Subtle? Maybe.

Technology is such a funny thing.
10 years ago, cell phones weren't all that accessible to most people. I remember my mom's first car phone. It plugged into the cigarette lighter and had a cord attached to a briefcase-sized battery. The phone itself was like a brick. That was probably 15 years ago. And it was expensive! I don't remember anyone ever actually using it.
Weren't the days when people went on vacation and you couldn't get ahold of them for 2 weeks nice? Yeah, not in the case of emergencies, but really it's hard to get away if you're connected to the world all the time.
We're not so much into cell phones. We've got a track phone for emergencies. It has come in quite handy at times, and we feel it's a necessity because of NiNa's food allergies. I'm glad other people have cell phones. It's nice to be able to get ahold of someone when they're at the grocery store. Still, I feel more free when I can go somewhere and not be reached. I know, it sounds funny, but there it is.
I bring this up because of the great conveniences we enjoy thanks to the Internet. (That was my original thought, and I got off on a tangent). It's really nice to keep in touch so easily. I love being able to just click off a message to anywhere in the world and have instant contact with someone. (Okay, not instant. We have dial up. It does make keeping in touch much easier, though). And it's really nice to read up on friends' blogs. At first I felt like things were much less personal that way, but honestly I feel like I know a lot of people better than I did before their blogs.
Which brings me to my last thought. It's kind of strange hearing big news over the Internet. I'm talking engagements, pregnancies, that kind of thing. Yeah, we can still call each other and say, "I'm pregnant! We're expecting a babe early this February!" Still, it is much easier and more convenient to just type it up in a blog. ;-)

Our little friend

We have a hummingbird that hangs out at our place.

Hummingbirds are curious little guys, flitting around and zipping all over. Ours peeps in our kitchen window to see what we're up to and what we're having for dinner.

A few years ago I was fascinated to see him above our roof, darting wildly in all directions. I think he was catching mosquitoes. Yay for hummingbirds!

Before the kids were born I was rockclimbing with Mr. AH up in the canyon. I was probably about 35 feet off the ground when I heard a strange buzzing noise and a slight breeze next to my right ear. I turned around and there was the cutest little hummingbird just hanging out. He was so close I could have reached out and pet him. He stayed there for quite some time (at least 15 seconds, which is a long time for a hummingbird) and stared. He was probably wondering what in the world I was doing up there.

Another time shortly after Mr. AH and I were married we were camping up in Logan and a hummingbird visited our campsite. He hovered about 10 feet away and just looked at us for a while.

The last time I saw our little friend he was checking out the red and white flag we had on our porch. Hummingbirds are attracted to bright red colors. The little guy was fascinated.

Maybe someday we'll put up a feeder. They're high maintenance, which we don't have time for right now. I'm sure glad our little friend comes by anyway.

If you're interested in hummingbird feeders, check out the Auduban's link here.

A fish story

Today we went down with our friend Lena to a 'community pond'. From what we could tell, this was the perfect place to fish:

- 3 acres of aquatic fun
- canoes are allowed
- the pond was just stocked with fish and was reported to be one of the best fishing spots around
- restrooms! yay!
- and finally, a playground for times of desperation

Also, it is handicap accessible, which was nice for Lena and her nifty wheelchair.

So we loaded up the canoe (and it made a buzzing sound, kind of like an exploding hive, the whole way down) and soon found ourselves with reels in hand waiting to snag the big one.

And wait we did.

At one point, we decided that our little lures weren't alluring enough, so Mr. AH set off to the local Wal-Mart (one block away. Ironic) and picked up some "fish crave this!" bait. Ha.

About this time, cousin Emily, River and Mocha (the dog) came. It was really nice to be outside, enjoying the weather and each other's company.

Too bad the fish wouldn't join us.

We did hear a kid down pond from us catch something. And then a few hours later a girl in a red camp chair across shore reeled in a large-ish one. Proof that at least something lived in this body of water.

And then, finally, all our waiting paid off. Lena felt a nibble and reeled in a beaut. It was a bass. A baby bass. About two and a half inches long.

Fish and chips, anyone?

shoganai

Life has been so busy lately, I haven't had time to wait for this dial up connection to post anything. (Really, I think I just haven't had patience. It's summer! Wheee! I'd much rather be running around outside than sitting in front of a computer screen).

And then the guilt comes. I love keeping in touch by reading blogs. It's so nice to just be able to click on a page and keep up on old friends (even if the pictures don't all pull up because of our aforementioned trial). I realize that I have suddenly become MIA as far as the blogosphere goes. Alas. Such conflict.

