Nap time guilt

I took a two hour nap this evening, which I could easily do everyday of the week if I let myself.

I love me a nap!

However, I always intend to sleep for only an hour at most, and more often than not, I over exceed that by thirty minutes or more.

However, the good news is after I wake up I feel really guilty about sleeping so long that I try to overcompensate by doing more around the house than I would if I had stayed awake. In some ways, my naps are a win-win. I get my much desired nap, and the house gets cleaned.

There is a downside, however. After a two hour nap, I cannot easily fall asleep that night. I end up laying in bed and tossing and turning for hours. That consequence of napping is not fun or rewarding. It also starts a vicious cycle, in which I need a nap everyday there after. Which I now realize is not really a bad thing necessarily, since my nap time guilt drives me to clean my house!

Go naps!

The joys of parenting... a dog

Tonight, I had to give Piper a bath. Let's just say, we went on a walk, Piper did her business, some of it stuck to her, and then I smeared it all over her backside in the process of removal. Totally gross! After he bath, she was hyper, and would not let me brush her or dry her off. She ran around like crazy for like 45 minutes. I finally had to just ignore her, and I got on the computer to write my second to last paper for my last ESL class. Can I get a hallelujah?

After I had finished my paper, I found Piper all cuddled up and asleep on the other couch with Dalan's hoodie fully over her like a blanket. It was so cute. She knows the sound of the camera turning on (can you say Pavlov?), so she looked up as I went to take the pictures, but they are still totally adorable.

Kidney stones or the swine flu?

First of all, who ever thought I would end up blogging so much about kidney stones while still in my twenties. Well, for the last two weeks I have battled the stones, and as of today, they are winning. After feeling healthy all week, I woke up to intense pain this morning, and have spent the rest of the day feeling crappy with a slight fever. I still have not gone to the doctor, because the treatment is water, pain medication, and rest. I can do that all without a doctor. Well, unless the stone is too big to pass and then I well need a doctor, but I am still hesitant to go pay a co-pay, and be told to do those three things I just listed.

Then, I thought maybe, it is not kidney stones at all? Maybe, I will be the first Utah case of the Swine Flu? So, I decided to compare symptoms.

Kidney Stones:
Pain and cramping in the back area (check...I definitely have that)
Vomiting (none)
Blood in the urine (none....just in case you were interested)
Frequent urination (yes, but I have also been drinking a ton of water)
Slight fever (yes, at least according to Mama Carlson, who felt my forehead for me)

Three out of five, with a big yes, on the pain and cramping which is the number one sign.

Swine Flu:
Coughing (none)
Running Nose (none)
Fever (see above)
Sore throat (none)
Vomiting (none)
Fatigue (yes)
Chills (none)

We will have two out of seven on that one, with none of the major indicators, except a slight fever.

In my modest medical opinion, I do, in fact have kidney stone, not the swine flu. That is a relief. At least, I am not part of a major health crisis!

Really? A Classic Story of Miscommunication

Background Information: Dalan has a hard time sitting for large amounts of time on hard chairs. It hurts his behind, since he is lacking some junk in the trunk. Also, his knees bother him sometimes too if he sits too long, because of his injury.

Here is a picture of Dalan's classic stand up and stretch move.

Setting: Buca Di Beppo last Saturday night.

Characters: Jessi and Dalan

Really?
A Classic Story of Miscommunication
By: Jessi

Dalan stands up for the second time during the meal.

Dalan (quietly): I have to use the bathroom.

Jessi (not hearing what he said, but seeing him stand up): Really? (Meaning do you really need to stand up again? People are going to think you are being rude, and want to leave. Sit down and deal with it the uncomfortableness.)

Dalan: It is what it is.

Jessi: Well, can you at least take pictures then? (handing him the camera.)

Dalan: YOU WANT PICTURES OF ME PEEING? (thinking, wow! She is taking this getting pictures for the blog to the extreme!)

Jessi (turning bright red): Oh! You got up to go to the bathroom. Gotcha!

I have laughed about this little miscommunication all week.

The day Dalan lost the dog...

Last night I started the dishwasher (girl job), and did some dishes by hand. I then noticed that the rug was wet, and that the dishwasher was leaking. Great! I put a bowl under it, and told Dalan to look at it when he got a chance.

Today, Dalan went to do some investigating into the broken dishwasher (boy job), and moved some things out back. He worked on the dishwasher, only to find nothing wrong. In fact, there was not leaking at all while he was working on it, which is mysterious, but I guess a good thing. He then noticed he had left the back door open. He called out to Piper several times, only to have no response. He walked around the outside of the house, like a mad man, calling out for the dog and looking for her. No Piper. Piper has been a low AWOL risk since we have moved into the house, but she used to take off at any chance she got, so it was possible she had run off.

He came back to the house in a total panic to get his keys, so he can drive around and look for her. When Piper heard his keys, she came wandering down the stairs to see what was going on. Dalan is still unsure if she was upstairs the whole time, or if she had returned to the house while he was out looking for her. I tend to think she was napping upstairs the whole time, but who knows, she could have gone running after a bird or a cat if she had seen one.

