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Year: 2018
Year in Review 2018
- by Brittny
This was the year for family trips, it seems. In addition to a beachside camping trip down in Carpinteria followed by a half week in Las Vegas, we also spent an exciting week at Yosemite National Park and Bass Lake and we went to Disneyland for three days in the early fall, as well.
David (14 months) is still growing like crazy. He walks a little here and there, but he much prefers to be held by his Dad. He also speaks much clearer words now, though his vocabulary is limited to Ma-ma, Da-da, and Bye. His favorite things to do are to point at family pictures hanging on the walls of our house, playing dentist with any mouths that are within reach, and dancing to all sorts of music. The funniest thing he's learned to do recently happens when he's being held by dad while hugging his mom–he grabs mom by the sleeve and pulls her to Dad over and over so they can kiss. He's lucky he is so cute, because he is not good at being left alone or sleeping by himself at all.
Maeli turned four and a half in July as she likes to tell everyone. She loved going to visit her Grandma, camping on the beach, and traveling through Yosemite. But by far her absolute favorite trip was to Disneyland back in September. She got to meet the real Anna and Elsa, sit in the VIP section for the Toy Story parade, play Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters, and ride the Rocket Ships! Her favorite part of pre-school is snack time, and she loved it when they brought in real-life butterflies to her class. She still attends the same school where her dance class is, and she dances to everything now, especially during the credits of our Friday Family Movie Nights.
Daniel (7) was most excited to see the snow start to fall around home. He loves to play with his neighborhood friends out in the winter and enjoy hot cocoa. It also means he gets to go skiing soon. The bigger boys got their season passes to the humongous Park City resort this season. He's certainly a speed demon at heart, absolutely loving the time we spent on the wave runner during our Yosemite vacation week. The time spent at Disneyland also scratched that itch, because he got to ride the Space Mountain rollercoaster five times (the other kids gave up their fast passes to accommodate his need for speed)!
Sam's (9) favorite part of summer was spending the entire day at Bass Lake on a rented pontoon boat. We swam, went tubing, and used the on-board BBQ to cook all our meals. His favorite song that he's learned on the violin so far is Long, Long Ago. He's been playing a video game on his 3DS called "Rhythm Thief" that helps him with his technical music skills. He was also really excited to get third place in the Pinewood Derby races this fall. It was unexpected because he waited until the very last minute to put it all together.
Never one to be left without a project for long, Brittny took the lead on getting the basement finished this fall. She was happy to finally have a dedicated guest room and playroom, and Eric was excited to finally get the home theater and virtual reality room he'd wanted for so long. Most days she doesn't know where the time goes as she spends her time in a blur of homeschooling, housework and babycare. However slowly but surely she's finding routines that help keep everything running, and she loves the opportunity she has to be a stay-at-home mom and has embraced the chaos that comes with it. In her spare time (if such a thing exists) she participates in a neighborhood book club that she helped to start.
Over the past year Eric has taken the initiative to get a better grasp on his health. Through a combination of intermittent fasting and choosing to eat more ketogenic-friendly lunches, he has lost 30 pounds since last Thanksgiving! Brittny has been very appreciative that he has been the least annoying dieter ever and doesn't begrudge other people eating differently from him – he just quietly makes good choices for himself and doesn't require massive changes for the whole family (which is especially helpful with picky kids at home!). The aging appliances at the house called for fixes to the dishwasher, refrigerator, and water heater this year. Thanks to Google, Eric has been able to make many of those fixes himself and learn a lot along the way. With all of those fixes and working on the basement it was a close call, but Eric was able to finish his classes and just started his last term to complete his MBA by May 2019. A couple months ago someone tried to break-in to the house, and that motivated him to finish his licensing and training for a concealed carry permit, which has been reassuring. At work, he's hired yet another developer to help offload his increasing workload but still manages to find time to do some freelance work afterhours. Eric's been called as the Emergency Communications coordinator for the Stake. However, as suspected, he and Brittny are going to remain in their scouting roles (cubmaster & cub scout committee chair) until the end of the program.
David's Birth Story
- by Brittny
Today is David's 7 month birthday, so I thought maybe it was time I get his birth story posted to the blog. Guess that's what happens when you have your 4th child, things are a bit busier than they were when Sam was born 😉 So David's birth story is going to have to start a little further back though because his pregnancy was much more eventful than our other children's. I'll warn you, as always, this post is REALLY long. I finished writing it one night and it was 10 pages long, so I put it aside so that I could edit it down the next night and I succeeded in making it only 12 pages (before pictures)! But I write this all down more for me than for anyone else and I want to remember all 12 pages (or however many pages this happens to be after my next round of editing…)
For starters, we weren't planning on having David when we did. Towards the end of 2016 Eric and I had the conversation of whether or not we wanted to have a baby again in the next year. It was time to lock in our insurance choices for the next year so it was a good time to evaluate those things. I had vowed after my back problems with Maeli's pregnancy that I was going to get in shape before getting pregnant again, but it was 3 years later and that hadn't happened. Things were kinda busy and hectic and we decided that it wasn't time yet. So I scheduled my annual checkup with my midwife so that I could renew my birth control prescription. However, my checkup was scheduled for a little while after I'd run out of birth control. I wasn't too concerned – with our 3 older children it had taken about 3 months after going off birth control to get pregnant so I didn't think it was really too likely that I'd get pregnant in that short interim – I know, famous last words :P So I had a couple weeks without my prescription and I decided that I'd wait until the end of that cycle before starting my new batch. In the back of my head I was also telling the Lord – ok, I'm not really ready to have another baby right now, but if it's time, here's your opening.
During that time I started noticing that my back was having some issues again. I'd started wearing boots that had a little bit of a heel as my daily footwear and I thought it was probably due to those, so I ditched the boots for sneakers and called my mom for some advice on exercises for my back. A week or so went by and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror one Saturday night and thought – I look chubbier than usual. Not that I have a nicely toned physique most of the time, but I could just tell, I had more squish than was my normal… and I was about a week late. I decided that I would take a pregnancy test the next morning, just in case.
