Optional: Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting (recipe below)

Instructions:
Grease and flour baking pan (about 9 x 13” size). Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift flour and baking powder together. Set aside. Grate chocolate and set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Alternately fold beaten egg whites, flour and grated chocolate into butter mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes at 325 degrees or until top is slightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan (about 15-20 minutes) and then cut into squares. Roll each square in a bowl of sugar until well coated.

Optional: After squares have completely cooled, cut them in half (separating the top and bottom) and fill with chocolate butter cream frosting (below) if desired.

CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

2 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 cubes (ounces) semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 1/3 stick butter at room temperature

In double boiler, mix eggs and sugar and cook over medium heat, till mixture begins to thicken. Add vanilla extract. Soften chocolate in oven or microwave and add to egg mixture. Cook till chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. Allow to cool in refrigerator. When almost cool, add chocolate mixture to butter a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat till mixture is smooth.

Makes enough frosting for a 3-layer cake (8-9” layers). Best to use fresh, but frosting can also be refrigerated or frozen for later use.

MOM'S PFEFFERNUSSE
See the full recipe at http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/moms-pfeffernusse-2518

Personal notes for the chocolate squares: I combined the shredded chocolate with the flour + baking powder and that turned out fine. I highly (highly) recommend the optional filling. So yummy, and there's plenty left over to use for something else (or you could make a half batch of the frosting and have plenty for these squares). I did not sift my flour, but mixed it around in the container before scooping it to loosen it up a bit. If you buy an eight-ounce box of baking chocolate, you can use half in each recipe (cake + frosting), or have two ounces left over for dipping pretzels, marshmallows or other yummies. Somebody suggested I fill these with Nutella instead of the Chocolate Buttercream. That sounds like an amazingly awesome idea. I'll just have to make another batch. Oh snap!

Lucky #7

I've been "tagged" which is sort of new to me in the blogosphere, but here we go!

Seven Things You Probably Didn't Know Before And Probably Will Wish You Didn't Know After You Know them:

1. When I was doing a History Fair project in junior high, we sent letters to a bunch of celebrities who had recorded political songs. Two responses: The first was an autographed John Denver photo which I now cherish, though I didn't know his music at the time. The second was a small postcard that said, "Call me" with a phone number scribbled. When we deciphered the signature, it was Pete Seeger!!! It was AWESOME talking to him on the phone and he told us awesome stories.

2. I'm totally a cat person. I love cats SO much and will always bend down to give your cat a snuggle if you own one. Josh is allergic, so I can't have my own, which breaks my heart.

3. When I was in college, I took a ballroom dance class and LOVED it. I've always dreamed of taking a class since then because there was nothing I loved more than that dancing. But it's just weirder when you're a "grown up." (I love watching "Dancing With The Stars"--Gooooo Helio!)

4. I've owned two miserably painful businesses. :-D Both were great learning experiences, although both ended with bad circumstances. The first was selling stickers and custom desktop publishing (I sold stickers at the MTC, BYU bookstore & Deseret Book). The second was a partnership to make movies for LDS kids. That one fell apart when I got pregnant with the twins and my partners decided to move to greener pastures. I'll always feel sad about that.

5. I lived in Baden, Austria for six months when I was seven years old. My dad was helping administer the Study Abroad program for BYU that semester. That was an amazing experience and I have always wanted to go back to visit the Rosarium, hike up to the castle, and smell the vendors outside the Vienna Opera.

6. The last two are two pieces of the same puzzle. I have increasingly had "anxiety" issues in the last few years. The first piece of this is that I totally freeze up in most social situations. I used to be the life of the party and social all the time. Now I nearly have an anxiety attack when I'm calling my best friends. I see all my neighbors doing stuff together all the time and I just sort of sit by and feel bad that I'm not joining in. Ouch.

7. The last thing is that I get extreme performance anxiety when I sing. The most embarrassing moment of my life was trying to sing for the relief society two Christmases ago when I was sick. I slaughtered the song, couldn't breathe right, and my voice was totally uncontrollable with those thick vocal chords. I wanted to absolutely melt into the floor and disappear. And then... for some strange reason... I volunteered to sing again the year after... and this year I'm singing another solo. Apparently I'm a slow learner. And I'm also scared spitless.

Sorry they're so long-winded. That is something you already knew about me--the longwindedness. Now I get to "tag" some people. I'd love to learn more about Craig & Jaclyn, Sandra, Mike (though I doubt he'd dare put something so fluffy on his uber-techno-geekiness blog), Lisa, and all of my Mommies friends. :-)

The world's biggest sigh of relief

I've been full of boring, self-indulgent blog posts lately so why break tradition now? I'll try to do something lighter in a few days, like the next piece of Anna & Alex. In the meantime:

It is with the happiest of hearts that I can say... We did it!!!!! Josh finished his last final exam for his last class for his Bachelor's degree on Wednesday. It's taken a long time--longer than Josh or I would like to admit--and it has been a painful road. Which makes us all the prouder that it is done.

If I'm not mistaken, Josh will be the first one in his immediate family line to finish a bachelor's degree. His parents both had some college training, but never made it this far. I'm sure they wish they could have, but life doesn't always make things easy. They set a great example for him, though, by always teaching him the value of education and the value of learning in any setting, be it in school or finding an educational TV show or just observing the world around us. Hats off to them, too, for this accomplishment of Josh's. I know they are immensely proud of him.

Josh has been doing double duty since we got married: working full-time (in Salt Lake) and going to school in the evenings. It has left him exactly zero personal time to discover hobbies, talents and little projects on the side. Our lawn has sometimes been unmowed for weeks, or unwatered if the sprinkler system was broken. (Despite his best efforts, he could never convince me that I wanted to become a handyman.) Our travel time, game time, date time, relaxation time and "sanity" time has been wrapped up in this common goal for years. I feel like the weight of the world was just lifted off my shoulders. We celebrated his final final by going to Boardgame Revolution and then staying up late with the 2007 Spiel des Jahres, Zooloretto.

I feel infinitely prouder of Josh's bachelor's than of my own. Helping him get his was infinitely harder than getting my own. Sitting back and "supporting" Josh, counting the thousands of hours he was away from the family, was much harder and much less rewarding than learning things myself! And when things got hard, there wasn't anything I could do to make things better. Just hope and pray that things would work out. I hate that helpless, "out of control" feeling when I have to just sit by and watch my own life unfold around me.

This all leads me to ask: would I do it all over again? That thought makes me sick to my stomach, so let's leave it unanswered. Suffice to say that we tried to do what was right for our family every step of the way, even when it was counterintuitive and more difficult than doing things the normal way. Having a beautiful home and steady income was NOT worth the pain and stress we've dealt with. But knowing that we've tried to follow inspiration to do things the right way for our particular family DID make it worth it. I pray that my children never have to get their college degrees the hard way. I'll do everything in my power to help them get through college as young as possible so they never understand the sacrifices that their Mom and Dad made for education.