A nice little Saturday

Saturday was a fun little day. Nothing outrageous or flashy, but fun! It started with Dalan going to the Utes spring football preview scrimmage thing at Rice-Eccles, while my mom and I went shopping. I needed to get some things for my classroom, and Patti offered to come so I would not have to go alone. Shopping is always more fun with someone else. We went all over town and found most of the stuff I wanted, plus we got dollar sundaes from McDonalds. Delish. On the way home, Patti suggested we stop by Costco, which was perfect, because there were a bunch of things Dalan and I needed from there.

We went back to my mom's house, and learned that Ali had earned the honor of Employee of the Month! Ok, we already knew, but it was fun to see Ali's balloons, cake, and gift card. Way to go, Ali! Then Griffin tried to play with Piper, and Piper tried to fight Griffin, so it was time to come home.

I came home to a very sunburned husband. The poor guy. Half of his face, and his whole head were bright red, minus where his sunglasses were! Then, it was time to go to Buca di Beppo for Dalan's cousin's engagement party. When we got there, we were greeted by Cole! We had no idea he was valeting cars that night. He totally gave our car the best spot in the lot. He was pulled and sent to another location though by the time we were done, so he missed out on our generous tip!




Dinner was fun. We had good food and good converation. Dalan's cousin, Rob and his finace, Jen got a lot of fun stuff. They are great people, and I am so excited for there wedding. We also got to play Dalan's other cousin, Randy's, little boy, Morgan. He is 16 months old, and ton of fun. His favorite things to do was to shove items into the glass of water, down through the ice, and clap for himself.

I am glad that we had such a nice little Saturday, minus the sunburn!

Sleepless in Salt Lake

Last night, I once again found myself awake in the middle of the night with some intense pain in my back. I could not go back to sleep, and found myself awake, and in pain for about a solid hour. The pain eased enough and I fell back asleep, only to have a nightmare.

In my nightmare, Dalan was having an affair with a woman from his work named, Maria. He works with all men, by the way. In my nightmare, I was still awake, but Dalan didn't realize it and took a call from this woman. I caught him saying, "me too", in response to her, "I love you." I confronted him, and he was just totally indifferent and chill about the whole thing. Then I woke up for real, and was pissed. It took me a while to fall back to sleep after that.

Beauty school dropout

Over the weekend, my eyebrows were in need of some major shaping. I hate tweezing them, mainly because I am lazy, and because Ali usually has some wax. On Sunday, I asked Ali to please wax my eyebrows for me, but she was out of wax. However, she offered to pluck them for me. (Or did I whine until about her plucking them, and she gave in...hard to remember exactly.) I think when someone else doing it, it hurts more than doing it yourself. The good news is eventually my eye regions went numb, and now they look fabulous. Thanks Ali. Here are some pictures of our grooming.

I did this to myself

I am pretty sure I have the stones again, kidney stones, that is. Last week, I binged a little on caffeinated beverages. I went to a training for two days that included breakfast, and lunch, and figured they would have bottled water as a beverage choice, and did not bring a water bottle. They didn't, so I drank Diet Coke both days. I could have surely brought water with me both days, or at the very least, the second day, but alas, I did not. Later in the week, I went shopping with my mom and Ali, and we stopped and got iced coffees. I could have gotten a non-caffeinated beverage, but alas, I did not. Over these days, I could have doubled up on my water consumption to balance out all the caffeine, but alas, I did not.

Therefore, last Thursday night into Friday morning, I had one of my "attacks" in which I am woken up in the middle of the night from immense pain, and feel toxic. (One sign of the stones.) Then for the entire weekend, I had to pee and pee and pee. (Another sign of the stones.) Last night, I was woken up throughout the night with intense back pain. (Another sign of the stones.) At first, in my sleepy state I thought I had been sleeping wrong, but eventually it became clear, it was that old familiar pain of the stones. Today, I felt just ill and tired, (Yet another sign of the stones.)

I know I did this to myself. I tested the boundaries and lost big time. I have hit the water and lemonade hard today, so here is to hoping I pass the stone with no further pain or misery.

Easter Day

Easter Day was a blast. The Easter bunny came to our house, and brought some goodies. Piper was very excited about her new shirt, toy, and treats.

Later, we went to my parents' house for Easter egg hunts and for Easter dinner, we were unable to make it Dalan's side, because Dalan had to work. I am going to go up there this evening to visit with the ladies!

My parents had two Easter egg hunts planned- one inside with the real eggs, and one outside with plastic eggs, and our baskets. It was a lot of fun with Dalan, Ali, McKay, and me participating-Cole had to work. McKay found the most eggs inside, and Ali found the most eggs outside.

We then ate a super yummy dinner, and then settled down to watch our Sunday shows. It was good times and happy memories.

