Wednesday: picture

The next one is started!

Tuesday: the day we've been waiting for

Today was layoff day. Ben and I didn't get laid off. Our friends didn't get laid off. In the end, fewer people than expected got laid off...yay.

I'm tired. So is Flurry.

Monday: quilt

The quilt (and pillowcases are finished)! I don't love either of these pictures, but they work.

I like how Flurry looks in this one.

Sunday: eggs

We just started buying some eggs from our friend Luke. He's had chickens for about a year; I'm not sure why it took us so long. Anyway, we now get eggs of all different colors. It is much more interesting.

Today I wore my Flurry outfit...grey pants to match her grey spots, a white shirt to match her fur, and a green sweater that matches her eyes. She's obviously thrilled.

Saturday: wheat

I had to work this morning. I got the thing accomplished that I wanted to, but it is always sad to have to work on the weekend.

In the evening we went to Clay and Jess's for pizza and games. We played a new game called Pitch which is kind of like Euchure but for more players. Then we played Settlers. Clay pulled a devious move in which he traded a whole bunch of people for wheat and then played the monopoly card which let him take all the wheat back. It was a great evening with friends.

Friday: morning

Today I had to get up for work so early that even Flurry thought it was too early...and usually she's up the first time the alarm goes off. This time I had to push her out after the second alarm (she was between me and the edge of the bed.)

The only good thing is that the alarm interrupted a dream that was about to become a nightmare. Nathan and I bought a house. I'm not really sure why, since we weren't planning on being there very often (and therefore hadn't furnished it.) One day it rained really hard, so I went in the basement. Oh my, it was a disaster. The previous owners and left all their stuff down there, and it was leaking like a sieve. There were leaks in the ceiling and a small waterfall coming down the wall.

The rain stopped and we went for a look around. We found some roof snaps that had been undone, so we re-snapped those. We saw the house had a pool and a toddler lived in the house behind us. The landscaping was rather excessive and while it was beautiful I wondered who was going to do the upkeep.

By the time we got to the front door, Ben was with me instead of Nathan. I was about to go inside when I heard a "STOP!!" So I stopped. Ben noticed this odd shaped hole by the front walk and said that he had read about such things in Scientific American. It was a new way to do something really bad to the people in the house. I don't remember what exactly, but really scary. Then a big guy with a beard comes out our front door and the alarm goes off, just in time.

Thursday: sleepy

It was another busy day. I think I dealt with all the super-emergencies, but that kind of left all the normal emergencies ignored. And now it's bed time. Yay bed. My pillowcases are almost done and then it'll be time to put the new quilt on the bed.

Wednesday: highlighters

Today I was using a highlighter and making copies and realized how cool it is that highlighters are almost invisable when you make copies.

That prompted the question...which came first: the Xerox or the highlighter? My guess was the highlighter. I went to wikipedia.

The highlighter was invented in 1962. The photocopier hit the markets in 1959.

Tuesday: work

Work was super busy today. I'm covering for someone on vacation, and things exploded. So not only is there a lot to do, but I'm not very familiar with what is going on. My desk was fully covered with stuff by 10am and it kind of stressed me out. I left without completely cleaning it up, but what's the point? I need it first thing tomorrow.

Flurry hunted a big bug tonight. I flushed it down the toilet.

Monday: 5 question Friday

I'm out of other things to say, so I thought I'd copy some random questions

1. How much time do you spend on the computer a day?

I spend a lot of hours on the computer. Probably 4-7 hours while at work and then 1-5 hours after work. Less on the weekends.

2. Will you pay for your children's college or raise them to pay for their own way?

I don't know; Ben and I haven't really talked about it. However, we have been blessed by not having to pay tuition bills, so I'd like to pay for it.

3. Have you ever been in a car accident?

Only once on Elephant day. It was scary but no one was seriously hurt.

4. What is your favorite book?

Probably "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell, but I do have lots of books that I love. Just ask Jess...she asked for some books to read and I gave her a small library.

5. Do you make your bed everyday?

Lately we have been, partially so that Flurry can get around a bit better. It does make the room look a lot nicer.

Sunday: Flurry and Firefly

Ah, Firefly is streaming on Netflix so I'm watching them again while quilting. I just got finished with the one where they're searching for some people and so look under the place mats. I think that part is hilarious.

Here's Flurry without her cast and the cast, decorated by the vet. Flurry is still getting used to having four legs.

Saturday: happy anniversary!

