• Christmas was good.  The King wanted this year to be “magical” for Babboo.  We figured we only have a few good years of him totally believing in Santa Claus and we’d better take advantage of it.  Needless to say Babboo was spoiled a little more then I’m totally comfortable with.

• For the first time in our ten year marriage The King and I sat down and wrote out actual goals for 2011.  One of them is to go out on a Date Night at least once a month (for a total of 15 times in the calendar year.)  We’re going out tonight and again next Monday.

• Speaking of next Monday….we’re going to see Rhett Miller and The Old 97’s!!!  Hooray.  We haven’t seen them since back when I was knocked up.  We’re both pretty excited.  The King’s already written up the songs he wants them to play.  And I’m trying to get up the courage to DM Rhett Miller to see if we can get back stage.  Gulp.

• One of my personal goals for the year is to post to my blog at least once a week.  Back in December I paid for my blog for the next year.  I want something to show for the money I paid.

• One of The King’s goals is to be more consistent in doing yoga.  He decided that he wanted to go off dairy to help him with his flexibility.   There are two things I don’t like about this:

• • He didn’t discuss this before hand with the rest of the family, so Babboo and I didn’t have a vote.
  • Dude, I DO NOT want to go off dairy.

• We’ve recently become obsessed with both Nick Kroll.  You must search the interweb and listen to him.  Our favoritea are El Cupacabra and the Ed Hardy Boys.  We can’t stop saying “que pasa baby” at our house. Even Babboo says it.

• And I know we’re about ten years behind on this, but we’ve also recently become obsessed with Tosh.0.  We DVR’d all of the old episodes and have been watching them the last few weeks.  Tosh.0 reminds me of why the internet is so awesome.  And for that, I thank him.

• Due to policy changes at the school district my dad has taught at for the last 24 years he was forced to retire over Christmas break.  It was either that or lose his pension.  He had two days to make the decision and once he submitted his paper work he couldn’t return to work.  No time to say good-bye to his students or prepare them for it.  They just came back after Christmas break to find that their favorite teacher was no longer there.  And so now my dad is retired and wasn’t mentally prepared to be retired yet.  He’s recently become even more obsessed with Facebook and his status updates are getting a little creepy.  I hope nobody tell him about Twitter.

• • Seriously, don’t tell him.

• While I was on maternity leave the company The King works for moved a block away from my office.  Again for the first time in our ten year marriage we’ve been meeting for lunch every now and again.  It’s pretty cool to spend time with him away from Babboo and Rerun and be reminded that we actually enjoy each others company and that we can still make each other laugh.  (I think we’re supposed to meet today. Which would mean we’re having lunch AND dinner together today.)

• I went back to Weight Watchers last week.  There is so much to say about this and yet, so little I want to say.

• We went to Vancouver, Canada last weekend.  We usually pay about $35 a day to park at the hotel.  (The hotel that we get on Priceline for less then $70.  Do the math.  We’re getting screwed on parking.)  Last weekend we tried just parking for free on the street.  Totally worked.  Saved us a ton of money.

(This is us in front of the 2010 Olympic Torch last weekend.  We’re a little late on this too.)

• The King gave me a new type of calendar for Christmas and I’ve had to learn a new way to keep track of my schedule.  It’s embarrassing how hard it’s been for me to change my way of thinking.  I guess us old people do get stuck in our ways.

• So tell me, is there something you’ve wanted to blog about for a while, but just could never seem to write an entire post about?

(I have no idea why when I use bullet points in a post my font gets all messed up.  Please forgive how lame this looks.  Unless you’re using a reader.  Then I’m sure it looks just fine.)

• I realize more and more every single day how much I rely on The King.  I could never do any of this alone.  Single mom’s have my utmost respect.
• We still don’t have a name picked out.
• After months of The King asking me to grow out my bangs I’ve decided to do it.  Whoorl is going to have to revoke my membership in the Blunt Brigade.  I hate the growing out process.  It’s isn’t pretty.
• I’m patiently waiting the arrival of my latest SDBBE book from the lovely Amy.  I hope it’s a good one.  (No pressure Amy!)
• May, my BFF in Reno, gave me an iTunes gift card for my birthday.  It still has the entire balance on it.  I NEED MUSIC SUGGESTIONS.  (Awesome music suggestions only, please.)

