Curses, Foiled a Golem

We had a friend tag us with this... now we're obligated to do it, else that friend think that we really aren't friends and that we only speak to them because they take us to The Cheesecake Factory when we're in town-- (Luv ya, Juliet!). This one is a lot less than the one Cristtin did in September last year, but we promise to be wordy to make up for it.

Here goes...

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
- Mike: Not everyday I get to show you exactly what I did 10 years ago... but here it is in the graphic to your right. one. wake up; two. Magic III (forgot what they were... but it involved, bathing, eating, praying, studying scriptures, goals, and appts); three. Appt. w/ Rachel @ 10am on 484 Linwood; four, Weekly community service @ the Salvation Army. We made lunch for the homeless and it was the first time I had seen an automatic potato peeler. They played MTV and Run DMC's "It's like that" will always remember of Potato soup and chopped vegetables; five. remember Angie's Birthday!! (see, I didn't totally forget about my family) Click here to view the whole week... very nostalgic. Looks like we had a zone conference --Hey! That zone conference is the first time I met Sister Brandt!!
- Jessica: 1- Enjoying my senior year at Rigby High School. 2- Participating in Idaho All State Mixed Choir. 3- Going to Colorado Springs, CO on a choir invitational/competition. 4- Working at Chesbro Music Co. 5- Deciding if I wanted to go to college, and being talked into going to Ricks as a music major. It turned out to be a good choice.

5 Things on my to-do list today:
- Mike: one. Request payment from one of our contractors on a large Elementary school project .. meaning payment in March and good commission check in April; two. Have Final Fantasy Home Evening with Mr. Beers after kids in bed; three. Call to ensure BMC rejected our check so I can write a new one and be positive thegirl is all paid off; four. Set alarm for Jay because Visiting Teachers are coming over at an early (can't say un-godly, can I?) hour; five. fix myson's computer so he can play "e-eggo" (LEGO computer software)
- Jessica: 1- Laundry, the endless chore. 2- Clean the living room and kitchen in preparation for company. 3- Try to get Emily to eat regular breakfast.. Cheerios or something. I'm sick of her turning down all real food. 4- Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party! 5- Sleep would be good.

Snacks I enjoy:
- Mike: (not in order) Swedish fish; Double Chocolate Fudge Cake from JitB (Although, they've renamed it since); Cookies & Mint Ice Cream (Leatherby's is still the best); Chocolate Cream Pie (an estimate for my next dental work was $3100)
- Jessica: Cheesecake!! Popcorn, chips, crackers, and any kind of ice cream.

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:
- Mike: House, definitely (I'm sooo tired of shared walls); Buy my own company; Sports car.. not because I actually want one, but because I can have one; Create a family investment opportunity with my siblings.
- Jessica: Buy a house outright, Hire a chef/nutritionist, have more kids, start a music conservatory.

3 of my bad habits:
- Mike: one. My socks don't like to make it to the laundry closet; two. I blog while at work; three. A recent addition to the list: snoring. It's gotten to the point where I have to sleep on the couch for an hour so Jay can get to sleep, then I can come back in and sleep on the bed as long as I don't wake her up.
- Jessica: 1- I procrastinate everything. 2- I assume everyone thinks the worst of me and am always guarded around people, never letting them get to know the real me. 3- I'm very impatient. 4- I bite my nails. 5- I eat too much.
(See what I have to live with? We only had to put 3 but Jay put 5!!)

5 places I have lived:
- Mike: Why not list them all while I'm at it: Kearns UT, Rexburg ID, Johnsonville NZ, Tawa NZ, Christchurch NZ (Holy crap!! I just went to my Mission Alumni Website and I noticed my Alum ID is in the URL: http://www.mission.net/new-zealand/...alum_id=666 ... doh!), Dunedin NZ, Westport NZ, Nelson NZ, Ashburton NZ, Upper Hutt NZ, Dannevirke NZ, Hastings NZ, New Plymouth NZ, Fielding NZ, Idaho Falls ID, Shelley ID, Ammon ID, Boise ID, Meridian ID, and now Nampa ID.
- Jessica: Unlike Mike, I'll list only 5 and won't list how many multiple times I've lived in different houses in the same city. 1- Augsburg Germany. 2- Rigby Idaho. 3- Rexburg Idaho. 4- Idaho Falls Idaho. 5- Boise Idaho.