Random Thoughts

My children have been awake for two hours and the sun still isn't up. It's almost dawn. It's going to be a long day defined by sleep deprivation.

~~~~~
I dreamt of board games. Zooloretto was awesome and I can't wait to play Time's Up, Smarty Party, Ingenious, The Great Dalmuti, Eurorails, or Blokus. Or Corsari. Or Cartagena. Yes, I spent half of my Christmas budget yesterday at a fabulous local game store that I am completely twitterpated with. Check it out! It's running with low overhead (hence low prices) out of a basement of an office in an obscure location in central Orem and it's called Board Game Revolution. You can buy online, too.


~~~~~
Late Thanksgiving Reverie: I ought to give a list of things I'm grateful for, but there is one item that's so big, it clouds everything else out of my brain: an ever-growing family! (No, I'm not pregnant.) My sister was married this month and I have been so, so, so, so, so pleased to welcome David into our family. He fits in perfectly and we all truly adore him.

One of the best things about David (other than working for my most favoritest online company, Google!) is that we get to know his amazing family. He has absolutely the craziest family tree you can imagine with step-siblings and half-siblings and adopted-siblings and people that are "family" even though there's no blood connection. They are the most welcoming bunch of people you can imagine and I love each one of them. I can't wait to show Ben a present we couldn't resist getting him for Christmas. It's perfect. (Oh no! I just lost the game... again! Arrgh!) (We painted the underside green.)

Images of Love

Some lucky woman has a great husband in the making. If he can just keep it up for the next 20 years, Joseph is already being trained to be a true romantic.

Exhibit A: Flowers

This may not look terribly romantic, but this little vase was often full of Joseph's floral offerings during the summer. His favorite were the dandelions, which I heartily encouraged him to remove from the lawn and bring to me.

Exhibit B: Poetry

Last week, Joseph asked, "Mom, how do you spell like?" Then a few moments later, "How do you spell roses?" then "How do you spell blue?" This was the result. Joseph proudly tells me it is his "first poem." I'm not sure if I've ever read a poem that I liked so much.

Exhibit C: Love Letters

Joseph mailed me this letter a few days ago. I was so happy to see it in the mail yesterday, open it up and treasure it in my mind.

If this isn't the beginning of something great, I don't know what more he could be doing. He's already great at giving compliments. At Grandma's house: "Wow, Tiffani! You could bee-you-tee-ful!" At home: "Mommy, you look so pretty today!" At church: "Mom, I really like Sierra's dress today." Then, following Mom's approval, "Sierra, that's a great dress today."

Of course, it's not always so nice. Like yesterday when I was going to show our basement apartment to some potential tenants, the following little conversation ensued:

Mom: "Joseph, stay upstairs."
Joseph: "I know, I know.."
Mom: "You're still following me.." An apologetic look to the tenants who are waiting for our domestic felicity to subside. "Stay here. Joseph. Stop. Now."
Joseph: "But Mooooooommm..."
Mom: "1... 2..."
Joseph: "But Moooommm...." (nearly crying now) "I wanna be a gentleeman! I wanna open the door for you!"

Blinders Still On? a.k.a. "Dropping Prices, I Can't Hear You (Yet)!"

It's good to be green:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071119/lam053.html?.v=101

Reality Check

I have to admit I'm a hopeless daydreamer.

When I was attending a Catholic grade school in Baden, Austria I passed my days away in day dreams. I didn't learn a blessed thing other than how to cross myself, which my mother still likes to chuckle about. But the daydreaming was forgivable then, since I didn't speak much German and my teacher didn't speak much English.

The habit has continued with me my whole life. If I had all the time in the world to write, I would have endless stories to put on paper because my imagation is always running wild.

To wit:

A few minutes ago I was getting some water from the fridge. As the water was slowly filling my cup, I started looking at the random papers stuck on the fridge. One envelope caught my eye. It was the envelope from my sister's wedding invitation and I had to pull it out to admire it again. Yes, I usually toss envelopes into recycling, but this one is special. Okay, maybe I'm a geek but I think it's special anyway. It is hand-lettered with beautiful calligraphy, done by the same woman who does calligraphy for the Emmys or Grammys or Darwin Awards or something. I mean, it's gooood stuff. Gorgeous.

In a moment, I was transported Walter Mitty-style to the Academy Awards. I was wearing an amazing jewel-studded gown and somebody was looking down at a paper with that same calligraphy on it, calling my name. I stood, tears in my eyes, choked with shock. "Me?" I mouthed silently as the crowd cheered in admiration.

Then the water cup started to overflow and I was transported back to my very dirty kitchen, wearing dirty jeans and my favorite black t-shirt. Back to reality.

Wedding Adventures :: The Creativity Factory

As much as I hate travelogue-style blog entries, I'm making an exception. My sincerest apologies in advance.

Last weekend, I traveled to Oakland, California for my sister's wedding. The whole experience was filled with fabulousness, from the most comfortable mattress I've ever slept on to the fact that I could stay in bed after I woke up without children crying for attention in the room next door. However, most people aren't interested in soft mattresses and how long I lounged in bed (the answer is from 4:30 a.m. when I woke up until about 6:30 when I finally gave up on sleeping any longer).

Most people want the hard-hitting news: "How awesome was Pixar?!?!?"

The answer is, of course, pretty dang awesome. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. As part of the wedding festivities, the whole wedding party was invited for a behind-the-scenes peek at the place where Pixar's magic happens. If this seems like an unusual part of a wedding, I should explain that my new brother-in-law has very close ties to the company.

From the top: We were picked up from the hotel in a tour van, which took us directly to Pixar HQ. Our first site of the huge PIXAR sign over the security gate was accompanied by our driver swearing as he hit the sidewalk and couldn't straighten out the van. I could tell this was going to be a fun evening.

When we first stepped into the building, we were flooded with stimulating imagery and sounds. To our left was a giant Sully and Mike (Monsters, Inc.) greeting us. Photo Op #1. Directly ahead of us was a robot (from their feature coming out next year, Wall-E). To our right was a gift shop which I was thrilled to see since my kids had been bugging me for days about bringing them a present from Pixar. My first order of business was, therefore, taking care of my #1 responsibility: keeping the kids happy.

Gift bag in hand, I was free to explore around a bit more. The entrance to Pixar opens into a huge two-story atrium with staircases on both sides leading to the second story. Beyond the staircases is a restaurant on one side, which was tastefully appointed for the dinner we were going to have after the tour. On the right side was Geek Heaven: a ping-pong table, pool table, air hockey table, numerous couches, a huge mural highlighting one of their movies and a plethora of empty liquor bottles. Employees were at ease in this lounge, winding down after work.

We then split into several small groups for tour time. The first place our guide took us was to the one place I was most anxious to see: the signature wall. This is a bright red wall that "voice talent" signs each time it comes to record a show. Names that grace this wall include Larry the Cable Guy (Mater) (which reminds me: the name "Mater" was inspired by another wall signer, "the real Mater" who was apparently a mayor of some town--get it? Mayor? Mater?), Brad Bird & several other Birds (one of which, at least, is Brad's son), Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen), Bonnie Hunt (Sally from CARS, Flint from Monsters, Inc. and Rosie from A Bug's Life), and of course John Ratzenberger (Mustafa from Ratatouille, Mack from CARS, Underminer from the Incredibles, Fish School from Finding Nemo, the Abominable Snowman from Monsters, Inc., Hamm from Toy Story & Toy Story 2 and P.T. Flea from A Bug's Life.)

