Sledding!

Since Charlie got a new snowsuit, we decided to go sledding during Christmas break. We went over to Petersen Park where there are some smaller hills that were perfect for us. Charlie was having a grand time until he got some snow sprayed in his face.

Christmas 2012

(This may not be totally accurate, because I wrote it in July, but here we go...) We, surprisingly, don't have a ton of pictures from Christmas.

Charlie got this new snowsuit from Grandma and Grandpa Dickerson! 

Playing with Christmas presents. 

Christmas outfit. A little snug.

Trying on a hat. 

Meeting Santa at the craft fair. 

Minion! 

Meeting Santa at the ward party. 

All snuggly for bed.

Blurry Christmas present picture! 

Christmas list

I have some things on an Amazon wish list (The "Things I Like" list, not the "Things I Need When The World Is Ending" list) but after Charlie's birthday extravaganza, it became evident that our family may need a new camera. Both Chad and I have old digital cameras with their own issues.

Nothing too fancy - just one that doesn't a) eat batteries or b) take 5 minutes for the flash to refresh. One that would be good to catch squirmy children would be helpful.

Anyways - just a thought if you are still wondering what to get your favorite daughter/son/sister/brother/brother-in-law/nephew.

Updates from our little man's first birthday will hopefully be coming soon!!!!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go snuggle my new one-year-old. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

Dear Idaho Falls Unemployment Office,

Thank you for treating us like crap every time we have to talk to you. But I guess we are part of the 47% that just want to mooch off of the government.

Sincerely,
Megan and Chad

Teaching Troubles

In light of the recent tenor of education politics in Idaho, I have a few quick things to say.

A new teacher in my Idaho school district makes $31,750. This is public information that can be looked up on our website. I am technically a second year teacher because I was part-time last year. That means I cannot get a raise until I earn a Masters + 12 credits. That gets me a whopping $360/year over what I am getting paid now. Or until I have been teaching for 7 years. That gets me an "extra" $610/year. I also earn a $3100/year stipend for the countless hours I spend at football games, basketball games, taking care of uniforms, music, instruments, and everything else, bringing my total compensation before taxes to $34,850.

I teach 3 hour and a half long classes a day, with one prep. Last year, teachers were asked to teach 3 classes one day (with one prep) and 4 classes the next day (no prep). I was part-time so I didn't feel the effects of this, as other teachers did. (But I was part-time, so I wasn't paid for any prep time.) The pay scale has been frozen for several years. Even if I had been working long enough to be getting incremental raises every year (except after 10 years when your pay only increases with more education), I wouldn't have been getting those raises. Veteran teachers have actually seen pay cuts in the last few years.

With the push of the Luna education laws two years ago, a pay-for-performance plan was implemented.  This was supposed to be an awesome solution to paying our teachers more. Criteria were established at the state level, as well as at the local level. You only got your state-funded pay-for-performance money if you met the state level criteria as well as the local criteria. And the teachers were evaluated by school; the idea being that teachers within the same school shouldn't be competing against each other for higher pay. Last year, our school met the state criteria, as well as the local criteria, and earned the maximum allowed "bonus". (The alternative high school met the local criteria, but not the state criteria, and so were not going to receive any money.) It was rumored that if the Propositions did not pass, teachers wouldn't get paid. The vote would be held on the 6th and the money was to be distributed on the 15th. It was decided that the vote would not be official until the 21st, meaning the money would have to be paid on the 15th because the official outcome would not be known until a week later. Not to mention that this is money that was earned in the previous school year. And employers are required to pay employees for their work.

Somewhere along the line, Idaho parents and teachers decided the "Students Come First" laws were going to do more harm than good. They limited the collective bargaining of the teachers to strictly salary and benefits. (meaning that the people who are actually in the classroom all day would have no say in scheduling, class sizes, curriculum, etc.) They put in place a "pay-for-performance" system of compensation that was no more fair or just than what we already have. (Teachers in the same school all get paid the same "bonus" no matter who's actually doing the work to meet the state-level criteria. How is that any different than teachers earning a set salary whether or not they are exceptional teachers?) Third, they mandated laptops for every high school student and teacher in Idaho, and a requirement to take online classes to graduate. So concerned parents put together a petition and got enough signatures to recall the laws for a referendum vote.