Dying eggs with the family

Tonight, Dalan and I went over to my parents' house to dye some eggs and eat pizza. It was a lot of fun, although Cole and McKay were unable to make it. My parents' boiled 4 dozen eggs, so there was a lot of dying to be done by all. I like to to multi-colored ones, or ones that are blend of a bunch of colors. I have yet to perfect the perfect brown egg. Tomorrow we are going over to find eggs and eat dinner. I love holidays!

A day at the zoo!

Dalan and I decided to take advantage of my day off, and the semi-nice weather (i.e. no rain, and temperatures in the 60's) and spend the afternoon at the zoo. It was pretty crowded, but not overwhelmingly so. We made sure we took all the required Hogle Zoo pictures. My favorite animals,, as usual were the orangutans and the giraffes. After the zoo, we went to lunch at Caputo's. I have not been there for a long time, and it was so delicious. It hit the spot.

Cuba

I want to go to Cuba, badly.

I have wanted to go ever since I saw Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. So, as Dalan and I attempt to find good deals on a flight/hotel anywhere (with no luck) for our honeymoon this summer, I keep telling Dalan all I want to do is go to Cuba.

So, this morning I read on an article that the U.S. is slowly loosening up its rules on travel to Cuba. C'mon, it is about time. Free country, my ass. I can travel to China, which is a communist country, but not Cuba???? Anyway, the articles talks about two options you have as an American to get into Cuba. The first option is to apply, and the U.S. government may allow it for a wide variety of reasons, including an educational trip for my family. The second option is to go through Canada or Mexico, where some places specialize in American travel to Cuba. Apparently, Cuba does not require a passport, so Americans can slip in and out of Cuba fairly easily and undetected. There are two small catches, one is you have to bring cash, because you cannot use an American credit card in Cuba. The other is you can get fined 7,500 dollars if caught, but according to the article I read only 3 people out of an estimated 50,000 got fined last year.

Now, I have no idea how much it will be to fly to say Canada, and then to Cuba, but I totally want to. That would be the best honeymoon ever, and pretty darn unique. Do you think it would be worth even looking into? Do you think I should wait, and see if the restrictions will slowly disappear, and then we can just go and be legit? Just wondering.

Dinner with a side of good conversation

Over the last month or so, I have had the best dinners with the best of friends. It has been so much fun. I am loving going to dinner, eating yummy food, and just chatting. So, call me! I want to go to dinner with you, and catch up, gossip, laugh, and stuff our bellies!

Because I have a feeling...

Dalan will be shaving his beard soon.

(At least I think he will be, spring is almost here to stay, and that is what happened last year....the weather warmed up and the beard disappeared!)
This makes me sad, especially because he has yet to indulge me and grow a mustache.
So to appease my mustache needs, here is another sexy picture of the king of all mustaches....
Mr. Burt Reynolds!

Pillow Talk

Here is the transcript of the interaction Dalan and I had in the middle of the night last night. Although, I remember little of it, he relayed it to me this afternoon.

Me (waking up): I am very confused.

Dalan: About what?

Me: Did you take the dog out?

Dalan: Yes.

Me: I need this blanket off. (We have three blankets on our bed. One heavy quilt, and two light ones. I had the heavy one over me.)

Dalan takes the heavy quilt off of me, and puts on one of the lighter ones.

Me: No! Tag team!

Dalan: What?

Me: Tag team.

Dalan: What?

Me: I want that other one on me too. Tag team.

Dalan puts the two light quilts over me.

Me: I am not going to my training tomorrow.

Dalan: Why would you do that?

Me: I want to sleep in.

Dalan: I think you should go to your training.

Me: Well, I can't go.

Dalan: Why?

Me: It will interfere with my sleeping in.

Dalan: You should go. Did you set your alarm?

Me: Maybe/maybe not.

Dalan: Jessica! Did you set your alarm?

Me: Maybe/maybe not.

Then I went back to sleep. And I had set my alarm, and I did go to my training, in case you were wondering. I love my wacky sleep talking conversations. They are been rarer as of late, but once in a while, I still can sleep converse with the best of them!

Because Dalan needed one too!

Damn that Mary Kay makeover tool! It is addicting. Dalan and I decided to make him over tonight. Some he has make-up on, and is going for more of a traditional drag look. And in some of the photos, it is just Dalan with bad-ass hair cuts and colors. We tried our best to give him a "sad flap," because you know, he is so emo.

Photo booth memories

Before Dalan and I even got engaged, I knew I wanted to do our Save the Dates with photos from a black and white photo booth. It was way more difficult than I anticipated. First of all, very few places still have black and white photo booths. However, Kmart still has them. So, we went to Kmart after Kmart trying to capture the perfect four photos. There were photos that printed too dark, photos that printed with blotches on our faces, photos that we looked wonky in, photos that my head was dominating most of the photo, and photos that the fourth picture was missing all together. It was a process, and I think we went to every Kmart in the Salt Lake Valley. However, I think the end result turned out quite nicely.