Cabo is tomorrow!

Hey everybody! I'm so excited, because tomorrow is Mexico! I'm so ready for a break. I'm just catching up on everything that needs to be done before I leave (status letters, sending out documents to experts) and I also just finished my article and sent it off to the publisher. Yay! (Thanks to Jeff and Kristol for helping me with the editing!)

Last night, I got to watch the Stanford and Oregon State game while Kyle slept. It was heavenly. Football season is officially here. I'm so happy! This morning at the office, Kevin and I decorated John G.'s office with a Washington flag, a stuffed Husky mascot, and a miniature replica of Husky Stadium. Haha! However, John got us back...he hung the dawg from the window shade with a cord around its neck, tipped Kevin's Washington diploma on its side, and changed Kevin's screensaver to green and yellow colors with a message that scrolled, "Oregon Ducks Rule! Washington Huskies Suck!"

Then, Kevin struck back...please see below. Pac-10 pranks are funny!

Parade of Homes

Kyle is sick today, so I kept him home from school. We went into my office early this morning so I could pick up some things to work on from home. He certainly didn't act sick as he toddled through the hallways, waving and squealing at everyone sitting at their desks. He's taking a much-needed nap right now, and I'm taking a break from a discovery summary to post.

Several weekends ago, Jeff and I went to the Salt Lake Parade of Homes. These are new model homes, scattered around the county, that people get to visit for about two weeks. It was very fun to see some of the new features on some of the more luxurious homes. And of course, Jeff and I rarely do an activity without making either a fun game or some type of competition out of it. For this one, my idea was to do a Bingo game, with a scorecard of luxury home features, and when we saw one, to check it off. At the end of the game, whoever had the most items checked off would win. Some of my more outlandish features were a robot, an elk horn chandelier, and a refrigerator with a built-in TV. (We didn't see any of these.) I was successful in anticipating a stove with a minimum of six burners, a special dishwasher in a wet bar that washed only glasses, a theater room with an old-time popcorn popper, and a dual head shower (see below):


This is the $4 million house in the Corner Canyon area of Draper. Jeff liked it. I thought it was just okay. It was very ornate inside, like a castle:

One of the houses had a little boy's bedroom decorated like the Boston Red Sox:

A $3 million house in South Jordan had a downstairs theater room with an adjoining sports-bar area with a wet bar and separate serving area:

This is the kitchen of the house that we both liked the best -- a $2 million house up on the bench in Herriman:

I'm glad I finally got the chance to post those pictures. Also, I've been having the weirdest dreams lately. I think I must be thinking too much about fantasy football, and what I'm going to do with my player Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals, who has a torn labrum in his shoulder, before the season starts. Last night I dreamed that I went to Sports Chalet and the Sports Authority here in town, looking for a pink Chad Johnson jersey with "Ocho Cinco" (his nickname) on the back. Then, later on last night, I dreamed that I got the results from the MPRE. At first, I picked up a test score sheet that had "31" written on it, but then I saw the name on the test and it was someone else's. Then, I dreamed that I finally found my own score sheet after going through a stack of 50 Fed Ex envelopes and looking in each one, but that my results had the scores 100, 120, and 140 on it and I couldn't tell which one actually was mine. (I guess it didn't matter at that point, because I only need an 86 to pass.)

Oh well, I guess I can stop stressing in about two weeks when I get the results, right? At least at that point I'll know if I have to take it again.

Okay, back to work now. I've also got to finish that darn article, because it's not going to write itself. I honestly don't know why I leave these things to the last minute each time.

New Kyle Videos

Here are two new videos from this past weekend. Kyle just cracks me up! He is so funny!

Kyle's dinner:

Kyle in the pool with me:

Don't forget to vote in the poll on the Washington-Oregon game. This is a hotly-debated issue at H&S!

This morning was such a Monday. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, then Kyle had two poopy diapers that needed to be changed before we headed out the door. I didn't get to work until almost 8 a.m.! At least now I can watch the Seahawks v. Chargers game though, right? I remarked to my mom today that Monday Night Football is God's way of apologizing for making Mondays in the first place. Haha!

Super Fun Weekend!

