Oh I'm Just a Little Black Rain Cloud. . .

Our week has been . . . trying in the way of everyday sort of difficult. My back continues to hurt, and Packer continues to puke at indiscernible moments in time. Health oddities aside, it has been remarkable uneventful.

Monday was President's Day, and I spent most of it lying on my back. However, my Dad sent me a Valentine with $20 attached. You best believe I made it to get a Pedicure. Fun fact: I am super cheap, so I go to Tops Nail Salon and School. It is the salon for the Asian underworld in Taylorsville, Utah. They mostly don't speak English, so I try to keep things simple. Otherwise I end up with flowers when I ask for a spider web.

We have spent more time playing inside this week than I had hoped as it was evidently the 'last' of the nice days. I don't really believe that, but we did make it to the park one day.

Dinosaurs have become a mainstay in our house. They mostly kiss and hug and roar at each other. We gave up hitting each other with them after the first few rounds of bruised fingers. There is a lot of 'waking up' the dinosaurs after they lose a roaring battle and fall down. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing make believe again. I can tell I am using parts of my brain left dormant for far too long.

Good Series to Read: Stray by Rachel Vincent -- A little racey, but very compelling story of a young were-cat in the big wide world. 

Doom and Gloom

I think we had so much fun last week, that the karmic forces of the universe simply had to reverse our good fortune. It has been . . . a week. I will try to list the fun and not-so-fun things that happened to us this week.

1. Our dog, Shay, ate her blanket. Really dog?!? Really?!? Shay ate her blanket on Sunday night, and proceeded to puke copious amounts for the next 2 days. It was nasty. Plus I went online to look up 'why my dog ate her blanket' on google. It led me to multiple horror stories of dogs needing expensive surgery. This drove me into a downward spiral of worry and stress. Jameson said she would just have to die because he wouldn't pay for it. Fortunately, it didn't come to that. It seems she either puked or pooped it all out.

2. Packer tired to pole vault and it didn't go well. He was running along the sidewalk with a large stick and it hit a line in the sidewalk. This launched him into the air, and then he landed on his face. It was traumatic for everyone involved, but no emergency medical trips were needed. Just lots of cuddles.

3. I ran out of my hypo-allergenic lotion, so I tried to use some left over lotion from a previous buy in the bathroom on my legs. Broke out in hives. 

3. After we recovered from all the fun, we went to Wheeler Farm with some friends from church, Dana Hicks and Becca Leavitt and their daughters Reagan and Maddie, respectively. It was a lot of fun, but may have ended up in a battle between myself and Packer in a crowded playground. I am pretty sure some parents were tempted to call the authorities because a crazy lady was dragging a screaming child and reluctant dog to her car.

4. We went to the aquarium again, and it was blessedly uneventful. However, Packer did come out of the play area and told me 'we don't hit babies' per our last visit there. It's good to know we learn from past mistakes.

5. Finally, I got to visit with my Mom, who was here for Rootstech convention with her friend from the library. I got to go with her on Saturday to see some fantastic speakers and to see Elder Anderson (apostle for the LDS church) give his new temple challenge. While I loved Elder Anderson's talk, I really benefited from Al Fox's talk. She just said some things I really needed to hear.(Fun tidbit, my brother was in the branch presidency when she was baptized!)

6. I got a migraine at church and had to come home on Sunday, hence writing on Monday. Also injured my back.

Isn't life grand?

Good Book to read: Any of the Molly Harper series. These are super fun paranormal/humor/romance books. They do get pretty saucy, but are lots of fun and have helped me see the humor in my week. . . I would start with Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs.

Sunshine and Happiness

Let's be honest, it has been unseasonably warm in Utah. Like most of my friends, I have discussed how I am vaguely worried about summer and how I want to be able to take a shower (drought conditions can make this iffy) when summer comes. But. The truth is . . . I am in love with an early, mild wonderful spring. I wake up to sunshine and hopefulness, instead of the dreary dream-killer that usually reigns over February in these parts.

That has been the theme of this past week . . . sunshine and happiness. We got to do so many fun things. Packer got to chase some geese at Wheeler Farm. Yes, I realize the parental irresponsibility in this, but most of the geese here do not find my son to be enough of a threat or an annoyance to chase him back. Also, I was close enough to punt them across the field if things got out of hand.

 Jameson also scored some free tickets at work to the Jazz game on Wednesday. It pays to work at Zions Bank sometimes. We had great seats, and were able to take our son to a fun game. I am fairly sure that Packer has been more places and done more things at 2 years old than I had at 20. That might not be a good thing. He was pretty terrified when the Jazz Bear came out on a motorcycle and revved the engine while flames shot from the hoops. He kept an eye on where the bear was for the remainder of our time there, which was until half time.

I think I am most proud of Packer finally climbing up a ladder at the park. He is a cautious little fellow, so it was quite the accomplishment.

 We visited the aquarium, and the penguins were unusually friendly and excited to come up to the glass, thrilling myself and Packer. And about 50 other kids. 

Jameson has also decided to compete in a Go Ruck challenge, and has been training rather fiercely. Packer and I met Jameson and his brother, Wesley, at the park the other day during a training session, and Packer got to participate. It was just about the cutest thing ever.

In other news, I am 7 books into my 52 book challenge for the year. Follow me on Goodreads to know exactly what I am reading at any given moment. But right now I recommend Strong Mothers, Strong Sons by Meg Meeker, M.D. I would like to point out that this book took me almost a month to read. Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper took me 2 days. Good things sometimes require an investment.