Not dead ...

Really, I'm not dead. Just being neglectful of the blog. Now to try and recall what all's gone on since I blogged. *sigh*

So, I told you that I gave blood. And almost passed out.

I really can't recall anything about Friday. I think that I must have spent the day catching up on the Neatorama and Mental_floss blogs. Michael can't remember doing anything either ... So, yeah.
OH! That's right, I chatted with Bri. She was thinking of going to Portland to the Hank Green concert ... but both she and her husband ended up sick. Boo. But she did drop by to visit for a sec. Since I needed to pass off Season Two of Castle to her (what a better way to spend a weekend when you're sick than to watch Nathan Fillion? ... Nothing else is coming to mind!).

Saturday, I worked at finishing preparing the lesson for Relief Society (the women's class at church. Well, the women who aren't in Primary or Young Women's). It was the TFOT ("Teachings for Our Times") lesson from the last session of General Conference. I got to teach from President Boyd K. Packer's talk, "Cleansing the Inner Vessel." And it's a great talk."
The main points that I tried to cover were repentance (including forgiving yourself) and love. Because that's why we HAVE this experience on earth. I mean, really ... the gospel is all about love. And faith. And love.
But, yeah. If you really, really care, I can post my notes from the lesson. If you don't really care, then suffice it to say that it was a good talk. About keeping yourself clean, the importance of the family, repentance, and love.
And we got the opportunity to be helpful to a sister in the ward (I'm one of her visiting teachers. Michael is one of her home teachers). It's nice to be helpful.
Oh, and the kids and I went to Bath and Body Works to get the free lotion sample. Pretty nice! I even grabbed the travel-sized spray to go with it. Michael likes it ("Country Chic") more than the previous new-release scent, "Carried Away."

Sunday ... I got connected to the Wi-Fi at the church. NOT THAT I REALLY USED IT. But, in case I need to be connected, I'm set up. And I used my Droid to read along with the Scriptures during Sunday School.
And I taught my Relief Society lesson. I had handouts for, like, 50 women.
Including myself, we had less than 15. Overplan much?
And I had over 20 quotes and scriptures to pass out. Regardless, since we actually DID get some discussion going (PHEW!!!!), we didn't do all of them. And that was fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine by me.  People told me I did a good job. So ... phew! I'm so glad it's over! And that this isn't my regular calling!!!!!!! *LOL*

Monday ... Hmmm ... what went on Monday? Gosh ... THIS is why I should blog more often. So I don't forget. *sigh*
I don't recall a whole lot. I think I cleaned the house for the most part. Since, when I chatted with Dad and L, they said that they might come up Tuesday (which they did. But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I?).
And Michael requested that I make some bland-er type foods. We'd been eating foods that were a little hard on our bellies. I have a stomach that's practically cast-iron. I'm a freak like that. But I'm totally down with having tuna casserole (which I made) or chicken and rice or stuff like that.

Also, Monday evening, as we were getting the kids for bed, Bruise showed us a coloring page from his Conference packet (The kids' teachers had given them each a packet of worksheets and coloring pages to do while the grownups watch/listen to General Conference). The picture was a boy sitting in front of the television, watching Thomas S. Monson, and thinking of prophets from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith.
Bruise showed it to us and said, "Wook! Dat boy doesn't want to watch dat show. He wants to watch de udder one."
And, oh, I nearly wet my pants on that one. My son is cute.
Bucket, not to be outdone, refers to what I call "my fat" as "my skinny."
("No, Mom. I'm not playing with your fat. It's your skinny!" :P)
We also watched Mean Girls 2 ... It wasn't very awesome. We didn't HATE it, but we didn't really LIKE it, either.

Tuesday, Dad and L came up. We went to Burgerville (under rennovations. It's all fixed NOW, but not when we went. *sigh* Isn't that the way?) and ate burgers. Then Dad and I went to Target to pick up instant coffee (for Dad and L) and to search for the holy grail of Easter candy ... something that Dad's brother gave him a couple years ago. By Cadbury. The closest that we could find were the mini cream- and mini caramel-eggs. The caramel were CLOSE ... but not quite.
And we grabbed an ice cream cake from ColdStone for L and my birthdays. Yum.
After they left, I whipped up some enchilada-esque stuff. (Flour tortillas filled with cream cheese and black beans. Baked in green enchilada sauce and topped with more black beans and mozzarella cheese. Hey, it's what we had!) Then, we skedaddled out the door to a visiting teaching appointment.

Wednesday, Mom came up. We went to McDonald's before I took off for my volunteering. We shopped a little. Bruise got a little ninja Lego. Bucket got the little Rapunzel doll. So they were VERY, VERY HAPPY. We also bought Tangled, which the kiddos watched with Mutti (my mom). We ordered pizza. Pretty low key.