We could break down and go back to high speed, but that darn frugal side of me just can't imagine it. For now dial up is worth saving $50 a month. And contracts? Meh.

And speaking of all of this, I have been quite intrigued by all the goings on lately in the economy. I just can't bring myself to believe that no one really saw this coming. Sub prime loans in and of themselves were a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. It always seemed crazy to me to think that people would promote sliding interest rates. I have found myself praying for our leaders, our policy makers, right down to our Nation as a whole- for each one of us, that we will stand up for integrity and be honest in our dealings with one another. That is the only way we will really prosper. Otherwise, we're calculating all our gains on false grounds. I won't go into it, I usually just muse to myself.

Anyway, we have rented a canoe and will hopefully have some fish stories for you tomorrow! (Or whenever I actually post again... aah, summer).

sometimes

When I was little my house was out in the country and there were fields that spread out to the base of the mountains. An irrigation ditch ran through those fields, and gigantic trees stetched up to the sky all along the banks of the lazy flowing water. Those trees must have been planted by the pioneers that settled my beautiful hometown mountain valley.
I loved to climb up into those trees and look up at the leaves blowing in the breeze. On hot summer days it was the perfect place to cool off and listen to the bubbling water.

That place is gone now. Except in my memory.

It's okay, though. I'm happy with the place I'm in now.

Oh short lived fame

At least one or more people at a time have been sick at our place for the last month and a half.

Ugh.

NiNa had it the worst, she was sick for just about the entire last month and a half. Just when we thought she was getting better, she ended up in the emergency room.

3 double ear infections later (between both kid-os)...

We had something so nasty I won't even begin to describe it.

We did have a few cool things happen. NiNa, during one of her brief thought-she-was-well-again stints and I were interviewed for the 5:00 news. They were doing a story on food allergies, and we were asked for an interview by channel 4. NiNa was so cute later that night as we were watching it, she giggled every time they showed her.

When I got to the house where the interview was (they held it at another mom's house who has 2 kids with food allergies), the gal there had surprising news for me. (She's the president of the local FAAN chapter). She said, "Oh, have you checked out this month's such and such issue yet?" (I'm not mentioning the magazine or posting the link for the news interview. If you want to know what they are, just e-mail me. I don't want this blog to be traceable to where we live!)

Anyway, I said that no, I had not seen it.

"Well, you're in it!"

What? When did I ever submit anything to this magazine? I guess the group had submitted one of my recipes or something, and it was the main feature of the article.

Go figure. Guess we've had our 15 minutes of fame.

The most embarrassing thing... ever (or the best seat in the house)

The other day I went to a baby shower which was held in the nursery at the church. When I got there, there were scores of people from India dressed to the nines in beautiful traditional clothing. The women were in colorful saris and the men were wearing impressive shirts. They were having a celebration of some sort in the cultural hall (aka the gym). There was exotic Indian music playing, and I'd say between one and two hundred people in attendance. It was quite obviously a private affair for which they had gotten permission to hold at the church.

Meanwhile we gals were having a great time in the nursery at the shower. Most of us had our kids there, and NiNa and Ls were laughing and playing. We had to keep the door shut so the kids wouldn't escape, though, and this proved to be difficult.

As I was chatting with someone, while holding a tippy pile of food on a wobbly plate, the door opened and Ls seized the opportunity and shot down the hall. It took me a second to set the plate down, and when I raced out the door I couldn't see her anywhere. I went down the hall and looked in the coat room: no Ls. The chapel: No Ls. The foyer? Nope.

Then a terrible thought crept into my mind... maybe she was running around in the gym.

They had a side door open, and I nonchalantly walked over and peered in. I scanned the room. No Ls. And what would I do if she was in there anyway? I couldn't run in and get her. They were right in the middle of live music, with a man up on the stage singing and NO! Ls STANDING RIGHT UP ON STAGE BESIDE HIM! The horror! I was mortified. There she was, all two and a half feet of her, staring up at the vocalist. I could have died. I'm sure I was quite a sight as my hand shot to my open mouth.

I raced around to the back of the stage just as they were announcing so-and-so who had just sang with 'an international guest member'. The singer himself brought Ls down to me, and luckily he was smiling.

good thing we have band-aids

Our health insurance ended yesterday.

I realized this when NiNa nearly broke her nose this morning. And in the same morning not an hour before the nose incident, I had a freak accident with the shower's sliding glass door and nearly sliced my finger to the bone.