We then got to walk through the production area on the main floor where so much magic happens. The place was absolutely bursting with creativity. You could feel it in the air and it wasn't hard to spot all around. We saw, among numerous other things, two-story cubicles, tastefully appointed indoor tuff sheds, walls of quirky drawings, all the moving, singing characters from an old Chuck-E-Cheese, and the original D from the sign over the entrance to Disneyland (in pieces leaning against a cubicle.)


As we walked past an in-office bar where people were kicking back drinking and still at work, our guide told us two interesting things: (1) he had counted seven bars within the walls of Pixar and (2) we better drink up the scenes we saw projected onto the screen because we wouldn't likely see them again until the finished project was released in 2009.

After drinking up the atmosphere of colors, sounds, images and ideas that floated so freely on floor one, we headed upstairs to walk the corridors where a lot of the original artwork for Ratatouille hung. It was fascinating. So many different mediums were used by hand to create the mood, ambiance and universe that was later created digitally. A fascinating process. Later on, after the fabulous eats, we got to enjoy the game room where my husband took a beating at the Foosball table and I jealousy wished the Ping Pong table would open up. We all went home with a book titled, "PIXAR at the Museum of Modern Art." I'm sure I could look at that book for hours.

Many thanks to those who made us so welcome at Pixar and showed us such amazing hospitality.

Google Reader + Blogger = 20% Heaven

If you scroll down on my blog, you'll notice a new feature on the right. It's called a "Blogroll" and is a new widget available to users of Blogger and Google Reader. It essentially lists all the blogs I subscribe to (that I have made publicly available). This is awesome because it updates automatically and I don't have to take time to manually enter new blogs into a list of links.

This new feature is available due to Google's 20% policy, which allows employees to spend 20% of their time on personal projects. Thanks to Steve Lacey for creating such a useful widget for bloggers like myself.

There is Beauty All Around

I have a confession to make.

I love beauty. The sparkle of morning dew on the blush of rose petals. The carefully crafted color palette of an impressionist painting. The perfect lines achieved by professional dancers. The simple smiles of small children. These things are all beautiful and I stare unabashedly.

Here's where it gets tricky. There are some people who really are just more beautiful than others. I appreciate them like I appreciate beautiful paintings. I try not to stare because my social tact, as wanting as it is, remembers that one tidbit from my youth: "Don't stare at people!"

Unfortunately, sometimes I slip up.

Today, I was at the grocery store and suddenly a face intrigued me. A man was walking past me and my brain instantly noted the softness of his blue eyes, the pleasant proportions of his features, and the warmth of the smile that lit up his whole face. He wasn't smiling at me. He was smiling at the world as he walked through the store. I love it when people choose to be happy with no obvious reason. I think it was that happy smile that made me look again.

We had briefly exchanged glances with my first look, then he had looked away. When he looked back he saw me looking at him again. It was just a half-instant of me enjoying the beauties of the morning--forgetting that this one was living, breathing and capable of knowing when he was being admired. And he knew. I could see it in the infinitesimal sparkle that jumped into his eyes. Sometimes you just know that somebody else knows exactly what you're thinking. In that instant, I was completely transparent and wished I could disappear altogether.

I kept walking, mortified. Not that I was harboring any illicit emotions that I should feel guilty about--just that I felt caught out in my youthful diversions. I tried, as I always do, to laugh about it. As I finished my shopping, I started mentally composing this blog entry, which is usually fairly therapeutic. This time, unfortunately, those thoughts worsened the situation when I realized I'd just stepped into the checkout line directly behind this same man.

In the words of the immortal Homer Simpson, "D'oh!!"

I looked to the left. I looked to the right. No other open checkstands. So I stared at the floor. Then I felt his smile on me. He was enjoying this. Apparently I was still transparent. After about 30 seconds of eternity, it was his turn to pay and leave and I was left to my normal level of social awkwardness.

Good times, good times.

Now, if you're a young newlywed aghast at the idea that a married woman could actually NOTICE another man for three seconds in the grocery store, my apologies. I would just as easily have noticed a beautiful woman, or a beautiful child, or a beautifully crafted advertisement, or a milky-white daisy that had dropped from a display.

I wish it had been a symmetrically pleasing daisy I had noticed, with the cheerful sunburst in the middle staring back at me. That would have been far less embarrassing.

Apologies

Apologies are hard. Especially when they're more necessary for your own healing than somebody else's. You know what I mean? You do something and then you think, "That was stupid. Why did I do that?" Chances are that nine out of ten times the other person just assumed you're a social moron but wasn't actually offended. Times like that are easy for them to brush off, but you're left stressing and anxious about what you did.

I have times like that ALL the time. To the good ladies in my book club, my apologies for bringing up academics and intelligence too much when we were discussing "Freakonomics." Y'all had a good laugh at my social ineptitude--and frankly, so did I!--but I left worrying if I sounded all highfalutin' when I talked about how important education is to my family. Sheesh I still feel embarrassed. See how smart I am? I'm not smart enough to keep my big mouth closed when it needs to be. My social IQ is sometimes zero. Or is it possible for my social IQ to be a negative number? 'Nuff said.

So I had a small apology I wanted to make today, but I thought logically to myself: "Juliana, let sleeping dogs lie. Sheesh, too many cliches running around my head. Can't you think of something better than 'sleeping dogs lie'? Back to the point: forget about it--they'll forget about it--all will be well. Time can heal all wounds. Dang cliches!" So what did I do? Naturally I apologized anyway. This was tricky and it left me close to tears because of that dang negative number social IQ.

The trick is that an apology should not be an invitation for consolation. The point of apologizing SHOULD NOT BE begging for comfort! Naturally when you're apologizing for something, you're making yourself somewhat vulnerable. Weak. At the mercy of somebody else's ... well, uh, mercy I guess. The trick is to not dwell on your own patheticness--no matter how infinite said patheticness is--or else the apology is just a twisted, manipulative way to get somebody that YOU HAVE WRONGED to give you sympathy. That's so wrong but so easy to inadvertently do.

I've been the recipient of this tactic many times, and it annoys the bejeebers out of me. I want to say, "This is not about you. It's about me. Focus! I deserve the pity here--not you!" Of course, that isn't charitable. It's not even nice. It's selfish. But apologies-that-aren't-apologies annoy me. I get a bit testy when it comes to emotionally manipulative annoyances.

I was talking about this with a friend of mine today. She had called me on Saturday to apologize for some things that were on her mind--I never would have known I had been wronged if she hadn't admitted it to me. Naturally I wanted to assure her that no offense was taken and that I adored her for valuing my friendship enough to make things right. This would have been easy to do because she wasn't begging for the validation I wanted to give her. She was sincerely apologizing. However, as I started getting myself all revved up for the "I'm okay. You're okay. We're okay!" speech, the phone connection died. We couldn't make contact again until today, but man. That was funny. Kind of like some emotional director yelling, "Cut! That's a wrap, folks. We'll pick it up again on Monday!"

