Has it really been a month since I blogged? Yes, yes it has. And that month has been kind of insane:
A whirlwind trip to Utah to see Neal’s youngest brother, Skylar, after he returned from Spain (on a mission) and before he headed to Jerusalem (on a study abroad). It was a Call reunion of sorts. Here are a few of my favorite snapshots, including this one of Addison and Skylar getting reacquainted after two years.
And no trip to Utah would be complete without a visit to Addison’s “nice Grandma.”
A two-day getaway to check out the place that Neal and I are thinking of calling home in the near future.
Addison getting as sick as she’s ever been in her life, which, admittedly, is not that sick because she’s got something of an iron immune system, but involved some vomiting (again on my mother — have I mentioned that she has thrown up, or “gived up” as she is now calling it, on me and Neal only once in her life, but my mom about 7 or 8 times?) and diarrhea that made her sob (more out of confusion than anything else; I think she’s just used to pushing for days to get stuff out).
A Relief Society lesson (me). An Elders Quorum lesson (Neal). A couple of Activity Days. Another “viral” comic — Neal keeps telling me the Man-Cold is no joke, but 644 people (mostly women) who shared it on Facebook beg to differ.
Teaching 90 students in my two classes with one of them sending me daily emails about how she is NOT LEARNING and bored and unmotivated (all direct quotes, from the SECOND week of class. Seriously?). Our Larson family Christmas, culminating in a week of having my two nieces stay with us so that we could take them to Disneyland (annual pass officially expired, just in time, since Tuesday’s Disneyland adventure culminated in a migraine and vomiting for me).
Phew.
I’m tired.
But not as tired as I thought I might be and I’ve got a one-hour massage to look forward to on Friday.
This week with my nieces was instructive about what the future holds. Ayda is four and gave me the opportunity to hone my parenting skills before Addison gets there. For example, while watching Mulan, in particular the scene where Mushu talks about her “girly habits,” we had this conversation:
Ayda: Tia, what does habits mean?
Me: Habits are acts that you perform regularly.
Ayda: What does perform regularly mean?
Me: To do something continually.
Ayda: What does continually mean?
Me: It’s like . . . something you do every day, like brushing your teeth or combing your hair.
Ayda: Okay, but I’m trying to listen to the movie.
Note to self: Think of examples, not synonyms.
Double note to self: Don’t talk over jokes about biting butts; apparently that’s comedy gold to a 4-year-old.
It feels good to capture that little bit of what we’ve been up to. Although I have no idea what my blogging future holds, I did receive what I wanted from Neal for Christmas (after only 17 reminders!), so there should be at least a few more blog posts coming your way!
Up next: Forgiveness and restorative justice.
Jokes about biting butts trumps EVERYTHING. Also, I think that little girl needs a haircut.
Comment by neal — January 27, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
If you’re going for a crewcut, the grandmas are gonna be ticked!
Comment by llcall — January 28, 2013 @ 2:12 am
Addison is so cute! Can you believe three years ago we were beached whales about to explode? And now look at the cuteness we have on our hands.
I just saw on Neal’s blog that he’s had 31K+ page views! Woohoo! Way to go!
And, where is that future place? I can’t place it.
It was good talking to you recently. It cheered me up and I appreciated being able to talk to you, and that you cried. It made me feel so much better actually that someone else would be sad about it too, the same way I was. Thanks for “mourning with those that mourn”. I love you a lot.
Comment by Sabrina — January 28, 2013 @ 1:43 am
Three years is blowing my mind for sure! I’m glad you appreciated my tears — not everyone does, and they are plentiful
— but yeah, it was good to catch up with you too. Still thinking about you and mourning with you from afar for as long as you need.
Comment by llcall — January 28, 2013 @ 2:10 am
Such cute pics! I’m glad we got to see you two this month.
Comment by Emily t — January 28, 2013 @ 1:59 am
Yeah, it was great! Always too short, but some is better than none!
Comment by llcall — January 28, 2013 @ 2:11 am
Glad you’re back on the blog. I missed you! I’m so glad I got to see you when you visited Utah!
Comment by Kristin — January 28, 2013 @ 4:07 am
I’m glad that worked out too — it made me feel better to see you after hearing how sick you had been! Hope that you have stayed healthier!
Comment by llcall — January 30, 2013 @ 7:16 am
This was such a fun read. I’m definitely due to blog soon, too. The conversation at the end made me chuckle and shake my head. You are getting too used to teaching college students.
Comment by Victoria — January 28, 2013 @ 4:00 pm
I think I was born to teach college students, Victoria, and I have to learn to teach children. I should write a whole post about that someday; there’s some funny stories about my childhood that would shed light on this topic.
Comment by llcall — January 30, 2013 @ 7:14 am