Any Day Now

Tillman (7 years old) took some pictures of me today. Awesome, right?  I'm not the most photogenic person in the world - pictures aren't my favorite thing. But it's good to document some things.

Angie 36 years old... and also 40 weeks pregnant. (The posing was meant to be funny.)

Noble shot some spinning top thing across the room and caught my attention. 

I've had a bit of a mental shift over the past week. Kind of a pulling inward I think. Mental preparation. Self-preservation? This whole pregnancy has gone by so fast. Almost invisible. It's hardly registered in my mind that it is really going to result in the birth of a baby. And it hasn't just been me. My mom kept inviting us to camp at 9 Mile Canyon with them last week, and again this coming weekend up Big Cottonwood. I had to remind her several times that I had something else on the calendar. A baby. :)

So...finally, something has changed. I'm not sure if other mothers have experienced the same altered state of consciousness. Suddenly, I feel like life is going on as normal around me but I'm sort of separate from it all. Insulated somewhere inside. Getting into the zone. Whatever that zone is. I think it's a useful coping strategy as labor looms ahead, not to mention the physical demands of caring for a newborn. And getting to know A WHOLE NEW PERSON.

Anyway, the time is near (my midwife assures me). I'll see you on the flip side.

A Book Review: Born to Run

So... I finished reading the book I snatched from Mike.  I have to tell you, it is one of the best reads EVER. A true pleasure to read, just like running should be. The story was absolutely incredible. McDougall is a fantastic writer - his style is so conversational. I felt like I was sitting there casually with him while he wove this amazing story, interlaced with running science, philosophy, anthropology, etc., etc. True, it was also well stocked with swears and tough-talking crassness here and there ...but oh, what a story. He was probably a little overstated from time to time; characaturing real people/cultures to fill dramatic roles (villain, hero...). Just like a good story teller would.  :)
 I felt like the take-away matched up with my own running philosophy so well. I was totally uplifted and inspired. I LOVED it!  This one is staying on my shelf.

Mike and I joked last night about giving a second middle name to our baby boy -- Caballo Blanco -- an honorable reference to the main character in the book. Don't worry Mom, we aren't serious. (Still. Caballo is rad.)

Fathers Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend with la familia. It was awesome. Mike's brother, Tim was in town for an optometry conference, and we got to spend some quality time with him. A gorgeous Saturday morning 'constitutional' hike in Neff's Canyon & a really good salmon dinner for Fathers Day with Mike's family that night. Not a bad day.

The hiking was ideal. It was a perfect morning. The seasonal stream was running fast with snow melt.

 Our be-caped super twins...hiking maniacs.

 

Rope swinging in the morning sun.

 We could have stayed a lot longer.
Sunday we had our own quiet Father's Day dinner at home: dill potatoes, a variety of salad greens from our garden, some yummy marinated/grilled chicken, a kielbasa for good measure & watermelon. I also managed to whip up some homemade vanilla bean/peach & mango ice cream with a vanilla bean I've been hoarding from our co-op basket for weeks. Oh my. It was good.

Churning away on the back deck. It went so fast I didn't get a picture of the finished ice cream. Come over some time and I'll make some more for you.

Later, the Sullivan clan came over to our house for a Father's Day dessert get-together. We also celebrated our man Zeke's 1st birthday (how cool is it that it fell on Father's Day?) In the kitchen singing to little Zeke.

As a bonus we also Skyped with Mike's brother, Jimmy and his family, who just got back from a short stint in Costa Rica. It was a good weekend.



Simple Food: The Co-op

In line at pick-up

There are a lot of food/produce co-ops around. I've never joined one until 4 or 5 months ago, even though I think they are a great idea. Usually they required a weekly commitment and other limitations that scared me off. But we finally heard about this one. You can order week by week depending on if you want it. They encourage everyone to volunteer once in a while at pick up, which scores you some perks, and it's pretty loose. We've loved the produce and bread, we've gotten to know a few new vegetables and fruits, AND it saves us some moolah.

For a while a couple of months ago their website was swamped and it was impossible to get in to order. So I wondered about continuing. Apparently demand went through the roof in a matter of weeks (especially in Utah). They rearranged the offering times and that seemed to fix the problem on their site.

Anyway, I'm not looking for more competition on basket ordering day or anything - but this has been a part of our routine here for a while - and I love the food co-op concept. So I had to share. 