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

Thomas, aka Alphaboy or ABC Man, loves his alphabet. Passionately. He can already read several words, including his name, EXIT, TOP and a couple others. It's pretty dang cute. Even cuter is his attempt to master writing the alphabet. Did I mention he's only two?

Look at that lowercase i. And V. And m. Those are awesome. Check these out:

That's a pretty dang good A and B for his age. If only he wasn't drawing them on the sink:

Not so fast!

As soon as I typed my glowing review of Google Reader (below), it sent shockwaves through Googledom apparently, because all things google.com have gone dead. Dang. That doesn't happen often.

Geekiness: Google Reader

Warning: Geekiness Ahead

I've been hearing a lot about the fabulousness of Google Reader, but I've been resisting change. I use iGoogle and I love it. Well, enough is enough. This morning I finally went to http://www.google.com/reader and decided to give it a try. First indications are I loooooove it!

It only took a couple minutes to set up subscriptions for all the blogs I read, and the user interface is super friendly. The way it works is that you type in the URL for the blogs you read regularly, and it lists each blog on the left side of your screen. Then, in parentheses, it shows you how many unread posts there are in each blog. When you click on the blog, it puts the text of the posts in the right-hand column.

Downsides: when you read in Google Reader, you miss out on some of the visual razzamatazz of a user's blog because you just get the raw content without the schmancy personalization of the site. For someone who values aesthetic appeal, that is something to be considered. Of course, you can always click on the title of a blog entry to be taken to the original site.

Also, if you're like me and you use the blogosphere as a way to connect with friends, family, neighbors, etc. then you want to leave comments to let people know you're reading and enjoying their effort. (To use my Word of the Day from yesterday: reading comments is a blogger's pour moire.) Again, if commenting is important to you, you'll need to click through to the original site.

However, iGoogle has these same limitations so I don't mind them. I'll miss the "cuteness" of iGoogle but I can manage. Eventually.

Plusses for Google Reader: it loads much more quickly than iGoogle on my dinosaur of a computer, which is very tantalizing. Also, the dictionary.com Word of the Day doesn't display properly in iGoogle but works fabulously in Google Reader

Alex & Anna :: Part Two (fiction)

Part two of... however many parts I break this thing into. I wrote it all in one afternoon, but the tweaking and editing is going to take a while. Part one can be found at http://blog.geekuniverse.org/2007/10/anna-alex-part-one-fiction.html


Meanwhile, Anna had calmed a bit and sat down, humiliated, among her family. Only hours before she had looked around the reception hall with knowledge that for once she was unquestionably the most beautiful woman in the room.

Not only was her dress stunningly fitted to her contours and her hair sculpted to perfection, but her smile of triumph beamed from the very center of her soul. Each time she looked into her husband’s eyes, she felt a thrill all through her. He was perfect, she thought, and she was the luckiest girl ever to live.

While her sentiments may have been tainted by the emotion of the day, she had fairly good reason to feel triumphant. Alex Varrons was undoubtedly a “catch” and she knew that his parents weren’t the only ones to feel she was unworthy of him. But he had chosen her anyway and she was continually amazed by it all.

Alex considered himself to have made a well-balanced choice and adored Anna’s simplicity and naiveté. As he glanced at her adoring face throughout the evening, his vanity was soothed and he felt he would never have to worry about the jealousies other men endured. It was obvious she adored him and could hardly see the other men in the room.

~ ~ ~

Now, as he walked through the chilly winter air, he felt nauseous with hurt pride and hurt vanity. He had been betrayed before and it had left a bitter feeling in him. This was exactly the reason he had chosen an innocent, pure girl like Anna, whom he presumed would never have the thought in her head of hurting him. He had felt completely safe opening his entire soul before her until moments ago when his world and his stomach were turned upside down.


The longer he walked in the freezing air, the warmer his face became with anger and mortification. He thought again of what he had seen and, overcome by the shock and pain, he leaned over the bridge he was crossing and vomited into the river below.

Free Fall

When I got pregnant with my first son, I thought I was ready to take the next step in life.

I didn't realize that I was standing on the edge of a cliff and about to pitch headlong into chaos. I've been in freefall mode ever since and usually enjoying the crazy ride. I just hope I land on my feet eventually.

Rocky Mountain Cup

Real Salt Lake hoisted the Rocky Mountain Cup for the first time on Saturday. As one of the original founders of the competition, I could hardly contain my excitement as I was watching the game on my DVR.

Top two moments:

1. Around the thirtieth minute, Colorado's Colin Clark had a wide open net. My heart stopped beating for a second... until he casually flicked it in... to the goal post! Oh, Colin, thank you from the bottom of my heart for some good belly laughs. I needed that badly on Saturday.

2. Nick Rimando: you da man! Two saves in approximately two milliseconds was awesome. I think I'm going to call you Tigger from now on for bouncing up like that.

Honorable mentions go to:

* The goal that won us the cup. Obviously.

* And.. former-cRapid-turned-RSLer Beckerman's amazing yellow card. That also had me convulsing in laughter. Three seconds into the game. I kid you not. Awesome.

* Those amazing plays by Mehdi BallWHOchy? Seriously, Mehdi, love you man. But the irony of you not even playing while Beckerman threw Clavijo's lack of coaching in your faces... priceless.

* Seeing Eddie Pope holding some hardware for the last time in his amazing career. You are a class act all the way, Eddie, and you'll be missed in MLS.

* Knowing in the back of my mind that our victory was ending the post-season hopes for the C. Rapids. I think I'm gonna get a little teary-eyed.

Anna & Alex: Part One (Fiction)

I'm fascinated by psychology and by resolution of difficult psychological problems. Hence, my short stories tend to center on sad, twisted plot lines. This one is no different and perhaps worse than the others. I wrote about nine pages during the twins' nap time last week and decided it couldn't all go on the blog. Hubby suggested I should serialize it and post a little bit at a time. Why not? Here is a very short installment one. (By the way, my husband said he heard a review of a book or movie or something that uses this basic plot premise which made me really sad! Here we go anyway.)

The names are taken from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, which I finally finished last week. ("Anna" from the title character and "Alex" from the two men in her life named Alexey.) I also tried to imitate a touch of his writing style, which I think is a very detached, to-the-point third person narrator. "Anna Karenina" was serialized, too, by the way. But it ended up a touch longer than nine pages.

Just the very beginning right now, because I need to go back and edit the part right after this. :) Happy reading.

Alex & Anna: Part One

Alex and Anna’s marriage was in shambles. The few who knew about it were silently in shock. They gathered in the front room of Anna’s parents’ home to piece together what had happened.

All about them were reminders that this had been a day of celebration until moments earlier, when Anna had burst into the house crying and nearly hysterical. She had looked at the piles of unopened gifts strewn about and kicked violently at one large red box. She missed and kicked the table instead, but nobody would have objected if she had smashed that gift—or any of the others—to pieces. They were her gifts to smash as she liked—wedding gifts from only a few hours earlier when life had seemed fresh and perfect.


