Valentine's Day!

I had a GREAT Valentine's Day.

• I made some money at work
• I got chocolate
• Randy got me flowers - roses and daisies, my fave
• He made me a Valentine
  
• We went out to dinner - Mimi's Cafe, yum
• Randy cleaned the kitchen

And if that weren't enough (and Hello, it should be!), he got me these sweet birds. From Etsy (of course), and all the way from the Ukraine. How awesome is he? Completely awesome, and I know you are all jealous. Too bad.

My Biggest Blessing

Of all the many things I have to be thankful for, one stands out. He has been there for me during every single challenge I've faced this year. The death of my dad, my worsening health, financial stress, my own surgery and my daughter's, the opening of my new business, and my extreme emotional ups and downs. He's driven kids all over the state, cleaned up messes, done mountains of laundry, been grocery shopping and planned meals, juggled finances to pay for all the medical expenses, accompanied me to doctor visits and the hospital, made dinner night after night after night, worked at a full-time job, and held me when I cried. And he's done it all with scarcely a complaint. Why? Because that's what a real man does. He takes care of his family. I am the luckiest woman on the planet, and it's all because of this man.



I love you, Randy! Thanks for the best 20 years of my life. I can't imagine being without you.

19 Years

Happy Anniversary to Us!

19 years together, and he's still my sweetheart! I am so blessed to have such a great guy in my life. When we got married, I was so crazy about him. Now that we have been through so much together, I know that what I felt then was only a taste of what I feel now. Here's to my guy, my Randy!

My Hero

This post is another rave about my husband! I was driving to Salt Lake today because my iPod was broken, and customer support told me that they could get me a new one at the Gateway store. I was on I-15 when I saw this busted tire in the lane - you know, after someone has had a blowout. I couldn't really swerve too much to avoid it without causing an accident, so I tried to miss most of it. Instead, I immediately hear this horrible scraping noise coming from my van! So I eased over to the shoulder and took a look underneath. Something was hanging from the bottom of my car! I thought the muffler had just come off and was dragging against the pavement.

I got back in my car, feeling like an idiot, and called Randy. He told me to get off at the next exit, which was fortunately just a few hundred yards away, and meet him at the gas station. So I drove on down the road, car screeching the entire way, thinking that this was not going to be cheap.

After a short wait, he showed up and took a look under the car. Good news, for once. It turned out that the tire had knocked the cover off the exhaust system (don't ask me to be more specific, because I can't!) and he got the thing loose and pulled it off the car. Screeching sound was now gone, and I have a nice hunk of partly rusted metal in my car, with the edge that hit the pavement worn nice and shiny and sharp.

So thanks, honey, for saving me! I was all set to call for a tow truck and say goodbye to my trip to the Gateway. Oh, and yes, I did make it downtown, and got a replacement iPod for free. And that's my happy ending.

End of Soccer

Thanks to everyone who reached out after my last post. I appreciate the support.

But this post is all about:
WILL!

As you can see from the photo, he's been crazy busy with soccer. The first part of the season in August/September, his team was undefeated, with one tie and 11 wins. This time around, they did have at least one loss (and one truly shocking example of bad sportsmanship by the coach on the winning team), plus Will missed a couple of games. But he worked hard when he was there, and really improved on his skills.

This last game was the best yet! We weren't sure if it would be canceled because of rain, but we went anyway. After waiting (and thinking for a while that we were playing Coach Grumpy again!), we realized the other team wasn't coming. So Coach Lacerda ordered the parents onto the field!

Randy was nominated as team captain. Mr. Palmer filled in as goalie for the first half, and I could see where his son Zach gets his talent! I was a defender and Randy was a forward. Would you believe by the half we were winning?! It's true! At the second half, Randy played goalie for a while with Mr. Lacerda being our best forward and Jake's little brother being a great midfielder. The boys' team had all the boys on the field for the entire game, but we parents got LOTS of substitutions, with parents and siblings all rallying to the cause. And the parents won! We named our team the Old Goats and won by 2 goals. Nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me. I wound up playing about half the game, with Randy in a little more than me. But no blood was shed, and we all walked off the field, so I think that in itself was a triumph.

