"Can you help me occupy my brain" Black Sabbath

OK so I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with the theater room project. Don't get me wrong it is coming a long wonderfully and we have accomplished a ton in less than a week. But disarray is not something I deal with well. And disarray is definitely where we are at. So what is a girl to do. What any self respecting control freak would do in this situation...get out the MP3 player, find the heavy metal play list, crank up the volume and clean! It is amazing how much better I feel after a good cleaning. And there are a few universal truths that become clearer during this process. I would like to share them with you:

1. Sometime a little AC/DC and Black Sabbath are just good for the soul. Keep in mind this is Ozzy when he was just "bite the heads off of bats crazy" not...well I haven't quite figured out what kind of crazy he is now but he is certainly crazier.

2. Hard work is good for you. It doesn't matter if it is cleaning a house that will just be dirty again by tomorrow night...I take that back I give it about 20 minutes from the time the kids wake up in the morning. Or something more important. No matter what the work is if you do it well and you do your best you always feel better afterwards.

3. If you clean so hard that you sweat, it counts as exercise for the day, I don't care what anyone says.

4. If the first thing you do when you are done is write about it in your blog, you may just have an addiction that may require intervention.

Well there you have it life according to Terrie, it is simple and sometimes sweet...but always honest.

The snowball effect

We decided it was time to do a few upgrades in our theater room. By a few upgrades, I mean some new furniture and rearranging the layout a bit. As any good project does, it has snowballed out of control. What began as a few simple upgrades has turned into near minor remodeling, complete with demolition. It all began with the furniture. We chose something we liked and set up delivery. Later that night as we started to make room for the new furniture we started to think of other things we would like to do with the room. Well since the room will be empty for a few days, it is only logical that now is the best time for new carpet. Because the room will never be empty again we need to take advantage of this opportunity. And if we are going to carpet the theater room then we should probably go ahead and look into carpeting the rest of the basement and maybe up the stairs, get the point. The jury is still out on the carpet debacle. One of things we have planned on doing since the beginning of this project was moving the screen from one wall to another. Sounds simple enough, right. Well the screen just happened to be covering a monstrosity of a wall that has horrible wood paneling. Not the kind that is all one sheet no that would be too easy. This is the nasty seventies variety that consists of hundreds of pieces of ugly wood nailed up on the wall. Why, oh why did anyone find this attractive? As we talked about our options for this eyesore of a wall, we decided to test a piece to see how hard it would be to remove. The next thing I know we are knee deep in nasty seventies wood paneling. Now we are committed. Obviously, we have to paint the wall now. First, it needs to be sanded and prepped for paint because not only was the wood nailed to the wall but also glued, for good measure I suppose. Ok now that we are committed to painting, there are a few places that need touch ups around the room so Ben starts to spackle and even to mud and tape in a few places while I head out for paint with what we are pretty sure is the right color chip to match the rest of the room. The trip for the paint is a story all its own. We start to paint and it is obvious that we will need at least two coats for the one wall. While that wall is drying we start to work on the touch-ups around the room. At first, we thought we got lucky and matched the color. After some time drying, we realized we had not been so lucky. The new paint is considerably darker than the color already on the walls. This means we have to repaint the whole room. So today my assignment is, get more red paint. Then tonight we paint. The real kicker is the new furniture is coming tomorrow, the whole room is torn apart, and we cannot get carpet laid in there until Friday at the absolute soonest. Like I said, the snowball effect. To be continued…

Jobs, Vans and a student of the week

The kids are asleep and the hubby is working (I know on a Saturday night , how rude) so what better time to blog. Well it has been an eventful few weeks for us. I guess we are making up for lost time due to “the sickness.” So, I promised an explanation of the vague job offer reference from an earlier post. I will try to make this very long story short and sweet. Basically, the church came to Ben and asked him to apply for a position they were hiring for. Ben has wanted to work for the church or BYU since he graduated from college. Having said that, Ben also loves his job at Westminster and is in the middle of a very big project that he did not want to leave. However, he decided that this was an opportunity that he did not want to pass him by so he decided to go ahead and interview. The very long process of interviews ended, time passed and we heard nothing. We assumed they had gone another direction and didn’t think much of it. Then Ben got a phone call from the woman who had interviewed him offering him the job. They even offered him slightly better pay then what he was making at Westminster. The down side was the benefits. We have been lucky enough to have good benefits our entire married life and the ones offered by the church were pretty bad. At this point Ben decided it was time to let his boss at Westminster know what was going on and told him the situation. Let us just say Westminster was not going to let Ben go without a fight. Westminster made the decision easy to make. It was nice for Ben to see how much he is valued at the college. OK so that is the job stuff.

We also made a big purchase this week. We bought a new van. Yah, Yah, for all of you jokesters we mean the vehicle not the baby. Our old van had a cracked radiator and we were tired of putting money into it. So we took the plunge and bought a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country. We have never owned a vehicle this nice. I have to admit now that the guilt has worn off (why is there always guilt associated with car buying) I really like it.

Other fun news…Joseph was student of the week. He acted as if it was no big deal, but I think he was actually excited. He got his picture taken and posted in the hall, he also got a certificate and best of all a lunch with the principle. We are really proud of him and the good efforts he has made.