Thursday, I jumped on the Groupon available for 4 tickets (2 adults, 2 kids) for the local aquarium for $25. Mom headed home.  Bri needed to get out and take some pictures, so she and I went downtown and played with out cameras while the light was still good. Michael and the kids stayed home and watched Tangled.

Friday, Michael expressed a desire to wash the cars. So we did. WE got the van 99% done by the time he pulled in. Then we started in on the truck. Clean vehicles! Crazy!
Then we continued our mad, crazy, partying ways and ...... WENT GROCERY SHOPPING.

Yup, we are wild! Woooooooooo! Part-ay!!!!!

Then we came home and put away groceries. And the kids played Legos and watched Return of the Jedi  with Michael. And I took a nap with Freyja. And we got the kiddos ready for bed. And Mom and Dad C came by to visit. And I lent a couple more books to Mom, since she's enjoyed the books she's borrowed from me thus far (Phew!!! Is it just me, or do other people find it a little scary to recommend books to other people? I know I'm a weirdo. I may like some books, but YMMV, as they say). ^_^

Today, we got up and settled in and watched/listened to General Conference.
I sit at my computer desk, notepad in front of me as I take notes. I have two windows of my web browser open: One is for the conference video feed, the other is Twitter's search for #ldsconf ... This way, when I miss a quote or need a name, it's THERE. And it's fun to see a journalist from our stake tweet.
(I got retweeted! It made me feel FAMOUS. For, like a second. Then I just was relieved that my tweet didn't sound too trite. ... Then, of course, another couple of people responded to a couple things that I had retweeted. One was rather antagonistic. *sigh* Hey, I DO support and sustain Thomas S. Monson as a prophet of God. You don't have to agree. However, when you insinuate that I don't know "the truth" of a religion that I've been in for almost three decades? Yeah ... Some people's children. I'm not going to be offended. More like just shake my head and move on. Doesn't dignify a reply, really.*sigh* Oh well.)

While I'm furiously scribbling notes (and occasionally playing a game on facebook. Oops.), Michael's on the couch, working on ... something. I think it's a timeline for the Book of Mormon. Yeah, I'm a bad wife, I didn't really pay attention. Oops.
The kids did color a bit in their conference packets. During the afternoon session it was ALL about playing with Legos.
THIS is why I have (and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) the speakers we have for the computer.

Someday, though, our goal is to get a TV that we can hook up to the computer. Then we can watch conference on a BIG screen. (And I can still have my monitor with the Twitter stream. *grin*)

Yes, I DO geek out about conference. I'm aware.
I might get motivated and post my notes from the sessions ... but, oh, there's a LOT. And I'm TIRED.

When I whined yesterday (via chat) to Bri about being tired and "why am I tired ALL THE TIME????", she responded, "you're pregnant."
Me: But my body's keeping it a secret ... so I keep having a period. And I'll just be one of those ladies that has a baby on the toilet, since I never knew I was preggers in the first place. I'll be in the paper! Like one of those teen moms!
Her: Ha ha ha
Me: THAT's why I'm a little heavy. I'm just pregnant with an elephant! I'll TOTALLY make the paper now!!!!
Me:Since I've been a little heavy for a couple years. MUST be an elephant! I'm saving the world here!

Yes, that's how I roll. Since I've been stuck with this higher-than-it-should-be BMI for a few years, I'm OBVIOUSLY an unaware surrogate for an elephant. OBVIOUSLY.
I just haven't figured out why the elephant-foetus is spread over my body and not just in my uterus. *shrugs* Of course, it'd be a really SMALL elephant. Since I'm only around 15 stone (yes, I refuse to use pounds. That'd make me feel FAT. Stone is a wonderful, slightly-archaic measure that makes me seem quite lithe in comparison! Fiddle-dee-dee!), whereas a baby elephant should weigh in at around 11-16 stone. ... So, ergo, it I HAVE an elephant calf in me, I'm practically a skeleton! ... Which means that I could DEFINITELY benefit from some chocolate truffles. And some cheesecake. And Mashed Potatoes. And anything else I could possibly stuff down my gullet. Yup.

I hope the baby elephant comes soon. How awesome will that be? I'm sure that I'd adore it ... but we really cant afford to feed it 125 pounds of food a day, really. So we could give it to the zoo. And come visit it fortnightly or so.
I'm sure I'd be in the Guinness Book of World Records. Or maybe a feature at Ripley's "Believe it or Not!" ... and that might cover some of the kiddos' college tuition ...

Yes, I've thought this through far too much. I should shut up now.

But, in other news, Michael'll take his BIG. TEST. OF. ENGINEERING. this coming Friday. Please pray. We rather NEED him to pass. Any prayers, positive thoughts, good muju, etc is very much appreciated.

Thanks!! Hope you're having a good weekend!!