Help! It's Been Too Quiet, Too Long

Susie and I took Amber up to BYU Idaho on January 2 and returned on January 4 to an empty house.  It's just the two of us now.  Empty Nesters.  I've been concerned for 33 years that we wouldn't know how to get along when it was just the two of us again.  Amber must also be concerned.  She has been the sole excitement in our lives for the past 6 months.  Amber called and said she was coming down for the three day weekend, and bringing two of her roomates.

I think Amber is trying to break us in slowly.

Today is Monday.  Amber, Brittney and Liza are leaving this afternoon and rather than risk putting us in shock with a quiet house again. They've obviously conspired against us.  Justin, Pam, Joel, Bailee, Sydney, Aubrey, Cory, Stacey, Emily, and Katie all crashed our house this morning.

Never a dull moment at our house when the kids are home.  However, although Susie may have a different view,  I don't think that the two of us are really that dull.  There's got to be a little spark somewhere.

http://www.maylin.net/Fireworks.html

2011 In Review

A new year brings the opportunity to review the accomplishments of the recently expired year.  Here's some statistics for your leisure time review.

Family Statistics

• Number of Children:  6
• Number of married children:  5
• Grandchildren:  12
• Grandchildren born in 2011:  2
• Sequential years with a new grandchild: 9 Years & running

(Do we need to draw straws to see who will keep the trend alive?)

2011 S-10 Pickup Statistics
Miles driven:  12560
Gas Purchased:  579 gallons
Cost of Gas (it wasn't priceless):  $1953.26  (Avg $3.37/gal
Miles driven to work:  4,800
Fun Miles:  3286

• Grand Canyon:  1208 miles
• San Juan River:  827 miles
• Zion girls trip:  821 miles
• Zion Virgin River Trip:  746 miles
• Boise Trip:  686 miles

Miles Driven to who knows where: 4,480

My Personal Exercise Statistics:

Activity          Miles Time    Rate
Bike                 609   37.5   16.2
Run                  109   15.9   6.9
Walk                105  30.1   3.5
Hike          128   67.7   1.9
Swim                1    1.2  .95   (new PR for rate)
Boating             121   36.7   3.3
(Some rates are off due to rounding errors)

Campout Statistics
Number nights trying to sleeping out:  36
Ambien Pills required:  36
Ambien Pills available:  35
The cost of 1 Ambien Pill on a sleepless night - Priceless

Racquetball statistics
Racquetball games played:  89
Games Won:  81
Games Lost:  8

Cutthroat games played:  25
Games won:  25
Games Lost:  0

Estimated calories burned through exercise:  170975
Calories per pound:  3500
Theoretical fat burned off:  48.85 pounds
Actual weight lost:  8 pounds

Thank goodness for junk food.  If it wasn't for the junk food, I would have wasted away to a mere 152 pounds.

Happy New Year!

2001 was a fantastic year and a lot was accomplished, personally and as a family.  Amber finished her first year at BYUI.  We had a fabulous family reunion in Southern Idaho.  We welcomed, not one but two new additions to the family - Aubrey and Marcus are definitey keepers.   Susie was able to spent 3 weeks in Arkansas with Melissa and family.  I was able to do my outdoor things.  All in all, a pretty good year.

The Plan
We had big plans for the end of 2011 and the start of 2012.  A day off on Friday, Saturday (New Year's Eve) we drive with Amber to Boise and participate on Sunday as Jason and Kim bless their new little son.  Then on Monday, we drive to Rexburg and spend a few days visiting family and dropping Amber off at BYUI for her second year.  Ah - such nice plans.

What Really Happened
Wednesday, Dec 28 Amber has three wisdom teeth removed.  Thursday Susie comes down with a cold.  Friday she passes it on to me - we cancel the Boise part of the trip.  Saturday (New Year's Eve) Amber's face turns yellow, Susie gets worse and I'm trying to fight off a sore throat.

Saturday evening I go to the store to get a movie and snacks. - we're not going anywhere, might as well enjoy the time at home.  At the girl's request, I pick up Sarah's Key from Redbox, then I go into Walmart and pick up some Red & White Sparkling Grape juice, gluten free potato chips and Peanut M&Ms.  I poured the girls each a glass of grape juice and presented them with their movie and snacks.  Amber couldn't eat the M&M's - duh, she just had her wisdom teeth out.  Susie couldn't eat the M&M's either - she's allergic to peanuts.  Did I mention that one of the bags of potato chips were Jalapeno?  That didn't go over very well either.

Then I went back upstairs to grab some cheese cubes.  You know that I love cheese - so soft and smooth - just like, ah never mind - lets just say that I love cheese.  I took one bite.  What's that crunchy stuff in the cheese?  Warning! Warning! crunchy stuff doesn't belong in cheese.  As I'm spitting the cheese out, I feel this hole where one of my teeth is supposed to be.  Oops, that temporay crown that was put on two weeks ago just cracked in half.

So here we are. Sunday morning, just the three of us.  Susie has her cold.  Amber's face is yellow and she has hives.  I have a sore throat and a sensitive mouth.

I sincerely hope that 2011 was an enjoyable and rewarding year for each of you.  As I look back on 2011, I see growth in each member of the family and I know that you certainly had a positive impact on my life.  I am very optimistic that each of you will have a happy, rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable New Year!

The New Year is here! 

Forget the Aches, Colds, Allergies.  

It's time to PARTY!