Of course, the big news of the week is Van’s first birthday. We kept the day low-key with the highlight being the infamous first birthday cake. He was the most tentative of our kids about “digging in.” He kept looking at me like “are you really going to let me stick my fingers in this and eat it?” After some encouragement, he started using his fingers to eat the frosting and then eventually went for it. He was still quite clean about the whole thing. When all was said and done, his hands and face were a mess but his bib and clothes were clean (such a considerate boy). Anyway, we had a fun night with him eating cake and opening presents. I still cannot believe he is one, but at least I am not crying as I write this like I was during the last post. All of you moms know what I mean, don’t act like you didn’t cry too. Once again I have written way more than I intended, so for those of you that stuck through to the bitter end, I hope it was worth it!

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Third times a charm

I do not know how true this is as far as universal truths go, but it has defiantly been true for our third baby. Van was well… a surprise. We were not planning to get pregnant and weren’t even sure if we wanted another baby. I am so glad that our Heavenly Father knew better than we did and blessed us with this sweet boy. All babies are cute and fun. However, Van is special. He exudes happiness, and it is infectious. He smiles at anyone and everyone from the check out girl at Wal-Mart to the ladies at church. He is quite the little flirt I must say and has melted many a heart. The other day someone said he has 20 times more charm than any one should be allowed. This is a very true statement. He amazes me every day with his sweet spirit and genuine happiness. He is usually laughing or smiling. He is very determined to the point of stubbornness, I am guessing he gets that from Ben. Don’t get me wrong he is a baby and therefore has his moments of less than desirable behavior. But these moments are few and far between and generally short. Van turns one tomorrow. For some reason it is always hard for me when my kids turn one. Of course I look forward to all of the fun firsts he has ahead of him and all the great things that we will be able to share with him as he grows older. But I can’t help but mourn the loss of the baby…you know the snuggling, the late nights when it was just the two of us and the special bond that a mother and baby share. Maybe I feel this way because it is usually around a year that I stop being the favorite and Dad steps in to fill that post. Luckily, Van is showing no signs of being foiled by the fun that is dad. So, at least for now, I am still the favorite…tomorrow may be another story.

Something Fun

Tagged...

The rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

Here are my 6:
1. I am very particular about most things, dare I say anal? I like order and hate clutter. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that I am always successful in my mission against all things chaotic but I try. In my defense I have chilled out somewhat since having my third baby and starting school.

2. I care way too much about what other people think...I think that might be part of the reason I am so worried about the cleanliness of my house, for what would people think if they saw unvacuumed floors and toys scattered about (my poor kids).

3. I am terrified of failure. This has deterred me from many an endeavor. If I am not pretty sure I will be successful then many times I never start. Yes I am a perfectionist, as demonstrated by 1-3.

4. One of those said endeavors; writing. I used to write all the time in High School and loved it. But life happened and I lost the passion I once had for writing. I have been thinking for awhile I would like to start again, but am afraid I have lost it. I guess the only way to find out is to try...but what if I'm no good?

5. If I could be like anyone it would be Ben. He is so forgiving, never holds a grudge and is one of the most selfless people I know. All things I strive to be better at. (I could go on about Ben but it would take too much time and space, so I'll leave that for another blog)

6. I have a personal space issue...I like mine and protect it. I hate it when people look over my shoulder. I can only handle so much closeness before I feel claustrophobic. This is a fact that my brothers, especially Kirk, exploited many a time while growing up...well even now; he is such a tease.

So there you have it way more information than anyone ever wanted to know about me...hopefully it was good for a laugh.

I tag Becky, Tiffany and Katie

An interesting week...

I am happy to report the “sickness” is finally gone! We have had two healthy weeks. There was a small incident with Van involving his first throwing-up episode, but we are pretty sure that it was something he ate. It was still very sad, seeing my kids sick and in pain is miserable.

Well, the 8^th was my birthday. I turned 29 and am one year closer to the big 3-0. I have to admit I was not looking forward to this birthday. The closer it got the more unhappy I was about it. But it came anyway and once it did I was fine. I have had a whole day of being 29 and I have lived to tell the tale. Being 29 is just like being 28. Having a birthday has caused me to reflect. This year Ben and I will be married for 10 years. Crazy, I know. If being 29 did not make me feel old, then being married for 10 years is sure to do it. Anyway all these milestones have made reflect on the last 10 years. I think this might have been what brought on the unhappiness in the first place, because as I started to think about all the things I hadn’t accomplished. The schooling left unfinished. The mom I wanted and still want to be but frequently fall short of. And many other insignificant things. Then Ben got a job offer that caused us to step back and look at where we really are and the things we have accomplished over the course of our marriage. I no longer feel unhappy. We have been very blessed. Together we have accomplished a lot over the past 10 years. And Ben has been very successful in his career. Which I like to think I had a little something to do with. The point is I am happy with the life that we have made together and getting older is not a new concept, it didn’t catch me off guard but it did sting a little.

You are probably wondering about the job offer…well it is a long story. There has not been a decision made but I will write more about it once I can tell the whole story along with the ending.

For Valentine’s Day, I surprised Ben with a stay at the Castle Creek Inn, which is where we spent the first night of our honeymoon. (They were booked for Valentine’s Day weekend, so I had to schedule it for the 8^th) It was so nice to get away, even for a night. It is something we do not do nearly often enough. We had adult conversation the whole night without interruption it was awesome! It was so nice to reconnect and spend time together without disruptions. When we got home, we both felt ready to deal with life and being parents again. We are hoping to make getaways like this more of a priority.