Hello, everyone. I wanted to share some of the pictures from our fun weekend! It was action packed. Friday we went to dinner at P.F. Chang's and then to the store before calling it an early night. Saturday, we got up and went to Costco, got sandwiches from Capriotti's, and then played Trivial Pursuit and iPhone games until the Olympic basketball game came on. I couldn't stay up to watch the whole thing...but it was worth staying up late to watch Jeff cheer every time that Kobe Bryant sunk a three-pointer. I bet that won't be happening again anytime soon! Haha!

Sunday we had our Fantasy Football draft and then went swimming before the Trivial Pursuit grudge match. Then dinner at Makino and back to the airport to drop Jeff off.

Here's a few fun pictures of us in the pool:





Jeff gave Kyle a mohawk:



Here's a picture of Kyle after he ate his dinner of peas and carrots, ravioli, and goldfish crackers on Sunday night:



This week should be a busy week for me...just trying to get everything done for work before I leave, as well as finishing my article for the Communique that is due on August 29. I'm also waiting for one last item from Washington to finish my bar application. I'm so glad that's almost done.

Don't forget to vote in the poll! And remember to wear your college colors on Friday to celebrate the advent of college football season! :)

Mommy's New iPhone

I broke down and bought an iPhone. I wasn't going to get one until October, because I'm still under contract with Verizon, but my Treo was just fried and the battery doesn't hold a charge anymore. Plus, after seeing all the cool things that the iPhone does, I decided that I had to have one for myself.

The camera feature alone is worth it...SO much better than the pictures the Treo took. Here's one of Kyle today in the dining room. It's just a little backlit because of the living room window:

Kyle's Greatest Hits and ghetto cell phones

Here are some of Kyle's greatest videos from the last two weeks. If you look closely, you can see where he let loose on my bathroom rug with the red nail polish, which I still haven't gotten around to replacing yet because I can't bear the thought of parting with his artwork:

Showing off his standing skills:




Showing off his walking skills:

Showing off his I-sit-weird-in-my-chair skills:

It's fun to compare the last video with Kyle sitting in his chair exactly a year ago:

(Go Huskies!)

Other than that, things are going well, except for the nightmare I had last night about the MPRE results. I dreamed that I scored a 36! Talk about failure -- the minimum score is 50!

By the way, if you haven't heard from me in awhile, telephonically, and you're wondering why, it's because my totally ghetto cell phone won't hold a charge anymore! It's been acting persnickety for the last week or so. The charger doesn't want to stay plugged in because the connector is worn down, and it keeps popping off. I made a brace for it with a rubber band, but the rubber band snapped, and then I didn't have time today to find another one the same size. I'm contemplating whether to try to stick it out until October, when my contract is up, or bite the bullet and pay the early termination fee, because I'm switching carriers when I get my iPhone. Decisions, decisions! Oh well. At least Cabo is in 10 days, right? :)

Kyle and I are off to play and make dinner. Have a good week, everyone!

Kyle is getting harder to capture!

Kyle is getting so much more mobile now. It's definitely a challenge to get him to stay in one place long enough to get a decent picture. These are my latest attempts:

He's down for a nap now. He ran out of energy crawling and walking around, so it's time for him to recharge his batteries in time for dinner. As for me, I'm just getting caught up with laundry, mail, and unpacking after a weekend out of town. We had a great time and did tons of fun stuff, including finishing the Salt Lake Parade of Homes and going to a Bees baseball game.

Also, one week down, and three weeks to go waiting for MPRE results. After a little while to think over the test, I feel good about it. I feel like I did score high enough to pass. However, I think my score will come in somewhere between 95 and 105...over the 86 mark required but nothing super-impressive. I don't care. I'm just glad that it's done!

Monday Night Football Returns!

I'm so excited, everyone! Who doesn't love Monday Night Football? It means that fall is officially on the horizon (triple digits temperatures not withstanding).

Last night, I got up at about 3 because Kyle was crying and I tripped over his musical table. Ouch! Now I have a bruise on my leg the size of a credit card. Ugh. I hope it goes away soon.

Kyle is a man in transition again. He's almost ready to drop his late-afternoon nap...almost. He is trying so hard to stay up until 7pm without it....but he is fading fast...