Besides the obvious problems with this plan, a contract for the laptops was not even awarded until last month. For way more than State Superintendent Tom Luna had proposed. And the schools wouldn't own the laptops, they would only lease them, leaving them responsible for replacement/repair (not due to manufacturer defect) or paying for extra insurance on the laptops. Plans for how the laptops would be used or distributed within a school were to be determined by the local school board/administration. Because that's not ambiguous. I never encouraged conversation about Propositions 1, 2, and 3 in my classroom, because that would be unethical. I never voiced my opinion or even dropped hints as to what I thought. I told one of my classes that taking notes would be so much easier when they all had laptops. I had a student shoot back with "I don't want a laptop! They're going to make us take online classes, and online classes suck! I took one last year and dropped out half way through the semester because it was so bad." You can't even bribe a high schooler to take online classes by giving them a brand new laptop. Because, oh wait, even a teenager can see that a trained, certificated teacher, a classroom, and a text book are better than a computer.

There was an ugly debate about the Propositions for months leading up to Tuesday's vote. Millions of dollars were spent on both sides, trying to convince the public of their position. It was argued that we are giving unions too much control of our students' education, and they won't be competitive in the workplace without laptops and online classes. It was argued that laptops will increase taxes because the state hadn't properly funded them. It was argued that teachers don't care. It was argued that we have some of the best teachers in the country. Everything was argued. Our district's school board and superintendent publicly supported the propositions while parents and educators alike grumbled all the way to the voting booth.

And teachers felt attacked. When did we go into education for anything but the students? We are in the classroom with some of these kids more than they are with their own parents. Why should we not have a say in what is best for them? We are doing our jobs, and doing them well. Why should parents get to fill out an evaluation based on what their child tells them, and have that decide how much we get paid? We went to school to understand the best ways to teach our subject matter. When did the State Superintendent become such an expert on what our students should know, and the best ways to teach them that information? Why are they shutting us out? And on the subject of merit pay and getting rid of teacher tenure, administrators have always had the means to get rid of lack-luster teachers with enough documentation.

Last Friday, our administration came around with letters indicating the exact dollar amount of "bonus" money we earned - signed by our Superintendent. Interesting timing, don't you agree?

And on Tuesday, each and every one of the 44 counties in Idaho shot down Propositions 1, 2, and 3 - with Proposition 3 (laptops) losing by the widest margin. It was a great night. And the comments in the paper were that "It's too bad money can buy an election." Are you kidding me? And "The opposition did a good job of making this an emotional issue." Really? How about accepting that you grossly misread the priorities of the citizens you claim to serve and represent?! You pushed your own agenda, you were called out, and you lost.

But that means that the money we are supposed to receive is now in question. A quote from our school board is somewhere along the lines of "People don't realize just how much was lost." So there goes my $2300 "bonus", or as we like to refer to it, "back-pay". And you know what I was going to use it for? Paying off my dental and medical bills that my job's crappy insurance did not cover. What I don't get is this: How can they not pay out money that was earned last year? How can they get away with that?! What a sleazy thing to do. What sore losers.

It's been so frustrating to not be allowed to talk about these issues, or to voice our opinions because we are teachers, while our school board and superintendent can go on local news and openly support these laws. (Am I violating my contract by even posting this? ... Erin? Dad?)

But what really seems unfair to me is that even with a full-time job (and then some! when you add basketball, football, etc.) it is not enough to support my spouse and child. Chad's unemployment will run out within the month (although, he can supposedly apply for "emergency" unemployment...(?) ... isn't it all "emergency" unemployment??) and we will no longer be able to pay all of our bills. Chad will have to take some terrible minimum wage job and work nights because we won't be able to afford childcare. (Besides the fact that we don't want Charlie in daycare all day...) I guess he can work at Arby's with my high school students. Or I will have to start teaching music lessons afternoons and weekends.  I can work a summer job, but that won't get us through this year. I guess I should've seen that coming and worked last summer. We live in a modest home, we don't travel or eat out, or buy expensive things. But I think on a school teacher's salary, you should be able to pay your bills and feed yourselves.

I guess I am wrong.

Quick Rant

I'm supposed to be doing all sorts of other things for work and such, but I have to take a moment to grace the blogging community with my opinion. We just got back from WalMart, so I have plenty of material.

I thought when people grew up, they... well, grew up. I thought that adults were better behaved, more responsible, less foul-mouthed, and in general, better people than teenagers or children. I have come to the discouraging realization that this is simply not true. People grow up to be the same kind of people they were when they were teenagers. They skirt the law, they make up excuses, they're late for things, they dismiss responsibilities and they're bad examples. I was, for some reason, under the impression that when people grew up, they grew out of some of those behaviors.

