Compromise

The sign of a good marriage is the ability to creatively compromise. I was reminded yesterday how lucky I am to be married to someone who though totally different than I, can understand my needs, no matter how silly or "unreal" they are. It makes me feel good to know that Jim acknowledges my need for make believe and magic, especially during this time of the year. Let's be honest, Jim is the more realistic half of our marriage. =) BUT--we have mixed both our families traditions into one that we will someday share with our children. It feels good.

Here comes Santa Claus
Here comes Santa Claus....

Ode to Jim

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
How lovely are your branches
So full of sap we cannot see
How lovely are your branches
You're never straight on the first try
When you fall down we wonder why
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree
Why do we even booooooooooother?








Please note: Once it's up and lovely, we love it. :)

Weather

I am tired of living in a place that can't anywhere near accurately predict the weather. My expectations were to awake and spend the day in a magical winterland with my dog, but alas...rain.

Boooo.

WASHINGTON SQUARE

The day after turkey we head to the mall
Now filled with such fun decorations for all
A big, red SALE sign at every store front
Causes ladies to push and to glare and to grunt
Women balance purse, bags and hot Starbucks cup
As the husbands try ever so hard to keep up
Children are screaming and running around
Teens wander off in hopes they won't be found
I love the excitement of this shopping day
Happy day after Thanksgiving, to each in your way!

Yikes!

It was Halloween when I last blogged and now it is almost Thanksgiving! So much has happened since then!

Jen's in choir again! Woohoo!

Maine...Boston...amazing trip!

HARRY POTTER 4!!!!!!!!! Yesssss!

For the first time in over 2 months, Jen, Sarah, Becky and I went out for several hours together!!

Hi Lindsey! =)

Carson played Outburst with us!

In two days I will be making my first Thanksgiving meal!!! Ayaiyai!

Sorry there is nothing more interesting to blog about...

However, I would like to say thank you to my family of friends who so willingly offer their prayers over tough situations. You know of what I speak and I am so grateful to all of you. Love you all!

ps I bet no one can use as many exclaimation marks as me!

Happy Halloween everyone!

And here are some lovely photos, courtesy of Jim's parents, of our Jim as a youngster, enjoying himself as a cat and an apple. Wasn't he darling???















Meoooooooow. (That's Jim's sis, Kathy, as Raggedy Ann, I think)















Don't you just want to coat him in caramel and nuts and eat him up?

Fantasy land

No, not Disney World.

Do you ever have days where you wish that the world around you was like what you watched in My Little Pony or Rainbow Brite? And the bad stuff that happened in your life could be destroyed by goodness and cheery dispositions?

Today I wish I could shoot a big part of a rainbow out of my tummy and Care Bear Stare some people here at work. 'Cause GOSH, they need it!

I shall close my eyes tight and imagine that everything around me is poofy clouds and colorful landscapes, talking animals and glimmering waterfalls. Actually, that is a great thought. My co-workers have just become cartoon characters in my head. Hehe. Sweet.

Last night was...

...A bsolutely
...P ositively
...P ure
de L iciousness for
...E veryone!!!

And a big thank you to Sarah and Eric for hosting a Caramel-Apple-Making-Party, which I might add, were scrumptious. And thank you to Mike for pounding up the peanuts ever so creatively...and to Jim for taking pictures...and to Becky for trying to squeeze a ziploc full of leftover peanuts back into the peanut container. A huge "we missed you" to Jen, Trent and Carson!! This is definitely a do-over type shindig.

Harvest Party

Several days later, I feel the need to speak my enjoyment of the Thompsons' annual Harvest Party. 'Twas on Saturday, starting with the 'ol pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island...always a fun trip, with yummy corn-on-the-cob and scrumptious elephant ears. I was oh-so-thrilled that Jen and Trent were able to come with Carson, who slept the entire time. Woohoo! What a trooper. My favorite part of the pumpkin patch is always when I pick out the largest pumpkin at the very back of the patch and Jim has to carry it all the way back to the tractor. Hehe. Not intentional, I swear!

Then on we go to the Thompsons' house for fellowship and lots-o-delicious fixins. Can I just say I love mashed potatoes?? Yessss. Good times. What good friends and family we have. =)

Thanks to Sarah and Eric for a super fun time!!!

Sarah

Sarah is the sweetest girl
Ever in the whole wide world
She's thoughtful and extremely kind
The prettiest you'll ever find
A quiet spirit, fresh and new
Forever selfless, loving, true
A friend like this is hard to find
I'm so glad I can call her mine.

Puzzles are fun

Jim and I have taken up puzzles as of late. It's one of those things you forget you like to do. When we were younger, Jeremiah and I would spend hours actually not fighting and putting a puzzle together. Good times. Now Jim and I are spending quality time together over a puzzle rather than the TV all night. It's quite nice. I unfortunately chose some rather difficult puzzles full of all the same colors with 1000 tiny pieces. We're going blind but having fun!

