Boo!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Married ... again.

I'm a lucky girl - I got new wedding rings this weekend!! Sort of an upgrade. I actually took a picture of it, but it looked super funky. You can't use the flash, so it's all dark and weird looking. I'll try and get a better one to post.

My wedding ring was nice ... but the upkeep you're required to do to keep the lifetime warrantee fell short when we moved away from Kansas. In the meantime, a bagguette on one side of my main stone cracked. My prongs holding my marquis were weak and needed replaced. I never had a wedding band that "went" with my engagement ring - and finding one was difficult. The band I've had for years ended up missing about 6mo ago. I've checked drawers, toyboxes, toilet, drain ... and it's nowhere. So ... this new wedding set happened because I was in search of a new band. This will be good because I can now actually keep up on the lifetime guarantee requirements not to mention all the other perks that come with it. I was so hard on my other ring - cleaning with it on, showering with it on, you name it! And now I can start anew with this one treating it "right".

So what about the sentiment? Well ... we're having my ring melted down, diamonds taken out and cleaned and a pendant made of out of it that I'll wear on a necklace around my neck. Closer to my heart there, I figure!

Now ... if I could only get another honeymoon out of this whole deal!

Speculation

The job of picking out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch can be quite the ordeal. It takes time, skill, determination, knowledge in good pumpkins, a certain firmness, texture, balance. I know this because Maysen is a pro at pumpkin-picking-out'ing. We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend when my dad, Jo, and grandma were visiting. We're going to carve them this weekend. I only hope that this focus stays with him through his terrible 2's, because I sure wouldn't want any master plan to go without such a detailed pattern of examination! I would feel cheated!

Will it end?

As previously posted, our challenge is getting Maysen to stay in his bed and actually go to bed. Our nightly routine usually ends up with coming out of his room 49 times as he tries to dart unseen across the hall to the spare bedroom. Or, he'll spend the whole time ripping up his air vent and throwing things down the "tunnel" ... things include night light, or shoes, or cars, or diapers. Whatever he can find. The night usually ends with him passing out during whatever activity he was in the middle of. Case in point:

Last night was exceptionally exciting. He was up doing various activities for about 2hrs. We'd hear various crashes, smashes, laughing, rattling of the doorhandle, more laughing, grunting, and music. We've learned to just let him do whatever ... afterall, what kind of trouble can he get into? So, when we went to bed and went to check on him, you can imagine how hard it was not to bust out laughing when we saw this mess:

He piled toys, clean clothes out of his dresser, dirty clothes out of his basket, socks, shoes, animals, push toys, underneath this all are puzzles and books. Then he climbed up like "King of the Hill" and finally crashed. This pic was taken AFTER I put his right arm back into his pajamas. Otherwise that hummer was sticking straight out naked. Crazy...

John??

As we were driving home from the coast yesterday I had an interesting conversation with my grandma. It made me realize just how much times have really changed within the last 50 years. We were discussing the best jobs we've ever had, which led to talking about funny stories from the workforce.

This eventually led to me talking about when I was about 8mo pregnant (tired, bitchy, and hormonal), I went out to get a patient for an infusion. The patient was "John Miller" (*names are altered for confidentiality purposes). So I proceed with "John?" ... no answer. "John Miller?" .. still nothing. A soft, antagonistic voice sounded as I heard "...you mean DOCTOR Miller?" as this came from a mid 70s salt-and-pepper haired man. He would not look me in the eye and it was as though I had just insulted his dying mother. He followed me back to the room and continued to badger me about how he was not "John" but "Dr Miller". Upon my leaving, he asked me what my name was, in which case I responded I was "Registered Nurse Scovil".

But this brings me to a point. Upon talking to my grandmother she told me how she was raised addressing everyone by "Mr or Mrs or Pastor or Doctor". She never addressed anyone by their first name as this was disrespectful. Upon being called "Dorothy" once, she told me she thought "How dare you! You don't even know me, how dare you call me by my first name!". Wow. Even in nursing school, my teachers only wanted to be addressed by their first names. I never dreamed that actually calling someone by their first name would be so offensive.

I work with a lot of doctors around me. I address them all on a first name basis. Is this because of the times or do they realize that there is much more to a person than their degree? I mean, in today's world, just because you're a doctor does not mean that the world stops ... that you're just entitled to respect because of "what" you are. When Nate was in the military, that is what cracked me up about the military way of thinking. The "upper" ranks were such jackasses sometimes because of "what" they were. Not because of their merit. Not because of their work ethic. But just because of the stripes on their arms. It cracked me up because I knew in the "real" world that attitude of "do you know what I am?!" would be a total joke. They'd likely get a "who the hell cares" before being punched in the face. And perhaps for some that is why they're afraid to leave the life of the wonderful military .. because then they'd have to "earn" respect.

I got off base with the military sidebar. I just am amazed at how different times are from music, movies, upbringing, religion, sexual preference, vacations, clothes, food, and even down to common courtesy. Should I be fearful of the next 50 years?