~ ~ ~
Alex was still walking quickly away from the hotel where they had planned to spend their wedding night. He was miles away from it now but felt every moment that the troubles he had tried to escape were pressing him more firmly. He began to feel suffocated with rage and jealousy and had to stop for a moment to draw his breath. He pressed his fists firmly against his closed eyes and muttered angrily.

Third Generation Geekiness

I'm going to start teaching my nephew HTML today so he can learn how to build websites. This got me thinking.

My dad was designing web sites back in the day (and he still does, by the way) and actually knew how to program our old, old, old, old Macintosh.

I have learned some HTML, CSS, a tiny little smidgeon of PHP (Thanks, Nick and Mike!), Pascal, C++, Visual Basic and other geeky whatsits. Master of none, by the way, but I did well enough to land a CS teaching position at a private school back in '01.

And now, the third Hacken generation is entering the world of geekiness. I think I'm gonna cry. No, but seriously.

I gotta go listen to "White & Nerdy" now before I get all teary-eyed.

Almost a confession

I took care of something today that I've been putting off for a long time, stubbornly hoping the situation would simply resolve itself if I worked hard enough at it. I realized something:

Admitting you have a problem is the easy part.

Admitting that you can't take care of the problem yourself can be close to impossible.

Reminds me of those episodes of "The Cosby Show" where Cliff stubbornly tries to fix the doorbell, plumbing, tile, etc. himself.

FDA part 2: Are you kidding me?

You've got to be joking.

NO cold medicines to children under 6? At all? No discrimination between the different types or particular active ingredients? Just a wholesale statement that they aren't effective?

I beg pardon, but they are certainly effective for MY children. Thomas is sleeping sounding right now (as opposed to waking up, crying with a running nose, every 15 minutes) because of one of the now supposedly-inept medicines.

Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. But it sure seems like this is a bit too drastic of a statement to make, even if they're not actually banning the medicines (yet) or even forcing a change to labeling (yet).

Still waiting for more information. I sincerely hope this is not the final chapter of this discussion.

The FDA

My apologies for two posts in one day that are somewhat impersonal and boring, but both are issues I tend to feel strongly about.

Tomorrow, the FDA will meet to begin discussions about the safety and efficacy of cough and cold medicines for young children. I have been following this developing story over the last few weeks and feeling like I would like some solid answers. All three of my children have had colds during the last few weeks and I have felt a pang of anxiety each time I give them a dose of medicine for their symptoms.

From what I have read, cough and cold medicines are blamed for the sudden deaths of some young children, due to a reaction to some of the ingredients. However, I have no information about what the other confounding factors might be in these cases. I don't even fully understand how widespread the problem has been.

I hate vague anxiety-inducing reports like these but I feel a responsibility to keep listening. I hope that eventually some facts emerge from the mist so parents like me can feel comfortable again--whether the kids are dry-nosed and medicated, or medication-free with gick on their faces.

Global Day of Action Against Poverty

Want to make a difference? If you're reading this, that means you have access to the internet. Which means you have access to a computer. Which means you have access to electricity and probably a lot of other modern conveniences. But not everyone else is so lucky. Many people in the world struggle with such extreme poverty that even their basic health needs are impossible to meet.

Want to make a difference? Join ONE.org--they don't want your money. They just want you to speak out on issues that are already important to you. It only takes a minute.

And while you're checking out ONE.org, check out this information about their current campaign regarding the Jubilee Act.

Thanks for reading.

Hot and Cold Woes

This weekend was filled with temperature woes.

Last night we were baking meat loaf. After the prescribed amount of cooking time, we took it from the oven and sat staring at it, trying to ascertain via meat loaf telepathy if it was done or not. That didn’t work so I had to think of something else.

I could always just slice into the thing and see if it “looks” done. Alton Brown would have a heart attack at that kind of amateur method. He’d tell me to invest in a high-end probe thermometer. I’d prefer the instant read thermometers he just points at the food, but I suppose we’re trying to check the interior temperature of the meat loaf, not the surface.

As it was, all we had was a cheap grocery store meat thermometer. We stuck it in the top and watched the red line slowly grow taller. And then we waited some more. And waited. And waited. Apparently we need to invest a better thermometer because it was kind of like watching grass grow. By the time the thermometer actually read the correct temperature, it was far too late to consider putting it back in to cook some more. Luckily it was done and we got to sit down to some not-so-Good Eats.

A far worse temperature woe was related to our three sick children. What started as mere runny noses quickly turned into hoarse coughing, warm foreheads and lots and lots of crying.

The twins felt hot when I held them, so I pulled out our trusty grocery-store quality human thermometer (as opposed to the meat loaf variety). I turned it on and it turned itself off. Apparently the battery was kaput. So I went to the store and bought another one. (I never liked that thermometer anyway, and the new one only cost $3. Win-win, right?)

It gave us a reading of about 97.9 for one of the twins, who was burning up, so I knew right away this was going to be about as useful as trying to get them to take their cough syrups. The package boasted that the thermometer was “clinically accurate”—I’m just glad I don’t attend a clinic with accuracy like that. Things were crazy so I never bought another thermometer but tried to gauge their health by other factors.

When I finally took them in to the pediatrician’s office yesterday, they both had temperatures over 100 degrees. I felt bad as only a conscience-laden parent can that I hadn’t taken them in sooner and/or given them more regular doses of Ibuprofen.

Meat loaf and “clinically accurate” thermometers were not the worst of our worries, however. On Friday, Joseph was standing on a step stool at Grandma’s house when he slipped and lost his balance. He tried to steady himself by putting his arm directly onto a hot pan on the stove. Moments later, as I was trying to get his arm under some cold water, his screams and the skin that was already peeling off his arm told me this was a pretty bad burn.

At least I didn’t need a thermometer to tell me that.

Apple Heaven

This isn't exactly a poem--more just a train of thought out of the regular form. It closely mirrors the thoughts going through my head a few mornings ago as I lay in bed musing on what things make me happy.

Ahhh Autumn

The crisp, cool air biting my lips
My lips biting a crisp, cool apple

Ahhh Apples

Would heaven be owning a big factory—
packed full of apples on conveyer belts—
apples as far as the eye can see—
bouncing up and down—
Into boxes—Into stores—into shopping carts—into homes—into mouths
?

Before the mouths, the homes, the shopping carts, the stores, the boxes
They would be mine
Apples as far as the eye can see
Waiting for that first crisp bite

Ahhh heaven!

No.

One apple tree
One perfect apple
The comfort of one best friend
A splintered ladder

Watch your step!
Hold the ladder for me?
Keep your balance!
I’m almost there.

The prize in my grip:
One perfect apple freed from the branches above me
One thing remains

Back against the tree
The crisp, cool air biting my lips
Smiling at a friend
We see our breath in the morning chill

One perfect bite
Juices running to my chin
I close my eyes
I feel the moment
The moment feels me

It is the waiting
Watching the apple grow
The summer rain shining on the leaves
Hoping the ladder will hold my weight
One more time
The sharing
The enjoying
That entrances me

Ahhh autumn apple heaven!

Cherish These Years?

This is my ode to the limited memories of grandparents and the limited vision of parents and grandparents, and how they sometimes don't see eye to eye.