After these revolting developments, we say NO MORE ACCIDENTS! We'll just have to wait until we have insurance again.

Back from hiatus

Writing blog entries just hasn’t been the same since Mr. AH was hit by a car. ;-)I had actually forgotten that that was the last entry I wrote, until someone pointed out how un-nice it is to leave everyone for so long on such a note. (I’ve just been WAY busy. Plus, we have slow, slow dial up. I know, lame. But hey, we’re all about saving denero).

So lots has happened worthy of note. Such as this:

We woke up one morning to find that the U’s ‘luxury’ golf cart had been stolen and parked right by our place. Our team had just played a certain team to the South (Ha ha, they got creamed) and we figure it was some kind of drab prank. The funny part was, 2 city police cars showed up along with a University one. The officers would get out of their cars, prod and poke at it, and then get back in their cars for a few minutes. Then they’d get back out, poke around, and get back in. Justice in motion! They couldn’t figure out how to get the thing started, so finally they gave up and called a tow truck. We’re still #1!


New Year’s was fun. We decided, as we have every year since having children, that there is no way we are going to stay up until the witching hour. So, we celebrated with Barbados, at 9:00. (WAY past the kid-o’s bedtime). For dinner Mr. AH had leftover fish tacos, NiNa had little Polskas, I had Yakisoba and mochi (YUM!!) and Ls had some of everyone’s. Fun had by all.

Our New Year’s tradition is one of my favorites. We always predict what the new year will bring, then we write down those predictions in a journal. We never let each other see what we’ve written. It is so fun to see what we had predicted from the year before and laugh at how wrong (or right) we were. Then we jot down what really happened.

Maybe my economics degree is paying off. Last year one of the things I wrote was:

“I think the economy will continue to struggle because of the sub-prime crisis. Some banks will fold and be taken over due to financial cover-ups. Gas will continue to go up as will inflation.”

The year before I correctly predicted Ls’s due date. Let’s not mention how many wrong predictions I made (plenty).

Anyway, we’re all alive and well. Even Mr. AH.

A bit Run Down

Matt rides his bike nowadays, being a much cheaper form of transportation, and in his case it’s also very convenient. I like to meet him at the front door with a kiss when he gets home.

Today when I opened up the door the first thing Matt said to me was not the usual, “Well hello there!” It was, “I got hit by a car.”

What?

He walked in with a dazed looked, very much still in shock. He was still walking, yes this was good, and I didn’t notice any chunks taken out of him, but hit by a car?!!!

He had been coming down a steep hill, and ahead of him was a car in his bike lane. He slowed down, and the car moved left back into his lane. Matt proceeded forward, and the car, without signaling, turned left right into him. It knocked him down to the pavement, and from what I understand he landed on his backpack and hit his head, then rolled. Thank heavens he was wearing a helmet. (Yet another testimonial of why they should be worn by everyone).

I asked if he had gotten information from the driver.

No.

Had he called police?

No.

Could he describe the car?

Yes, but not the license plate.

I looked him over. He was holding his hand kind of funny, and it had abnormal bumps on it and he was bleeding in several spots. He knee was bloodied, his side looked like it had some swelling, his hip hurt and he was limping and he looked very much confused and still in total shock.

Early that morning as he was walking out the door I thought, “We should say a quick prayer together” as we very often do. Then I thought, “Nah, I don’t want to wake up the kids.” We do live in a very small apartment. I said a prayer after he left, and asked the Lord to bring him home safely to us. We are very blessed that He did. From now on, though, I am going to pray that he travels “without harm nor accident.”

After icing him up and assessing the situation (i.e. him talking me into not taking him right to the ER) I called his doctor and got him fit in for later in the afternoon. Then I called the police.

Unfortunately, because Matt told the driver he was okay (the adrenaline had kicked in, by the time he got home he obviously wasn’t as okay) there was nothing the police could have done. If he hadn’t said that, they would have searched down the driver and charged him with a hit and run. Apparently saying he was fine turned the accident into a “civil matter.”

I looked over my poor sweetie and started patching him up with bandages and kisses. Poor Matt.

His backpack got totally shredded. His helmet has a big gash in it. His palm pilot (in the bag) has a great big ding but still works. Fortunately, the backpack took the brunt of it. The officer said he was lucky he had it on and had rolled.

Later at the doctor he was told that he is a very lucky man. No apparent permanent damage- except to my peace of mind. Maybe biking season should be over; our SUV is nice and safe.