I took the pregnancy test into the bathroom the next morning feeling like I was being paranoid. I had one on hand so it wasn't like I had to go out and buy one but I just wanted to talk myself out of thinking that's what was going on. I can't even tell you how surprised I was when it came back positive. Obviously, I knew it was a possibility but I *really* didn't expect it to be positive. I sat there letting it set in for a couple minutes before hopping back into bed with Eric (we had 1pm church so there was time for sleeping in) and tried to gently wake him up. I tried to wait until he was reasonably awake before springing the news on him, but I don't think I succeeded as well as I would have liked – my nerves were a little high at that point :P I asked him, "So… what would you think if we were to have a baby?" He looked at me quizzically and I continued, "Because…. We're going to have a baby." If he hadn't been awake yet, he was then! Eric was even more surprised than I was because even though I'd told him about my less than stellar adherence to birth control protocol, he hadn't fully realized how much so. He asked me how I felt about this news and I told him that I wasn't expecting it but that of course I was happy about it, and when I turned the question on him his feelings mirrored mine. We've been asked if David was an "accident" or a "mistake" – absolutely not. David was a surprise to be sure, but just as it wouldn't be an accident or a mistake to win the lottery it was not an accident or a mistake to have David. We were not planning on him but we were certainly excited about it, and especially now that he's here we can't imagine our family without him. We're glad that Heavenly Father had a better plan for our family than we did. He is an unexpected blessing 😊
Of course, just because David is a blessing didn't make his pregnancy easy – at all. In fact going through that pregnancy is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I think partially not having intentionally signed up for pregnancy made it a little harder. After trying to have babies before, a hard pregnancy was still hard but there's the feeling at least of, "well, I knew this was what was coming." I think more so though it's a lot harder being pregnant for the 4th time at 31 than it was being pregnant the 1st time at 23 – go figure :P I had a rough first trimester – the back pain obviously wasn't caused just by my high heeled boots and I immediately had to limit the amount of walking and bending I did so that I could make it through the day. The "morning" sickness was also pretty bad this time around. Of course, my morning sickness isn't terrible compared to a lot of other women's, so I can't complain too much – I think I actually threw up maybe once this pregnancy, but I had a very sensitive gag reflex and generally felt miserable, tired, hungry, not wanting to eat, nauseated pretty much all the time for a few months. Also my blood pressure drops pretty low in pregnancy which isn't necessarily dangerous, but it can feel pretty freaky.
We didn't wait to announce the pregnancy to everyone. We told our kids and our parents right away and announced it on Facebook the next day. Yes, I know people feel like that's sharing way too much of my personal life with everyone, but to be honest, when I'm pregnant it's kinda miserable and I need people to understand why I'm kinda miserable. I need to have the people surrounding me able to say – "Hey, I know you posted that you're having a miserable time with morning sickness right now and I noticed you put on pants today anyways. High five!" I hope that by being open about the things that I struggle with people feel like they can be open with me about their struggles and we can both help each other. I feel that way about accepting help too. As much as I want to be able to be independent and strong and do things on my own, I try to accept help from other people because 1) it's really helpful (obviously) and makes me more able to do the things that really matter and 2) I hope that when they need help they think "Hey, I made soup for Brittny that one time and she wasn't too proud to accept help, I bet she won't judge me for needing some help too – I'll call her!" I strongly believe that we all need each other to celebrate with and mourn with and by being open with others it can bless us both. That's not to say that I don't understand people who choose to be more private or that I judge that choice – I just sometimes feel like people look at me and think I post so much of my life to Facebook because I'm seeking attention or don't understand wanting to be private. I do get it, but I've just decided for me that I'm happier being open with my circles of friends. My other reason for wanting to post right away is that I hate trying to decide who is important enough to tell in person or first or whatever. Our parents get first dibs on the news (if you contributed DNA to the child you probably should get some preferential treatment) but after that I don't want to have to decide who gets to find out when – or risk that someone who feels like they should have heard the news from me finds out through someone else. I have too many people that I love too much to feel ok with anyone feeling like they weren't included in something like this – better to let everyone know at once and avoid that drama.
The best news came at my first appointment when the doctor measured David on the ultrasound and told me that he was measuring about 2 weeks ahead of what I'd calculated! What's funny is that meant that when I went in to my doctor's appointment to renew my birth control prescription… I was already pregnant! That made me feel a little bit better about not starting the prescription right away. My thought at the time had been that I'd wait until the end of my cycle just in case I was already pregnant so that I wouldn't hurt the baby. In retrospect I think that was inspiration and I'm so glad I listened. I was extra glad because I had felt like I was bigger and having more symptoms than I should have for how far along I was. I was nervous that I might be expecting twins! So not only was I glad to be closer to the finish line than I thought but to have the symptoms make sense and not be twins was a huge relief too!
During my second trimester the nausea at least started to wane and I could eat pretty normally again. My gag reflex never receded entirely but I was able to eat more normally and my energy came back. Of course, one of the best parts of the 2nd trimester is getting to find out the baby's gender. When we went in for the ultrasound we were thinking the baby was a girl. Partly that just seemed nice and neat – we had two boys, one girl… we were due for another girl, right? Also I'd been extra sick when I was pregnant with Maeli and I was extra sick again so it seemed reasonable to think this was a girl as well. When we went in for the ultrasound the first thing the ultrasound technician got was a view between the legs and she didn't even have to tell us what the gender was – we could see for ourselves! I think David was a bit perturbed that we'd been thinking he was a girl and he wanted there to be NO doubt in our minds that he was a BOY!