In case my mom is reading, we finally have our new fence put in to go with our new backyard lawn. It is all so very beautiful. I let Maddie go outside to test it all out for the first time last night and she was so confused. She walked all the way around the perimeter, staying only on the barkdust. When she ended up back on the porch, she looked up at me very confused. But then, before I could say "It's just grass," she took off in what I call her back-and-forth sprints, where she runs back and forth about 20 feet a million times. She seemed to enjoy the new backyard as much as we do. Then, in the spirit of loving something so nice, we went to the park so she could not poo on our pretty grass. =)

LOST II

Was I right about those new characters or was I right? Woop woop! (how sad that I have also picked this up...)

LOST

I need to answer Eric's question regarding who took Walt. I still believe there are "others" on the island. I just don't think it's the group we have now seen. I think they are survivors from another part of the plane and have taken a different approach to surviving than Jack and crew. I could be wrong, but that's my guess. Perhaps they have seen more of the odd stuff on the island, which causes them to react aggressively to newcomers. Hopefully, some light will be shed on THAT one tonight. Hmph.

Man...there are some days that just aren't good for working. That is today for me. I need to crawl back under my covers and hibernate for a while, as I am not anywhere near being productive today. On the one hand, I love the change to the cool, rainy season. On the other hand, it just makes me sleepy. Oh well.

Did you know you could set up a registry at potterybarn.com for any occasion?? How cool is that? Of course, no one will know it exists unless I tell them, which seems weird..."What do you want for Christmas?" "Oh - check out my registry at Pottery Barn!"...but it's cool! Hmm. I suppose we do the same thing with Amazon wishlists...Pottery Barn should call it a wishlist instead. That makes it sound better. You have to choose a date for your occasion, so I chose Christmas day. Ha. 74 shopping days left!!!

For you, Jim.

B een at a
L oss
O f
G reat inspiration to blog lately.

Maybe more later?

I knew it...

This guy was on the plane and is not one of "the others."

How do I know? Because he was friendly with this woman:

Though I do not expect this common sense to hold, coming from JJ Abrahms. Question: How can this man fix an ancient computer in under 5 minutes? In the dark, no less?

Grass

Grass is green
Grass smells nice
Providing backyard paradise
Friends and dogs
Can celebrate
With hamburgers and fresh grilled steak
A place to run
And spend the day
A place our dog can cleanly play
In times of rain
I will not cry
When Maddie whines to go outside
Way easier
To scoop the poop
To that I yell a loud "WOOP WOOP!"
Thank you Jim
My husband dear
For having grass put in this year!

Autumn Rain

Rain is calming, soft and strong
Streaming down for hours long
Washing clean the earth's domain
Making fresh the air again
I do not mind the sun's farewell
I'm under fall's enchanting spell

Becky

I love Becky, yes I do
She's funny, kind and pretty, too
Here's a picture of my friend
Whom I'll love to the very end.



Heeeeee!

Bring on the rain!!

I love to see the colored leaves
I love the raindrops on my sleeves
I love the fall in every way
It means we're close to Christmas day.

A poem, by Stephanie Marr.

Thank you, thank you. Oh, stop it. Thank you.

I do not like muddy, wet, golden retrievers. No matter how much they love me.

Gortex

Sweet. I just purchased some Gortex Nike Outdoor shoes for our trip to the northeast. I don't know if I'll need them, but according to Jim and his friends, you can never have enough Gortex. Plus, I'll just look cool.

Here is Aunt Becky and Carson!

Titles are hard to think up sometimes

DANG IT! I DID IT AGAIN!!!! Arg and a double arg arg. Here it goes for a second time...

It has been a few days because we have been busy being surrogate aunt and uncle to baby Carson! It is so fun! I didn't think it was possible for him to get any cuter, but alas! He is! All pink and soft! I love seeing my friends and I love seeing their small child. Jen looks great and it is just amazing to see her and Trent as mom and dad.

We also learned that Sarah and Eric will be adding another boy to our (created) family!! Two little trouble makers to run around together! Good fun.

I cannot wait to join our friends in the life of parenthood! What an amazing blessing...to bring life into the world like this. God is good.

On to other things...(and a big fat dejavu to me) I have finally talked my dear and loving husband into taking me to the northeast! We are going to visit my aunt and uncle in Boston and visit up through Maine for a week in November. I am so excited! I'm not sure how we are going to pack, what with all the wool socks, boots and ear muffs. It will be cold! I guess Jim will just have to deal with the fact that I will need to bring more than one suitcase. (me smiling here)

I am also happy to announce that we have FINALLY scheduled our fence and sod to be installed! All I have to say is "I told you so!" I knew that WE would never be installing sod ourselves! Stephanie is triumphant! She knew better than to think they'd do all that work themselves! I win!

I think that sums up me for now...

Carson Michael Tompkins

Here he is...Jen and Trent's beautiful baby boy. What a tiny miracle.

















I am so proud of my precious friend for enduring such a long labor with good spirits and "pushing" through to the reward. We love this little boy so much already... Congratulations Jen and Trent!