We celebrated with a trip to Arctic Circle, where Will showed us his new medal and enjoyed an Oreo Mint shake. I'm worn out, but Randy went to take the girls bowling!

Our Anniversary Getaway

Randy and I had our anniversary last week and decided to celebrate by having a little getaway. So Friday night, my mom came over to keep an eye on the kids (and spoil them a little!) and we drove up to Salt Lake.

Of course, once we got there, we realized that we had left the camera at home! But he got a few pictures on his cell phone, which I may add later. But the rest of these pictures I found online. Hooray for the internet!

We stayed at the Hotel Monaco, a funny little building downtown on Center Street and 200 South. It's a tall, narrow building, as you can see, and it used to be a bank.

When we pulled up, the first thing I noticed was the valet parking. Very nice in Salt Lake, not to have to worry about finding a parking place.

Here's the cool sign. And notice the little carved faces on the building.

This is a picture of the lobby, complete with fireplace and lots of comfy couches. They also have a pet friendly policy, but I really couldn't see our two cats enjoying a trip! If you left your pet at home, they have some goldfish you can borrow and enjoy in your room. But Randy and I figured we'd be fine on our own!


This is the very fancy couch right inside the front door. Wouldn't you love one like that? I can totally see our cats enjoying it. Hmm. Maybe we'll keep our plain couch.

This was what the rooms look like. Ours had only one bed, of course, plus a little sitting area.

When I was exploring where everything was, I opened the closet to find their own leopard print clothing line. Yes, we could have matching leopard print terry cloth bathrobes, sock, and boxers or nightgowns (for a fee, of course). How swell! But again, we decided to decline.

After checking in, we headed to the Gateway to the Clark Planetarium. Did you know that admission is completely free, all of the time? The only thing you have to pay for is the movies, and those are optional. We did want to see a movie, so we got tickets for the "Under the Sea in 3D" movie. It was really fun! Except I didn't really care for the sea snakes swimming right at my head. But the sea lions were very friendly. One even blew us a kiss!

You can't visit the planetarium without checking out the pendulum.

After that, we were hungry, so we looked around the Gateway for someplace yummy. It was Friday night, and every place we went was crowded, with outrageous waiting times. So we were relieved to find The Counter.

It's a burger place. The smell alone was enough to bring us in. I was starving! I was very diligent on my diet all day so I could indulge when we went out. We got a seat at the counter. When you place your order, first you pick your patty - beef, ground turkey, chicken, or veggie - then you pick the size. Then you get to pick out your toppings, your cheese, and a sauce. Randy went for horseradish and avocado; I went for ginger soy and pineapple. See the picture? They really are that tall. Then we got an order of sweet potato fries to split. They gave us a TON of fries and they were super good. They serve them with the horseradish and it is just fantastic.

The next day was fun too, but I'll post more about that later. Anyway, we had a great night.

My Sweetheart

Randy and I have a lot to celebrate in the 2-3 weeks between February and March. We could even start with Will's birthday on the 8th, then we have Valentine's Day, then Randy's birthday on the 27th, then our anniversary on March 2. This year will be 18 years together. So even though both of us have been feeling sick, we went out together for lunch today.

We went out to the Olive Garden and it was really yummy, even if we had a short wait. We both love their Zuppa Toscana, which is potato and sausage soup with a cream base. Super good, but I'm sure it's not low cal. Still, it felt great on a sore throat.

Then on the way home, we were talking about how long we've been together and remembering different things. Then Randy said the sweetest thing. "You're getting better as you get older." Which was sweet, because I'm 39 now, and not exactly in the same shape that I started in. Then he said, "And you were pretty good to start with!"

So that's my sweetheart. I would post a picture, but we both were looking a little rough around the edges, which is only to be expected as we've all been sick for a while.