In June it was Eric's & my 10 year wedding anniversary and we felt that was worthy of a celebration! We also realized that with the arrival of a new baby we probably wouldn't be able to get away with just the two of us for about 3 years between finishing off the pregnancy and having a nursing baby. That lit a fire under us and we booked a cruise to Ensenada that we were able to just sneak in before the 24 week cut off for cruise travel! Neither of us had been on a cruise before and it seemed like a fun way to get to do a vacation without too much planning – it was :) I wasn't able to do a lot of the activities that you'd normally want to do between my back and general pregnancy restrictions, but we enjoyed just having good food, good entertainment and (best of all) good company for a few days 😊
I also gave us the assignment of naming the baby before we got home. I like naming the baby as soon as we can after finding out the gender. I like being able to refer to the baby by its name rather than just "the baby" or "it". It helps me bond with my babies before they're born, and I think it helps the older kids to bond with the baby too. They can look at my belly and we'll talk about David, and make plans for David, and then when they come to the hospital to see us – there's David! The same David we've been talking about all this time! For me it just makes the baby feel like more of a real person once they have a name. We had a list of names going onto the ship but David wasn't at the top. We knew that we wanted to give the baby a middle name of James after Eric's dad and we were considering the names Aaron, Adam, Caleb, David, Hyrum, Isaac, Jared, Levi, & Micah. I liked David but the name sounded too close to Daniel and we'd end up calling the two boys each others' names all the time (I was right – we do). Also, we like naming our children after scriptural people to give them someone to look up to – and while David (in the Old Testament) starts out pretty awesome… he doesn't exactly end the same way. We tested out each name with the middle name and ruled some out. We tried them out with our other kids names (i.e. "Sam, Danny, Maeli, _____ get in the van for Cub Scouts!"… If the name didn't fit in that mix that was going to be a problem 😉 ). We kept coming back to David and I decided that David and Daniel weren't really too close – we already had Samuel and Daniel after all and those two names were pretty similar. I also decided that even though David in the Old Testament doesn't end up so great, that doesn't de-value the good things he did at the beginning. Plus his later failings serve as an important cautionary tale that none of us has ever done so great things that we are beyond where we could fall from grace and we must always remain vigilant that our deeds are good. It was so nice to have a name for our baby and to be able to call him by it when we got off the boat.
As I got closer to the 3rd trimester I got the doctor's order for my least favorite part of pregnancy – the gestational diabetes test. I have a pretty serious phobia of needles and that test is the worst, not only do I have to get poked with a needle, but I have to drink a drink that sets off a timer that "you will be poked with a needle in one hour". The psychological game there is pretty brutal. I got the order and then I took it home to figure out when I could schedule it with Eric so that he could come to drive me home afterwards. Between not wanting to schedule that appointment and waiting to try and coordinate schedules with Eric and the general craziness of summer… it might have been 10 weeks before I got that appointment scheduled. In fact, I waited so long that my doctor finally called me and said, "uhm, are you ever coming back?" They didn't let me wait to figure out a time that would work with Eric's schedule at that point and just scheduled my next appointment then and I then just had to tell Eric to work with it :P The test itself went reasonably well – I came *really* close to passing out but managed to stay on this side of consciousness. But I was glad to have that part of the pregnancy over with. I did all of the bloodwork for the whole pregnancy at once just to avoid having multiple pokes and so that was a huge hurdle for me to get past. I didn't have any history of gestational diabetes or risk factors, and I knew that I'm pretty healthy overall so I wasn't stressed about the results, I was just glad to be done with that!
The next week the test results came back, and they weren't what I'd expected. All of the general tests were fine – I didn't have any of the diseases they were testing for, my iron levels looked fine – all that good stuff. Unfortunately the diabetes numbers were just a little bit north of what the doctor would like to see for a confirmed non-Gestational Diabetes diagnosis. NOOOOO!!! She would have liked to have scheduled the 3 hour test (4 blood draws over the course of 3 hours – my worst nightmare) but she knew that I'd never come back and go have my baby in the woods on my own. So instead she recommended that I get a blood glucose monitor and observe a diabetic diet. When she told me to get a glucose monitor in my head I laughed at her and said "oh yeah right". I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to do my own blood tests. I barely made it in to have someone else test my blood – how on earth was I going to test my own blood on a regular basis?
To be honest after my doctor called in the order for the glucose monitor I waited a day before I could wrap my head around actually going to pick the thing up (to be even more honest I really considered if I even *would* go pick it up). I was trying to take it in baby steps. It then took me another day before I could even pull it out of the bags. I finally did and tried reading the instructions. I got about halfway through before I started crying and hyperventilating just trying to wrap my head around it. Just reading the words about poking, lancets and squeezing blood were too much for me to handle – especially knowing that these were things I was going to be expected to do to myself! I know that makes me sound like a crazy person and I'm really not an overly dramatic person on the whole. But no matter how hard I try I can't seem be reasonable about needles – and I really do try!
My doctor had asked me to get a blood glucose reading 4 times per day – before eating in the morning and 1 hour after each meal. I tried to convince myself that I could get those readings myself but I could barely be reasonable enough to let Eric do it for me so that didn't happen. I feel really blessed though that Eric was awesome with me. He wouldn't push me to do the blood tests even though he would encourage me. So I would let him know when I finished eating something so that he knew that he had to do the blood draw in an hour – I knew if I just tracked it myself I'd chicken out when the hour was up and convince myself I had something more important to do and never tell Eric. I had better integrity if I told Eric at the beginning rather than waiting until the end. We'd have to go upstairs, lock the door to our room (the kids weren't going to be helpful and don't need to know how unreasonable mom was), turn on a TV show, then I'd run my hands under hot water (to promote good blood flow) while Eric prepped the glucose monitor. Once my hands were warmed up I'd come out, pretend like I was just watching the show and give Eric my hand. He learned pretty quick that he only had about one try to get a usable blood sample as I couldn't get myself to sit back down for a second attempt – either we got it or we didn't but I couldn't do it again if it failed the first time. Once he got the sample I would quickly jump off the bed and go wash my hands off again – mostly so I could indicate to my brain that we were done and get my stress levels back down. Then I'd sit and watch a few minutes of the show while I got back to normal and then I could return to whatever I was doing beforehand. My usual remedy for needle-related anxiety is chocolate… but that was obviously off limits with the whole diabetic thing ☹
To be honest I was really worried that having Eric sticking me with needles was going to create some subconscious trust issues for me. However, the opposite happened. Because Eric was so kind with me even when I was unreasonable, and he helped me without just letting me off the hook, I really learned to love him even more than I already did (which is saying something because I already loved him quite a lot). I feel SO blessed to have him by my side throughout everything in this life, I couldn't ask for a better husband.
