Tagged

So I guess Deedles has been on call a lot more this month, so I've been blogging a bit more. . . .lonely call nights=computer time. Anyway, I noticed that Liz tagged me to share five things about myself (a month ago), so here goes:
5) I am quite good at a lot of things but keeping my home tidy isn't one of them. When friends are due to come over, it is always a mad dash to pick up piles and books littered about the house. I just can't figure out how those clean people do it. I feel like every time I pick something up, it just gets all messed up again an hour later. I am not particularly gifted at organizing and I tend to have sentimental attachment to many things and can't throw them out. So, confession one: I am not tidy (My one caveat to this is I absolutely am disgusted by dirty bathrooms, so I always wipe down toilets and countertops every day or two).
4) The people who know me either pre-college or post-college sometimes get confused becuase I am a bit of a chameleon. It is generally a surprise to either batch when they find out I have lead two lives: my school-girl and high-school ways were definitely in the arts. My family grew up with music (my mom made me join all the children's choirs). I was in a lot of plays in junior high and high school. My true love was dance. I started dance when I was 12 and loved it!! I did jazz and ballet till high school and then did more modern and ballroom dancing then. When I started college I planned on majoring in dance and did one semester with that track. I also took a biology class and LOVED IT that semester (I don't know how I graduated, but had only taken 2 science classes in high school). While I was enjoying biology, I struggled with some aspects of dance (mainly body-image, etc--this problem is a topic of a whole other blog). So I switched gears and immersed myself in science classes. To my surprise I found I was quite good at chemistry and molecular biology. I enjoyed labwork!! What a surprise! So people are always surprised that I was either artsy or ended up in the sciences!
3) I can not say no. This has been a great asset because I've been able to do things that I would never have dreamed of simply because someone asked me to. It can also be problematic when I get totally overwhelmed with projects. On the plus side, I am happy to help people out. (the one time I said no was when someone persistently tried to get me to become a Mary Kay consultant-- I was certain that wasn't for me).
2) I have a mirror face. In high school I got a mirror as a gag gift from my dance company. My roomates used to tease me about it in college, and my husband always gets a laugh out of it. Because I have been the object of so much teasing, he tells me my mirror face has been tempered a bit, but sometimes he catches me in the act while doing my hair in the morning. I don't know exactly how to describe mirror face, but someone teased me once that it was my 'blue-steel' look (see Zoolander)
1) I dislike cooking, but try to do it because I know how important family dinner is. I look forward to the day when I won't blink at take-out prices a couple of times a week.

I guess I am supposed to tag 5 other people, so Sarah, Danielle, Juli, Karlea, and Carrie go for it!

Christmas Pictures

Nativity Bonus

We've been Elfed!

Some friends sent us this link and we had a blast "elfing" ourselves! Check it out!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1401780505

Random Thoughts

Okay so I am sitting here and I just ate about half of the cookie dough bits out of the ice cream and figured I needed to do something just a bit more productive. So here I am.

My first random thought is: Happy Anniversary to Deedles and Milly! Yesterday we celebrated our 7th anniversary. Unfortunately, as our family is now running on a surgical intern schedule, we weren't able to get a night out together (he's got a week off in January we will take advantage of). I just had to share my gift: D got a lovely handmade card from me that professed my undying love and a Costco-sized bottle of Metamucil. (the tag line in my card was.. . . . .hope the next 7 years will be even 'smoother' than the last 7). Romantic, eh??? D actually totally appreciated the gift, maybe in some other blog we could go over his BM pathology (I am sure he would be so thrilled that I am sharing this you all--well actually, you know D, he would probably just laugh about it! )

Okay since my blog is entitled random thoughts, I guess my train of thought has now been directed towards my husband and some crazy stories he's told. One of D's favorite things about patient care in general surgery is asking people if they've passed gas yet (meaning they can eat-bowels are functioning properly). Last week he told me that he was asking a lady if she had passed gas and she said, "Oh, you smelled that? I am so sorry!" He let her know that was not what he mean't, but did congratulate her on the returned function of her bowels!