Happy Valentine's to my sweetie and everyone else!

Random stuff

Just a few random thoughts to share. I'm still working out, using the Wii Sports almost every day. And hey, shoveling snow is quite a workout too! And I haven't had any soda, but I still miss it sometimes! I think it's just that I used to get a soda sort of as a reward for doing something that I didn't want to do.

The kids are getting back into school. We started a new semester for the girls, so new classes. Both of them have PE. I remember how much fun that was. (NOT) At least Ellen gets to do archery for PE!

Randy is feeling better. I don't think I blogged about our trip to the emergency room earlier this month. Randy felt like his chest was hurting, and not wanting to take any chances but feeling that we were probably overreacting, we went to the hospital. After several tests and lots of questions (Are you a diabetic? Do you have any heart problems? Do you use cocaine?), they decided he had pleurisy. Which is inflammation around the lungs, is probably viral, and very uncomfortable. I wasn't sure he'd be recovered by the Klondike Derby next weekend, which is the big camp-in-the-snow event with the Boy Scouts, but it looks like he'll be fit to go. Will is relieved, but Randy wouldn't argue if the doctor ordered another week of rest.

And my 999 reading challenge is going well, 12 out of 81 books finished so far. I really LOVED 'The Graveyard Book' by Neil Gaiman. And 'Airman' by Eoin Colfer is also very good. And this is reading weather, isn't it? I miss the sun!

Playing ketchup

Just a little 'ketchup' on what's going on around here.

Randy, Ellen, and Sarah went to see 'The Sound of Music' with our own neighborhood star. Joe was playing the oldest Von Trapp son. They saw Joe's family and the Moores. Ellen's friend Katie Beth was working as a techie. Three thumbs up!

Randy got the new iTouch from work and we've all been envious. He got the new Spore game for it and I've been playing - too much! It's really cool, but the battery sure doesn't last long.

Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving? I was going to get some cleaning done today, but it didn't happen. We did clean the fridge out to make room for the turkey. We are going a more eclectic route, with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, plus a pasta entree and stuffed mushrooms for the vegetarians and turkey haters in the family. I'm doing the pies. I will post some recipes on my food website, so please check them out.

I went back to Dr. Reichman, the neurosurgeon. Still didn't get to see him, but that's okay. I am feeling so much better that I think surgery can wait, maybe forever. They gave me a new prescription that has really helped with my headaches and the massage has done some great things for the sciatica. I'm still not sleeping great, but I don't know how to fix that yet.

And I'm back at work as of Wednesday. So if you're at the mall and want to see me in my See's Uniform, stop by and say hello!

That's about it for now. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and Count Your Many Blessings!

School update

We're about 3 weeks in to school, and a few minor problems already. Will really likes his teacher. He's had a bit of trouble with bullying, but I think we have it all sorted out. He's busy with soccer - I'll post some pictures soon - and he's enjoying that, but having trouble making new friends as all his old friends are going to other schools now.

Sarah is having a great year so far, at least as far as her grades go. She is pretty happy with her classes and has good friends to sit with at lunch every day. She is loving her foods class and drawing and painting.

Ellen is settling in to this new routine. She has a few classes at school and rest are at home and she has another teacher checking her progress once a week. So mostly, she's working on her own. For now, that seems to be fine. She's already finished 1984 for her English class and is working on her other course work.

And I am getting the hang of all the various things I have to keep up with. I finally figured out that I need to keep a pocket calendar handy and write it all down or there's no way I would remember what I'm supposed to be doing that day.

My big appointment with the neurosurgeon is September 16 and I'm hoping for good things. Right now I'm not even sure I'm having surgery, but it looks that way, and I will post more when I know more. I'll be so glad to finally talk to the doctor! This waiting has been really hard.

Randy is working hard and keeping busy with the Scouts. We've both had some car repairs to worry about, but I hope that will be done soon.

So that's what's going on at the Bohn household. Nothing really exciting, but maybe that's a good thing!