As you might have guessed… I didn't get all of my glucose readings in. Not by a long shot. I had some really high readings and lots of reasonable readings, not really enough to be super conclusive but I was proud of myself to have gotten as much done as I did. However, I was absolutely religious about the diet. I didn't cheat on it, although at first I had a hard time just figuring out what things were ok to eat and what things weren't, but I never once got to the point where I said, "just this once I'm going to eat x". I actually noticed that when I ate the things that were higher carb that my heart would get a little racy like I had associated with my low blood pressure, leading me to wonder if the problem was really gestational diabetes rather than low blood pressure. Anyways, my doctor never was able to definitively diagnose me with gestational diabetes but I managed to get through the final month of pregnancy on that diet.
The diet was tough, I had been trying for awhile to limit the amount of meat that we were eating and was erring on the side of adding more carbs – so I had to change that to go completely the opposite direction. I mostly just found things that I could eat myself and planned different meals for Eric and the kids. It wasn't terrible but I had the hardest time getting enough calories while staying on that diet. I was hungry a lot but I didn't want to get my glucose levels too high. Plus, eating was scary because I knew that one hour after I'd eaten I was supposed to do a glucose check so I had to *really* want to eat to make it worth going through that again. I actually started losing weight during that last month of pregnancy, which was a little bit scary. Not that I didn't have weight to lose, but I wanted to make sure I was eating enough to sustain my baby – I just couldn't figure out what to eat! My doctor wasn't worried and said it was normal, but it was not the most fun way to end the pregnancy.
About 3 weeks into the gestational diabetes I was walking around one morning and felt… uncomfortable. Ok, so that sounds ridiculous, I'd been uncomfortable for about 33 weeks at that point, but my digestive tract felt wrong. At first I thought I was just constipated (I was on a weird diet, it seemed like a possibility). But as the day went on that didn't quite seem to explain my discomfort. So I started googling things and came up with that I probably had appendicitis judging from where the pain was. I was pretty certain of this until I went to the bathroom and noticed that my urine was totally brown. A little bit more googling helped me diagnose myself as probably having a kidney stone – awesome. I went into urgent care that evening and the doctor confirmed that most likely that was the case – although they understandably didn't want to do any abdominal imaging on a woman who was 37 weeks pregnant, and wouldn't have been able to see much even if they did because of the baby in the way. I was given an antibiotic in case it was a kidney infection and told to drink lots of water to help things pass. I was also told to stop taking Tums for my heartburn as all that extra calcium was a possible culprit for creating the stone in the first place. Another suspect was the high protein diet from the gestational diabetes. I was starting to feel like I just couldn't win. My mom had a kidney stone when she was pregnant with her 4th child, who was also a boy. I know I look a lot like my mom, but this was a trait I probably should have let her keep to herself :P
After the kidney stone I decided I was DONE with being pregnant. With my other babies they had liked to stay put and cook past the 40 week mark so even though I was only 1 day short of 38 weeks I knew I was looking at probably 3 more weeks of pregnancy if I let nature take its course. Between the kidney stone, back problems, blood pressure issues, and (of course) gestational diabetes – I was ready to throw in the towel. I went in for my next midwife appointment and scheduled an induction for 10/4, i.e. the day I hit 39 weeks and was eligible for an elective induction. To be honest, more than the kidney stone I was worried that since I had let the gestational diabetes go unchecked for so long (and I had not been eating healthy during that time) David was going to be too big to be born naturally and I would have to have a c-section. I knew I was losing weight but the baby was still growing. I wasn't sure whether I was worried that I was undernourishing him or overnourishing him – but I didn't feel great about either one. I'd been debating scheduling an induction on those grounds, but the kidney stone pushed me over the edge. I had my mom book a flight to be here to take care of my older kids and started counting down the days.
The day before my induction was the day of the annual Utah STEM Fair. We had gone the year before and it had been a highlight of the year – they had asked for months afterwards when we would get to go again! So even though it was more walking than I really felt up to, I decided to go for it! It seemed like a fun "last hurrah" before becoming a family of 6 – one last time to enjoy just being the 5 of us. It seems silly but just before having each new child it feels like we're closing a chapter of our lives and while we're so excited about the new baby we're adding to our family, there's a little tinge of sadness to be leaving the previous chapter behind. I always have felt like there's something a little bit sad about moving on from each stage of life and having a chance to celebrate the family we have just before it changes always seems appropriate.
That day happened to also be a Tuesday which is when we have all of our commitments outside the home, and we'd need to pick my mom up at the airport that night. Busy day! I didn't tell the kids about the fair until we were actually ready to go so they wouldn't be disappointed if by the time we completed all of our other commitments I wasn't up to it. But we made it through preschool, violin, dance class, a haircut and music class and I was still ready to go! We got there later than we would have preferred but the kids had a blast checking out all of the exhibits and I waddled around looking for anywhere I could sit for a second, all the while thinking – I'm going to have a baby to . mor . row. It was a really funny experience just being there with all of these people doing a normal thing while feeling like there was something so huge that was about to happen to me and people didn't really know.
When the fair closed we had to divide and conquer – Eric had some work that needed to be finished before taking the next couple days off, and I needed to pick my mom up at the airport. We had both scored Olive Garden pasta passes though and wanted to use them to get dinner that night. After some deliberation we decided that Eric would take Sam and Maeli to one Olive Garden on his way home and I would take Danny & my mom to a different Olive Garden after picking her up from the airport. Don't worry, I still didn't break my diet – not even for Olive Garden! I found out that they would substitute steamed broccoli for the pasta and had that and salad for a very satisfying last dinner of pregnancy 😊 It was a late dinner but it added to the celebratory nature of the day – and we could do it without even having to pay for my meal, score!
Of course that night would be the night that people had trouble sleeping. Maeli started having a nasty croupy sounding cough (just as I'm getting ready to bring home a newborn – awesome) and everyone got to bed much later than planned. I seriously considered cancelling the induction because it didn't seem like we would be ready for all that would entail… and truth be told I was still apprehensive about needing an IV – and even though consciously I wouldn't have pushed it back for that, on a subconscious level I'm sure it made the idea of rescheduling seem more sane than it was. Plus, I'm not generally a big fan of being induced (even though I've basically been induced with 3 of my 4 deliveries). I still have a basic belief that babies are best left to be born when they're ready and all done being cooked, but we don't always get the ideal situations and we work with what we have.