D has now logged a bunch of cases (meaning he performed the surgery in most of its entirety). in fact, he has been a part of so many laproscopic appendectomies, that a few days ago the attending let him do the whole case all by himself--he was pretty stoked. I am thrilled for him, but wonder about the patient. I sure they might think twice about surgery if the knew their surgeon had only been a doctor for 6 months. In these cases I would probably prefer not to be told, wouldn't you?

Well its 9:20 and D just walked in the door, so I should go talk to him while he eats dinner. I am thrilled because tomorrow he gets the whole day off. He hasn't had a Sunday off for 9 weeks! I am so excited he gets to sit through church with me, however, we joked that if he keeps coming to church they'll never release him as Elder's Quorum President.

Okay, final random thought on church callings. For those of you who aren't aware the LDS church does not have a paid clergy. Some of D's senior residents were asking him how much he got paid. . . .ah, if only!! I am joking, of course, we are happy to perform service in our church.

Halloween Pictures

Primary Program, crawling baby, and costume mishaps

I have generally used call nights to catch up on computer time, but as this is just D's second call night of the month, I have not been on the computer much.

Wow, just one week ago Saturday night I was nervous about the looming Primary Program-- how far over time would it be?, which child would forget where they were supposed to sit?, would all the teachers remember my complicated scheme and send their kids up to the mic at the proper time?, would the kids remember the words to the songs? These and other unknowns made for a very restless night sleep last Saturday. When Sunday arrived, the Program came and went (it was very lovely--though, too long, I just can't seem to write anything simple, even if it is for a bunch of 3-11 year olds!) and I survived. Incidentally, for anyone reading this blog, make a point of telling the counselor in charge of the program in your ward that this was the BEST program ever (this may be a stretch, but she'll appreciate it).

It was also last Sunday that Roger decided he was done being immobile. In one night he started rolling all over the crib (he has been capable of rolling for months, but without enthusiasm or interest until now). I spent that night going in every hour to turn him over to his back when he started crying. On Tuesday I decided that I was done with nightime repositioning and he would just have to be left alone. This made for a night with more crying than normal, but he finally got the clue. I think his nighttime crib roaming this week just primed him because today he has been scooting (slowly) all over the floor. Oh no, the baby proofing must begin! This is so much more complicated than it was with the twins because now I am dealing with tiny Polly Pocket shoes left in the carpet, legos, cars, and other childish treasures littered around the house.

After making the twins halloween costumes a few years ago, I swore I would NEVER do it again. Making a Halloween costume is sort of a right of passage for a mom, but so also is discovering you spent way too much time and MORE MONEY than you would have had you bought the dumb thing.

The twins are really into superheroes right now so they decided they wanted to be superman and supergirl. I was in TJ Maxx and found a superman costume, and then we went searching for Eliza's costume. The catch was that she wanted a purple and pink supergirl costume. We couldn't find one to her suiting, so I reluctantly bought material. I have spent the last few days sewing and unpicking this costume to her specifications.

Today, we had a ward party. When Davis tried on his costume he informed me he hated it (it was too big) and wanted to be a skeleton--argh!! We then spent 2 hours visiting 5 stores to try to find something more suitable. Of course, as today is the Saturday before Halloween we couldn't find the right costume IN HIS SIZE, so we went home with the promise I would shorten up the sleeves and legs on his existing costume. After complaining about this for an hour while I did the sewing (of course the machine was acting up--or I was-- who knows?) he reluctantly put on the costume and moped to the party. Later he told me he had "changed his mind" and thought the costume was okay.

As I was tucking the twins in tonight Davis told me, "I love you, mom." He melted my heart, and I had a hard time being bitter at him for the costume fiasco of the day.

growing out of your clothes

We have a really great thing going with the Goodrich cousins. Sadie is 9 months older than Eliza and we get a bunch of her and Macie's hand-me-downs. When Eliza grows out of these clothes they get passed back to Dezzie.