• The teenage girls (and other adult leaders) I work with at church thew me a surprise baby party last week.  It was one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me.  They made me the best ABC book ever.  It included pictures of them with things that represented each letter in the alphabet.  (Yes, “R” was a picture of one of the girls holding a picture of Rhett Miller.)
• The King and I watched a birthing video we checked out from the library.  It was a little too intense and probably wasn’t the best idea.
• I keep thinking, “what in the crap have I gotten myself into?!”
• There’s no turning back now.

Most everyone has a different definition of camping.  Here is the definition my family had of camping:

• Sleeping in a trailer.  (We had a family of six and there was a bed for each of us.)
• Cooking every meal in the kitchen of the trailer.
• Storing all food in the trailer fridge.
• Eating meals off of real live plates with real live utensils that are kept in the trailers cupboards and drawers.
• Spending every evening at the trailer kitchen trailer playing card games with the trailer lights on.
• Eating the same meals we would have eaten if we were at home.
• Taking a daily shower in the trailer bathroom and using the toilet as needed.

I know, I know, most people wouldn’t refer to this as camping and I totally understand.

At some point we did buy a little tent.  But we used it to keep our luggage in.  For reals.

My aunt and uncle and their family would usually go camping with us.   Sometimes even my grandma would bring her trailer and meet us.  We would park our trailers next to each other.  We’d take turns riding bikes and ATV’s.  I think maybe once we took a hike ON A PAVED WALKWAY.  While we weren’t roasting marshmallows and sleeping in sleeping bags, we had fun.  I truly enjoyed all the summers we spent up in the mountains with my family.

(circa 1985)

As a teenager I never really thought about why we didn’t sleep in a tent, pee in the woods and cook over a fire.  I knew my mom had no interest in it and I guess I just assumed I’d have no interest in it either.  And so, I never even imagined camping in a tent.

I was only married to my first husband for a year and that summer we were married we went camping with some of his friends one time.  It sucked.  I didn’t like one single minute of it.  I chalked it up to just not liking camping in a tent, just like my mom.  Looking back I think it was more of “I didn’t like my husband or his friends” and not really “I hate camping”.

After that one trip with the ex, I put the idea of camping out of my mind and never thought about it again.  Until last summer when we got invited to go camping with a group of our really good friends.  The King and Babboo were very excited about going camping and so I put a smile on my face and agreed to go with them.

We borrowed a few camping supplies from The King’s parents and bought ourselves a tent and Babboo a sleeping bag.  The King found some awesome mattress thingys at the REI basement and we were set.

We camped for a weekend with three other families.  All together there were five kids and eight adults.  We slept in our tent, kept our food in a cooler, cooked all of our meals over the fire, went without showers, hiked with the kids, participated in our first geocache, and played in the river.

I had a blast.  (Minus the hike and my fear of falling off a cliff.  Or my kid falling off a cliff.)

(Pictures from our hike last weekend.)

We ended up going camping later in the summer with one of the families.  Again, we slept in a tent, cooked over a fire, hiked, geocached, and went sans showers.  And again, I had a blast.

We’ve been waiting all year for another chance to go camping this year.  Last weekend was our first camping trip of the season.  I was a little nervous about going camping while 32 weeks pregnant.  I tried to ignore my nerves and didn’t share them with anyone else.  I figured I was tough enough to handle a few nights sleeping on the ground in the tent.  The King set us up with a blow up mattress and I booked a camp site near the bathroom to accommodate my THREE nightly trips to the toilet.  The King found a hike that we figured was safe enough for me and my huge belly.

