Hawaii Update

It is funny the way things work out sometimes.  I think that I mentioned in my last post about how I had been trying to post about Hawaii for a long time, it was posted five months after we went.  I also mentioned that the biggest negative impact on the trip was losing my dad's GPS,which was not the start, but the big drop off for my emotional roller-coaster, which I couldn't get off of.  I think that the trip would have been much better if that hadn't happened.   Thomas and I both prayed that it would show up and that we would find it, but it never turned up.  We spent several hours of our very short trip looking for it.  We both felt like the answer we got to our prays was not to worry about it.  What kind of an answer is that?  Obviously I couldn't just let it go.  Even after we returned and we bought my dad a new one, I stressed and fretted about it and what had happened to it.  Five months later, I finally get my post written and posted.  That night I am watching television when Thomas walks in.  He has a funny look on his face and something hidden behind his back.  He pulls it out and I just stare at him.  I don't know what it is; then it hits me.  It is the missing GPS.  I had never truly felt like it was stolen because we still had the mount and the cable.  If I was a thief I would take the whole thing.  We had looked everywhere though.  We search the rental car multiple times.  We search Thomas' camera bag.  It wasn't anywhere.  I still had unrealistic hopes that it might show up. I expected a package in the mail, or a call from the temple.  Where was it I ask?  He shrugs his shoulders and says "In my bag."  He was looking for batteries, and there it was.  He had apparently put it in upside down, so it blended in with the bag, and then it slid so that it was underneath multiple dividers.  I still don't understand it.  I remember taking everything out of the bag and having it lying all over the hotel bed. How could we not find it in an empty bag?  Why were we not directed to it when we prayed if it was right there!  It bugs me a little bit, but I think that mostly I have moved on. Maybe there was a reason, even if I can't see it.  The plus side is that we now have our own GPS.  (Although the activities we would have done instead of searching would have been cheaper.) 

Phone! Where are you!

I have sitting in my desk drawer the first cell phone I ever owned.  I used it for about four years before it died.  I loved that phone, and I would probably still be using it if it worked.  My second phone I didn't like as much, but it was growing on me.  It did have some features I liked that my old one didn't have.  Unfortunately after only having the phone six months I lost the phone.  It was very irritating because I went back over the day I thought I had lost it, and I realized that the last time I had used it was at home.  That meant that the phone should be in my house somewhere.  I looked everywhere.  I cleaned everywhere.  I could not find it anywhere.  Days went by and I could not find it.  It has now been about two years and that phone has never been found.  I still think we are going to find it some odd place when we move out of this house.  There are also some theories about my daughter (who was just over two) and  a garbage can.  Oh course the phone's battery had been low when misplaced and was dead by the time I thought to go looking for it. I didn't need it while I was at home all weekend. I am not one of those people who are attached tho their phones in an "I can't live without it" kind of way.  I of course was not yet eligible for a new phone, so I had to use a phone that had been discarded by another family member. People that have phones that work that they love don't generally upgrade.  This was a stupid phone, and I hated it. I counted down the months and days until I was eligible for a new shinny phone of my own. 

I have liked my new phone.  My husband opted to get an i-phone.  He had wanted one for a really long time (probably since they were announced.) Since he was about to graduate college and hopefully get a better paying job, I gave in.  Along with the phone upgrade we added texting.  I was not a big fan of texting. I am still not a huge fan.  Partly I don't understand the point.  I would much rather just talk to someone. It could also be that I don't have very many people that text me. It also isn't something I can do at work since we expect the students not to be doing it during class. 

My phone started beeping at the beginning of the week.  The battery was low.  I kept meaning to charge it, but always forgot.  Wednesday, just before it was time to leave work, I called Thomas.  The call last 39 seconds before the battery died.  I put the phone on my desk and called on my work phone.  That night I again forgot to charge the battery, so I threw the charger into my bag I take to work.  I forgot to charge it at work. That night I finally remembered to charge the battery, but I can't find my phone. I must have left it at school. The next day I again take the charger, but I can't find my phone at school. Where is my phone?  I have checked the pocket of every outfit I wore this week.  I have checked the pockets of all my jackets.  (Which ones did I wear this week?) Today I cleaned my room, the kitchen, the family room.  I found some missing pieces from Candyland. No phone.  I still need to clean out my car.  I seems to have accumulated a lot of junk lately.  Why is my phone always dead when I lose it?  Maybe because when it isn't dead I use the ringer to find it.  Of course there was that time I left it in the pocket of an apron and then put it away and couldn't hear the ringer.  I really hope it shows up.  I don't want to go through the trauma of picking out a new phone, although I think that I am eligible for a phone this time.  You never know if you are going to really like a phone until you have used it for a week,  and they charge an arm and a leg to return them.   Well I guess I better go clean some more.  If you see my phone, let me know.  Also if you are irritated because you have tried to call and I am not answering, it isn't because I am avoiding you.  Although most people know that if I don't answer they should call Thomas since I probably don't have my phone with me. 