Today is Dad and Pat's sixth anniversary. I was trying all day to figure out what I wanted to say, and nothing seemed to come together, so I apologize if the following rambles a bit.

Dad and Pat met when Nathan and a friend of his hooked them up. I don't really remember very much about Pat initially, but I did see a wonderful change in my dad. Not only did he start to be excited about life again, but he also started changing habits that I never thought he would. Before he would never drink coffee, and now he has favorite flavors.

Over the years I've gotten to know Pat better and couldn't ask for a better step-mom. I know that she is always there if I need anything and prays for all her children every day. She is a wonderful, caring person with a great sense of humor too.

Happy anniversary Dad and Pat...and I pray for many more to come.

Friday: what I remember

This is what I remember. I know I have forgotten parts or remember parts incorrectly, so feel free to add/change... Watch out, it's a tear jerker.

Mom started feeling terrible mid-February. Really bad. They tried all sorts of different medicines, but nothing worked. I stopped by the house before leaving for a mission trip and she cried because she felt so bad...something that just didn't happen.

While on the trip I learned that they thought it was lymphoma...bad but curable. I called Dad's office later in the week (he later said he was hoping I wouldn't find him). We talked a bit and he asked if he could pick me up at the airport.

I saw him at the end of the concourse and immediately knew that something was wrong. Aunt C, a Bible, and a box of tissue were with him. I was told that Mom had caner and had 6-12 months to live. Dad and I sat in the back of the car while Aunt C drove us home.

At home Mom apologized (as though it was her fault) for being sick. One of the first things she said was that she wouldn't be at my wedding. At the end of the weekend she told me she was proud of me and to keep working hard in school - no one in her family had ever gotten very far. She also said she had so many other things to tell me...and I never found out what they were.

The Friday night before she died Ben and I went bowling and then went to visit Mom. I smelled of smoke and so couldn't get very close, but still got as close as I could. She was lying in bed with only a little light on. Maybe the TV...I can't remember.

Allison and I met on Monday to work on a computer programming project for class and then I went to talk to a consoler at Hope. I have no idea what we talked about although I don't remember feeling very comfortable. Half-way through the session he got called away only to come back and tell me Mom was in the hospital. Apparently they had a really hard time tracking me down. Anyway, this random guy brings me over to the hospital and somehow I end up in Mom's room. And she complements me on what I was wearing. It was a black skirt and a green paisley top - not a shirt I wore very often.

I then found out that she had a really bad infection which has a really low survival rate even in healthy people. For Mom it would mean amputation of at least a leg and she would be on a respirator if she did survive. And the cancer would still be there. So she decided against the operation, and in doing so show me how to die without fear.

Things then get a little fuzzy, but they moved Mom into another room. Ben came over with some different clothes. We must have eaten something because I remember needing a toothbrush and one of the nurses brought one. Things were feeling incredibly out of control so Dad told me all that I had to be in control of was my backpack. Since it couldn't move on it's own or talk or really do anything I accepted that responsibility. Ben went to get a camera for our last family picture...one of the hardest smiles I've ever pretended to smile. The Fremont family came and I know they were there when Mom died, but I don't remember much else. In fact, I don't even remember interacting much with Mom besides saying some last good-byes. Mom's speech quickly deteriorated and I think she died soon after midnight.

Dad wanted me to go home with him and Nathan, but I refused. Maybe he thought everyone would be asleep, but all sorts of people were still up at that time. Ben and I sat in Lichty lobby with the blanket that Mom made for me. I don't know how long we were there, but we talked about how lucky we were to have parents that loved us.

I got to skip classes for the rest of the week. I spent a lot of time at home (I remember doing some math phys on something with vector fields.), but also spent a lot of time at school. I had done poorly at my last materials class so I at least went to those classes. John and Brian took me out to 8th Street Grille for lunch after one class.

I wore my brightly colored skirts for the visitation. I remember it being really busy. Dad met Ben's parents for the first time and Ben met most of my relatives for the first time.

As for the funeral, it again is pretty fuzzy. I remember following the casket out of the church holding on to Ben's hand so tightly because I could barely see through the tears.

I have some fun Flurry pictures.

One night I was looking for Flurry all over, but she wasn't in any of her normal spots. After I had given up I happened upon her on the washer with some of our clothes.

Here she is tonight, hoping that she can get her cast off tomorrow!

Sunday: Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Today we celebrated Easter with Dusty and Laura...we went to church and then had dinner at our house.