Cherish These Years
An Ode to Grandparenthood and Parenthood

Cherish these years!
                   Even the tears?
His innocent face
                   I need private space
Two new front teeth
                   He’s biting me
Such a sweet voice
                   He’s ruined his toys
He’s only a child
                   He’s driving me wild
He’ll grow out of it
                   I doubt it
He’s nearly two
                   I feel old, too
Time goes so fast
                   I wish it would pass
He acts so alive
                   I’m so sleep deprived
Do you feel cooped?
                   Covered in poop
His underwear’s raining
                   Ugh—Potty training
He wants his grandmum
                   Here comes his tantrum
How well he throws
                   What’s that in his nose?
Let’s paint his room taupe
                   I need stronger soap
Let’s give him a tart
                   He’ll tear it apart
Hmph! Back in my day…
                   That’s what they all say

General (Conference) Ramblings #3: The Physician

This is part 3 of 3 General (Conference) Ramblings. Feel free to read parts one and two below if you haven't already done so.

The Physician

Another of the talks, given on Saturday, was by the beloved Joseph Wirthlin, who is getting on in years, to borrow a cliché. The talk he gave was masterful and profound, but the delivery sealed the deal.

While Elder Wirthlin was speaking, the effort was so great for him that his entire body began to shake uncontrollably. As he continued, this became more and more pronounced. In the background, we could see President Eyring shifting nervously, prepared to spring to help at any moment.

Knowing that one of the other leaders of our church was a physician before retiring, I said to my Mom, “You can bet that Elder Nelson is watching his every movement.” Right as I finished this sentence, Elder Nelson appeared silently at Elder Wirthlin’s side and silently put his arm around his waist. His other hand rested on the closer arm, quietly monitoring his health and silently lending support.

As Elder Wirthlin discoursed on the pure love of Christ and the charity we ought to express to one another, Elder Nelson silently set the example. To quote the middle of his talk, “Often the greatest manifestations of love are the simple acts of kindness in caring for those who stand in need.”

Elder Wirthlin set a bold example on how to steadfastly continue during times of trial—any of the men sitting behind him would have gladly finished giving his talk for him, but he continued on in obvious discomfort and possibly distress. Meanwhile, Elder Nelson set an example that we need not sit idly by when we see a fellow man in trouble—we can stand up and lend support, providing strength to those who are trying to just endure life’s craziness.

Thank you to both for sending a strong message regarding how we ought to act as followers of Christ, and not hearers only.

http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,49-1-775,00.html

(For reference, lest I be misunderstood: there were dozens of men who would have jumped up to support Elder Wirthlin if Elder Nelson had not. He seemed the right man for the job. I don’t intend the analogy to be taken quite that far…)

General (Conference) Ramblings #2: In the Know?

This is part 2 of 3 General (Conference) Ramblings. Feel free to read part one below if you haven't already done so.

In The Know?
Another speaker, the president of our church’s women’s organization (the Relief Society) spoke about good mothers and the impact they can have on society. While she was speaking, I was mentally making a checklist of all those good things that weren’t getting done in my home.

While listening to her words, I was cleaning up the kitchen and dining room, which had reached new heights (or depths?) of filth. She said, “Mothers who know keep their homes orderly and clean” or something to that effect.

I walked over to the staircase and yelled up to my husband, “This lady is CRAZY!!!” When she was done talking, I burst into tears and decided that there would be several new Prozac prescriptions filled by LDS mothers in the coming weeks. Perhaps mine will be one of them. No, but seriously, folks.

General (Conference) Ramblings #1: Polygamy Backwards?

The following entry is rated PG and is not recommended for young children or others lacking that subtle sense of sarcasm and irony necessary to reading my blog.

Polygamy Backwards
For those who haven’t figured it out yet, I’m Mormon.

Or, more accurately, I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Mormon” is just a nickname.

The last two days have been our semi-annual General Conference. This is where the leaders of our church present talks for the general membership of our church to watch (in person, on TV, online or via satellite at the local church), listen to or read later.

One of the speakers mentioned the fact that many uninformed members of the general public still think we are associated with the practice of polygamy. Nope, sorry folks. Nothing to see here. Move along. That was a limited practice that ended a long, long, long time ago.

But it got me thinking.

My guy friends in high school got silly smiles on their faces at the thought of polygamy: a different wife for each of your different “needs.” Spunky or sultry? Blonde or brunette? Tall and thin or short and curvy? I think they imagined it like a cafeteria where you just pick and choose whatever you’re in the mood for that day.

Reality check, boys. It would be a new emotional drama every night. PMS or pregnancy hormones? Depression or anxiety? Money requests for those cute little black shoes or that cute little black dress?

And the kids. Mama mia! I have three children that fill an entire two story home full of noise. To quote the Grinch: “Oh the noise noise noise noise!” Just imagine if you had 30 kids running around, chasing, screaming, taking toys from each other, and needing the poopie diaper changed. No thank you, my friend. And the theory of “all the moms help each other” makes me just think, “How many cooks CAN you fit in the kitchen?”

Of course, if you turn it around, it makes perfect sense. One woman and let’s say five husbands? Much better. Being practical, I’d choose them by profession. A teacher, a lawyer, a businessman, a physician and a computer scientist. The first four are practical—the last one I threw in because I *heart* computer geeks.

Let’s say your kid is getting bullied at school. Well, first he talks to Dad #4 on the phone: the physician, who tells him exactly how to take care of the black eye. Then he calls Dad #2: the lawyer, who starts writing up the preliminary papers to sue the socks off the bully’s parents. Then Dad #3: the businessman, who drives the bully’s parents’ business into the ground. Then Dad #1: the teacher, who explains the important life lessons that can be learned in “times like these.”

And, for good measure, Dad #5: the computer scientist can download information from numerous websites detailing how to handle bullying while simultaneously uploading a virus onto the bully’s computer that will wipe out his term paper and replace it with the words, “I Must Not Be A Bully” 1,000 times.

Okay, maybe that’s overkill.

Come to think of it, the current system seems to work just fine.

Shattering Statistics

A couple weeks ago, my husband was attending a geek fest at Microsoft for work. I was not the only one to wonder if he'd be wooed into submitting a resume at Geek Central. His answer? "Orem's one of the safest cities in the nation. Why would I want to move my kids away from that?"

Hard to fight with logic like that. But was he correct or was that just some rumor we heard from somebody somewhere at some time? About 30 seconds of Googling reveals the answer: a ranking done last year listed Orem as the 12th safest city in the country. I won't even try to go into the details of their statistical methods but there is a bit more info if you click here or you can do a Google search of your own.

Considering the overwhelming statistical proof, we were quite surprised Saturday when our oldest son informed us our garage door was open, and the back of our minivan was gaping open to the world. We rushed down to find all of the compartments of both our cars in disarray. CDs and cash were stolen, but the only thing of value that I am really sad about is an audio book: "Jesus The Christ." Good luck with that one, sweeties. Hope it comes in handy.

Nothing was damaged in the incident except one vital thing: that sense of safety and security that comes with living in an Orem zip code. Once again, reality wins in the fight between the real world and the statistical.