In the end I got up the next morning, got dressed and we headed off to the hospital. Eric tried to convince me that I wasn't supposed to eat before the induction (because anesthesia stuff) but since I hadn't been given that instruction from the hospital I ate a couple of fried eggs and a vitamin water. But it made me nervous that I was doing the wrong thing anyways. The nurses later confirmed that I had made the right choice and I absolutely ought to have eaten beforehand since I had a long day of hard work ahead of me! Phew!
We got to the hospital late (our scheduled arrival time was earlier than our usual waking up time – even without kids developing nasty coughs in the night) but we were able to get checked in quickly. I told Eric that I felt funny walking into the hospital with a suitcase – like we were heading into a hotel for a fun getaway :P Hopefully if I ever go for a spa getaway it's considerably more comfortable than childbirth 😉
Once I was changed into a lovely hospital gown and had answered all of their questions it was time for the IV – dun dun DUN! Luckily I had a very understanding nurse who listened to me. See, even though I'm not good at needles I have at least pretty well established how I can get through them – I need to be hydrated, have reasonably high blood sugar level, warm up my arms, have someone keep talking to me about anything not related to the needles, don't look at the needles, don't expect ME to keep talking (I need to just focus on breathing deeply and staying conscious), and don't try to tell me how not a big deal it is (I know it's not a big deal, but bringing my attention to the needles makes me face it more head on and I'm more likely to pass out). It's also good if the nurse tells me when they're NOT ready to stick me with the needle (i.e. "I'm just looking at your veins, cleaning things up" etc) however they don't have to tell me when they ARE going to stick me, and it's definitely a bad idea to tell me to be ready because that elicits my fear response and all my veins shrink right up, if they say something like "ok, little stick" right as they're sticking it in that's fine but don't give me more time to freak out. The most important thing is "what thou doest, do quickly" and let me try to pretend that this isn't happening – the less we talk about the better. I've had nurses try to have me do it their way instead of my own way and while I really appreciate their intentions and experience, I know myself and other techniques make it worse rather than better.
Anyways, the nurse I had was awesome at listening to me and did everything just great. She made sure to tape the lines down tightly so they wouldn't wiggle, and she made sure to get all of the blood testing they needed through the IV port rather than making me go for another round of sticks. When I was induced with Danny it took an hour and several pokes to get the IV set up, so you can imagine how relieved I was to have that part go smoothly. Once we were set up then it was time to wait. Since we hadn't gotten much sleep the night before Eric and I both laid down and tried to sleep. I think Eric got an actual nap in and I at least closed my eyes and pretended to sleep to get some rest. I kept having to answer questions and my adrenaline was a little high so actual sleep didn't really happen, but I at least got to relax. All of my labors had been pretty quick – 8 hours for Sam, 4 for Danny, 3 for Maeli… I wasn't expecting for things to take very long and was expecting them to be pretty intense, so some rest at the beginning seemed wise. We were all set up by 9am and I was sort of expecting that we'd have David shortly after lunch. While I was resting my nurse was talking to another nurse about how they coded different things and mentioned that Pitocin was a "high risk" drug – which I sort of knew but it was still jarring to hear her say that while we were starting me on it :/ It didn't give me a lot of confidence in what the rest of the day would hold – especially since I'd already had enough complications with this pregnancy.
Eric woke up from his nap and my contractions were regular but not intense. He hooked his tablet up to the TV and we watched some shows while we waited, and Eric did some work. A couple hours later the contractions were uncomfortable but still nothing earth shattering. I could still carry on conversation through them, even if I preferred to do some deep breathing to manage them. A little after 1pm I sent Eric out to get himself some lunch – it didn't seem like anything was going to change dramatically in the next little while and it seemed wise to let Eric get some food while he had the chance. Luckily the hospital is right in the middle of a ton of different restaurants so Eric didn't have to go far to get some Café Rio.
While Eric was gone I checked some of the notifications on my phone and found that one of my neighbors had sent me an Instagram message. She was close to her due date too (there were about 5 ladies in our ward that were due within a couple weeks of me) and was in the hospital that day for some issues she was having. She wasn't in labor yet but was going to be induced the next day and was sitting in a little room all alone. She decided to come over to my room with her IV and visited with me for a little while as we were both alone in the hospital. I wish we'd thought to get a selfie of the two of us – how often is it that you and a friend get to visit each other while you're *both* in the hospital? It was definitely a unique experience! I was grateful to have a familiar friendly face to be with me while I was waiting alone for a little while. Even though I really was glad to let Eric go get some lunch, it wasn't fun being in the hospital room alone and I was glad to have someone there who could call for a nurse if something suddenly went wrong. I wasn't expecting anything like that, but it was just comforting to have someone else there.
Eric came back from lunch and we continued watching shows, me being uncomfortable, but mostly just waiting for things to ramp up. Slowly the contractions were getting a little stronger, but still nothing that I couldn't manage a conversation through, although perhaps with some wincing. Around 3pm my midwife came in and checked my progress. She asked if I wanted to try some other positions to which I responded that I didn't really – I was pretty happy where I was. She looked at me like I was being obstinate so I clarified that I wasn't saying I *wouldn't* change positions but if we were doing it just based on what I wanted… I didn't feel any burning desire to move from where I was – at 39 weeks pregnant moving around always seems like a huge chore, so all things being equal I'd just assume stay put. With that cleared up my midwife told me that David was still up pretty high and it would be good to move around and see if we could get him to come down to start making progress. Well that was a horse of a different color! Progress sounded good to me so we started moving me around. I don't remember what we tried first but we put me on a birthing ball bouncing around for a little while, and put the bed in an upright position and had me hang over the back, and laid me on my side with a large peanut shaped ball between my legs.
