Ugh! Cars, women and snow don't mix well!

I'm so ready for the snow to stop falling already... oh, and for the wind to stop blowing as well. I REALLY HATE driving in snow. Here's a little story as to why.

Last night I wanted to get to my Weight Watchers meeting early because last week it was packed. We have gotten a LOT of snow recently, so the already precarious parking situation at the Presbyterian church where the meetings are held was worse than usual since you couldn't tell where the lines were. At this church, the parking stalls along the road (there is no parking lot) are diagonal. This guy had parked his sedan a little too straight, not leaving enough room between him and the other guy for someone to park, so I kept going to park on the other side of him. I honestly don't know how it happened, but as I pulled in the next spot, I somehow clipped his back bumper with SOME part of my van... though I still can't tell where. In my defense, him being parked badly was part of the problem, but I obviously pulled in too close and didn't judge well how long his car was. I think I scratched the paint more than dented it, but either way, I felt terrible! This guy was PISSED and really rude to me, even as I became more and more vehemently apologetic. It was an AWFUL moment for me, full of adrenaline and some unshed tears. I gave him all my insurance information once we got inside the meeting and he cooled down a bit. By the time the meeting was over, he was much more civil and even admitted that it probably didn't do much damage.

When my insurance agent called me this morning, he reported that the guy estimated very minimal damage. Since it won't likely be a very costly repair (at worst, some paint touch-up), we'll be able to take care of it privately. I'm still just so frustrated that it happened in the first place, and very confused that I can't even tell from my own car how/where it happened! Oh well. I'm just so grateful that it wasn't worse and even more grateful that I have a husband that is an excellent driver in the snow! I will avoid driving for a little while! Glad I'm done with work for a couple weeks!

At least going to the meeting wasn't a total waste. I lost 1.4 pounds. I was shooting for an even 2 pounds so I could reach the 25 lb loss mark, but that will give me something to shoot for in a few weeks after the holidays are over. I really don't want to show a GAIN this time like I did after Thanksgiving. So, for now, I've lost 24.4 pounds! Now, I just need to get through a handful of delicious parties.... (sigh!).

A Breakthrough!

Charlie can now say "Canon"!!!!

For a very long time, Charlie has called BOTH his brothers, "Andy." I'll give it to him, "andy" is easier to say, but Canon's name is not Andy. I'd even sit down with him and a picture of each brother and ask, "where's Andy?" He would point to Andy and say, "Andy." Then I would ask, "where's Canon?" and he'd point to Canon and say, "andy." I'm sure he just decided that "andy" was the word for brother. But today, he was walking down our stairs to give something to Canon and he just kept saying it over and over and over... "canon, canon, canon!"

Maybe now, he'll learn to say "yes" when he means yes, instead of "no" for when he means yes AND no.

The Spirit of Christmas Strikes AGAIN!

This Christmas season has been incredible so far. We've been very lucky to be able to go to two different "major production"-type Christmas programs already and both times they have been absolutely AMAZING! Early in December, Paul and I went to Glenn Beck's show, "The Christmas Sweater" when it came here to Salt Lake City. It was a two-man show (if you don't count the orchestra on stage) packed with emotion. I listen to Glenn's radio program a lot, went to his Christmas show last year, have read his book "an inconvenient book," and every month I read his Fusion magazine. So, I feel like I know a little of Glenn's story. This program, and the book it was based on, are basically his story but told in a fictional way. He did an excellent job taking a life changing moment in his life and turning it into a story that others can connect and relate to. It's the story of redemption and how the Lord is who will help you travel through life's storm(s). It's a story reminding us all that we are worth the journey to the other side of those storms. It was very powerful in a nontraditional way. After the show, I was happy to find and impressed to see this website called Face Your Storm to read some of the stories others have shared of the storms they've faced. If you've got a minute, it's worth a little of your time.

I wanted to add something here... I'm grateful for the help I've also received from the Lord as I've passed through a few little storms in my life. Compared to many, it may seem like I haven't passed through any significant storms, but we all have, and all do, and all will pass through storms. I know the Lord is not done with me yet, and that undoubtedly, there will be storms yet to come that would make me shake and tremble if I were to know them in advance. I admit to being somewhat fearful of this fact of life, however, I truly BELIEVE. I believe in Christ. I also trust Him. I've seen His hand perform many miracles in my own life and in the lives of many I know. When those storms come, He'll help me be ready. What peace that brings me.

Moving on... The next weekend, we luckily got the opportunity to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert. It's cliche to say it, but it was very powerful. I've always been impressed by incredible talent, and this concert was PACKED full of it. The special guest singer they brought in was broadway star, Brian Stokes Mitchell. I had never heard of him, but now I won't forget him. This man had such an incredibly versatile voice, and he had arranged some of the songs they performed that night. The people behind putting this show together should feel an immense feeling of satisfaction... they did an incredible job. The power behind the orchestra and the choir as they sang some of my favorite songs about the birth of Christ brought many tears. What can I say, I'm just a big fan of Jesus! I'm so excited about this upcoming Christmas.