Today while getting ready for bed, I commented that Eliza's jammies were getting a little too short. She let me know that we should give them to Dezzie. Then she asked me when she would start wearing my clothes. "When I grow bigger and bigger I need to wear mommy clothes. Then, mom, you can wear grandma clothes."

I told Eliza that when she grows up she can buy her own clothes, but she insisted that she needed to wear my "mommy clothes." I finally realized she wanted to wear my clothes because she was worried that as she grew her clothes would not fit--she didn't want to go naked to the store to buy new ones.

I explained to her that we would make sure to go shopping before she "grew out of" the clothes she was wearing. Glad we got that one all cleared up.

Boys and Barbies

Davis and Eliza usually get along well. There is OF COURSE the occasional fight (by occasional, I mean 4 or 5 a day), but usually I find the kids making forts, jumping on couches, or reading to each other (I wish they were actually reading, but they just recite books via memory--I get a kick out of it when one corrects the other. "No Davis, it is 'thirsty' not 'firsty'").

There has been one fight, however, that seems never to be resolved. It is the argument over who gets to choose the movie. Eliza is thrilled with all movies Barbie (12 Dancing Princess, Swan Lake, and Fairytopia) while Davis endlessly requests The Incredibles (or anything superhero). Last week, Davis finally conceded. He let us know that Barbie: Fairytopia would be good, but NOT Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses. His exact words, "When I watch those girls dancing, it makes the peepee dancers inside of me wake up and I have to go to the potty."

Well, I'm glad that he cleared that up for us. I thought his objection was that the movie was Barbie related, but no, it is the peepee dancers.

Yesterday when we visited the redbox (dollar movie rental machine) Davis was "Okay" with the Island Princess Barbie movie. In fact, he was the one who requested to watch the end of the movie after preschool.

We Found the Camera!!

In May, Davis and Eliza discovered the joy of "taking pictures" with the camera. I would find them sneaking around the house snapping shots of whatever--usually this meant carpet, tv, toys, etc. After repeatedly telling them that they shouldn't play with the camera, I took the camera and put it away where they couldn't get to it. Unfortunately, in that memory I also remember thinking, ". . . now I need to remember where I am putting this."

For nearly 3 months, we've been scouring the house. At first I blamed the disappearance of the camera on Davis, but after searching his usual hideouts (toybox, bathroom cabinets) we gave up! I secretly knew that I probably had something to do with the disappearance of the camera (remember aforementioned memory), but it is so much easier to blame these things on a four year old! Well, tonight, D found the camera sitting behind a picture frame on the roll top desk. Hoorah!! We are so happy because we were about to bite the bullet and purchase a new one. I was so glad to have these pictures because they included graduation and Roger's blessing. So even though these pictures are 3 months old, I just have to post them. I am amazed at the color change in Rogers hair. He was a definite brunette on his blessing day, but is now a decided blonde. Too bad the camera was missing to capture the dark roots, blonde growth. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was very cool!!

"I---I Will Survive!"

Well, I decided that if I survived last week, I can survive anything. Last weeks 'Top Ten List':

10) Start of preschool--I was teaching, and actually got nervous the night before school (what if my lesson doesn't go as planned? Wait a minute, why do 4 year olds even care--not your harshest critics?)
9) Month 3 of Rogers face rash
8) 3 on call nights, no sleep for D those nights, a total of 104 hours worked-- both of us!!
7) Preparing for sharing time
6) Writing the Primary Program
5) Itching, coughing, sneezing, runny noses-- for mom, Davis, Eliza, and Roger.
4) Losing my keys in a walk across the street--I am not sure how they can get lost in 20 feet of distance, but they did!!
3) Mowing my yard in the dark because that is the only free time I have
2) Flood in the basement (I was the cause, remember that mowing in the dark--I flipped the hose into a window, apparently it was on at a trickle)
1) Cleaning up basement flood with 3 kids in tow! Thank goodness for good neighbors who helped move large peices of furniture and let the kids come play at their house for a few hours.

