Tuesday

Last night my mashed potatoes turned out a little more paste-y rather than fluffy. Anyone know what I did wrong? Well, I know what I did right- the flavor. I think they were the best tasting potatoes I've ever had!! I used golden (I tossed the package so I'm not sure which variety) potatoes, milk, butter, salt, chicken broth, evaporated milk. Oh so good!!!
Oh, and my baby has been kicking, dancing, swimming, moving pretty much non-stop since about a week ago. It is so fun. Not as much fun when he seems to wedge himself under my right rib. You can feel him from the outside now. Feel free to touch my belly next time you see me, he'll probably promptly kick you.
Had my two 5th graders do a word scramble during the last five minutes of tutoring instead of the regular hangman. It was a hit. Here try your luck, the topic is history:
PPRAE SWA IEVTNNDE NI CAHNI.

Today

Today was my first day back at work in a week and a half. (Last week our school district has Thurs and Fri for "Fall Break"). I can't tell you how therapeutic (sp?) it was to spend time with my mom. I didn't realize how starved I was for family-time. I miss my siblings and my parents, maybe even more now that I'm pregnant. It sucks not to be able to see them every week and to be low on cellphone minutes so I can't even talk to all of them. I should have called them all over the weekend, especially Robin, but somehow I wasn't in a talking mood on Sunday. I did try calling Sarah several times in the past week, but I can't ever get ahold of her. Please keep her in your prayers as she is having severe medical problems.
Anyway, back to today. It's been a good day. I slept in, checked my email, did the dishes, and looked good for work. English and History went well with my high schoolers and tutuoring with my elementary kids was less frustrating than usual. I must have needed that break from them. We are on to the Middle Ages in history and that should be fun to research and teach.
I have a turkey roast in the oven and I'm making real mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas to go with it. Or I could do cooked carrots, or salad... but peas would be easy and good. Brandon gets home from The Good Shepherd Clinic around 8:00, so we will eat a late dinner while watching Heroes, my current favorite show. Have you seen it? You've got to. Brandon even watches it every week and I don't know if he's EVER followed a show before.
Orson Scott Card, one of my favorite authors, writes a weekly column on his website (www.hatrack.com) called OSC Reviews Everything. I don't read it very often, but I love it. He talks about the Fall TV season and said this about Heroes, "Since the actor playing Hiro, Masi Oka, may be the most infectiously enthusiastic human ever to appear on television, he alone would be reason to watch this show. But he's not alone. " My sentiments exactly.

Off to whip some potatoes! (I'm gonna have to have a sampling of those before B gets home).

Pregnant Traveler

Here's me and Mom on Boston's Freedom Trail. Some of it is a red brick line like you see here (this part at the beginning had these cute ground markers) and some of it is a red paint line on the sidewalk/road. It is about 2 1/2 miles long and goes past a lot of historical sites, like Paul Revere's home built in the 1600s, the site of the Old North Church where they hung the "one if by land" lantern, and the building where the Declaration of Independence was written, etc. Very cool walk.
This one is in front of the Mayflower II, a replica of the ship the first Pilgrims came over on. My ancestor, William Bradford, rode on the original.

New England

Well, we stayed in Massachusetts the entire trip except for a night in New Hampshire, where the leaves were admittedly even better colors than in Mass. My favorite places in eastern Mass? Here's photos of each.

Nantucket Island. Here's the harbor.

Lexington was a quick stop but it was lovely and full of history.













Plymouth was adorable.











Concord was stunning.

To my loyal readers

Thank you for the comments and emails. It's good to know that people are still reading this. Just got home 2 hours ago from my vacation. Here is my favorite picture of me from the trip. It's at a flooded cranberry bog in Nantucket. Mom and I had a great time!