I’ll be honest here.  I slept better in the tent then I’ve been sleeping in my own bed at home.  The weather was perfect.  And I didn’t have to use the potty AT ALL during the night.  And the hike?  Well, it was actually just about perfect.

(Woody and Juggernaut didn’t like the hike as much as we did.  Those silly guys got in a fight while the rest of us found a geocache.)

And let’s not forget the food.

Why is it anything cooked over a fire tastes 100% better.  I mean dude, hotdogs cooked over the fire are AWESOME.  Not to mention s’mores or French toast.

The boys did take a bath in the FREEZING water.  (But not us girls!)

Babboo did end up going sans clothes in the lake.  Or rather, NEAR the lake.  It was just too cold for him to actually get in the water.

Before we left for home we did eight geocaches.  It had been way too long since we’d done them.  I forgot how much fun it is to geocache!

On the drive back to our house on Sunday evening The King and I got to talking about tent camping.  I told him that I loved tent camping way more then trailer camping.  We tried to figure out what it was about tent camping that my mom hated.  And what it was about trailer camping that she liked so much.  We couldn’t really figure it out.  Maybe it was because there were four of us kids and so maybe camping in the trailer was easier.  Or maybe she just hates going without a daily shower.  Or maybe she can’t physically squat to pee.  Although I really doubt it’s any of those things.

Maybe she’s just never tent camped and doesn’t know how awesome it is.

This weekend we’ll be visiting my family in Utah.  During this trip I plan on sitting my mom down and getting to the bottom of this.

So tell me, do you prefer tent, trailer, or hotel camping?  And why?

—————————————-

OH MY GOSH, we’re going to see The Old 97’s tonight.  It’s been almost two years since we last saw them.  We were able to see Rhett Miller in concert when I was about this far along with Babboo, so I think it’s pretty cool that Rerun will get to attend his first Old 97’s concert while in utero too!

Sidenote: Why do we judge people based on their name? It’s not like we name ourselves. I mean, it’s not Harry Pitts fault he has that name. Blame his parents. (They are idiots. Clearly.)

While pregnant with Babboo (which, for the record, you realize is NOT his real name. Or anything close to his real name. Right?) we took a trip to Europe. We fully intended to spend the trip finding The Perfect Baby Name. We visited a hip store in Paris and The King instantly fell in love with its name.

Too bad we were having a boy. Boy’s names are hard.

We cataloged the girl name we found in Paris and the other girl name that we liked in the back of our minds, thinking we might need them for later.

We didn’t need it for later.

We’re back to choosing another boy name. I wouldn’t think naming a kid could get harder then it was last time. Alas, it can. The King and I feel like we’ve already used The Best Boy Name Ever with Babboo.

Other name we think of with just feels like The SECOND Best Boys Name Ever. We don’t want Rerun (again, not baby #2’s real name) to feel like he got the shaft on his name. But yeah, we’ve already used our top pick of boy’s name.

Even with Babboo we didn’t officially settle on his name until after he was born and we got a good look at him.

We didn’t tell anyone his name until after he was born. We didn’t even hint to anyone about it. Inevitably someone would have said something like “I knew a guy named that in high school that used to kill kittens.” Or my mom would have struggled with pronouncing it through my entire pregnancy.

Even though we never shared the name and made it clear that we weren’t going to share, that didn’t stop our families from offering up their suggestions. I’ll never forget The King’s mom suggesting to me that we name the baby Michael. She told me she’s always loved that name and that The King’s younger sister also loved the name. (If they both loved it so much, why didn’t either of them use it? Yeah, why not?!)

Oh I bet my Mother-in-law about died when she found out that Babboo’s name wasn’t even sort of anything close to Michael. (Bless her heart.)

My mom was so convinced that we would name Babboo after Rhett Miller that she made a little sign for his crib that said “Rhett”. For reals. (The sign also had stickers of monster trucks all over it. Apparently my mom thinks I’m a Rhett Miller stalker that lives somewhere in the south.) Yeah, we didn’t name him Rhett.

And we won’t be naming Rerun “Rhett” either.

