Ways in Which We Excel

For many years I have been teased about the spreadsheets I use to make my life easier. For example - if you get a Christmas letter from us - and presumably you do or you wouldn't waste your time reading this blog - your name, appropriate salutation and address are stored neatly in an Excel spreadsheet I update every year. If you have ever eaten my "Beef Stroganoff for Engineers" (turns out engineers would make great chefs!) the recipe is saved as a Word document on my PC and is also listed on a recipe spreadsheet under the categories of beef, crockpot and Sunday meals. Laugh if you want to, but every time I take something that I just can't seem to get done properly and apply a spreadsheet to it - it works for us! Baby names are no exception. Aaron and I did the rounds when naming the dogs. The pre-spreadsheet method we came up with was that I would suggest several names, Aaron would say no to them all and I would be in a bad mood for a while. Then we would start this process over again. When it came to naming Braden I didn't want us to go thru the same aggravating steps so I came up with the spreadsheet solution. I copy an entire website of names to a spreadsheet. I go thru and remove the names I like the least and then email the remainder to Aaron. We go back and forth removing names until we come to a name we both like. Since Braden is anxious to have a name for the baby in my tummy we started the process earlier this time - I sent the first draft to Aaron yesterday. It still may take a while before we agree on a single name - but hey - its in a spreadsheet now so I know we will sort it out eventually!

Oh Tommy Boy

Even though I work in computers, I wouldn't call myself a techno-geek really. But I had to blog about a few of the gadgets that we have come to love.

The first is TIVO (we have the dish network version). It is so great to be able to watch the shows you like at a time that is convenient to you - and even better - to skip the commercials. The downside is that we are completely out of touch with upcoming movies and world news. (Or maybe that is also an upside with how things seem to be going in the world lately...)

My second technology love is the GPS. We got a TomTom almost 2 years ago. At first it was fun having it take us to places we normally go (like the store) to see if it knew any shortcuts. It did! (Funn how little we know our local area when it comes down to it!) After doing a lot of road trips last year, however, little Tommy jumped from "fun gadget" to integral member of the family. On long trips we could drive until we neecded a break, check for the nearest park and let Braden play for an hour before we took off. At night we could drive until Aaron was tired and then call all of the close hotels for the cheapest price at the last minute. It made traveling so much easier and so much more fun. I thank that Tommy enjoyed it, too...perhaps a little too much. With the new pregnancy, the traveling came to a screeching halt. Tomtom began releasing from the windshield (and plunging to the floor) and inopportune times - a passive-aggressive attempt to get our attention. When that didn't work - I think he became desperate. I came back to the car after running an errand a few weeks ago and TomTom, all of his accessories, and even our milti-charging unit, were gone.

As we contemplate the possibility of replacing him (which model should we get - are there certain models that are a little more loyal?) I can't help remembeing the good times with Tomtom and hoping that he is enjoying his travels - with whichever family has him now!

Neatly Folded

For those who don't know - and probably many of you don't becuase I don't like to broadcast it - I have a housekeeper that comes 2 times per month for 2 1/2 hours each visit. Her name is Silvana and she is spectacular. She can clean more in those 2.5 hours than most people can clean in 5-10. When she leaves everything is spotless, gleaming and, where applicable, folded into perfect squares. (The physics of it is truly baffling.)

In order for her to get thru the entier house, I do my best to pick up before she gets there so she can just clean. When I forget something - like a few toys on the floor - I will find them neatly organized near the place that they were discarded.

The last Friday she came, I thought I was doing pretty well. I had finished the dishes, made the beds, and picked up the toys and shoes that were everywhere. But when I came home from running errands I realized I had forgotten the most disgusting thing of all - dirty dish rags! Instead of remembering to take them to the wash room I had left them strewn down the stairs to the basement! I have no idea what she thought when she saw them there, but when I got home, I found each of them still occupying the step it had landed on when I threw it down - only now they were neatly folded. Thank you for the laugh, Silvana!

Draper Temple Openhouse

It isn't every week that a new temple opens up in your area so we took the opportunity to attend the Draper Temple openhouse. Though the wait was long, the line thru the temple moved slowly, and Braden appeared incapable of being quiet (talking so much that it even surprised him and he had to sask at one point "am I STILl talking?") it was really nice. Braden loved the oxen statues, the stained glass windows and all of the lights. And of course, the cookie at the end didn't hurt either!

The 3-Wheel to 4-Wheel Conversion

We are not exactly the family you would expect to buy a four-wheeler. But when Braden outgrew his 3 wheeler (aka tricycle), Aaron thought a big boy bike with training wheels would be perfect. (Yes, I know - terrible joke -but then you know my sense of humor so I am sure you saw it coming.) I thought I was humoring Aaron when we went to the toy store to let Braden try to "ride" a bike. I mean, he is 3 years old. I assumed it would be a miserable failure and then we would just order a boot scoot bike like I wanted. After watching Braden navigate the entire store twice, however, it became clear that I was the one out of touch with reality - and Aaron was, in fact, right, as usual.

Since bringing it home, Braden has improved to the point that Friday night we took our second trip to the elementary school (probably almost a mile each way) with Braden on the bike, Aaron running by his side and me waddling behind as quickly as my stretched out joints would carry me. What a strange new world!

Safety Fair

A few weekends ago we took Braden to the Safety Fair at the Sandy Expo Center. I was personally hoping to register his fingerprints with the police department but we never found anything like that. Instead we found fire engines, police cars and a crash test ride (crashing at about 10 mph which actually looked a bit hazardous! Thank goodness Braden wasn't old enough to ride it!) We saw Star Wars characters, heard Spiderman talk about getting exercise and even got a picture with McGruff - the crimg fighting dog. Overall it wasn't what I expected but Braden really loved it - and I guess he is their target audience after all!

Contracting ...

No - I am not in labor - well not the kind that will deliver this baby, anyway. I am spending most of my free time working with a few contractors that we know and trust. I have dragged Braden all over the place looking at materials and colors. And after all of it, I don't seem to be any closer. The casings from the previous blog entry are beautiful and unique but don't seem to be for sale (a potential problem if I ever heard of one).

As a nesting mother, nothing can move quickly enough for me! I long for the day that my furniture is all in the garage and I am totally inconvenienced by workers being in my way and making noise during naptimes. I know I will probably complain about that in a future blog but it sure sounds great to me now!