Moving around did the trick! My labor started to pick up and David made his way down into the birth canal. By 4pm I'd gotten to 4cm dilated and David had dropped enough so we broke my water and things really got intense. It's so awkward having contractions after having my water broken because every contraction feels like I'm peeing myself. Not like any part of labor is all that glamorous or not gross feeling – but that is especially gross feeling. At that point things really started to hurt. We kept moving my positions between hanging over the back of the bed, the ball, and on my side. Within an hour the pain from the contractions was so intense that we finally got to the point where we turned the TV shows off as they were only serving to agitate me rather than distract from the pain. I needed all my focus to be on just trying to relax between contractions. I am not loud when I'm laboring which has led in the past to nurses not really thinking things are getting close (the doctor barely made it into the room to catch Danny because they didn't think I'd gotten that far yet). Luckily my midwife recognized that even though I was quiet it was because I was in the zone, not that I wasn't progressing, and since she was done with her appointments for the day she stayed in the room from soon after my water was broken until the end. I was so grateful for that extra attention and coaching.
We kept changing my positions and checking my progress, which continued to be steady. Probably around 6:30 I started to feel the urge to push. My midwife checked me and said I was really close. On the next contraction I couldn't not push and my midwife could see that and the nurses gathered around for the grand finale. I was still on my side (which was the position that I made the best progress in while being the most comfortable) so someone held up my leg while I pushed David out from that position. It was a weird position for giving birth I'm sure but I wasn't really ready to move at that point. It took maybe 5-10 contractions for me to push David out. I'd have a contraction and push as hard as I felt like I could without tearing for probably 30 seconds, and then get about 30 seconds to catch a deep breath before another big contraction would come and I'd push again. Finally his head came through and on the next push I was able to get his shoulders and the rest of his body out. He was here! It is the weirdest feeling in the world to go from having a small human being in you to suddenly pushing them out and feeling so empty. Not a bad empty, sort of a cathartic empty. The second weirdest feeling is delivering the placenta. It doesn't hurt really but it's this huge squishy organ that comes out all at once. It's very infrequent that you pass entire organs out of your body which is probably why it seems so strange. It felt SO good to be done with being pregnant and to have my body back to myself again. I told Eric over and over for the next day, "I did it. I'm done. I'm not pregnant anymore. I'm NOT pregnant anymore!" It had become such a defining part of who I was for the last 9 months that I had to keep saying it to convince myself it was really true – I'd made it!
David was born at 6:46pm and was 6lbs 12oz and 20.5 inches long. I'd been worried about him being too big but he was actually the smallest of my babies by 13oz! I'm still so glad that I went ahead with the induction. It was SO nice to know that my older kids were settled before heading to the hospital. It was also awesome to know that we could get a good night's sleep beforehand and that Eric could plan out his day away from the office in advance. Also just having a defined finish line was so helpful at the end of that long pregnancy – I'm not sure that I mentally could have taken 2 more weeks. Besides which, as I mentioned before it was awesome to have my midwife there and able to really coach me through the delivery. All things considered, I would likely choose to be induced again if we have another baby.
As soon as Eric posted to my mom that David was here our older kids were over the moon and started jumping up and down begging to come see him. I had already arranged with my mom that I was ok with them coming up as soon as David arrived – once things were reasonably cleaned up in the delivery room they were welcome to come see him. I had a few stitches but they were taken care of quickly – my midwife says it looked like I'd just torn in the same place I had with my previous births (Sam was 8lbs 11oz with a 90th percentile head, so…. yeah, there was some tearing there that has opened up with each subsequent delivery). To be honest after giving birth I feel like having visitors come right away. I just did something monumentally hard – I want to show off! I might not look amazing, but neither do marathon runners, it's still good to have people you love with you to share in the achievement and the joy of a new baby. Besides no one is really looking at me when there's a cute baby to look at 😉 I know everyone is different but I basically want the people I love to come and give me a high five and tell me I did a good job, and ooh and ahh over the cute baby that I've managed to produce. I'm too amped up on adrenaline to rest for quite awhile anyways so people might as well be there to celebrate with me.
My midwife and nurses kept commenting how impressed they were with the control I had during delivery. I guess that I did an especially good job of not pushing too hard or too fast and causing myself to tear. I would bet that that's primarily because I didn't have an epidural so I could feel everything stretching and could tell what would cause me to tear. I remember them saying the same thing about when Maeli was born – maybe it's just something they tell every mom so that we feel good about ourselves 😉 I don't really know how I would have done things any other way so I'll just take it for what it is!
The kids arrived with my mom at the same time as Eric's parents arrived. They had arrived home from their mission in Washington D.C. just that day and they were leaving to go visit naother one of their kids that weekend so it was perfect timing! It was so great just to have everyone there – and to finally get to eat some carbohydrates! The nurses told me to get my order into room service quickly before they closed for the night and I was excited just to have some real food after a full day of very minimal snacks and a really hard workout! I don't even remember what I ordered but I was excited for real food. They also brought me in some snacks – graham crackers, saltines, yogurt, super exciting hospital snacks 😉
While the kids were oogling David and we talked to our parents about the events of the day the nurses kept coming in every few minutes to check on me. The first few times the nurse seemed moderately concerned that I was bleeding more than she would have liked. That was highly disconcerting. Considering how I feel about blood you can imagine that the idea of having a hemorrhaging problem after birth would really scare the dickens out of me. However there didn't seem to be anything I could do about it and the nurse wasn't panicked or anything, so I just relaxed as best as I could and tried to ignore how very nervous that made me. My mom gave me more wide eyed concerned looks, but I felt like there wasn't anything that I could do about it so I was trying not to waste my energy on worrying. I think she was concerned that having the extra people in the room could be a hinderance if something needed to happen, but I figured I wasn't exerting myself by letting everyone be there, and it made me feel better having them there. I relaxed as best as I could and assumed that if the doctors needed to do something with me they would shoo my family out and do it. Luckily after a few rounds of concerned looks things seemed better and the nurse stopped commenting on it so presumably things were fine.