Okay everyone, I gotta go. It's almost halftime, and Kyle needs dinner. Have a great evening!

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

Hey, everyone, it's the weekend. Yippee! We've just been busy doing projects on the house, getting some essential things done. Poor Kyle has been running a fever since Friday, so he's just been getting Tylenol and lots of naps. Other than that, not too much going on for me except watching the Chargers game last night and obsessing (still) over the MPRE. I could not resist the opportunity to look up in my book and see if I guessed wrong on the ones that I missed. I can think of two that I KNOW I got wrong, but at least three that I had to guess and guessed correctly after reviewing my materials. I honestly feel like I passed, but that it might be close.

Anyway, enough about silly tests. Here are a few pictures of Kyle wearing his striped pajamas. These are my favorite pajamas that fit him now.

Also, here's a picture of the house two streets over that was set on fire last weekend. I looked inside and it doesn't appear too badly damaged on the inside, but what a mess. Supposedly, the home was in foreclosure and there were squatters living inside. Check it out...even the palm trees are scorched.

Well, I wanted to write more, but I hear Kyle in his room, repeating, "Uh-oh." This can't be good. I better go see what's going on. Have a great Sunday, everyone!

The MPRE -- it's over!

Hey everyone! Well, the MPRE is over...for now. It was tougher than I thought it would be. There were a lot of difficult questions! I feel confident about enough of my answers to feel like I scored high enough for Utah, BUT it's not a sure thing. I scored 110 the last time I took it, and I feel about the same about this test than the last test, but I had to guess at more questions than I was comfortable with. If there's one thing that I feel consoled about, it's that the test is scaled on a curve, and I noticed a lot of frowny faces around the room. If the test was as difficult for everyone else, then that's a good sign! Haha!

I came home and walked three miles. It was 103 but I didn't care. I was sweating like a pig when I came home, so I immediately drank half a bottle of Gatorade then jumped in my pool and floated around for an hour. That was nice. Thanks to Rick for staying on Kyle duty today! :)

The tests have to be scored, and then scaled. The results are supposedly released within five weeks. We receive them via email, which is a nice change from 2004. I'm expecting mine the week of September 8. I hope it goes fast!

My next two major projects are finishing my Utah bar application, which is due September 30, and finishing my article on the 2007 revisions to the judicial ethics code, which is due August 29. The article is due first, but the application is more important. So, I'm going to plow through both this weekend, and just try to get as much done as possible in the next couple of weeks. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Here's a fun video of Kyle playing with the SportsCenter. I'm not sure where his pajama bottoms went for this video. He is getting really good at putting the little basketballs through the hoop and in the slot in the backboard! Other than that, not too much going on...he and I are powering through, just trying to get over our colds. He's taking a nap now, and I'm doing some PR questions. Have a great day, everyone! :)

The absolutely, positively, no-work discussion weekend!

Kyle had plans to go camping with his dad this past weekend, and I went up to SLC. So, I was cleaning up my desk when Jeff called on Friday afternoon to suggest that we visit the Utah Parade of Homes over the weekend and ask me how my afternoon was going. I proceeded to launch into some lame story about how somebody at the office saved a document in Microsoft Word on our network, as opposed to WordPerfect, and the spacing and paging got all jacked up and the letter wouldn't print...yeah, fascinating, I know! He then proposed a novel concept...that neither of us talk about work, at all, all weekend long. I responded that I wasn't quite sure that I could do that, but I would give it a try. So, our no-discussion-about-work rule went into effect before I got on the plane.

And the result? It was a smashing success! We had a FABULOUS time. Dinner with friends on Friday night, visiting the Farmer's Market at Liberty Park and seeing the Batman movie on Saturday, and going to the Nordstrom sale and Utah Parade of Homes on Sunday. I was SO dumb and forgot my camera...but Jeff took lots of pictures and I'll have to try to post some later. I like no-work-discussion weekends!

Other than that, not too much going on. I'm holding down the fort at work and off to a magazine meeting now. I'll also post pictures later about the neighbors whose house had a HUGE fire over the weekend. Arson is suspected, and the home was in foreclosure. :(

Have a great week, everyone. T-minus two and half days to the MPRE! Wish me luck! :)