Another cool thing happened while attending the MoTab concert... I had one of those moments when you realize that you truly have a dream. A dream that with all your heart, you hope it will be fulfilled someday. I may or may not have the talent required to fulfill it, but I truly hope that SOMEDAY I get the chance to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I don't know that we'll live in Utah the rest of our lives, and right now would not be the appropriate season of life to pursue it, but I'm going to throw it out there to the Lord and the "universe" that this is something I really want. I've sung in several great choirs, but they have all been small scale. I truly have a love of choral music, and listening to the choir perform live just stirred up a desire to join my voice with theirs. It's one thing to sing in a church choir, another thing to direct a choir, but there is nothing like immersing yourself in beautiful music with hundreds of other voices and presenting something so powerful to those willing to listen. I've had a few moments like this in my life, and would love the chance for more. There it is! I hope the Lord and the universe are reading my blog! While I'm talking dreams... what are some of yours?

Paul had one of those "I have a dream" moments on Saturday watching the end of the Ironman race in Kona on TV. He just said, "someday," and I knew how he felt. I'll do what I can to support him in accomplishing it, though I dread the idea of how many hours upon hours of training that will take away from our family! YIKES! I don't know, singing with the choir sounds a WHOLE lot more fun than killing your body for 10+ hours! Right?!

Oh, what a "filling"

As mentioned in my last post, I had the lovely opportunity to visit the dentist this past Monday. I have shamefully admitted to a couple friends how long it's been since I last visited the dentist, but I still won't admit it here on the blog. Anyway, the dentist and his assistant were impressed that it wasn't worse and even commented that I must have been standing in the right line in heaven when it came to picking "dental genes." Apparently, I have very "cleanable surfaces" and strong teeth. I'm also willing to give some credit to my Sonicare toothbrush! Unfortunately, there was a bit of a shadow on one of my molars (that already had a filling) and I needed to get it redrilled and refilled.

So I had the work done on Wednesday morning, and I had forgotten that it takes a LONG time for nerve blocking medicine (such as novacaine and whatever epidurals are made of!) to kick in full force for me. I waited and waited for the first injection to work and since my tongue was numb, he got started until I was wincing at every touch of the drill. So he gave me more and I waited and waited some more. Even though my lip wasn't numb yet, I told him to go ahead and do it. I felt WAY more of the drilling than I wanted to and once he was done and I was leaving the office, my tongue, gums and lips were finally COMPLETELY numb... and stayed that way for the next 4 hours. Nice. Sidenote, this was the reason I was willing to try delivering Charlie natural, without epidural. I hated being numb for hours on end after the baby was born. I ended up getting one, unfortunately, due to the pitocin situation, but oh well.

Now I have a new filling that isn't quite low enough and it feels different than the others I have. It feels like I always have food in that tooth. Yuck. But I AM counting my blessings that my situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for blessing me with good teeth! I really appreciated it this week!

Just an update... nothing exciting.

I've never done just a boring blog like this one is about to be, but I just feel like documenting this week because it seemed so busy and just flew by.

Monday- spent the day driving home from Colorado. Despite some bad weather at the beginning of the trip, we made it in some decent time. Got back in time for Paul to take Andy and Canon to a little of a Flash basketball game. I stayed home and put Charlie to bed!

Tuesday- went to work at Channing Hall. Got home and set up the Christmas tree we inherited from my sister. This sucker is huge (not too tall, but really fat & round)... no wonder she got rid of it! She gave me some ornaments to fill it up, but I'm not a big fan of blue Christmas decorations, so it stood lit, but otherwise naked for a couple days.

Wednesday - struggled with the decision to spend my morning working out or cleaning the house. Ended up going to the gym. Picked up carpool, dropped off the kids and went to work at Merit Academy for a couple hours to see what kind of caseload I've got there. Thankfully, it's small to start with! Let's hope it stays that way. Took the kids up to Orem for a playdate while I ran some errands to pick up an audiometer I borrow from an old classmate and to Costco. Found Charlie's main Christmas gift and some smaller things. I'm ALMOST done! Ended the night by stopping by the ward enrichment night bake-off, but I didn't eat anything. I was too nervous about Thursday's weigh-in.

Thursday - went to work at CS Lewis. Afterwards, went straight to Parent/Teacher conferences and was VERY happy with the results. Andy has moved up 2 groups in spelling and was doing just what he needed to in math and reading. He's now perfectly average!!!! YAY! Canon is also starting to calm down a bit lately and is able to focus and learn more this way! Phew! Last conferences weren't this positive. Later, went to my weight watchers meeting and had gained 2.2 lbs. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So frustrating, but it could have been worse, I guess. Finished off the night with putting our old ornaments on the tree. I'm in some serious need of revamping my ornament collection.

Friday - went to work at Channing Hall again, then straight to Provo Canyon to see three of my students there. Got home at 4:30 and got the house more presentable for our primary students to come over. We took three of them (only half could make it) over to my in-laws for pizza and a movie. We watched Kung Fu Panda with them and kept it low key. We needed to reward our 11 year-old group for fully participating in the Primary program in November - they're at that age where they're just too cool for school! We really like our current class and will miss them in a few weeks when they (and we) move on to the next group.