Also during that time a nurse came in to get all of David's preliminary tests and procedures done. She took him to the other side of the room from my kids to weigh, measure, poke and prod him. My mom was unimpressed with how gentle (or not) she was being with David and looked at me like, "hey, why isn't anyone snuggling that cute baby and making him happy?" I obviously was in no place to hobble over and help out but I was grateful when my mom went over to hold his hand and try to comfort him a little while that was happening. They poked him a few times and put the goop in his eyes – but somehow no one managed to actually wash him off. We actually didn't get him washed off until he came home and was a few days old :P
When my dinner came all of our visitors cleared out to let us get settled in for the night. I was a little sad to see them go, but it was getting past the kids' bedtime and it was time for us to get some rest too. Of course "rest" in a hospital is relative. The nurses came in every hour to check my temperature, blood pressure and bleeding until about midnight. Then they started coming in every 4 hours. At one point I'd fallen asleep for a little while and then woke up just before I thought they were going to come in again, so rather than going back to sleep I decided I'd just wait for them to come in. So I waited… and waited… and waited. It ended up being closer to an hour and a half before they came in again so I probably should have tried harder to go back to sleep, oh well. I just don't sleep well in the hospital – the sounds are weird, the bed isn't mine, people are coming and going, and there's always a possibility someone might want to stick a needle in me. It's not my favorite place to be.
In the morning my nurse came in to remove my IV. To be honest, I like having the IV removed almost as little as I like having it put in as strange as that sounds. They needed one more bit of blood work from me – a final glucose level to check that things were back to normal after giving birth. As I talked to the nurse she thought she could probably get that blood sample when she removed the IV without doing an additional poke – she didn't want to guarantee it but she said she'd try. I can't tell you exactly what happened (I was of course pretending that nothing was happening and just trying to stay conscious), but somehow she made that work and got me out of having an another poke. She quickly made it onto my list of favorite people 😉 Even better, the level was back to normal and I was freed from having to do glucose tests any more – hallelujah!
Throughout my pregnancy I kept thinking, "I never want to do this ever again. This is so miserable. Don't forget how hard and miserable this is. Nope, never ever ever ever EVER going to do this again. This is the last time, absolutely, 100%, never doing this again. I'm getting too old for this." That resolve at least doubled when I was in labor, and doubled again while in the final transition and during the actual birth of David. That whole day in the hospital I kept thinking, "This is no fun at all, I really really don't want to have to do this again. DO NOT forget how hard this is!" The pregnancy wasn't just physically hard but it really was mentally exhausting. After getting through all of that I really couldn't fathom doing it again. The day after his birth I was laying in the hospital bed and staring at my precious newborn baby and thought, "Awww, look how cute he is! This is SO special and wonderful and worth EVERYTHING. How sad would it be to never get to have a brand new baby like this again? I could do this again!" Of course the other part of me was screaming, "WHAT!?!? Have you not been here for the last 9 months? Do you not remember what happened YESTERDAY! It hasn't even been 24 hours! You haven't even left the hospital! You still have an ice pack stuffed in your underpants! What do you mean you 'could do this again'?!?" Both sides are completely true – having David was so worth everything I went through, we love him to the ends of the earth and back and more. If you were to send me back to the end of 2016 and give me the choice of going through it all again or not having him I would 100% go through it all again, no question. But man, contemplating doing it again…. That's going to take a lot more convincing. So far our kids have been spaced out like this – Sam to Danny: 2 years, Danny to Maeli: 3 years, Maeli to David: 4 years. So if you're wondering if we're done or not just check the pattern… we can talk in 5 years 😉
The next day contained all the routine post-birth things – the pediatrician came to evaluate David, my midwife came to check on me, billing wanted us to pay our bill up front, we filled out the birth certificate – all the things. I had asked my midwife beforehand that we be discharged as soon as possible, generally 24 hours after birth, so long as everything looked good. So as we went through all of our checks we got the oks from the doctors to be discharged at the end of the day. As we got close to that 24 hour mark I had Eric help me shower and change back into normal clothes and we waited for the nurses to get all of the paperwork approved. It took about 2 hours longer than we'd expected because they lost some of David's bloodwork samples or something but finally they cut all the tags off of us and we were free to go home! As we were leaving the nurses asked me if we didn't have insurance or something – they were astounded that I would want to go home so quickly. I guess most moms want to stay as long as possible where they have people to care for them, make the food, take the baby sometimes, all that good stuff. We have reasonable insurance, but even with that an extra day in the hospital is a pretty pricey affair. But more importantly, I just would rather be home! If I didn't have good care at home my feelings might be different, but I was going home where my mom would be there to help cook meals and tend my children and Eric would be there too. Plus no one would be coming in to poke and prod me or my baby while we were sleeping, I could have my own bed with my own blankets, I could snuggle with my kids and know that Eric wasn't stuck sleeping on a couch. Unlike the nurses I can't understand why anyone would want to stay in the hospital! The care is great, but I'm still happier to be back home. Room service meals is nice, but for the price… I'll get someone to pick up takeout from a really good restaurant rather than be stuck eating hospital food thanks ;)
My mom was able to stay with us for 2 weeks which was SO wonderful! My recovery with David was harder than it was with my other kids, not for any particular reason but it was just harder. I didn't have any unexpected complications or unmanaged pain, but I wore down faster and had a hard time keeping my energy up or exerting myself much (by exerting myself I mean, walking around a little). I wasn't in any more pain than I would have expected, but I was just so easily drained. My guess is that I really did lose a decent amount of blood during/after the birth and it just took that long for my body to regenerate my blood supply. Obviously not so much as to need intervention, but more than I had with previous births and enough to cause a difference in recovery. Luckily by the time my mom left to go back home I was starting to feel normal-ish again and ready to ease back into our routines, and even slowly get back to not just pregnancy normal but pre-pregnancy normal. It's been really eye opening to see just how much I let go of during the pregnancy as I've been able to pick things back up. We also decided after this pregnancy that I probably ought to switch from taking a pill for birth control to having an IUD instead (since I clearly wasn't doing a great job of taking a pill). Even more surprising than how much better I feel not being pregnant is how much better I feel having changed birth control methods. I hadn't realized just how tired my other birth control had made me. It didn't help that when Eric and I first got married I had mono which took a long time to recover from, and then I had Sam who was a terrible sleeper, then pregnant with Danny, then another baby and dealing with sleep, then pregnant with Maeli and another baby. It was difficult to separate exhaustion from mono/being a mom from birth control side effects – it was just my normal! But now that I've switched I feel like I am fully awake for the first time in over 10 years. I had no idea! We switched just to give ourselves a more surefire method of birth control, but I might be more excited about getting my energy back than not having to take a pill every day!