5 Jobs I’ve had:
- Mike: Boy, this can get pretty depressing: Leatherby's Family Creamery, Rocky Mountain something-or-other Cleaning (cleaned John Stockton's House.. he had bad water stains, IHC (paper person), Ricks College janitor, Ricks College Media Services A/V guy, Taco Bell (for 3 days), ICServ, Center Partners (the beginning of my Call Center years), ICServ again, Qwest, T-Mobile, now Sunshine Recreation, and Subway.
- Jessica: Abbotts Variety (checker and fabric department), Arctic Circle-Rigby (cashier), Chesbro Music Co. (graphic artist, wholesale filler, retail sales), Arctic Circle-Rexburg (cashier), Ricks College Music Department (tutor, paper grader, summer intern), Buyer's Market (sales), Western Watts (market research), Center Partners (customer service, loyalty and retention), Hancock Fabrics (clerk, seamstress, supervisor)

5 Things people probably don’t know about me:
- Mike: Five?! Man, that's hard. I can't even think of -- one. I dated mostly women with men's names: Ryan, Aaric. I didn't date much, so it's still considered as "most." two. The reason I call myson "myson" is because my old primary teacher did it to his son. Unfortunately, I only now know my primary teacher's name as "Nacho." His Hispanic accent made the two words flow very well, and since that time in CTR-whatever, I've loved it and have known I'd call myson myson when I had a son; three. My memory = my wife. I constantly ask here the names, dob's, age, grade level of my nieces and nephews, ward members, bishopric, past acquaintances. Jay is also the most amazing mike-translator. In a social conversation with friends on a particular topic, I will interject with something that is quite off-topic. Wife can then perfectly explain how my thought process connected the previous topic with the nonsense I had just expelled. This, also, is my gauge to know if our marriage is quite near harmony; four. I love the smell of petrol... also, I call gas "petrol;" five. I always told Jessica that if Lisa Hayes from Robotech came to life, I would have to leave her and marry Lisa. She foolishly agreed. That was just after we were married. Well, we renegotiated over 1 year ago. Seeing that there was a slim possibility the animated heart throb of my life might never join the world of flesh and bone, I decided to impose her namesake to be gifted upon our daughter. Yes, Emily Lisa Haddox is named after an 80's cartoon character.
- Jessica: Wow, this is hard. 1- I can't stand to have any pressure, even slight, put on any part of my body where a bone is close to the skin. Places like finger tips, toes, collarbone, hip. Seat belts are a real problem because they cut across the collar bone and hook at the hip. Even just the feel of a shirt that comes across my collarbone bugs me. 2- When I eat something with my fingers, every finger has to touch the food. Even an M&M. Every finger holds on to that tiny surface. One of my friends in school noticed this a few years ago. I didn't even realize I did it till then. 3- When I was in college, I had a pet bird. I got it over Christmas break because all my roommates were gone and I was alone. It's name was Dolce, which in musical terms means soft and sweet. The bird was very nervous and jumpy. When one of my roommates returned home after break, she rang the doorbell so she could surprise me at the door. The poor bird was so used to the house being quiet that it died when it heard the bell. 4- I'm mildly allergic to several soaps, dish detergents, laundry detergents, and lotions. 5- I love to play with tape. I don't know what it is. Mike has to make sure there are no rolls of tape lying out where I'll find them because I'll use up the whole thing wrapping my fingers and such. I love playing with tape! It's also fun to put on the bottom of the cat's feet. Hours of enjoyment!

Ok, The following people are tagged:
- Mike's picks: Samara, Yavid in hopes to get him to actually post on his blog again, Sarah (formerly Pope), Mum & Pooder.
- Jessica's Picks: Hilerie, because I'm curious to hear some of her answers, Sandi, because she's an interesting writer, and my mom, because I'd like to see her start her own blog.