Case(s) in point:
I was looking at half price Halloween candy at Walmart tonight, deciding what to buy for treats for my classroom. (Out of my own pocket, IRS!) I was maybe a foot away from what I was looking at. There was a whole aisle of half price candy - and it was all the same stuff; taffy, dum dum pops, candy corn and gummy lifesaver things. A lady walks up, reaches right in front of my face and starts rummaging through the candy. Not even the usual Utah/Idaho "Excuse me" that people think is license to do whatever rude thing it is that they want to do. I was not having happy thoughts about said lady. Go look at the same candy somewhere else. I'm standing right here! And it's not like I'd been standing there for an hour clogging up the aisle. Seriously lady? And this all happened right after an older gentleman eating a hamburger from the in-store McDonald's (really?) bumped into me and Charlie to reach over and look at the same stupid candy I was looking at.

Also - while walking into the store, an adult woman (maybe my age or a little older) was looking at something with a woman that appeared to be her mother. She decided she didn't want whatever it was, and tossed it back on the shelf, which it promptly fell off of. Her mom kind of said something - the woman turned around, looked at it on the floor, turned back around and walked away. Both of them!! What?! I thought the mom was telling her to pick up whatever she just basically threw on the floor, but apparently it was just an exclamation that whatever it was had fallen to the ground. And it hit me that I was actually shocked that an adult would drop something on the floor, not pick it up, and just walk away. Who does that? Seriously lady?! Kids routinely leave trash, food, and trays all over the cafeteria, waiting for someone to clean up after them. And it's annoying, and they should know better, but they're kids.

I was in the school office a couple of weeks ago when a mother brought her teenager into school late. In her pajamas. Um. Really? They weren't even like... exercise clothes or sweats or something that could possibly be disguised as normal every day wear. No wonder our students are wearing their pajamas to school.

I don't get people!!!!

And don't even get me started on some of the behavior I see from my co-workers. We are teachers. We are supposed to be teaching children how to be good citizens, good students, good people. And some of us are doing a pretty crappy job of it.

What I want to know is this: Is the world losing the decency of common manners? Unfortunately, I have no doubt that it is. People are, in general, more rude, selfish, inconsiderate, foul-mouthed, ignorant and oblivious. It seems that for a lot of people, they honestly don't think about other people before they do or say something. And in this part of the country it often gets touted as "free speech" or simply "freedom". Because no one should be able to tell me that I can or can't do something. That's an infringement on my rights. And I'm not just saying that because that's a common response from a teenager who thinks they've figured out the system. It seems to be the attitude of the adults too. "Who are you to tell me what to do?!"

I just thought adults were supposed to be more responsible. I thought they were supposed to be more honest. But they lie just as much as their kids do. They lie about why their kids weren't at school. They lie about family circumstances that prevent their kids from doing what's required of them. They lie so their kids can get good grades. And a lot of times we know they're lying and there's nothing we can do about it.

People walk across your lawn. People call during dinner, or late at night. People give out your cell phone number and call it whenever they want to for whatever they want to. People send texts in place of conversations they don't want to have and expect immediate responses. People write official/professional documents in colloquial language with incorrect grammar and spelling. People use swear words in normal conversation, no matter the audience. People don't dress appropriately for the occasion. They wear sandals to work. Women wear pants (and skirts) they can't modestly do their jobs in. (Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think you should ever see your teachers' toes, or uhm... butt cracks.) Women don't cover their legs. Women wear flip flops to church. People butt in, and squeeze through. People do not wait. If you're where they want to be, they've waited too long already.
(Before you tell me, I am well aware that some of these things are nit-picky, out-of-style, and outdated. But that's the beauty of a blog. It's my opinion.)

I'm sure I'm not the most polite person. I try to write professionally, speak articulately, and act responsibly. Most of the time, I try. Unless you just parked yourself right in front of whatever I was looking at at the grocery store. Then all bets are off.

Caught red-handed!

Letter

Dear Gerber Generation Photo Search 2012 Judges,

I recognize that you have decided to call and inform me of my grand prize winnings tomorrow instead of today. I will be home after 4:00pm or you can reach my husband Chad at home any time throughout the day.

We are so looking forward to hearing from you! We've already spent our $70,000!

Sincerely,
Megan Busath

Jailbirds

When we got home from church, Lady was sitting on the chair looking out the window, waiting for me. Which means she got out of the kitchen while we were gone. Sometimes she gets out and does nothing more sinister than sleep on the couch. Today I walked in to find Charlie's stuffed duck no longer stuffed - innards strewn about the front room. (I may have had a Snowball flashback...) So she got in trouble, and thrown in her cage.