Saturday - went swimming with Paul and ran a mile on the treadmill in the morning. Took the kids with me to Melanie's (SIL) so we could discuss and plan out our Christmas gift for Paul's mom and dad. Hung out at home (which means cleaning) until about 5:00 when our babysitter came over. We got tickets to go to Glenn Beck's Christmas show, "the Christmas sweater," and made a nice date out of it. Got chinese food for dinner and drove up to SLC for the show. I'll give a review of the show in another post. It was AMAZING. You should read the book! What a great Christmas message.

Sunday - slept in AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Went to church, taught the lesson, yada, yada... Held choir practice (which Emily didn't come to AGAIN!!!!! You're so gonna get it!) and then headed over for my birthday dinner with Paul's family. Both Melanie and I (the two girl-in-laws in the family) have December birthdays. Last year, with the hustle and bustle of the season, we didn't get a birthday dinner. You may be saying, "what's the big deal with that?" Well, in the Croshaw family, for your birthday dinner, we go around the table and everyone says something nice about you. Lately, we've been picking one word that describes that person the best for you. So, Melanie and I have had to, I mean gotten to say nice things about everyone else twice without hearing something nice in return. Even though this family is incredibly inclusive, it's natural to feel like an outsider with your in-law's sometimes. I really missed not getting my dose of positive reinforcement last year. So today, it was great to hear some good feedback from these family members that I love and get to spend lots of time with. Nobody even visibly struggled to come up with something for me... well, maybe Preston squirmed a little coming up with "enlightening", but I don't blame him! I always tease that they'll have to say something like, "hygenic" or "punctual" because they can't think of anything positive to say! But, as I already said, it was nice and everyone was wonderful.

So, there's my week. It was a little over-packed and I realize that I didn't get to spend as much time with my boys as I would have liked. At least this upcoming week, I'll get to follow more of my "normal" schedule with some more time off. I really struggle on the weeks I need to work every day. Tomorrow I get to go to the dentist! I won't admit how long it's been, because it's positively shameful. Wish me luck! I'm sure I'll have something to blog about after I get through it.

Why do I do this?

Today, I was supposed to have spent all day in the car. Unfortunately, a biggin storm blew in last night and in order for us to get home, we would have needed chains to get through the mountains. We ended up staying here another day and tomorrow, I get to spend the whole day in the car! CAN'T WAIT!!! So, with extra time on my hands, and nowhere to go (it is Sunday with snow everywhere afterall), I worked on a project... a project that involved sewing... lots of sewing... lots of steps... lots of pins, ironing, ribbon, etc... and this project took me ALL DAY!

The project itself did not need to be so time consuming, but I'm a bit of a freak and instead of making "some", I made 35. That's right, THIRTY-FIVE. It would have been more, but I cut a TON of them out wrong. I had gone to the store last night and bought a few different patterns of material. This project doesn't require lots of material, and I didn't want to waste any of it, so I just kept cutting them out! I can't believe I made that many... I don't even have this many friends! Actually, I do plan on keeping 5 of them for myself, considering I invested an entire 24 hour time period to making them! All I can figure is that when I get in "craft mode," I'm always mass producing things. Card exchange and stamp club require me to make 10 of every card I design/copy. I send out over 80 Christmas cards each year. Making little gifts for teachers requires at least 4. In the least, it's understandable that I would make a bunch, but I definitely went overboard!

So, why haven't I told you what I made? Because I made 35 of them and will need to be giving them to people. I honestly don't know how many people actually read this silly little blog (I'm sure not many), but I wouldn't want to spoil any potential surprises since I'll be using as many of them as possible as Christmas presents.

Ah well, at least they're done (well almost!). I could have spent the whole day reading or watching football like Paul did, so I don't consider it time wasted. I do feel satisfied that I spent the day doing something creative and I'm now quite comfortable with operating a sewing machine!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

We're here in Colorado for Thanksgiving and I'm so glad! I realized yesterday that it has been FOUR years since I've been home for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm not going to disrespect the delicious turkey dinners I've had at the Croshaw's the last 3 years, but there's nothing like the food you grew up with. My dad pretty much makes the entire meal (with TONS of support, of course) and he's an excellent cook. The food I'm most looking forward to, even if it may only be a couple bites, is the yams, the stuffing, and the pumpkin pie. As Charlie would say, "mmmm, mummy!"

I went running yesterday morning with Paul and again this morning to help me feel better about the fact that I'll be going WAY over my point allotment today! I'm not going to worry about LOSING any weight at next weeks weigh-in, but I really don't want to have to RE-LOSE any weight that I've already lost. I'm up to 22 lbs now and want to keep it that way.

So, considering this is a Thanksgiving day post, it would be logical for me to list some of the things that I'm thankful for, but I probably do that too much on this blog anyway. I'll just say, I'm grateful to know in advance that 1 piece of pumpkin pie is 9 points. Knowledge is power!

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday with your families!