My sister e-mailed me earlier this week. It said something like “Are you really going to name the new baby Rerun?”

Dude, AS IF!

So here we are. With no name for our baby boy. And since the pressure is so high we’ve chosen to just not discuss it.

I’m sure we’ll find The Perfect Boy Name II.

In the mean time I’ll pour over Sudoku books instead of baby naming books.

So tell me, am I the only one addicted to Sudoku?

(See how easily I was swayed away from thinking about it?)

(I beg of you to NOT suggest any boy names in the comments. The King and I want to figure it out on our own. We want to provide a good story to tell him how we named him and not “the interweb named you”.)

(Please.)

(Seriously, I will delete all name suggestions. And then I’ll be forced to not even use it. And what if it’s The Perfect Name and you’ve stopped us from using it? You don’t want that on you.)

I stared traveling for work. The King had been the one doing all the business travel before. And honestly, I’d rather him do it. Dude, it sucks to be away from home. The thought of more trips (and there will be more) make me nervous and nauseous.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I never make resolutions. I think because I hate knowing that I failed at something. I’m not very good at setting goals. At least not at actually writing down goals I may have.

My in-laws did gift me their old treadmill. My (non written down) hope is to use it a lot.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No family members that physically lives close to me had any babies. But my cousin and his wife had a baby, and even after meeting her over Christmas, I’m still shaken up at how old it makes me feel. (They live far away, BTW.)

I did have two close friends (who were prego at the same time I was). I hosted baby showers for both of them.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

The baby I was carrying died back in March. While I’m not sure if that counts, I’m going to include it here.

5. What countries did you visit?

We went to Vancouver, Canada. A lot. Maybe too much. (While I love Canada so very much, I’d be okay to not go back there until summer 2010.) (I would make an exception if someone wants to give me free room and tickets for the Olympics!) (Go team USA!)

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

My sanity. Actually, that’s not totally true. I had my sanity for most of 2009. I would like to regain it and end 2010 with even more sanity.

I would also like to have a take-home- baby.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

March 2nd. Day of dead baby.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

The girls at church that I teach (12-14 year olds) and myself all decided to start daily scripture reading. We all chose a time to set aside each day for this. I chose to read the Book of Mormon while blow drying my hair in the mornings.

For the first time in my life I can say that I’m a daily scripture reader.

This small window of scripture reading time doesn’t really allow for a lot of reading. But I figure some reading is better then none. Plus, I’m still learning a lot and feeling the blessings daily.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I failed to have our baby. Even though the doctors tell me it wasn’t my fault, it still feels personal.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

See #4, #6, #7 and #9

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Any money I spent at iTunes is a good thing.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I was so pleased when Babboo mastered staying dry through the night. And the day he showed me he could write his name all by himself was one of the best parenting days I had ever had.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

I want to say how upset the (now ex)husband of one of my best friends made me. But this wasn’t necessarily in 2009. Although it was so bad that I can’t seem to stop thinking about how horrible it was and how duped even I was by him.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Since we didn’t take any “major” vacations this year, I have to say most of our money went to our house. And not just for our mortgage. We put a lot of money (and time) into our back deck. And our front yard. And real live furniture!

15. What did you get really excited about?

FAKE MUSTACHES! (Don’t act like they don’t make you smile. I KNOW THEY DO!)

I was also very happy to find a medication to help with the blood disorder I’ve suffered from my entire life. I was overwhelmed with joy at being able to feel like a normal person for the first time in my life.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

“Oh No” by Andrew Bird. Andrew Bird really helped me through the better part of 2009! (Too bad he’ll never know how much his music helped me. I wish I could make him a card and mail it to him to say “Thanks”!)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? I am the exact same as I was at this exact time last year.
– thinner or fatter? I’m the exact same weight as I was at this exact time last year. But I”m much fatter then I was during most of 2009. Thanks to a raging eating disorder.
– richer or poorer? Even with The King getting aid off back in July, we have the exact same amount of money as we did this exact time last year.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Geocaching. And maybe more guilt free “ME” time.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

For the last while I’ve really disliked certain aspects of my job. The actual project and tasks are fine. It’s just all the other garbage. And because of all this garbage I complain a lot. And fret a lot. And think about it a lot. And talk to The King about it a lot.