The problem with that is Charlie sneaks in there and silently breaks her out of her cage, and then they both come running/crawling away as fast as possible. These two are trouble...

Hmm...

This picture is on the label for children's ibuprofen - which we bought for Charlie tonight because he hasn't been sleeping because (we assume) his gums are hurting. He will probably get one of his top teeth before the end of the week.

Are you telling me my child is either "under 2 years" or "24-35 lbs"? Because... he's almost 24 pounds right now. And he's 9 months old.

Grgh.

Spent my afternoon baking and frosting a cake to bring to a ward dinner/talent show tonight. It was chocolate fudge with (canned) coconut pecan frosting. It wasn't even like... old food storage crap. I left early because Charlie was tired of being held. Chad just came home with a mangled mess of cake!!!!

They cut it into about 50 little pieces, but said they "couldn't get it out" and told him to take it home. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH A MESS OF CAKE?! Irked?! More than a little.

I told Chad he's going to take it to church tomorrow and make sure someone eats it.

Next time they want me to bring a cake to something I'm going to say no.

Update

We took Charlie to the doctor on Wednesday and were again chided to get him to sleep through the night. We are going to try next week because we don't have any football games. We are going to leave him with a (youth) babysitter for the first time tomorrow night so he doesn't have to be out at the football game, and if she has to put him to bed, we don't want her to have to listen to him cry. We tried letting him cry on Tuesday night because he woke up mad and wouldn't take his bottle, like he usually does. I let him cry for 10 minutes (as advised) and by the end he was hysterical, and we felt so bad for leaving him for so long. I'm not worried about the not getting sleep part of trying to train him to sleep through the night, but listening to him cry like that when all he wants is a snuggle from his mom and dad is so sad! If he cried a lot, I might be able to ignore it better, but he's not really a crier. When he got his flu shot at the doctor, he screamed (of course) but we picked him up and talked to him, and within 2 minutes he was calmed down. (although still sniffling)

He is 23.7 pounds (94.8%) and 29 1/4" (83%). His head is 47 cm (not sure%). Doctor says he is a big boy, but he is proportional! He said bigger kids are usually slower to stand and walk and such, but we told him he was already pulling himself up on stuff. He walked behind the laundry basket as he pushed it across the floor. And he should be getting his top teeth any day now!

In other news -
Marching band is coming along nicely! I have no doubt that they can get it done, and I'm excited to see them perform. I think they are more nervous than anything.

It looks like we will be able to snag a couple of tickets to Conference. I've never been to anything in the new church Conference Center in Salt Lake (I'm sure it will be a parking/crowded nightmare) but that should be fun!

Also, I woke up this morning to find my socks (which had been on my feet when I went to bed) tucked neatly under my pillow. ... Okaaaay...

Other than that, not much is going on. It is getting cold here. There was frost on the windshield this morning. Winter will be here before we know it.

9 months!

Last weekend we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. There isn't too much to see there, but this year they had a nice petting zoo. We mostly go for the food. We had a tiger ear, (giant fried dough with butter and cinnamon/sugar) teriyaki chicken, a piece of homemade bread, a snow cone and a candied apple. Here's Charlie and Daddy on the way to the car. 

Ever since Charlie was a newborn, he has (mostly) enjoyed going for walks in his stroller.  A lot of times it is the only way to get him to sleep. So we take a lot of walks in the evenings. It has been cooling off, and you can really feel fall in the air! We are excited for pumpkins and sweaters and candy corn and apples. But fall is almost non-existent here because winter comes so quickly. And there are no leaves to change color and rake into crunchy piles. But here is a picture of Charlie after one of our evening walks. Babies in hats are so cute!!

And today was/is Charlie's 9 month birthday!!  It's the Charlie equinox - when his time in the world begins to surpass his time in the belly. Let's see... what does Charlie do these days? He spends his time crawling around the house, finding cords to put in his mouth, hiding in the curtains, getting into the dog food and water, eating (feeding himself!) puffs and such, pulling his socks off, pulling himself up on stuff, reaching his hands up to bang on the piano, and falling over a LOT. We have seen him stand up by himself a couple of times but only by accident so far. He says "num num num" a lot - especially when he's eating... He still loves baths and playing with Lady. He always wants to play with the plunger and climb into the fridge. He is growing too fast for us to keep up with him, but has a new wardrobe thanks to Erin's hand-me-downs on loan. The shirt and pants in the picture below are 12M. He has a doctor's appointment on Tuesday - we'll let you know how much he weighs! Charlie is ticklish and giggles/screams when you tickle his toes or armpits. He is a happy kid. And we are happy to have him.