Looking Up

Last weekend, our landlord Dana came to show the house to a prospective buyer. We didn't want to leave our home while she showed it, and this made her angry beyond belief and she gave us a verbal eviction notice. However, we talked to Legal Aid and she has no legal grounds to evict us. They also told us that it is innapropriate for her to ask us to leave the house while she shows it. We didn't want a fight with Dana, so trying to take the higher road, Mike offered to sign an agreement to terminate the lease early. She still refused to buy us out of the lease. We're to the point where we just want to be done with her, so we gave in. We will end our lease on August 31. It'll be good to be rid of her once and for all.

However, this left us with the dilemna of where we were going to live. We searched like crazy all over Meridian and Nampa listings and went out to visit several places on Saturday. After a hard day with no really great leads, we came home for a bit of a rest and checked craigslist.org for any new listings. There was a new post about a pet friendly 3 bedroom, 2 bath duplex in Nampa for $750/mo. This was slightly on the higher side of what we were hoping for, but after looking at the places under $700 and not finding anything, we thought we'd try raising our housing budget. We called the number listed and spoke to the leasing agent Jenny who told us that they were actually renting for $650. This is a GREAT price, so we excitedly asked if we could set up a showing. A couple of hours later, she met us at the apartment. It was brand new construction, never before lived in. It was large and nice and absolutely incredible for that price, so we jumpped at it!

We had to fill out a rental applicaton which would check our credit and referals from past landlords. We were much more concerned about the referal from Dana than we were about a bankruptcy showing up on our credit report. We were right to be worried. Jenny had told us to expect a call from the building owner this afternoon as to weather or not we had gotten the apartment. After hearing nothing, Mike called Jenny to ask about the status of our application. She told us a very interesting story. It is her job to call on our referals and check our backgrounds. When she called Dana, she aparantly got an ear full of her ranting about what horrible people we are. Jenny said she was awful and crazy and she called Dana a few choice words that I won't repeat. She wasn't convinced about what Dana had said since she had met us and we didn't seem so horrible. So she called our landlord prior to Dana. We lived in a rather large complex owned by an even larger management agency. They told her that they remembered us and that we were excellent tenants. She called the building owner and told him about the conflicting reports from our landlords and told him her impression of us as being good clean and kind people. So the owner decided to drive by our house. He reported back to Jenny that the yard was emaculate and he couldn't imagine that the inside would be any different and that we were approved. Yay!

We will post pictures of the place on a later entry. We tried to take pictures the last time we were out there, but our camera died. Here are a few pictures from the craigslist listing.

Now all that's left is to finish packing... and to leave Dana a "present" hehe >:} See... I have this little scheme... part of us really craves revenge, but the better part of us wants our deposit back. So I've cooked up the perfect sabotage. Back when we moved in, Dana asked Mike to fertilize the yard 3 times a year. Once in the spring, once in the summer, and once in the fall. Mike accidentally over fertilized the front yard which caused it to grow at an uncontrollably fast rate. We had to mow about 2 times a week, and even doing that, the grass would still grow so long that it would start to seed. Dana, of course, complained even though we swore we had JUST mowed it 2 days earlier. I'm sure you've figured out where I'm going with this by now, but in case you haven't, I think it would be just perfect to buy a couple bags of fertilizer. It shouldn't be so difficult for her since she's out here every other day anyhow. (no, we won't really do it, but wouldn't it be fun?)

In other news, congratulations to Dave and Karen on their new baby! Make sure you get some pictures out ASAP! (blogs are great for that!)

<3 myson

**warning! this except will be hard to get through. I was much to tired to type grammatically well and now that i'm awake ... i don't care so much to fix it. sorry**

I love myson so much! We were very skeptical about how he would react w/ the new addition to the family ...I mean Emily, not FFXII. We were hoping he be exactly what we named him to be (coming from the Hebrew meaning: noble/exalted brother), and not how he is to the cat. He is nice to the cat and loves her to death, but he also thinks of her as a toy. So, when the cat doesn't do what he wants it to do, he'll swat in the air at Deedee or squash her behind doors ... yeah, even Dave who hates cats probably would be saying, "Ouch." Lastly, he may have been the jealous child that you often see so much, getting angry when baby is in your arms and wanting to be held too; shoving the baby away so he can get the attention, etc.

