Bigger and smaller revisited

Seattle is selling herself hard.  This summer she charmed me with her lakes.   Now it's the skiing. I went up yesterday morning and skied in the SUNSHINE,  not a single lift line all day, and came home exhausted with enough time to shower and get dressed before picking the kids up from school.  And tomorrow we'll do it again as a family.

My smaller life is getting bigger, in all the right ways.

The red one or the yellow?

In our house we have a technique for making a really tough decision--things like which movie to watch, or which dress to buy.  The important stuff.  You narrow it down to two options (there's a technique to help with that part too, but it's irrelevant right now).  Then, an uninvolved person makes the decision for you.  If you are disappointed about their choice, then you know it was the wrong choice, and you are free to switch.  If you are happy, then you know which one you really wanted.   

Today I took my test.  I felt like it went pretty well.  But when my score popped up on the screen at the end, it said 77.7%.   My heart sank.  Definitely not enough to get into the program.  But then I realized that the 77.7% was the scale of the page, not my test score.  Scroll down, smarty pants.......I got 95%, which ranks me in the 99th percentile.  Which means I should have a good chance at getting in, assuming they accept all my transfer credits, many of which are as old as the dinosaurs.  

I'm feelin' pretty good about it, and I didn't feel good about not having the option.  So the technique works.

Wish me luck...or something.

Tomorrow I have to take the entrance exam for the nursing program I think I want to get into.  If I were to want to get into a nursing program, this is the one I'd want.  And I think I want it.   It's just that life is kind of nice right now and nursing school won't be nice.  

So I've been studying this week for an exam that you can't really study for, to apply for a program I'm not really sure I want to be in.

Getting personal

A fairly new friend of mine posted 25 things about herself on her Facebook page.  One of those things is that her toilets are always gross, even though the rest of her house is, at any point in time, ready for a magazine photo shoot.  (I don't know her well enough yet to know if this is actually the case.)

My house is never at any time ready for a photo shoot.   If there actually were photo shoots for toilets, and I don't know why there would be, my toilets probably wouldn't be ready for them either. 

I just think it's interesting that I can't remember the other 24 things she posted about herself, but the fact that her house is always clean, except for her toilets, has made me feel bad about myself for three days now. 

And yet not so bad that I'm actually motivated to keep my house photo shoot ready.

I wonder what that's about.

There's this woman who comes to my "Extreme Workout" class at the gym.  She just stands motionless whenever the instructor isn't looking, but then starts working out when the instructor turns in her direction.

Maybe it's the same thing.  Something made that woman feel motivated enough to sign up for the class, but not quite motivated enough to actually exercise in it.  I want my house to look like a magazine cover.  I clean and organize and decorate if someone is coming over.  But when they are gone I'm relieved that my kids can get back to creating artwork in accumulated dust on all flat surfaces while the breakfast dishes pile up in the sink.   

Follow up

I'm feeling all mushy because my little imaginative child was in floods of tears this morning about something that happened a year ago.   Mean girls suck.  I dread junior high.  

But now I feel I should clarify...I do not actually think my oldest daughter is weird.  I think she's absolutely adorable and entertaining and spunky and perfect.

When we told the girls we were going to move, Madeline was definitely sad about it, but she was also hopeful that when we moved she'd have a friend who lived close by with "an imagination as good as mine.  Or at least almost as good."  

She's pretty sharp.  I sometimes worry that she'll do the whole birthing imaginary cat thing, or something similar, at school and kids will tease her.  But she doesn't.  She administers "imagination tests" so kids don't think she's "cuckoo."  So she slowly feels kids out as she's getting to know them.   They're willing to play Bella Sara Land (horses)?  Pass level one.  Willing to be a dog?  Pass level two.  Etc.  Pretty smart, I think.

And in eight years, I have never, not even once, not even on a 12 hour car ride, heard that girl say the words "I'm bored."  One time, when she was about 2.5, we were in the car for a while and the whole time she was watching out the window smiling.  I eventually asked her what she was smiling about and she said, "I was just finking about riding on a unicorn and my hair was long and flowing in the wind and so was the unicorn's mane." 

Does it get more adorable than that?

Every family has one

My oldest child is weird. There's really no gentle way to phrase it. Weirdly imaginative? Today she came home from school and talked for 2.5 hours about her imaginary fox. Or was it a cat? Or maybe both? I got confused (okay, I had to tune it out) after a while, because this is not unusual for her. Whatever it was, a fox or a cat, today it was giving birth, and she had to get home in time to help deliver the babies. Oh yeah--I think it was a cat. I'm pretty sure it had kittens.

Then, with that task finished, she said, "Today at school I was happier than a lizard escaping his predator. Wanna know why?" They dissected owl pellets, that's why. And she found "3 skulls, 2 pelvises, some ribs, maybe a leg bone or something, and some vertebrae!"

When she's not assisting in the birth of fox (or cat) babies, she's creating her own alien museum.

In case you can't read it, the piece above is called "Why does the pickle rule me?"

Can't remember what this guy's name is.

And now below, the piece de resistance: "Cyclopes rules them all." Please note his importance is reflected in the pedestal and glass case surrounding him.

Double your pleasure, double the fun

We hit Pike's Place twice this week with Mom and Jodi.  I took them while the girls were in school on Friday, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves...for good reason.  It was COLD.  

On Saturday the sun came out and we (along with the rest of Seattle) decided to crawl out of our caves and soak up some Vitamin D.  

We went back to Pike's with Kolby and the girls and bought all the fixings for a yummy dinner at home:  fresh salmon, scallops, hedgehog mushrooms, pasta, and a chewy baguette.   It was fun to be the source of all the hollerin'  and fish throwing at the fishmonger stand. 