Quick Update

Even though it appears that nobody is still reading my blog from the lack of comments. Robin and Jill care, so this is for you two (Have you seen the Sonic commercial about the guy's blog that only his mom reads?).
Anyway...
On the 19th my cousin Jill, a flight attendant, had an overnight layover in Oklahoma City. I haven't seen her in probably 5 years, she is 3 years younger than me and we've never been very close. Well, we are good friends now! I picked her up at her hotel and she took me out to dinner as a birthday gift. We pigged out at the Spagetti Warehouse and then I showed her around Bricktown and the OKC Bombing Memorial. We talked a lot. It's amazing how having dad's that are brothers (with similar personalities and tempraments) gives you plenty in common. Love you Jill!
More recently:
Just finished teaching the Chinese Dynasties for history to my two high school students. Teaching history is SO fun, more fun than English lately.
Last Friday Brandon got to go down to Dallas with his cousin Jamon. They met up with Alan (B's dad) there and had a blast golfing the day away. The next day they went to the OU vs. University of Texas game. It's the big rivalry in this region of the country. There tickets were $300 each. Good thing Alan was paying. Too bad OU lost. Brandon hasn't been to a single OU game since he started going to school here three years ago. Alan decided to make his senior year memorable. They all had a GREAT time!
This past Saturday I went to my friend Jenny's wedding. It was held outdoors at a B&B in Norman. Lovely setting! There were only about 40 guests and I felt privledged to be there . I've known Jenny less than two years, but we really enjoy eachother's company. It was a beautiful ceremony and a very delicious reception.
Saturday evening, our friend Ryan, a pilot, had an overnight layover in OKC. I spent 1 1/2 hours chatting with him and two of his co-workers at the Cajun Kitchen. It was great to see him. Maybe some pregnancy hormones will have transfered to him, he and his wife Elaine, my dear friend, have been trying for a baby even longer than us. I'm glad he got to see my belly cause I don't know if he'll get another chance.
Sunday I taught in Relief Society. The lesson went really well, I ended on time, and I didn't get as nervous as last time (no sweaty armpits) and I made it thru the lesson without crying but still had the spirit there. I hope it's always that good.
Pregnancy update: my belly is steadily growing, my baby is fairly active. I've had two horrible charlie horses so far and two recent days of outrageous hormones. Overall, everything is fantastic.
Well, I gotta run pack for my New England trip. More when I get home. (Can't get photos to upload ANY way right now, sorry).

Slide Show

I made my first slide show on slide.com, very easy. I posted it on my myspace page. I will do one for on here later. Go check it out at: http://www.myspace.com/listlady
I also suggesting hitting the play button on the screen twice to hear my profile song (I don't know how to make it play automatically). It is performed by my second-cousin-in-laws, two cute BYU students with a lot of talent.

Just some ramblings

I miss my long hair. Right now my hair is at that really ugly middle stage as I try to grow it out. My pregnancy and prenatals seems to have no effect on my hair (color, thickness, or growing rate). These pictures are from last September when my hair was still long. Boo hoo.

I also must make mention of birthday season which is upon me. August was two of my sister's birthdays and one of my sister-in-laws.September was my birthday and two of my brother's. October is Grandma Donna's (pictured above), Dad's, a sister, and a brother-in-law. November is my other 3 sister-in-law's birthdays and a brother and my anniversary and Thanksgiving. Wow!

Lastly I must mention upcoming trips: New England, Illinois, Utah, and Arizona. Mom has agreed to be my travel companion for my final vacation (not a trip to see family) before I have children. We went to New York in October of 2003 and always talk about making a tradition of taking fall trips. I guess we'll plan to go again in October 2009. We are spending 5 glorious days traveling around the Boston area. Pictures and stories when I return on the 18th.

We will be spending Thanksgiving in Illinois with Brandon's mom's family. We will probably drive since the flight prices are ridiculous. Hopefully we'll get to spend a day in Milwalkee or Chicago while we're there. Grandma emailed me that all her kids will be in Mesa for Thanksgiving. Wish I'd known that a few months ago, I'd love to see my extended family!

Christmas will be spent in Utah. We will probably hole up for several days in Heber at my father-in-law's enormous cabin there. I wonder if I can snowmobile really slowly at 33 weeks pregnant? We will be spending Dec. 28- Jan. 1st in Mesa with my family. Can't wait to show off my huge belly!