Flurry managed to yank some of the padding out of her cast and now she's acting like it is hurting her a little bit. :(

Friday: prodigal

Earlier this year, if you had asked me what the word prodigal meant I would have probably blundered around, coming up with something like "A person who left something very good for something very bad." Well, it turns out that the word means "recklessly extravagant." The prodigal son was a prodigal because he squandered away his entire inheritance, leaving himself with nothing.

We had a church series on the Prodigal God...God gives away his love with reckless extravagance (to sum up 7 weeks in one sentence.) On this Good Friday, I'd also like to put forth the idea that Jesus was a prodigal too. We watched "The Passion of the Christ" at Bible Study. Jesus was tortured and murdered, but as he says, "No one can take my life from me. I give it freely." He had the choice with every step of the journey to end his suffering, but he chose not to. That was prodigal Love.

Thursday: Mars colonist

It's official: not only am I normal, but I could be a Mars colonist!! Hip-hip-hooray!!

http://www.google.com/virgle/application.html#virgle_assessment

"Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs who scored over 130 and instead finish year 3 of law school, tuck your toddler into bed, design Web 2.0 applications, run for Congress or do whatever other normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road thing you're currently doing with your normal, healthy, middle-of-the-road life. If you're determined to give Virgle a try, though, you can submit your video here."

Thursday: what if

Some days I find myself worrying way too much about the "what ifs" of life. It annoys me.

Wednesday: pedometer

I wore my pedometer today. I'm at 7456 right now. Today's walking was probably slightly higher than normal though...yesterday I just broke 6000.

We'll see how long I keep it on. It only totally resets when you download the stored data, which I'm a bit hesitant about. (I think you get like a week or so in between required downloads.) I need to double check the privacy policy.

Tuesday: 701

Post - what is one thing on a post?

mailbox - what do you get in the mailbox?

Netflix - what does Netflix send?

movie - Where are we watching a movie next?

Bible Study - what do we often do with our Bible Study?

Frisbee - what is a game you can play with a Frisbee?

Frisbee golf - what did Ben and I go on one night playing frisbee golf when I almost lost my orange frisbee but we found it?

date - what is the next important date?

April 9 - what happened on April 9?

Mom - what do I get myself on Mom's deathday?

flowers - what is "you don't bring me flowers anymore?" (Someone was singing it...I like the tune.)

song - What do you do with song?

dance - What dancing show do I like?

So You Think you can Dance - Where do I watch this show?

TV - What do you do in front of a TV?

sit - what goes with stand?

stand - How should I stand?

firm - I should stand on firm what?

ground - What is on the ground?

grass - what did the Bible Study girls do down our grassy hill?

roll - what do you put on a roll?

butter - Where do you get rolls and butter?

restaurant - What is my favorite restaraunt?

Dos - what do I like from there?

cheese - what happens when you Say Cheese?

smile - What is part of a smile?

teeth - What do I do with teeth?

eat - What do I eat?

donut

Monday: 700

This is my 700th post. Kind of amazing, actually. There's been some fun posts, sad posts, and boring posts. There are wooden posts and plastic posts. Posts are hard to put in our lawn because there are too many rocks.

I like associating words and since I already started I think I'll continue...good luck figuring out how some of them go together :D

Post

mailbox

Netflix

movie

Bible Study

Frisbee

Frisbee golf

date

April 9

Mom

flowers

song

dance

So You Think you can Dance

TV

sit

stand

firm

ground

grass

roll

butter

restaurant

Dos

cheese

smile

teeth

eat

donut

Sunday: more Flurry

Flurry didn't even try to be subtle about preventing Ben from working today.

Saturday: laundry

At first this just looks like a pile of laundry waiting to be cleaned.


But then you find out that Flurry managed to hide herself in it.


She also helped Ben work today by taking a nap on my laptop case.

Friday: work

Well, I had a nice work day because I left work around 1pm. Unfortunately, Ben is still at work. :( I saw him briefly during dinner with Dusty and Laura, but he didn't stay long.

Here is Ben not working...we can always pretend.

Thursday: hardly hard

Today I was writing the sentence: "To get the connector in the back shell you need to push hard." Then I thought, "oh, hard is an adverb. Should it be hardly? Push hardly. Hardly push. Interesting. Most of the time when you add an -ly it doesn't completely change the meaning of the word."

In other news, I always find it interesting when I have two friends that become friends on facebook, especially since often I have no idea how they would no each other because I know them from two different places. It's a cool friend triangle!