I wish I could just wash my hands of thinking about work outside of work.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

We spent Christmas like we always do, at our own house with our own little family. This year Babboo actually “got” what was going on.

(I got a new coat and camera from The King. Totally unexpected and appreciated!)

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

While I’ll be the first to admit that marriage is hard and I struggle with it probably more then most people, I love my guys.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

“How I Met Your Mother” is a family favorite at our house. The King recently found “The Big Bang Theory” and if it weren’t for the horrible theme song, it might become the #1.

(I was super into “Dexter” this season. Unfortunately it scared the living piss out of me and made it so I couldn’t walk to work without looking behind my back for a bad guy. I gave up watching it with only TWO EPISODES left. I had to. HAD TO.)

(Seriously, I even prayed about this one. “Dexter” is hott. But he’s one scary dude.)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Dude, hate is a very strong word and I don’t like to use it.

24. What was the best book you read?

There is no possible way to give an accurate answer to this one. I simply can’t remember all the books I’ve read.

I finished reading “The Drifters” again last week. This book has been my NUMBER ONE book since I was a teenager. Reading this book will always bring joy into my life. For reals.

I read Amy Tan’s “The Kitchen Gods Wife” and was blown away by it. I wasn’t expecting such a wonder book full of such a rich history.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

There was so many. How about bullets?

• Andrew Bird
• Tilly & The Wall
• The Decemberist
• Glee
• Mates of State (I had some of their stuff before, but now I’m obsessed)
• Rhett Miller (he had a new solo album this year. Plus, HE’S FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER!)
• Any song my BFF May sends me. (She sent me THE BEST MIX CD ever for Christmas.)

26. What did you want and get?

I wanted to feel better. And, thanks to meds, I finally did.

27. What did you want and not get?

See #4, #6, #7, #9 and #10

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I have a toddler and a full time job which means I don’t get out to the movies that often. That being said, The King and I did see “(500) Day of Summer” and we both really enjoyed it.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Against my will, I turned 34 this year. (I know, I’m surprised I’m that old too!) I spent my birthday by flying to Utah to spend the weekend with my family without Babboo or The King.

Funny story; my family was so excited about seeing me that they all forgot that it was my birthday. Therefore there was NO MENTION of it being my actual birthday and NO GIFTS. I wasn’t upset or anything, but it was funny. (Good thing “Sixteen Candles” is my favorite movie of all time.)

Rhett Miller sent me MY VERY OWN TWEET for my birthday.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

When I hear the word “satisfying” I think of a nice cold glass of Sprite. I had a Sprite over the holidays, so I guess I’m satisfied.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

BLUNT BANG BRIGADE! (That’s me at the bottom of the page!)

32. What kept you sane?

My Sweet Babboo (and reading and music).

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Rhett Miller! (Yes, clearly photoshopped.) (He and I together is the photoshopped part. I am that pretty in real life.) (tee-hee!)

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Prop 8 (and probably not for the reasons you think it did).

35. Who did you miss?

May. Always and forever. (Until she moves back to Seattle.)

36. Who was the best new person you met?

The King and I made some new non-Mormon friends. That’s been very informative for all of us. Hey, who knew that Catholics were so much fun?!

(That last part was a joke. If us Mormons can be so cool, then of course there must be some cool Catholics out there too!)

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

While I didn’t actually “learn” it. I KNOW it. I just need to figure out how to DO IT.

Leave work at the office.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

God is bigger than the boogie man.
He’s bigger than Godzilla,
or the monsters on TV. (DEXTER!!)
Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man.
And He’s watching out for you and me.

(Yes, the music snob in me let me choose a Veggie Tale song. This is who I’ve become!)