I never get tired of Pike's Place.  So much to see, people to watch, food to eat, pictures to take.  

We also ventured down to Post Alley to see Seattle's finest:  the Wall of Gum.  Madeline chewed her gum far past it's prime so she could contribute to this incredible art installation.  

 The dinner Kolby made for us with all our Pike's Place finds was so amazing!   Gum for dessert.

I'm a PC

Mom and Jodi are here visiting.   I could post the pics of us eating delicious cookies at Pike's Place Market yesterday.  Or freezing our buns off on the Lake Washington waterfront in Kirkland, trying to find an open restaurant for lunch.  But that would be so touristy.  What I'm sure you really want to see are pics of our trip to the Microsoft employee store.   

This is the new Surface, a huge touch screen you can do amazing things with.  I can't really describe how cool it is, but Kolby says you can check it out here. 

The XBox area of the visitor center was kind of lost on us non-gamers.  

Kolby is a little bitter that I took these photos with my iPhone and am posting them to my blog on my MacBook.  I've told him I will purge our house of all Apple technology when he gets this logo tattooed on his arm.

This blog post is rated PG-13 for strong language. Earmuffs.

When my dad finally gets to come visit, we're going to make up for the crappy year he's had, that's for damn sure.  Seahawks game?  San Juan Islands?  Space Needle?  We're doing IT ALL!  And we're flipping the bird at Winter '08-'09 while we're at it.  

I do think Dad needs to think about hibernation.  The months of October thru April are just not kind to him.  We could fatten him up in August and September to get him thru Winter, roll him up in some cozy quilts, and put him down in the dark basement to sleep for a few months.  When the snow starts to melt he could slowly re-emerge.  Come out when it's safe.  When the months aren't such bitches.

I'm really really bummed that he's not coming tomorrow.  Love you, Dad.   

A girl's guide to boys

Yesterday Amelia was telling me about how  James-from-room-one (she never refers to anyone  by first and last names--just first name + room number) always gives her noogies when she walks by him. When Madeline overheard this conversation about the noogies, she said very sensibly, "Oh, he has a crush on you. That's how you know when a boy likes you.   They usually tease you and pretend they don't like you and give you noogies and stuff so that nobody knows they like you.  But pretty much everyone knows that's how a boy shows he likes you." 

 I hope Kolby gives me a noogie when he gets home.  

Family Ski Day

I've been waiting for this day for four years--our first day skiing as a family.   Felt every bit as good, maybe even better, than I had hoped.   It was lots of work skiing with kids and schlepping more gear, but was still so much fun.  As the kids get more confident with more time on the mountain, I know it'll just get better.  

And I bought my season pass today, which is something I've always wanted to do, but even as we were driving up today I was talking myself out of it.  Maybe I won't get up enough, maybe I won't like the ski resort, blah blah blah.  But I did it, and I'm so happy I did.  It's a great little resort, a gorgeous drive, and so close to our house it almost feels like driving up to Brighton for the day.   So close we can go up Wednesday after school.  

Amelia's first time on the lift.

Our skis.  Found these cute used froggie ones for Mia.

Soggy, exhausted, and happy.

Highlights

Madeline finished her homework tonight, and since I haven't finished mine (that @#$! slideshow/movie), I thought I'd use her essay instead to accompany a few photos from Sunriver. 

My Winter Vacation by Madeline Blackham

On my winter vacation I went to Sunriver. I stayed in a house with a one roomed upstairs with one bathroom, one closet, a balcony, and two bunkbeds (also a bottom bunk was a queen size). We were their with another family who names are Kristin, Nellie, Zoe, Cooper, and Mason.  At one point we whent to the outside mall. I got 2 bags of candy and that's it but that doesn't mean my trip wasn't totally AWESOME! And that's why I had a totaly fun winter vacation.

Games with Nelson's cousins on New Year's Eve

Sadie, the puppy.  I'm surprised Madeline forgot to mention her in the essay.  The girls played with her constantly.

Skiing in our circle after the bummer day at Mt. Bachelor.  The goggles were purely an accessory at this point. 

Kolby performing the soundtrack to Nellie's football games.

Kristin and Nellie with Shorty, the cute one, and Lucy, the retarded one.

All the kiddos playing Wii Sing It.  Except mine.  They're afraid of the microphone.   (Wonder where they got that?)

The ever-patient puppy Sadie with her captors, Mia and Mason

Mother Nature thinks she is quite the comedian

And she laughs at her own jokes.

Isn't that a laugh?  The mountain pass is shut down because of avalanche danger, and as of this morning, they still aren't saying when they'll reopen the resort.  Luckily, this landslide was on just one of the four ski areas at Summit where the kids are taking lessons and where I was planning to finally get my pass for the season today.  Not sure what this means for lessons this weekend, but I'm pretty sure it means I'm organizing my pantry today.

Hermit tendencies

I just think that making new friends is hard.  And kind of sucks.  And I wish I had my old friends here.

That's not to say that I'm not making friends.  I am.  I'm just not enjoying the process.  It feels like work.   And work sucks.

I'd much rather just stay in my house.

Pandora's Box

I'm trying to get back in the swing of things.  The usual January frenzy of organizing, decorating, and  cleaning has replaced the December frenzy of baking, wrapping, and shopping.  I'm trying to get a little movie together of the holidays, but I'm using iMovie for the first time and it's taking me longer than expected, especially since I'm busy organizing, decorating, and cleaning.

But I'm having a love affair with Pandora right now.   We bought decent speakers for the computer a while ago, so I turn on Pandora while I'm cleaning and I'm in heaven.  If you haven't discovered this website yet, you must.   I'm loving my Band of Horses station.  And Joe Purdy.  And Brandi Carlile.  Which is why Quick Mix is so awesome--it blends them all together.