Here's his photo shoot. Serious. 

Silly smiley. That's more like it. 

I also made baklava today because I like baklava and I can never find anywhere around here that makes it. So I thought I would make my own. It was/is delicious. But walnuts are expensive!! :o( 

I will survive!

This week I went back to school. Monday was freshmen day, Tuesday was a shortened schedule so the kids could go through the schedules in the morning, Wednesday was a regular day with everyone, and today was another shortened day for a pep assembly. I have somewhere around 55 kids in band, and they make a lot of noise!!! In a good way. 11 trumpets, 5 french horns, and 5 baritones will do that. (I had 6, 2 and 2 last year.) They played the National Anthem and the Fight Song at the assembly and they were a force to be reckoned with. They sounded awesome! I'm sorry, but sometimes louder is better.

Our first home football game is tomorrow night... We'll see how it goes! I'm sure it will be fine. And I have a drum major this year, so I won't have to be so stressed out. Wahoo! We won't march our field show until Homecoming, at the end of September, but it will come quickly!

We'll post some more pictures of our little Charlie man soon.

Charlie

Last night, Charlie went to bed around 10:30. He woke up screaming around 12:30am. Usually when he cries, you can stick a bottle in his mouth and he'll go back to sleep without too much trouble. Last night he was inconsolable.

We gave him a fresh bottle, bounced him, held him, rocked him, sang to him, sat in front of the fan, gave him his pacifier, and still he cried. He would calm down for a few minutes and then randomly start crying again. I finally bounced him on the exercise ball, he took the bottle, and got him quiet. His eyes were still half open though, so I couldn't tell if he was asleep or not.

Here we are sitting in the dark bouncing on a ball at 1:30am, when Charlie, eyes half open and mouth hanging wide, inexplicably starts laughing. Chad thought it was cute - I thought it was creepy. He never opened his eyes! He just stared out of the bottom of them, like he was looking right at me. After he got his giggles out, I handed him to Chad, Chad put him down in his Pack N' Play and he finally went back to bed.

The past couple of nights, Chad has heard him making some noise and he walks in to check on him to find he is mostly sleep... babbling (since he doesn't do much talking yet.) If we have a sleepwalker, I will be creeped out. They're like zombies. Like that one time (Christmas Eve 2009) we found Will laying at the top of the stairs staring straight ahead. When Erin spoke to him, it was obvious he wasn't all there. CREEPY!

P.S.
I will be a nervous wreck by the time spider "season" is over. This is my brain from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep: "Spiders, spiders, spiders, spiders" as my eyes frantically scan the floor of whatever room I'm about to walk into. When I fall asleep, I have nightmares about spiders. You will eventually find me on a wooden chair in the middle of the room with everything up off of the floor, the carpet ripped out, and rows of sticky insect traps surrounding me like a moat.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

WE.

HAVE.

HOBOS!!!!!!!

And not the skeevy but probably harmless type. 

 The creepy, poisonous and hang out in a corner and jump on you when you're not looking or the crawl into your ear canal while you're sleeping type!!!

THAT'S JUST A PICTURE!!!! WE HAVE THEM IN REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We killed one running across the kitchen floor, one running across the living room floor, and about 5 or 6 hanging out on and around the stairs to the basement.

And THEY BITE. And if they bite you, it can turn into THIS:

(Or WORSE - google it!!!!)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 

I think we have to move NOW.

(If you are reading this and dad is nearby, this is usually the point where he will run his fingers up your arm/neck/back/hair to scare the crap out of you.)

... Seriously?!

Okay - if you have followed me on Facebook at all, you read my recent beef with a lady that walks her dog and lets it go to the bathroom in our yard. Some were wondering if she cleaned up after it, because that's not so bad.

True.

Sometimes you walk a dog and it decides to poop, and you clean up after it. But we just watched this lady walk out of her apartment with her dog, march straight across the street, into our yard, let her dog go to the bathroom, and then walk straight across the street back into her apartment. SERIOUSLY?! It's not like she's on a walk and the dog decided to go to the bathroom... she's purposely and intentionally using our yard for her dog to poop in.

When Chad confronted her last week, she claimed she was "just letting him get some shade under your trees". Mmhmm...

