Nampa at last!

Yay! We finally moved! Have I ever said how much I hate moving? Well, I do. But I'm very glad to be away from our crazy landlord in Meridian. We had a few more run-ins with her before we left, however. The first involved a big Tonka dump truck that Hyrum liked to wheel his stuffed kitty around in out in the back yard. It was old and rusty, so we kept it tucked away in a hidden corner of the patio. As we were packing up, we found out that Dana had thrown it away because it didn't "show well." I love how she thinks she has ownership of not only the house, but the way we live our lives and even our personal property.

The second incident is a slightly longer story involving our back screen door and a forced entry. Basically, I like to lock the screen doors just for added security. Dana wanted to show the house to a prospective buyer and couldn't get a hold of us while we were at Mike's company picnic, so she forced the door open and broke it in the process. When we did the final walk through with her, she said she didn't remember doing it and it must have been the wind. So that will probably mean that she'll charge us for the damages.

She also conveniently doesn't remember that she got angry when she couldn't get a stain out of the dining room carpet and wasn't patient enough to wait for the professional steam cleaners to remove it and ended up bleaching the carpet white in that spot. Add on top of that the window that she broke while spraying the outside of the house with a pressure washer. Of course, she doesn't remember that either. I really wish we had picture documentation of all the damages she has done to the house while we were living there. Even if she takes our full deposit, I'll be ok with that. I just want to be done with her once and for all.

We're liking our new place so far. It's a little bit smaller, but not too bad. We had some difficulty with the move. We had plenty of help from our old ward in moving out of our old place, but no help at all moving into the new place. After moving what boxes and furniture Mike and I could do alone, we finally had to just call it good and leave the rest in the garage so we could return the truck. My brother James came out the next afternoon to help Mike move the rest of the heavy furniture in. We were so grateful since we know how busy he is with his wedding just a few days away.

Here is a video of the new place. Please forgive my voice. I've been sick for about 3 weeks with a nasty summer cold. (Let's hope this works. This is my first attempt at an embedded video.)

So that's the apartment! The biggest thing we miss has been having a yard for Hyrum to play in. I think he's getting pretty bored too. Last night while I was on the phone with my friend Sandi, I heard evil laughing from the kitchen and ran in to find Hyrum with the sink sprayer hose thingy spraying, well, everything. He had soaked the entire kitchen, two computers, the cushions on the bar stools, the carpet in front of the breakfast bar, the couches and end tables in the living room, the laundry I was folding and now have to dry and fold all over again, the living room carpet, and even the ceiling. Wow, that sprayer has good range. He had a lot of fun until he got caught. He got in BIG trouble!

Our neighbors are... interesting. There are tons of kids who live in these duplexes and they come over from time to time. On the day we moved in, 7 of them came to visit. I haven't let any of them come in to play with Hyrum since that first day though since one of the kids stole one of Hyrum's favorite trucks and he was quite upset about it. Most of the other neighbors who don't live in the duplexes are all related and own a family farm type of thing. It's not really a farm as much as it is a cow, some goats, and some chickens. They let Hyrum come and pet the animals and seemed very nice.

Emily got her first teeth! She seems to be getting more too. Either that, or she's just inexplicably cranky... I'll take some pictures and post them later, but it's hard to get her to show her teeth.

I got an email the other day about my 10 year high school reunion. I can hardly believe that I'm that old already! It's been kind of neat since it has given me an excuse to make contact with some old friends. They had only found 60 of us when they contacted me, and they didn't know where most of my friends were. Luckily, I do! Or at least I know who might know where they are. Boy, I wish I had kept up with them better. However, I've talked on the phone to a few friends since then, and my old friend Kristy is coming over for a visit today! I'm pretty excited to see her! She lived very close by when we lived in Meridian and we never saw each other even once.

Well, I've got lots to do today since it's Labor Day and Mike has the day off!! YAY! This is the first time in a long time that he's had a day off from both jobs, so we have lots of plans. Mike might post later on with another video he took once he figures out how to convert it. And hopefully we'll have some Labor Day fun pictures of us and the kids. Also, be expecting a surprise announcement from Mike! My mom already knows, but Mike hasn't told any of his family yet.

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!)

Does it ever end?

Before I jump into some of the heavier details of our life, I must note that we read Harry Potter 7. Wow! What a great book! But it's so strange to think of it as being over... no more books to look forward to and speculate about in a few summers.

Ok, now for the rest. This is all rather difficult to talk about, and I hope I don't sound too depressing.