Still waiting...

After much anticipation all of yesterday, Jen still hasn't had her baby! She was able to sleep some last night, due to epidural, thank heavens. This is a long labor, but she is in good spirits and everyone is well. Mike, Becky, Jim and I had a slumber party on our couches and floor waiting for that 1 AM call to say, "Come to the hospital! He's born!" Instead, I woke up at 5:45 and adrenaline shot through me. Becky has to get up! She has to go home and shower and dress so she can teach! AAHHH! Chaos. Very tired chaos. Can't say we slept long...or well. But it was fun! And again we go today!! Come on baby T! Come on out!

Yahoo!

He's not going everyone! He's not going! Yaaah!!!

Hmmm...now I can't have cereal for dinner. Oh, the changes I am forced to deal with!! HA!

So alone, but happy nonetheless...

Another day, another husband leaves town... Today Jim leaves for Houston until Friday night. Hopefully the case he's going down for settles and he can come back early. It's very lonely when he's not here!

Which brings me to the tale of wifehood... (what a lovely segue...not really).

I love being a wife. I love that you can be married to an extremely intelligent, completely competent man, and he still somehow could never get along without you. =) What would this poor man eat, pray tell? Cheesy poofs! What would he wear? Dirty socks and smelly jeans! Tell me, how would this man survive?? (This is where I come in!) I love to pack for Jim when he's going on a trip b/c I take pleasure in making everything fit just right - fantastically folded in perfect stacks. When the suitcase makes it back to our bedroom, it looks like a laundry basket. (Smile)

I love when I hear, "I have no underwear!" and I get to say, "It's in the dryer." I also love it when I hear, "There is nothing to eat and I'm starving!" and I manage to put together a meal of chicken, pasta and vegetables - and ice cream for dessert, mind you.

All this to say, I love being a wife and all that it entails in my marriage. I like that I feel I can take care of someone who needs me and gives me so much, even though he doesn't really NEED my help where I give it. What a great place, when you can find the balance of man and wife, support and encouragement, give and give.

Monday

CRAP! Sorry for the language, but I just wrote a huge blog and it has been erased!! ARG. I hate user error. How will I ever remember all my cleverness?? Oh wait...there wasn't really any. =P Hello, Monday! Begin again!

This weekend was full of friends and singing. Good times. Our church choir had a big six hour rehearsal on Saturday to introduce this year's Christmas music. Needless to say, I am ready for the holidays! Jim totally vetoed my Christmas CD on Sunday morning, though. Boo. And a "Booo booo prince!" to Becky as well. =)

Men are weird. Trent has always been a crazy runner, and I suppose Eric as well, but now Jim and Mike have joined the club. These boys run miles and miles all over Oregon, and they are planning on running 40 miles around Mt. Hood!!!! WHAT?!??!? is how the normal, sane person would react to this. They are nuts. Not only this, but Jim, Mike and Eric met at 5:45 AM on Saturday to wait in line for three hours for a used gear (junk) sale at REI. (bewildered look here) I never want to hear another word about me hitting the Nordstrom sale at 7:00 AM again. And, after waiting for three hours, my cute husband walked out having only spent $0.83. (more bewildered look here) I am so happy that I have the support of all of their wives, who would rather get a coffee, watch a movie and chat than run around mountains and go to REI. PHEW!

Speaking of those wives...they are my dearest, bestest friends. I was reminded yesterday of how lucky I am to have them when I had a little crying spell at church. What encouragers they are and selfless spirits they have. I always think to myself...I hope that in some small way, I can return all their kindness.

On Saturday evening, everyone came over for a man-cooked meal (yes!) of shish-ka-bobs. Yum. While we were waiting, we got to watch a five minute exercise routine performed by Baby T in Jen's tummy. Weeeirrrd. But so cool. There was an elbow, knee, bum, something, moving up and all around, making her tummy expand and well, look like an alien was in there. What a miracle. I think he is getting restless and is probably just as ready to come out as Jen is to get him out! I cannot wait to meet this child. =)

I think that's about all I said...WAIT! I did three loads of laundry in my new washer and dryer! Yessssssssss!

Okay, that's all.

Blog

Hello all. I was told by my dear and loving husband that my MSN blog was "dumb," so I am creating a new one in hopes of meeting his approval. If that means I have to be as clever as he is though, I am doomed.

So, here is my blog. Don't have much to say... I named it for my husband, Jim, who absolutely adores how much I use the word "cute." He says it drives him nuts but I think he finds it endearing. My URL is also named for Jim, who thinks I'm "neat" because most of my world experience comes from Epcot Center at Walt Disney World. Well, I can't help the fact that he grew up in the Air Force and my parents worked in entertainment for the Mouse himself!! I had a fun childhood!!

Anyhow, good times...talking to yourself. I find it amusing that Jim will read this and a couple of his friends...maybe a couple of mine. So really, they already know everything about what's going on in my life. Even more of a challenge to be witty. Dang.