Notes for my sister

A few years ago, I asked Norm for an umbrella for Christmas.  On grey days, I crave sunshine  and bright colors.  So I asked him for a beautiful rainbow umbrella, and of course he said yes.  I love it, and it's come in handy more than ever lately.  Amber has a rainbow umbrella too.  This happens to be one of my favorite photos of our little girl. Back in July when we were house hunting, it was super hot and we knew Texas would have a blistering summer.  But I wasn't expecting so many rainy, cloudy days.  Everybody here says this is unusual, that normally it doesn't rain this much.  But just for kicks, let's compare: In a normal year, Utah gets about 16-20 inches of rain.  The higher number includes snow on the mountain benches.  It's a desert. In Dallas, TX during the last two years they've had about 35-36" rain each year. But after I got here, between: August 11- August 31:  2.99 inches September ...

Thoughts on Houses This is my first post from Texas.  The blog lives on.  August was a whirlwind, September we started settling in, and now it's October.  Most of the boxes are unpacked.  Just last week I found the box that had cookbooks in it, and that makes me pretty happy.  I still haven't made whole wheat bread or cookies since we got here, but maybe I'll do that soon. We spent a lot of time this summer thinking about houses, getting ready to sell our house in Traverse Mountain (in Lehi, on the northern edge of Utah County), and brainstorming on what we'd need in a house in Texas. On the way to Texas, we drove south through Colorado and spent the night at Mesa Verde.  We found the Far View Lodge inside the park and stayed up high on the mesa.  The night sky was pitch black away from the city lights, and the weather was at least ten degrees cooler up high.  I loved it.  The next morning we learned a lot about the Native American...

(Sheet music from Wicked) Moms need good music.  Here are some favorites: Baby Mine from Dumbo Blessed by Martina McBride Candle on the Water Children will Listen from Into the Woods Close to Home from Children of Eden Crazy Dreams by Carrie Underwood For Good from Wicked Lead Me by Sanctus Real Lullabye by Billy Joel My Wish by Rascal Flatts Our Children from Ragtime Proud Father by Jon McLaughlin * Somebody's Hero by Jamie O'Neal Someone's Waiting For You by Shelby Flint Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof This One's for the Girls by Martina McBride What will baby be by Dolly Parton * If you only listen to one song on this list, check out Jamie O'Neal's Somebody's Hero.

Birth Stories Moms need to tell their delivery stories.  At baby showers, that's mainly what happens. Have you ever noticed that anytime a pregnant lady asks for stories, women always tell their traumatic ones?  The women who had easy deliveries never weigh in, because they don't have time to retell a story they've already processed.  But the woman with the agonizing delivery is still waiting for somebody to validate her experience.  If you're at a baby shower, just wait for it.  The cute mother-to-be starts doing a little research and timidly asks something about childbirth.  Here's my two cents:  if you're the pregnant lady, gently redirect that other lady and say something like, "may I pass?  It won't help me to hear your story, and I won't be able to help you."  Then look around the room for a kindred spirit, a lady with 2-3 kids of her own and a kind face, and say, "but maybe she'd be willing to listen." The moms who...

New to Utah: notes for Kim or anybody who's moved from out of state Hi Kim, Remember last year when we talked about how somebody should write a post with all the insider information?  Here you go - a bunch of random notes about Utah. Food ideas: Kneaders is a local bakery.  They're closed on Sundays, and every Saturday night starting at 8pm, almost the entire case of baked goods goes down to 50% off.  It's like Christmas but better.  The carrot cake is great, also the fruit tart... Krispy Kreme is also a win. When your kids get a good report card, take a copy and they'll stamp it and give you 6 free glazed donuts per kid.  That means with my three big kids, we're walking away with 18.  So delicious.  Also when you get there, take at least 20 minutes to watch the donuts rising and dropping in the oil.  That's a really fun field trip. Farm stands are great during the summer.  Look for the ones that are owned locally, right on the orc...

Notes for Kori:  Here's my recommendations for Southern California. We love to stay at Newport Coast, the enormous Marriott property near Newport Beach.  There are some pretty great mansions in the hills nearby.  Ask somebody to point out which one belongs to Tiger Woods.  When you make your reservation, you can ask for a room with an ocean view.  If you have noisy little boys, you can ask to be on the ground floor so you don't have to worry about them jumping and disturbing people under you.  You can buy groceries nearby and then enjoy an apartment with a kitchen and two bedrooms. When you want to go to the beach with the family, find the shuttle stop and take the free bus down to the beach at Crystal Cove (because parking down there is like $15 and you still have to walk a ways).  My favorite thing is to walk down the hill, walk down to the beach and enjoy it before sunrise when there's no people there.  It's a great morning walk, but I ...

Insomnia is usually a red flag that there's another problem under the surface.  It's a symptom of something worse, but it's also a serious problem in and of itself.  Here's 24 years worth of trial and error, research and experiment, therapy and tears, condensed into one essay.  (A few of the ideas here come from, "The feeling good handbook," by David Burns, MD.  It's a great resource.) 1.  Don’t put your face in front of bright screens from  11pm-5am .   Whether it's a phone, desktop computer, lightbox, whatever.   It’s like artificial sunshine, and you don’t want that confusing your body's circadian rhythms. 2. Biofeedback:   “my hands are warm and heavy,” stuff really works.   ( BYU used to have a great lab in the downstairs of the Wilkinsin center.  It might still be there, I don't know.)   Your mind has a ton of power over your body.   I can raise my body temperature in certain areas, just by telling m...