Thursday was the worst day ever. Late in the afternoon, the Department of Health and Welfare dropped by unannounced at our house. They invited themselves in and asked me if I knew why they were there. I told them no. They said that they had received a report that we are neglecting our kids by not feeding them or taking them to doctor appointments. This is absolutely ludicrous. Of course we feed our kids! They're just small. And if the doctor isn't worried, they shouldn't be either. As for not taking them to doctor appointments, that's just stupid. We've been taking Emily to the doctor more often than regular because of her health issues, so who knows where that came from. Health and Welfare is notorious for twisting things though. I'm sure someone called them and told them that we needed help financially because we can't afford baby food and have no medical insurance. But naturally, that MUST mean that we're neglecting and abusing our kids. I was so furious. They sat in my living room with a tape recorder for about an hour interviewing me. They took pictures of my house, my kids, even my cat. They checked our cat to see if she was diseased or abused. They wanted a closer look at Hyrum, but I insisted they leave him alone since he was napping. They told me they had to at least "Lay eyes on him" to confirm that he was ok. I was so infuriated. Of course, I kept my cool while they were there, but the second they left, I went to pieces. Why anyone would think that I wouldn't take care of my kids, I don't know. They're very happy and healthy. They're just small. These people at Health and Welfare have a chart that tells them how big a kid should be at a specific age but have no medical training. My kids are too small by the charts. Well, big deal! Their pediatrician says they're ok, and I'm gonna take his word for it. After all, he has a PHD and an MD. That's a heck of a lot better than a chart. They came back again the next morning when Hyrum was awake, and they could see him and Emily playing and smiling and giving us hugs and kisses. I think they were a little disappointed that they couldn't find any reason to take our kids away. Guess they'll have to fill their torn family quota on someone else.

As if this wasn't already stressful enough, Mike got a call while on his way to an Elder's Quarm meeting (he's the Elder's Quarm secretary now). It was our landlord who has a habit of bugging us constantly. She's at the house about 2-3 times a week and gives us absolutely no privacy. So it wasn't a big shock when she told Mike that she wanted to sell the house and we had until Saturday afternoon (not quite 2 days) to have the house ready for a walk through with her. Mike told her that that wasn't enough time to have it ready since he's working two jobs and I'm dealing with two kids. Cleaning up, sure, we could handle that. But things like cleaning the carpet, washing walls, washing windows, fixing dings in the walls.. there was no way. But no, she wouldn't give us an extension. She doesn't seem at all bothered by the fact that we're in a lease until November. She expects us out of the house whenever it sells. On top of that, she also wants us to vacate the house whenever a potential buyer wants to come look at it. This is so ridiculous. What am I supposed to do? Pick up my two kids and wander around on the street until they're done? I don't have a car or a place to go. Mike and I decided that we'd try to find another place ASAP. Although this is really maddening and inconvenient, it'll be good to be out from under her thumb. She's expecting us to stay in the house until it sells. But if she feels that she can break lease, then why can't we? She can't really complain if we move out early, although I'm sure she will. She needs us to keep paying rent so that she can make the payments on the house herself. Maybe she'll realize that she's asking too much when we move out and she can't find a buyer for 6 months! Sorry, that's my mean side talking a bit there. She won't even buy us out of our lease though. So I have no idea how we're going to find first month's rent and a deposit for a new place. But for now, we've started packing and looking for somewhere else. It's a little hard to do since Mike took on another job and is never home. I'm having to do all the packing myself, and who knows when we'll find time to look at a new place. It'll be hard to move again, but maybe we can find a cheaper place. That would certainly help a lot.

Eat Fresh!

I've finally secured my 2nd job. I wanted something that I could work part time nights and weekend, but also that wouldn't stress me out or tire me so much. Lucky for me, there is a Subway right around the corner!

Funny how I got hired: I had filled out a Subway and an Arctic Circle application. I was leaning towards wanting to work at AC since their customer service is so good -- I knew that their management would be good to work with. Subway was first on my way home, so I stopped in there. I met up with the manager to drop off the questionnaire while leaving an impression. She asked me if I had a few minutes to talk to her now. I did, so we sat down and asked me a few questions. She barely looked at my resume and asked me about my current job when she said, "Well, I'm ready to hire you if you're ready to accept!" Yeah, I wasn't going to turn something down when it gets laid in your lap like that -- consider it a blessing.

It feels good working there. They changed the management in the past month so it's running a lot smoother than it had before (we witnessed pretty bad service at this Subway before as customers). They put me in charge of the till on the 2nd day even though my first shift was only 2 hours long. After only 4 shifts, I'm closing the store solo tonight.

I asked the manager if there was anything she could critique me on or recommend I improve on. She said, "Nothing at all;" she was just glad that I was adult and mature as opposed to some other employees. She also told me that I could become a manager with ease if I wanted to. I let her know that was not my interest. See, I would work for them for a good long time -- about a year or more -- but I don't want to be full time restaurant unless I own one. The reasoning I have for even working at Subway as opposing to a higher paying job waiting tables is the stress factor. I don't have to be burdened with complex decisions and a stressful night. I want to be able to go home and be able to focus on my family, not whine about how hard the day was when I first get home.

Eleven!!