One week's basket offering

The thing is, there is always room for more people - as long as some of them are willing to start up another pick up site. It's a good opportunity for community volunteerism. I should do that. 

Sk8 George and other points south

We broke away this weekend and headed south. A little easy-does-it recreation before baby arrives in a few weeks.

We hung out with Mitch-darling's parents, and his brother, Gary, drove up from Vegas to meet us. He brought his girlfriend, Valerie and we got to know her better - we like her even more now.

We visited a few historic homes & swam for a long time. Monday night we caught a show (Little Mermaid) at Tuacahn - which did not disappoint. It even kept Sully speechlessly rapt till 11:30 at night - without a problem. Probably one of our favorite shows that we've seen there. A good time for all.

Noble putting his trunks back on after an unfortunate leap into the pool.

 At Tuacahn.

Thanks to Jacque, we had great seats.

Tuesday - Mike and I took the kids out for a few little hikes up Snow Canyon. My original intention had been to do a day in Zion's. Mike persuaded me that we should come back in the fall for a few days instead. Between me - a gazillion weeks pregnant - and our 3 year old, this seemed like a reasonable compromise. So we took it easy in Snow Canyon. We love that place anyway.

I love this picture of Mike. I'm calling it: "Mike achieves nirvana" - or - "Just before the rapture"

Afterward we had lunch in town and drove out to Hurricane to pay a visit to my Aunt Denise and little cousin, AJ...and the cemetery where my grandparents Sampson are.

Hanging out with AJ on his street in Hurricane.

A really nice trip. We probably won't get out for much this summer with the baby - so I'm glad we got to take the kidz for a little R&R.

Mike goes a little bit native and C.B.S. hits 40

A few months back Mike finally gave in and went for a Dr.'s check up. His cholesterol levels came back "borderline". With that, I began to do what many a loving wife before me has done: nag him about diet and fitness. He's been doing better about eating (his primary problem in the past has been NOT eating - because he gets busy, etc. It takes time and preparation to eat well) - but not so much in the exercise department. Then, out of the blue he came home with a pair of Vibram Five Fingers and he's been INSPIRED. He comes home from his nightly runs wanting to go back out for MORE. What in the...?
He says, "That felt SO good" every time he walks back in the door. I am kind of speechless. But I'm just going to go with it. I started reading the book that he's been glued to lately, Born to Run . It's a pretty entertaining read - and I can see why it might give you a different perspective on running. I've been known to accept crazy alternative stuff before, so it makes sense to me.
When Mike mentioned his new minimalist running hobby to a guy at work who has his own running club, the guy said, "That's kind of like that telemark skiing you do. Kind of cult-ish."     Ha ha ha - awesome.  Mike's response, and over-all life philosophy is just going to be: "Free the heel, man."
Go, Mitch-darling.

The C.B.S. referred to above is not the television network, but my brother, Casey. We celebrated his 40th tonight. Here he is modeling his gift from us - one of Noble's hand printed Nachrool t-shirts.

It's hard to believe that I have a 4o year-old sibling. It puts things into perspective. I really, really think that NO ONE ever had a better big brother than me. He has always been a person without guile, or pretense. Just real...and good. I followed him around most of the first 18 years of my life, looked up to him, trying to do whatever he did. He is one of those people that EVERYONE loves. I think it's because he makes everyone feel important. We love him and his little family so much. Happy 40th, Casey! I'm right behind you.

A Little Birthday for Grace

Grace got a little gypped last year as far as birthday celebrations go. So I wanted to make sure her day was appropriately observed this year. She asked for sushi for lunch again this year, and lasagna for dinner on her birthday.

Her official brithday cake.

Saturday we invited some friends over for what may be the last fancy dress-up birthday we ever do at our house again. She turned 9 this year - and with no other little girls in the queue - this may have been the last hurrah for foofy parties. After reading the Fancy Nancy Tea Party book 25 times, she was determined at least once more. My little girls are growing up. *sigh*

Fancy hair, nails, cupcakes...

Not sure what to expect for her 10th birthday. But this was fun.

Survey Says...(Naming our Baby)

Mike's crossword of all the members of our family plus a couple of front runners for the new baby. We have a few other names in the running besides these.

Jupiter, Pluto & Slick are our pets' names - just to be clear. Although Slick would make a great kid name too. Ha ha ha.

It's tough to name children. I've always thought of it as a heavy responsibility. And since this is our last - it seems like we have to get it right. No redo's or additional chances. 