Tonight my dad, stepmom, and grandma all arrived to my house safe and sound. My dad and stepmom came from Florida .. and my grandma (my dad's mom) came from Iowa. This trip was anticipated for my sister's wedding that was to have taken place on Saturday. As many of you know, that is not happening any longer. However, my family still came up, arriving today. It has been fun, because my grandmother ("Nana" to Maysen) has never seen Maysen before so it was nice to finally have her meet her great grandson. Maysen has been through all of his tricks. (It's almost like having a dog show all of their tricks ... "come on Maysen, say 'allllll aboard'"). We had a great dinner and it was nice catching up. It's been since April that I've seen my dad and Jo, and since 2003 that I've seen my grandma.

Tomorrow we're heading to the coast, which is about a 2hr drive to Lincoln City, Oregon. My dad and Jo used to work there for 2 winters. They're semi-retired and travel managing RV resorts/parks along their way. So, they want to go to Lincoln City and visit everyone back there. Maysen loves the coast, but it's getting cold so it won't be as nice as the warm/sunny days like summer. On Friday everyone (except Nate, Maysen, and I) are going to Crater Lake. Saturday we're all going to the pumpkin patch for Maysen to pick out pumkins. Jenn is planning on coming down that day to visit everyone. Hope you all have a good weekend. I'll talk next week.

Hooray!

Is this not *the* most stinkin cute kid around?! This was when we went to Bend, OR a few weeks back. I just love this picture.

Tomorrow night is my mother-in-law's birthday dinner at my house. Saturday I'm hanging out with my sister-in-law, Jessica and my neice and nephew Miranda and Jonas. That is ... all depending on my son's health. He fell asleep at 11am (which never happens) and woke up from his nap with a 102.5F fever. Down went the Motrin and now we're zombie-mode watching the news. You know your 2yr old is sick when he's actually staring at Katie Couric like he's really interested in political government. Either that or he'll be president in 2048.

"Big Boy" room

Maysen will be 2yrs old next month (I still can't believe it). For his birthday, we decided we'd transform his room. We bought this house last year and didn't really do much for his nursery because Nate graduated in June and we honestly weren't sure if we would even be able to stay here. So we had it pretty plain. Once Nate established a job and we knew we were staying, we decided we'd do more with it. And here it is! We painted 3/4 blue and added waines coating. His crib is no longer, and is now a mini day bed. He has a new fire truck lamp and new "Planes, Trains, and Trucks" curtains, comforter, and pillow. Those feet on the wall are actually Nate's feet and Maysen's when he was 1 week old. We still have stuff to put on his walls (White M.A.Y.S.E.N letters above his bed) and a few more minor things. So, that was my weekend. Finishing up his room.

So far all week has been an hour of crying and carrying on to go to sleep. He used to just go right to sleep, but since the crib transformation, no more. He comes out, peeks through his door, starts piling up toys on the outside of his door because he's "still not coming out". I'm hoping it will pass ... soon.

Tonight my dad, stepmom, and grandma all arrived to my house safe and sound. My dad and stepmom came from Florida .. and my grandma (my dad's mom) came from Iowa. This trip was anticipated for my sister's wedding that was to have been taken place on Saturday. As many of you know, that is not happening any longer. However, my family still came up, arriving today. It has been fun, because my grandmother ("Nana" to Maysen) has never seen Maysen before so it was nice to finally have her meet her great grandson. Maysen has been through all of his tricks. (it's almost like having a dog show all of their tricks ... "come on Maysen, say 'allllll aboard'"). we had a nice dinner and it was nice catching up. It's been since April that I've seen my dad and Jo, and since 2003 that I've seen my grandma.

Tomorrow we're heading to the coast, which is about a 2hr drive to where we are going. My dad and Jo used to work in Lincoln City for 2 winters. They're semi-retired and travel managing RV resorts/parks along their way. So, they want to go back and visit everyone back there. Maysen loves the coast, but it's getting cold so it won't be as nice as the warm/sunny days like summer. On Friday everyone (except Nate, Maysen, and I) are going to Crater Lake. Saturday we're all going to the pumpkin patch for Maysen to pick out pumkins. Jenn is planning on coming down that day to visit everyone.

.... UPDATE: today is 1/24/2016: I just ran across this post today, unfinished. I felt it was only proper to publish it just the way it was ...

Headless geese

It was the most amazing thing ... walking through the park and seeing these poor geese with no heads ... just lonely bodies.

And currently coming from my living room:

"NO DEAL ... IDIOT!!!! YOU STILL HAVE THE $500,000 AND THE MILLION!"

A few nights ago, Maysen started crawling out of his crib. He'd come waltzing out of his room carrying his blankets like "Here I am, whatcha guys doin?" He crawled out three times that night, and we knew it was time. His crib is 3-in-1 crib, where it can be transformed.This past weekend we took the front part of Maysen's crib off and put up his side rails. It now looks like a small day bed than a crib. For Maysen's 2nd birthday we have started transforming his nursery into a big-boy room. His theme is Planes, Trains, and Trucks. He got new curtains, bedding, his own pillow, lamp, and decor. On Saturday we got his room painted and next weekend we're putting Waines coating painted white half way up the wall.

This is night 2 of the big-boy-bed. Last night we had melt down for about a hour with about 5 repititions of having to put him back in his room. Once he waltzed out totally naked. I'm not sure what this new fetish is, because he did it today, too, during nap time. I checked on him and he was passed out - buck naked. I'm hoping this isn't a continuing trend ...