In Herbie Goes Banana's we learned that 53 is 8(ocho). Well, as that is the case, as of July 14th, I am now eleven. This is fantastic news except for the fact that next year I will be 3... :'(

My birthday's have never been all that fan-dangled. They've usually been overshadowed by other things like Bastille Day or Scout camp. Not that I'm complaining. I've never found much reason to celebrate me on any one day. I've found it greater reason to celebrate me every day of the year other than December 7th -- the day Pearl Harbour (if such a place is a proper noun, can I change the spelling from Harbor to Harbour?) was bombed.

I still have some very memorable moments on the few July 14th's I've encountered. Jeni's pie-in-the face ranks amongst the top several for sure. I can still taste it in my nasal passages today! I also remember my birthday last year as the year we made that going to eat as Whitewater Pizza & Pasta as yearly tradition. We skipped this year, however.

I'd have to say that this year was a great one, too. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I remember it everytime I read this blog entry.

I woke up early to enjoy the full length of this day -- also because myson woke me up and wanted breakfast. Since it was a special day, I treated him and myself to some waffles. I was going to make waffles in bed for {wife} as well, but i thought that she may enjoy sleep better than morning dough-in-a-toaster.

After that I treated myself to some alone time as I mowed our lawn. Throughout the day some people said that i shouldn't have had to do that on my Birthday. I agreed with them -- Mowing the lawn should always be done on Mondays!!

The funnest part of the day was going to the splash pad with the family! It was just like last time but this time we were in get-wet clothes; so dad got to get wet w/ Hyrum too :D It was a blast. Myson was very cautious around the water as any 3yr old would be, but he was very cute trying to stop the water from spouting out of the nozzles. He also got to be on Dad's shoulders for a bit as we both got dunked by the dunking bucaneer. Oo!! And we also go to go on the swings! Ang was right -- swings are life's natural high! I got to push hyrum first, then we got to sit down together. he liked it, but didn't think much of it. Then I let him sit alone and tried to teach him how to pump by swinging on the swing next to him. After a few "Forward. Back'"s i decided to just go real high since it have been awhile. That got Hyrum cracking up! I'm still writing this w/ a huge smile -- HE SO CUTE! ... Ok, barring the whole this-parent-loves-his-son point of view, he really was cute. Then Spencer (my supervisor from work was there too w/ his family) reminded me to do the spider-thingy on the swings w/ Hyrum by doing it w/ his daughter. ... *sigh* It was just a fun day to spend w/ the fam. Must do that more often.

We went home after the park in search for food. It was about 3pm and i had just realized -- the Elder's Quorum was meeting at 11am for a party/BBQ/swimming at Brother Walker's house >< /sigh. Missing free food is not one of my favorite things to do ;_;

After that we called around searching for a free babysitter so we could go watch a movie. We found one too, but we found out the day after that they were available. For the rest of the night we just bummed around the house watching Enterprise episodes we had recorded on the DVR. Jaypea did make this "deliciouso! Yum-yum-yum!" Apple-Rhubarb pie (can you tell we watch kids shows?). My boss had a rhubarb tree and it had grown like crazy. So he gave me ssome to take home and experiment with it. Since the pie, Jay has also made Rhubarb Muffins too. Not as delicious as the pie -- but nothing is bad if it has rhubarb in it!

The next day after church Kit said since she missed watching the kids last night, she'd watch them that night for us! We took up on the offer cause 1- we still had free movie tickets, 2- never deny a free babysitter, & 3- never mind... I didn't know how many points I'd be outlining and ran out of ideas. It was a good thing we went, too. I got to find out that i still loved my wife. Wait-- (turns to ask Jessica) right? Ok. (returned to blog) Yeah, she said I still do. We chose to watch Harry Potter 5 -- a very good choice, too. The movie was done very well -- for the 5th book being the largest or the saga, it was a shorter movie than the 4th (I believe); but they touched on the most important elements that would roll into movies 6 and 7.

We got home about Midnight:30... felt really bad about have kit w/ the kids for so long. The kids were still awake and that was actually a good thing since myson had not been going to bed peacefully recently. I didn't want to have Kit deal w/ that plus he looooooooves her so much, i knew it wouldn't be a problem for him to stay up. What i eventually felt worse about was that Kit succumbed to watching Blues Clues all night long w/ him! o_o Next time i'll let her know she has a bit more license on what she wants to watch of TV.

All in all, it was a great birthday. I still have plans to go eat at Whitewater when we get the gil to do so; but barring that, it was a great day!

P.S. We also did Dynamis-Buburimu w/ the DP ls. Man, was that a blast. It was going all so well until the evil head-honcho NM pummeled the linkshell. Regardless, it was not only a great learning experience, but was so fun to spend some time w/ my dear friends online. Can't wait until we give Apocalyptic Beast another try! :D

Emily Update

We took Emily back for another appointment and to have her weighed again. She gained 6oz in 2 weeks. Dr. Rand says this is a good amount of gain, but he would still like to see her doing some catching up since she now weighs 10lbs 11oz. I'm just glad that she's gaining instead of losing. We're supposed to keep bringing her back for regular weighings until we're sure she's growing again. But for now, scare over!