Hyrum was a gooood boy in the morning when we woke up. He ate breakfast with me which i don't often get to do w/ a 7am work schedule. Then i told him it was bath time and he went and turned the tub on (full hot o_o), got himself undressed, went afk wc, then hopped in the tub --things he normally does, so i wasn't too surprised. By the time i got some chores done and made up this blog, we had to get going to see Jessica and Emily @ the hospital. When we got to the hospital it didn't go so well: Hyrum woke up from a 5 min nap in the car and wanted more, so he wanted me to carry him everywhere and would whine if i did not do so. I didn't mind so much seeing as he had a reason to be cranky. When we got to visit mom, he certainly didn't improve for not having seen her in 1.34 days. I took his coat off and that he did not like. We decided it'd be best to feed the kid before seeing his sister.

--Side-Quest!--
We grabbed McDonald's to pick up some nuggets for him, come back and are welcomed at the elevator doors with an NPC equipped w/ a walkie-talkie in her main slot. Her initial message was, "There's a fire on the ground floor. You will be unable to access the elevators until further notice." I got pretty excited and tried talking to her again, hoping she'd give me a side-quest to vanquish the foes causing the fire... "There's a fire on the ground floor. You will be unable to access the elevators until further notice." -.- However, on the 3rd try, i got a new answer, "There are stairs over to the right you may use."

Before venturing down, i looked at the McDs in one hand and mysons hand in the other and thought better of gaining experience points. So, instead of down, we head up the stairs. Myson was good for the first 2 floors... btw, why didn't they have Labor & Delivery on the 8th floor and Newborns on the 3rd instead of the other way around? After that, he got pretty tired, and rightly so. So, i subbed /NIN and equipped myson(rare/ex) over my right shoulder and headed up the stairs.

Working at a desk job isn't good for muscle development. About floor 5.66 my legs began turning to rubber. I almost certainly gave up at 6.33 but i figured i was at a hospital. Worse comes, maybe they'd spot on camera falling and rush to my aid. Fortunately, we made it to level 8. I grab the door handle and ... locked. I certainly wasn't about to go farm wights for a key drop. I knock on the door and get a reply from the other side, "I can't open the door of the fire alarm will go off!" --now, correct me if i'm wrong, but if there already was a fire in the building, would this really be a problem? Considering they had a sentry @ 1st level elevators, perhaps this was a guard to make sure nobody used the stairwell. I figure i might as well wait the fire out...

15 minutes go by, the food is cold .. i had to unequip myson and he was playing on the steps and knocking on the door every now and then when i hear over the intercom, "Attention all employees. Code F. All Clear." Yay!! I go to open the door ... locked. I knock ... "I can't open the door of the fire alarm will go off!" ... dang NPCs! Maybe she didn't get the all clear message on her linkshell... After 10 mins, i figure enough is enough. I call Jessica to see if they can figure out how i can get in to eat my food, feed myson, and see my daughter. After knocking one last time, i start going down to the 7th floor when the door finally opens up i'm greeted by a Knight of Hospital Security. He let me know this door was a no access door so that newborns could not be stolen ... I got to thinking later that day, that knowledge certainly would have been nice to see posted somewhere.. say, perhaps, THE DOOR!!
--End Side Quest--

It was nice to see my daughter again. Even better when i put Emily in Hyrum's arms.. he loved it! He thought he was carrying and bouncing her and even gave her soft kisses on the forehead. We taught him to say "I love you" with actions of pointing at self, hugging self, then pointing at the lovable object. His version varies to some extend: "I. You!" while pointing to self then lovable object. We don't mind it too much because he only does it to the things we know he truly loves. He did that a lot with Emily. When Emily would cry, he'd put his finger to his lips and shhhh softly.



All in all, i was so proud of myson. He certainly outdid our concerns with knowing that Emily is his sister as much as our daughter. Now comes my next difficult task in parenting... How to tease both kids w/o them picking it up and using it on each other. "Only dad can annoy you!?"