Wednesday: blanket

Today after work Ben and I were cuddling with Flurry (our normal ritual) and I started to fall asleep. (It had been a kind of boring afternoon...busy, but boring. Some days are like that.) Ben asked if I was falling asleep, and I said yes, but I want to get my blanket first. So he got it for me. :D

Flurry has been extra cuddly. Probably because she has nothing better to do, but Ben and I are enjoying it!!

Monday: Flurry's lucky day

Yesterday Flurry finally decided to start cleaning herself again. It wasn't that she wasn't cleaning herself this past week, but she was just cleaning the easy to reach places. Well, during her cleaning frenzy we notice that there was a spot on her good front leg that had no fur and a bump. She kept licking and playing with it, so we figured another vet visit was in store.

We set up an appointment with the vet for this afternoon, but the vet called and said that they had shaved off that area (why? still unknown) and there is always a bump there. We could still bring her in, but it wasn't necessary. We opted for the "not necessary" option.

Sunday: census

Today I filled out the census form. I was kind of excited because I like filling out forms. But then I was rather let down. All they asked, pretty much, was what is your name, age, birth date, gender, and race. Those are boring questions. I was hoping for questions that would get an interesting "snapshot of America" like

"how often do you do laundry?"

"how many trees are on your property?"

"how many computers/person are in your house?"

"of the following list, which adjective best describes you?"

"are you satisfied with your job?"

"do you consider yourself happy?"

"do you buy tuna fish?"

Saturday: a wonderful day

Since today was a beautiful day, we got together with some friends in the late afternoon and played ultimate Frisbee. Yay ultimate! Boo being out of shape. After about 10 minutes I was completely winded. We played a bit more but then the grill was warm so we started the food. Yum picnic! Afterwards we played another round of ultimate which went better, possibly because there were more people and therefore less running.

We continued the night by going to Clay and Jess' for games and desserts. Ah, more fun. We played Nutzee and I lost by one point. I almost tied because my last card to flip was an Ace. I flipped it into my play cards as I yelled Nutzee. I almost pushed it into the middle piles afterwards but decided not to cheat. I'm actually a little saddened at myself that I even considered doing that. Oh well.

There's apparently a bat in their basement, and everyone was slowly going down to look for it. Jess and I were talking and suddenly they come up out of the basement hold a garbage bag with a black thing in it, yelling and running for the front door. Jess jumped about a mile. The black thing ended up being a sock.

It was a wonderful evening spent with wonderful friends.

Thursday: the good things about working too much

1. I'm not closely counting my hours to make sure I have enough.

2. I don't feel guilty about doing a few random things during the day (going to the vet, having lunch, getting bagels for breakfast) that take away from my time.

3. I have an excuse for not doing chores

Those are poor "good" things. :(

Wednesday: x-rays

The vet nicely sent us a picture of Flurry's x-rays. See how on the right "wrist" some of the bones are separated from the others? That's the problem.

Monday: ides

IDES OF MARCH!! I was going to say Happy Ides of March and then realize that it wasn't appropriate. Then I was going to say Sad Ides of March, but that didn't really work either.

So I decided to just yell it.

Sunday: :(

I spent all afternoon and the beginning of the evening in bed and not moving because of a headache and dizziness. :( If I didn't move it at least mostly went away. It's mostly gone now though...phew!

Sunday: happy Pi day!

We celebrated Pi day last night with some friends.

We ate pizza pies,

played poker,

had pies,

and had more pies.

It was delicious and fun!

Saturday: Flurry take 2

Flurry came home today with her cast. The doctor said it was a bit heavier and has a higher chance of irritation due to rubbing, but Flurry is getting around a lot better. She still isn't happy about it, but she doesn't seem as unhappy as last night either. She was missed last night while at the vets though.

Friday: Flurry

Well, last night Flurry was hopping around quite a bit...remember the paw problem from about a month ago? It never really went away. So I called the vet, and then brought Flurry to them for some x-rays.

She didn't have a broken bone, but she did have some bones that weren't in the right place in her "wrist". So they wrapped her up in this huge red splint which she was not happy about and was not afraid to let everyone know.

We brought her home andshe could barely walk. She ended up laying around most of the time because the cast was so big. Then she kind of discovered she could walk if she kept her left side by a wall to keep from tipping over...she proceeded to escape from the bedroom but then didn't know what to do because the wall went the wrong way. I caught her and put her in the bathroom.

Ben and I started eating, and about 10 minutes later we hear some meows. I decide to go get her and put her on my lap. I get in the bathroom and she's managed to turn on the bathtub water, get up on the counter, and get her paw free from the splint.