Monday

Today was definitely Monday.  I actually got up early, which is something I don't do often.  I showered and did my hair.  Dressed my 3 year old.  I do this when she is mostly still asleep so that she doesn't argue about  what I am putting on her.  After dressing she usually goes back to sleep depending on how much time is left until we have to leave.  Next I went and fed the baby.  Up until this point I thought that I was having a pretty good day.   My little guy loves to eat. He has always been a big milk fan, in any form.  He has taken to solids with a passion.  He is pretty happy most of the time, but if you want to see him get upset, just take away his food partway through a meal. I have to time his feedings in the morning or else he will eat all day or at least until we are late.  Because I was ahead of schedule, I didn't pay attention how long the feeding went.  I realized we were taking a little long, but we weren't late yet. I went and got the three year old up for the second time. We did her hair and then loaded everybody in the car.  At this point, we aren't late, but we don't have time to dawdle. Everything is ready to go, except I can't find my keys.  I look on the TV cabinet where we usually keep them, I look on the kitchen counter where they often get put.  I look on my bookcase, my bathroom counter, my computer desk, my bookcase again, the kitchen again, the whole family room.  I try to remember what I was wearing last time I drove my car and then check pockets.  I check an assortment of jacket pockets. I realize I don't have time for this and go to get the spare key out of the drawer.  The spare is missing. (I still don't know where it is!)  I go out and look at the kids sitting in the car, and remember we have a spare car. The van is old, and doesn't go well on snow, but it isn't supposed to snow.  (You really should check the weather before you think these kinds of things.)   It also has new tires, which I am still irritated about paying for. Tires are not a fun way to spend money.  I decide to take the van to work.  I move the kids over, taking time to secure them.  The seat belts don't want to cooperate, and I can feel the minutes ticking away.  I close the door, go back inside to get the van key, grab the garage opener, and start the van.  At least that is what I tried to do.  It sputtered a moment and then just clicked.  About a month ago the battery was dead, but we charged it and drove it around enough for it to pass inspection.  We then put it back in the garage and then didn't touch it for a month.  I talked to my dad and he says this is strong evidence for a bad battery. Another un-fun way to spend my money.  I call my husband, on the verge of tears, and he offers to come home.  He has only been at work for about 5 minutes.  I asked him if he remembered seeing my keys anywhere.  He thought he had seen them in the kitchen.  I go back and look again.  Instead of just looking on the bar, I actually walk into the kitchen and look.  There they are sitting on the other side of the counter next to the groceries I got on Saturday and didn't put away.  I let my husband know I have found them, then run out to move the kids back to my car. I pull out and head to day care.  I guess the good thing about a morning like this is that the rest of the day can't get much worse.  In fact it actually went pretty good. Although I am not sure what to think about the snow that is coming down now.  Like I said, I didn't think it was supposed to snow.

Mold

I do not like mold.  I do like finding mold places it should not be.  This could be part of why I don't like cleaning out the fridge.  Mold is smelly and gross; although it does sometimes has a surprising array of colors. Once, when I was younger, I got a container of sour cream out of the fridge.  I opened it enough to see that there were green spots and went running away crying, "Eww, Ewww, Eww."  My mother came to investigate.  She opened the container and started laughing.  It wasn't sour cream after all but leftovers in the form of white sauce with peas.  I felt silly for thinking that it was the dreaded mold.  Another experience that I think is a little surprising is when I found a piece of bread in the cupboard that was just starting to mold. rather tan get upset (my normal mode of operation, as illustrated above, I asked my sister if she had done the mold unit in her biology class yet.  She had not, and I knew the teacher offered extra credit for mold samples.  I put the moldy bread away in an out of the way cupboard.  A few weeks later, My sister said she needed a mold sample for school.  Out came the very moldy bread. She had the best mold sample.  Now the real point of this post is not reminiscence, but a current problem.  Sippy Cups!  My daughter has a problem returning the cups to the kitchen when she is finished with them.  Generally she loves milk.  We discover cups under the bed that have been there for days, sometimes weeks. We take them down to the kitchen and open them up to rinse them out.  You are hit with this overwhelming urge to barf and run from the room to get some fresh air. Lately, my daughter has been constipated.  In an effort to help with that we have been giving her fruit juice instead of milk.  Juice does not curdle and smell the way that milk does.  It molds. Even cups that are only a couple days old have these patties of green and yellow.  Most of our cups are cheap disposables.  Our nice cups got left in the office for a week and they both had black mold coating the inside.  I couldn't hardly stand to rinse them out. I am thinking about throwing them away; although, my mother-in-law says that bleach works.  I am considering getting rid of the cups altogether.  After all she is three and doesn't really need them any more. When asked when she will be big enough for regular, she responds with,  "In three days."  One of her most common responses to any question.