Today he went outside to confront her (actually a different old lady that apparently lives with the first lady... or visits a lot..) and our neighbor was already on top of it. He told her she had to take her dog down to the park if she wanted to do that. She claimed her dogs (there's more than one?!) weren't ready for that kind of walk. Uh... pretty sure they could handle it, you just don't want to walk that far. What she should have (more truthfully said) is "Why would I walk that far when your yard is perfect for my dog to poop in." So the neighbor finishes talking to her, she turns around, and Chad's standing there. She says "He's all done now" and Chad says "Okay - just try not to let it happen in our yard anymore." And she walks back inside and so does he.

We have now talked to the dog owners twice - what do you do after that?!

I'm sorry you live in a little apartment with no yard (they are supposed to be "putting in" a yard - they dug it up and put in a sprinkler system a couple of weeks ago, but no development as far as sod goes). Maybe you shouldn't have moved in with a dog! GRRRRGH.

Yellowstone

At some point in mid-May, we went up to Yellowstone on a Sunday afternoon. We wanted to go one more time before our season pass ran out, and we knew we were going to be gone for most of the month of June. It was a little chilly, but I guess it was a good time of year to go because I have never seen more animals in Yellowstone!

We drove up through West Yellowstone, and then drove up to the North entrance, ate lunch, and headed back. Charlie had a giant blowout and consequently wore only a diaper for half of the trip.

Note: This is the first of 5 new posts that are mostly pictures.

Update - Everything else

When we got back, the Olympics had just started. Here's our future Olympian getting as close as he can to the action.

He also started doing this for some reason:

It has been so hot since we got back. We decided to give in and buy a little pool to cool ourselves off in. We thought Charlie would like it since he loves the bath tub. Unfortunately, the hose water is about negative 20 degrees, and, surprisingly, it doesn't warm up very much sitting out in the sun all day. So Charlie doesn't appreciate it that much. But we did get him in it once so far. 

Haha.

We got back from California just in time to go to the local baseball game where Geena Davis was throwing out the first pitch for the 20th anniversary of A League of Their Own. After the game they showed the movie on giant inflatable screens out on the field. So. We had to go in style.

Geena Davis didn't do any pictures or autographs. We were disappointed. I even broke my "never buy used shoes" rule and my "never wear used shoes" rule and my "never wear used shoes you bought at D.I." rule so I could wear cleats with my outfit. But I did get my picture taken with an older man who said he had gone to every one of the Rockford Peaches home games. That was pretty cool. I wish I had talked to him more before he left. And a little girl who loves the movie. And while I was out changing Charlie's diaper, someone (an adult) asked me if I was in the movie. Yes, yes I was. I age well, don't I? And now I change babies' diapers at local baseball games in costume. People were pretty impressed with my uniform - good job Mama! (She made uniforms for Mollie and I for Halloween when we were seniors in high school)Too bad Mollie couldn't come with me so we could be extra cool. It was fun. And a once-in-a-lifetime event, I'm sure.

And now for some random pictures of Charlie:

Charlie really likes getting into Lady's toys.

I'm sad this picture is blurry. Our little man! 

Dinner's ready!

I also have been having fun looking up new recipes and trying them out.

Orange glazed turkey legs with an orange marmalade gravy/glaze. Yum!

Butter Brickle Frozen Delight. It's like cream cheese pie with a granola-like topping and butterscotch/caramel sauce. *drool*

In May I went to the dentist for the first time in about 6 years. (not including getting my wisdom teeth out in 2009) I was tired of not being able to eat anything, and I had just taught a YW lesson about taking care of our bodies. So I was feeling a little guilty. So I finally called and made a dentist appointment.
It went like this:
1. appointment for initial cleaning/x-rays/consultation
2. appointment for more cleaning/digging at my gums
3. appointment for one filling
4. appointment for two root canals at the endodontist
5. appointment for two permanent fillings in said root canals
6. appointment for temporary crown fitting #1
7. appointment for permanent crown fitting #1 and temporary crown fitting #2
8. appointment for permanent crown fitting #2

I think that was all of them. On my last appointment (July 31st), I brought a pack of Starburst with me to share with my dentist and the assistant who worked on my teeth for the last couple of months. They used to be my favorite candy, but I haven't eaten one in at least 2 years because the pain would nearly double me over. Before that, it had been a few years since I had eaten one without my teeth hurting at all. So. Starburst it was. And it was delicious. But expensive. I told my dentist that that was a $3000 Starburst right there. P.S. Whatever happened to the tropical fruit Starbursts? I could only find original, Favo-reds, and flavor morphs. Psh.

Here's to many more Starburst to come! (And fewer visits to my dentist.)