Eating In

We have a very clear set of roles at dinner time.

The Commentator
While the rest of us are trying to eat, Joseph likes to keep up a running dialogue with himself and whoever will reply to him. "Do you know what I think would be cool? What if our table turned into a space ship and we went zooming up into outer space and I was the space guy..." or "Mom, how come oranges are orange? Mom why is this grape juice dark but the other grape juice is light colored? Mom, how many more bites do I have to eat?" or "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA..."

The boy just can't eat quietly. This is the #1 reason I love to go to a restaurant sans children--I can talk. Or not talk. Or just respond politely to occasional inquiries. But yes, I can hear myself think!

The Literary Critic
Thomas likes to disassemble his food, throw half of it on the floor and then make the alphabet with the remaining smeared bits. A week or so ago, he was pushing mashed potatoes around until he cried joyfully, "O! Letter O! See Mom? Letter O!! See Mom? See Mom?" I tried to reply but Joseph was talking too loudly in the background.

Yesterday, while pretending to eating a sandwich, he and Joseph discovered that if you take one bit out of the center of each half of a sandwich and then put the halves back together, there is a letter O missing! It's not exactly the kind of literary discussion I'm looking for, but I'll take what I can get.

The Gastronome
Elijah meanwhile has very strong opinions about his food. And how it is served. And where he sits to enjoy it. And what he is wearing while eating. And who is sitting next to him. And the temperature of the air around him. And the general angle of our city in relation to the sun. And he loves to voice his opinions loudly at dinnertime. (And yes, he can be heard over the other two because he has the loudest voice in the world. Seriously. I should have the Guiness Book of World Records come and test him or something. He'll sing as "well" as his mommy one day.)

Anyhow, 'Lijah just loves to eat. I have to force him to stay upstairs during play time or else he'll sneak down and get into the fridge. (Literally.) He'll pull out any food he can find and try to unwrap it and consume it. Earlier today I found him sitting in front of the fridge trying to unwrap a stick of butter. Gross!

At dinner time, he'll usually refuse the food we give him at first. He'll demand we change it or fix it or do something different to it. I am not one for games at dinnertime while Joseph is talking my ear off and Thomas is dumping his bowl onto the floor. So I just take his food away and keep eating. Then he screams (even louder) that he wants it back. So the food goes back to him and then he eats ravenously until he's done.

The Kitchen Staff
That would be Mom (me) and the Dadster. We are responsible for trying to keep the customers happy. We give up on this before dinner even starts usually, and settle for trying to keep them nourished to some manageable level. Then we hose down the kids and start picking scraps of leftovers off the floor with napkins.

I'd rather have the role of the gastronome, please.

I'll Admit...

I'll admit that I really know little to nothing about real estate. My comments here were sort of a train of thought for friends and family. Now I'm suddenly getting verbally attacked by strangers for my views! I had no idea that strangers would find anything of interest here.

So I thought I'd post to clarify: this is a personal blog for my own fun and to keep those who know me in the loop. I do not profess to be an expert in anything other than my own family. :) Anybody is welcome to read, naturally, and I'm happy for that but please don't expect anything other than the ramblings of a bored stay-at-home mom.

RE the real estate market, there was far too much to discuss in my previous posts so I just discussed a few items I found of interest. But to reply to some of the comments, I'll flesh out my theory just slightly more. I do believe that the Utah market cannot withstand growth at the rate we've seen recently. There is bound to be a leveling out.

I imagine this will happen in the near future because of a chain of events involving difficulty obtaining loans, high foreclosure rates and a nationwide flood of homes on the market. (This is not just a local problem so I think this speaks more to the national state of the real estate market rather than the local only--while recognizing that the two are inextricably connected.)

The huge supply of homes on the market is the most pressing problem I see, and is naturally suppressing price increases. I shopped lot prices in early spring and expected to see them noticeably higher by autumn, but that hasn't been the case. I think there is approximately a 10-month supply of homes on the market? That's a tough seller's market, but I wish I was shopping for a home.

On a personal note, I know that the internet makes people pretty brave--in all the wrong ways. I invite and welcome intelligent discussion on this blog but have a low tolerance for bullying or verbal abuse. Those who leave comments are invited to remember this and please try to express yourself intelligently without putting down myself or others who have commented. Anonymous comments have been disabled.

$5K gift for every newborn?

Hillary Clinton recently toyed with the idea of giving every newborn a $5,000 "baby bond" from the federal government to offset college or home expenses when they get older.

When I first read the article, I thought, "Great! When I have another baby, that would be awesome." Then I thought some more: "What about my other kids who were born a couple years ago?" That cooled my optimism a bit.

Now, to be clear, Clinton was merely toying with the idea and not recommending or proposing it. There is a big difference between thinking aloud and pushing an agenda. But here are my reasons why this idea disappoints me:

(1) There is no guarantee the money will be wisely spent if we're just handing over a bond that can be cashed in after X years. So are we actually paying for the next generation's crack addiction? Or funding the next porn start up? Or a million other things which might be okay but not necessary?

Solution: make it an education account that can only be spent for college expenses. Associated problem with that: if the money has already been distributed and is never used, the government is still in debt with no tangible benefit. Boo to that!

(2) Back in the day, I was not a fan of Bill Clinton but I admired one thing he did VERY VERY much: he pushed for fiscal responsibility. The words "balanced budget" have been replaced by the Dubya Generation with the terms "war spending." A huge boo to that. But that's beside the point. When I thought about Hillary running for office, I thought that maybe one upside to her platform would be more fiscal responsibility. A proposal like this disappoints me because it reeks of increased debt.

Let's do the math. CNN estimated four million children born each year in the USA.

$5,000 x 4,000,000 = $20,000,000,000

That's just an impossibly huge amount of money to spend each year on something that only might be beneficial to a select portion of the population. If you want to put that money into education, put it into those who are seeking education NOW and see if it works. If you want to put the money into helping people get into a home of their own, put that money into the market NOW while the real estate and mortgage markets are so perilous.

I'm sure that after the numbers are run and Hillary thinks it over, this idea will fade into obscurity. If it doesn't, I'll be fascinated to see how she proposes making this attractive or even feasible.

In the meantime, my "confidence level" in that one particular candidate slipped a little today. Which is frightening when my confidence level in most of the candidates is already so low.

Real Estate Revisited (Fun With Excel)

Here is the full report behind the CNN article I discussed in my last blog entry. I found this online at http://www.realtor.org/Research.nsf/files/MSAPRICESF.xls/$FILE/MSAPRICESF.xls. There is another site for me to bookmark and read regularly. Straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Here are home values in Salt Lake from 2004 through 2007 Quarter 2 (in thousands of dollars):

Salt Lake City, UT
2004 = 158.0
2005 = 173.9
2006 Quarter 1 = 203.0
2006 Quarter 2 = 191.2
2006 Quarter 3 = 216.3
2006 Quarter 4 = 223.6
2007 Quarter 1 = 218.0
2007 Quarter 2 = 233.1
Total Change 2006 Q2-2007 Q2 = 21.9%

Some interesting observations from the full report:

* In 2004, the median home price nationwide was $195,200. In Utah (the Salt Lake Metro region, but that takes a long time to type, so let me simplify here...) the number was $158,000, a whopping $37k below the national average. Three years later, Utah is a mere $700 below the national average--but STILL below the national average. This supports my theory (expressed at http://www.utahcountymommies.com/) that Utah is not spiraling toward huge home drops, but merely catching up with the rest of the nation.