Back to the vet we go. By now I'm sure she is zonked out as they are going to try and put a cast on her this time. She also is staying over night. :(

Oh Flurry. I didn't even have time to take a picture of your plight.

Thursday: home

Today we came home at a normal time instead of working late. It was wonderful.

We also had some very annoying problems today due to a "/" that was left out of a part number. We figured it out, but about four hours later and with a lot of luck.

Wednesday: last night

Setting: in the bathroom, getting ready to go to work

Amanda: I must have been exhausted last night. I went to bed early and don't remember a thing until the alarm went off.

Ben: Really??? When I came to bed we had coherent conversation about how you couldn't get to sleep.

Amanda: hmm. Well, I was asleep!

Oh, the irony.

Monday: poll

I'm sad to see that sausage without syrup won. I'm happy though that it barely won!

Today was Day 1 of Crazy Days. It was rather crazy, although at least had some lulls during which I got some other stuff done. The weirdest thing today was a type of coax wire that I was trying to get the coax stripper to strip. It had something kind of sticky on the inner conductor so it didn't strip correctly and then the foil was glued to the dielectric...we had never seen that before. I spent quite some time trying get to the foil off without the dielectric and it just didn't work. It turned out that the foil was supposed to stay there.

Aren't you glad to know that now?

Sunday: PB cookies

We had a potluck at church today. It was delicious...and there was plenty of food. (Phew.) I made the super easy gluten free peanut butter cookies and they were a hit! We have a large family that is gluten free at the church, and so these cookies are a good thing to make so they have something to eat. But other people kept coming by and saying how delicious they were. It was a nice feeling.

Saturday: Henry V

Tonight Ben and I went to see Henry V. On the way there we were listening to NPR and they had their two sound effects guys do a sound effect show-down. I think that being a sound effects gal would be my 2nd highest dream job. It was rather awesome.

The play was good. It was the first time I had seen/read Henry V so I missed a lot of stuff, especially in the beginning. We went because we knew the person who did the sets, and they were great! Afterwards we got to go on-stage and take a closeup look which was cool...I'm not sure I've ever done that before.

Friday: how much?

As normal, we went out for dinner with Dusty and Laura. What was unusual is that we had to go to three restaurants before we found one with less than a forty minute wait. Phew. The Mexican place had a table for us right away, although the service wasn't great. Ben and I were waiting in line to pay our bill, and the group in front of us was dividing up their check at the register...normal for this restaurant. What wasn't normal is that after they left the total ended up being $35722.24. The guy running the register didn't look like he was having a good day.

Thursday: date

Ben and I had a date after work...we went to IHOP and then to see The Blind Side. A very enjoyable evening. Unfortunately, as we were leaving the movie theater the headache that had been threatening all day sort of exploded. :(

Tuesday: Travis

Travis came to visit us tonight! Yay!

Monday: syrup

Every time Ben and I have sausage with a breakfast food (pancakes, waffles, etc), we always have a discussion about whether or not syrup is good with sausage or not. I always say "YES!" Ben always says "YUCK!" Hence the survey on the side.

Sunday

This morning we woke up to a beautiful snowfall.

The quilt is finished!

Saturday: snow piles

This morning we finished shoveling. This is a better picture to see how high the drifts were.

Here is the awesome snow pile we shoveled.


And here I am on top of the snow pile!

Saturday1: healer damage

I was healing an instance and two of the dps were so bad that I out-dpsed them on several pulls.

*sigh*

Friday: snowed in

Today I got up, looked outside with sleep still in my eyes, and said, "The roads are clear. We can shovel and go to work." I get outside, take a look, and quickly change my mind. There was a drift at the end of our driveway that was 3.5' tall. Most of the driveway had at least 1.5' of snow. Ben and I went back inside, hoping that it would blow away. (It didn't. We've shoveled just enough to get out with the car in case of emergency.)

The benefit of working from home, besides not getting cranky shoveling, was that Flurry kept coming to sit in my lap. That was very nice.

Thursday: snow

Today we got a snowstorm! Yay! I love snow. Everything was so pretty. The only problem ends up being logistics...I ended up going to work early so I could leave early. The major roads were fine when I came home, and Ben had shoveled the whole driveway! We shoveled again 5 hours later and are debating doing it again before bed.

In case you're wondering, and I know you all are, I went with the green tea smelling lotion. Not because it's a favorite scent, but because the jar is almost gone. The smell was actually a bit distracting as I was going to sleep because it was so different from the old smell.