Everyone who knows us knows that our kids names are all family names, and we would like to keep that going. (It makes it easier when you get the inevitable weird look after someone hears their name - to be able to say, "It's my grandpa's name." They can't really argue.)

Here's the thing about naming children: everyone has strong opinions. I don't exclude myself. I've been known to shake my head a little at some names that parents use (I'll be honest right now. My big pet peeve is "unique" name spelling. ugh.). Mike's grandma Searle once said "to each their own" in reference to naming children, and I've tried to make that my philosophy. Every parent has the prerogative to name their children & I think most parents try to do their best with that responsibility. And who's to say what the "best" names are?

We have about a month to go before baby comes. We really need to get on the ball about what we are going to name him. We have a few finalists - but we're a little bit stuck. I kind of dodge the topic with people when they ask what names we have picked out - because sometimes I'm afraid of hearing every one's opinion. The worst is getting a negative response to one of your favorite names...because it wouldn't be on your list in the first place if you didn't really like it. It's almost like being put on warning: "If you DO name your child that, I will think it is SO lame." My resolution for etiquette when in the future someone tells me the names they are considering for their baby: compliment the ones I like, or find something neutral to say.
Parents need all the positive they can get. And a baby is a miracle no matter what crazy name their parents give them. Right?

An Update on our Wrestling Friend and a Little Mood-Lift

You may recall our first glimpse into the world of wrestling. Apparently the big league of professional wrestling has a reality cable show called "Tough Enough" where contestants compete for a professional wrestling contract. I guess it shouldn't have surprised Mike when he heard that his former employee (they work in different parts of the company now) had a leave of absence to be on the show. (I still can't believe that they approved a leave of absence for something like that...whatever.) Anyway, Mike and his colleagues have been following developments on YouTube reruns over the past several weeks...and since he can't keep it to himself, he's had me watch a few as well.
I wouldn't recommend it -  (reality tv bugs me like crazy, never mind stuff like pro-wrestling) but it has been pretty fun watching Martin make his way through his 15 or 20 minutes of fame.  It ended with this heart breaker.

You should know that the previously eliminated contestants were all sort of bullied off the show - so they were really nice to Martin. I think because he was actually on track to win - and because he wasn't a big dork. Mike says he has been pretty bummed at work. I don't want to make fun of his dream or anything, but I think he'll be ok.  Sorry Martin. You are tough enough in my book. 

And - I've been enjoying this song more lately. So - if you need a little boost today...

The album version is better - but it's always fun to see it. You can stop the vid after about 4 min - he's just killing time after that. His base player looks like a young Bill Gates. And that kind of makes me smile.
Have a nice day. :)

Mothers Day is Coming to Town

And Noble presented me with an early Mothers' Day gift (I think he may have been trying to smooth things over - he was in the hot seat over a late school project he was finishing up).

It had the desired result. Thank you Noble. I love that he left un-checked: Silly, Energetic & Crafty. ha ha ha.

Mike has to go in to work this Mothers' Day - which he is having guilt about. I told him no worries. I feel like the most blessed woman in the world anyway.

I often feel like a mediocre-at-best kind of mom/wife/contributor to civilization. I think a lot of women feel the same at times. A little nagging self-doubt. I think we all want to feel a lasting confidence and comfort with ourselves and our experience. The good news is that seems to grow as we grow. Keep up the good fight ladies.

Happy Mothers Day to all - especially the two moms who balance my life. We will be hanging out with Mike's mom this Sunday. She is so generous and dedicated to her family. We love her so much. She takes SUCH good care of us.

My own mom will be out of town this Mothers' Day - bushwhacking to Toroweap Point with my Dad. Here's a photo of some of us at Toroweap - circa 1995. I have to tell you, it makes me a little dizzy to think about it - even now. It's pretty remote - and the National Park Service website emphasizes, "no one should attempt the trip without ample preparation and knowledge of the hazards associated with remote desert travel." Not that any of that would help you if you stumbled over these cliffs. We literally CRAWLED, pancaked to the edge. Don't even ask about how my Dad got where he is. (It makes me white-knuckled to think about.)

It's an impressive place.

That's my mom on the left, next to me. One of the things I love about her is that she is adventure girl. Life was/is always exciting with her.

Have a great Mothers' Day weekend, mom! - and remember to harness-in if you venture to the edge.