A good point was brought up, however, concerning wages. Have Utah wages risen in a commensurate manner? The answer is confusing because (a) we don't know the size of homes being sold in the above info. The prices could have risen from actual price inflation, or merely because more luxury homes were on the market. We don't have the information to sort that out. So before we jump to conclusions, let's remember: we can't jump to conclusions. :-D

I wonder if anybody has information available to the public that states what the same home would sell for in the two different periods? Hmm.

* Is Utah "overpriced"? Well, by definition I have to say no because that is simple economics: if people are willing to pay the price, then it's the right price. Supply and Demand. This isn't like an oil cartel where the average person has little control over prices, so the market is free to adjust as needed. Again, I'm oversimplifying and I realize that, but it's still a valid consideration if nothing else.

One other factor in favor of Utah being reasonably priced is how we stack up with nationwide home prices. While we have enjoyed huge gains in recent years, we are relatively similarly priced with other markets. I put together a little chart to demonstrate. You can view it at http://www.geekuniverse.org/medianprices.pdf. Utah is #45 (of 149) on this chart with a median value of $233K. So we're in the top third, yes, but things are pretty level on the bottom half. I need a statistician to figure out the standard deviations!

* I expected to see home prices plunging in the most bloated markets, with prices gaining in underpriced markets. Now, obviously, there are a lot of factors that could be considered, but something jumped out at me: there is no correlation at all. The top 11 markets in the nation actually continued to gain value during the previous year! Still rising! Let's look at #1, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (five of the top six are in sunny CA):

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
2004: 698.5
2005: 744.5
2006 Q1: 775.0
2006 Q2: 795.0
2006 Q3: 779.0
2006 Q4: 760.0
2007 Q1: 788.0
2007 Q2: 865.0
% change 2006 Q2 - 2007 Q2: 8.8%

Overall change 2004-2007: close to 25% without a single drop.

The metro area with the steepest drop in home values was also the cheapest home segment in the nation: Elmira, NY:

Elmira, NY
2004: 78.8
2005: 77.1
2006 Q1: 86.8
2006 Q2: 87.3
2006 Q3: 93.6
2006 Q4: 78.4
2007 Q1: 75.3
2007 Q2: 71.7
% change 2006 Q2 - 2007 Q2: -17.9%

* Home prices have risen in Utah (on average) $75,100 between 2004 and the middle of 2007. This is a 47% increase from the original price in a relatively short time. How does this compare to other parts of the nation? The top 10 cities in the nation gaining value from 2004 to 2007 Q2 (total) are:

56.58% Boise City-Nampa, ID
56.31% Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
56.30% Orlando, FL
55.22% Ocala, FL
53.86% Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
53.85% Spokane, WA
50.34% Cumberland, MD-WV
50.00% Farmington, NM
47.53% Salt Lake City, UT
47.41% Salem, OR

To summarize: The deeper you dig, the deeper you want to dig. More on this later?

Real Estate News

I'm kind of a real estate junkie. I'm not sure why, but it's in my blood.

I regularly visit several geeky real estate websites. These are my favorites:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/mortgage_update.asp
http://www.boxhomeloans.com/
http://www.utahrealestate.com/ (I wish every state had a free MLS search like Utah does. In other places, you actually have to work through a realtor.)
http://money.cnn.com/?cnn=yes

My brother is a home builder and I love to go talk shop with him. Travertine, marble and custom cabinetry never cease to tantalize me.

I love driving around my valley, getting a feel for the neighborhoods and business sectors. I could have told you eight years ago which neighborhoods would have sharp increases in value. And I would have been right, because I fingered all the developments that are hot now and were vacant no-mans land then. If only I had the cash to put my money where my mouth is. That's essentially what my brother does full-time and he is amazingly successful at it. Like I said, it runs in the blood.

Two or three years ago I asked my brother if he was worried about the "bubble" that was then threatening to burst. He shrugged it off and gave me two solid reasons why he wasn't concerned about the market here in Utah:

1. Home prices in Utah were rising more gradually than places like Phoenix, Las Vegas and numerous west coast metropolises. Places that spiked quickly were ripening for trouble.

2. Because prices were spiking in other locations, people were being drawn to a place like Utah where you could still get a lot of bang for your buck. Hence a steady influx of people moving out of sunny Phoenix and California to a place where they could afford a home of their own. By his logic, the higher prices rose in other markets, the more stable the Utah economy would continue to be.

I talked this theory over with a realtor friend and he concurred that the "bubble" rising nationwide would not affect us here in Utah. That was before the figurative bubble burst. Now most people know that home prices are "regulating" in those areas where they rose so dramatically a few years back. It's in the news all the time. And if you haven't noticed, I wonder: have you had your head in the sand?

So what has happened in Utah after all the speculating? Several interesting things from the last 12 months, but I'll just post the most recent one. CNN reported today that prices have dropped nationwide in 52 major markets. (Comparing the three months ending June 30th, 2007 with the same period 12 months prior, if I read correctly?) The article then lists the percentage change and median home price in 149 different markets.

If you click on the "% change" column, you'll find some good news for Utahns. It looks like this:

Metropolitcan Area Median Price % Change
Salt Lake City, UT $233,100 21.9%
Binghamton, NY $111,200 19.8%
Salem, OR $227,900 16.7%
Farmington, NM $201,900 14.0%
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ $274,500 12.8%
*snip*

What it means is that Salt Lake City is reporting the HIGHEST home value GAIN in the nation. Earlier this year, we were predicted by the same source to make one of the highest increases in the nation and I celebrated. Now it appears that the good news keeps rolling in.

If you want to make this practical, let me put it in simple terms. If you bought a home one year ago for $100,000, then it would sell now (theoretically speaking) for $121,900. And if you were wavering a year ago but chose to continue renting, you're now $21,900 farther from that $100K condo you were looking at.

The news gets better and better for homeowners (and worse and worse for renters) the higher the stakes. If you owned a home worth half a million, you've just added a smooth $100K to your home's value by simply living in it another year. Nice. (I'll have to blog another day about whether or not we should worry about a late-onset "bubble"' in Utah?)

People so often worry about the expenses of buying a home that they worry themselves into putting off home ownership. But if you look at the whole picture, can you afford not to buy a home with prices ever rising? That is obviously an over-simplification but it's also reality to a lot of people. Mull it over and tell me what you think.

Howdy, Sugar!

It's hard to be mad at a face that sweet. And hands that sweet. And pajamas that sweet.

And when I say sweet, I mean it literally. Honey and chocolate chips yesterday. Today Brown Sugar.

*sigh*

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson yesterday and not let him out of my sight, but cut me a little slack. No mother can keep an eagle eye on three boys simultaneously 24/7.

Oh well. At least I got a "sweet" picture out of the deal.