BUSY WEEK, HUH! Having said that, I am happy, healthy (well, the sniffles are clearing up), I have a spare set of keys, the Primary Program is written, Sharing Time went well, I have 3 great kids (who sometimes share--sometimes), my husband is a very hard worker with a steady job, and the mess in the basement is the impetus for new carpet and a bathroom remodel. Life is good!

D is a real doctor

D really is Dr. Millar. He was on call last night and did 2 cases-- an apendectomy and a mesenteric torsion (in human speak this means he fixed a lady's bowel that was wrapped around some arteries). I figure if he has to be at the hospital in the middle of the night, he might as well be enjoying himself (unfortunately, his fun is someone else's pain).


He's done a few gall bladder surgeries and a laparoscopic apendectomy. I know he is in the right field because he comes home excited on those days, even though he is running low on fuel--he"forgets" to eat-- a phenomenon I have never been able to understand. I "forget" to do the laundy or pay the bills, but can't seem to "forget" to eat. Unfortunately, I could do to "forget" a meal or two every now and again, but alas, that doesn't seem to be my downfall.

Back to School Changes

Fall is in the air!!

This means many things at the Millar home:
1) 7:30 A.M is marked by roudy junior high kids whose bus stop is right in front of our house (we still haven't fixed the artwork (graffiti) presumably left by said kids on the lightpost outside of our house last spring). I forgot about those kids, but was painfully reminded last Tuesday morning.
2) Davis and Eliza FINALLY get to start preschool. They have been asking about when school was going to start for weeks. I keep telling them, "fall." When I let them know this morning that preschool was starting tomorrow, Davis asked if the leaves were going to fall off tomorrow too.
3) Eliza gets to start much begged for "ballet class." After months of bugging me about starting dance last spring, I told her that she would have to wait until "fall" to take class. When I finally signed her up a few weeks ago, I felt I should be fair to Davis, so I asked him if he wanted to take dance too. He looked up at me and said, "NO MOM, I want to take golf." GOLF? I didn't even know he knew what that was. I guess he has seen dad swinging his club in the yard. So we called D's nephew, Couper, who is a senior in high school and asked him if he could teach Davis. Davis is very excited about his golfing lessons with cousin Couper on Saturdays.
4) Sweater and Turtleneck season is upon us--my favorite kind of clothes-- but are worn best in the fall before you have to cover them up with snow jackets.

Dr. Deedles leaves a widow at church

Well, yesterday marked my fourth week at church with the three kids. I have noticed that my stomach gets upset on Sunday mornings--presumably because I can't be sure what the 3 hours of church might bring.

Overall, the day went well--much better than last week when the Millar train (mom/roger followed by Eliza and then Davis realizes we are stepping out and follows hastily thereafter) made 4 exits during Sacrament meeting. Roger slept for 30 minutes of the meeting. Davis and Eliza were kept at bay with 2 packs of superman fruit snack and chewy sprees. The one blowup of the meeting was a very intense figh over who got to read the Kim Possible comicbook. The family behind us were happily sharing the their two copies of The Friend.

I didn't have any responsibilities in Primary today which was good because during sharing time Roger was so cute just sitting on my lap until--dum, dum, dum. He had a huge explosion! Poo-pee was running down his leg and made a puddle on my skirt and top. I hastily grabbed the diaper bag and high-tailed it to the bathroom. The whole outfit was a loss and so Roger wore a white onesie during the rest of the day.

As I returned from cleanup duty, the primary was finishing Sharing Time by drawing pictures about how the kids could honor their father and mother. I didn't see the twins' drawings, but when they woke me up this morning, I was informed that they had made their beds. I didn't remember till later that day that 'making your bed' was an activity listed on the board during Sharing time--that realization made the entire crazy day at church worth it-- the kids really are gleaning something!!