David has been a delight to have in our home. I can't imagine our family without him and it absolutely blows my mind that we'd actually consciously decided that we were content with our 3 kids and didn't need any more. How sad! It's so bizarre how perfectly happy we can be not knowing what blessings could be ours if we were to just [fill in the blank]. Anyways, while he's been a delight David has not been an easy baby. He struggled with colic for the first few months and pretty much just wanted to be held all the time. Luckily, Sam had colic too and since he was our first we didn't know that it was a hard thing we sort of just thought that's how babies were – until we had Danny and Maeli and realized that it wasn't always like that :P But having had the experience with Sam with colic we felt like we knew what to expect. Honestly just having that expectation already set differently made all the difference. We knew that we likely wouldn't be able to put the baby down and we'd just need to take turns holding him, walking with him, bouncing with him etc – and we could work with that. It wouldn't last forever and we'd make it through, and just because our baby was upset didn't mean we were bad parents or doing something wrong, it was just the way it was. I slept a lot of nights on the recliner with the TV on, Eric and I would try to let each other take naps when we could, and mostly I just let other things go knowing that eventually "this too shall pass" and we'd get back on top of those things then. Sam is now our best sleeper! I mean, he's 9, but still, he figured it out eventually! David has the most intense stare, he will stare into your eyes for the longest time, and then just smile. It makes you feel like the most wonderful person in the world – if this baby thinks you're worthy of this kind of adoration you must be a pretty amazing person! His siblings are still completely enamored with him, I can't put him down without one of the kids going and getting up in his space or carrying him off to somewhere else to snuggle with him. I hope he always recognizes just how lucky he is to have siblings who adore him like his siblings do. We truly feel so blessed to have him in our home and are grateful every day to have him!


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Renewable energies seem to be our best option to preserve the environment. A huge part of this will be solar energy and luckily for you, it is something you can look into now. This post can definitely help you out there.
The power you are able to generate with a solar energy system will depend on how many panels you install and their efficiency level. You should do the math to figure out how many panels will be needed. Higher-efficiency panels are often your best bet cost-wise.
To maximize the effectiveness of your solar panels, opt for installations that are independent of the sun's movement. Most newer panels will be able to store some energy while the sun is up. This will provide you with energy any time of the day. This is especially useful if you use most of your power at night.
Using a solar water heater is an excellent way to help the environment. There are a variety of solar powered hot water heaters for you to choose from. Pick a sunny spot on your roof, and install a solar water heater tank.
While it can seem like solar panels are hooked to the roof permanently, the best systems out there that generate lots of energy can have their panels repositioned during the different seasons. Those in extreme temperatures may have a difficult time with this decision.
Only lease equipment which allows you to transfer the lease. This is very important because if you sell your home, you could be stuck paying for a lease on a solar unit that you cannot use. Being able to transfer your lease will relieve you of your obligation and permit the new residents to take advantage of solar energy.
After installing solar panels, make it a point to monitor the inverter. If you see solid green lights, you have nothing to worry about. When the light blinks or is turned off, call for help. Solar energy systems can be very complex, and too difficult to work on for the average homeowner. A visit from a technician should be free if you bought panels with a 25-year warranty, which is common.
Solar power is growing in popularity every year. Though they used to be expensive, solar panels have become more affordable. It can work for both your home or your small business, so take some time to look into your options.
Think carefully about what would be easiest to switch over to solar power. Purchase small solar appliances and outdoor fixtures to get a taste before you go all-in. Converting your home to solar energy little by little will help to take some of the financial burden of purchasing an entire system all at once away.
A good future for our children depends on the wise choices that we make today. Don't be the last one to use solar energy. Consider your choices now, and look at the savings and carbon footprint reduction you could enjoy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Combined Bachelor/Master Degree Program
Admission Criteria
– Currently enrolled in at least 12 credits as a full-time student and enrolled as a B.S. major in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering degree
– Students must be citizens of the United States or Legal Permanent Residents. International students are not eligible to participate in the BS/MS program.
– Completion of Junior Seminar (ECE 3900 for EE students, CS 3991 or ECE 3991 for CE students)
– Minimum cumulative University of Utah GPA of 3.30 or higher
– Transfer students must complete at least 24 credit hours as degree-seeking students with a 3.30 cumulative GPA at the University of Utah before admission can be offered to the BS/MS program
If students meet these requirements, they are invited to participate in the BS/MS program. If you meet the requirements and have not received an invitation, please contact the Graduate Coordinator, John Bolke.
Note: We do not make exceptions to the minimum GPA requirement.
Upon reaching graduate level, students are admitted to the Master of Science Coursework Option but may transfer to the Master of Science Thesis or Project Option upon the approval of their Supervisory Committee Chair. A recommendation letter from their intended research advisor is required.


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"It was imagery of parrot tulips set against chinoiserie wallcoverings, tropical tapestries and exotic rugs laid on well trodden flagstones," explained designer Jasper Conran, describing the traditional elements of the grand English house which served as inspiration for his new Kilim dishes. "These houses and their possessions have [known many] generations, so you see layer upon layer of collected heritage—all a little worn around the edges and more than a little eccentric." His new Kilim collection comes in five wanderlust provoking colors, and is comprised of dessert plates, coffee cups, and a tea service, all of which are available for pre-order starting today. When asked to describe how he would incorporate them into a table setting, Jasper envisioned a bespoke oak table laid with starched white linen napkins, aged silver cutlery and flowers cut fresh from his garden.
Jasper Conran Kilim teacup and saucer pairs, $125; available for pre-order as of today at wedgwood.com.
Check out: Need It Now: Derringer Black Label Series Hybrid Bike


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When pale girls tan: TanOrganic3/19/2015
Summer is enjoying its swan song right now so I thought I'd talk about how to keep a little bit of it with you. I'm super pale and I really like my default skin. I also, however, like trying new things and I have never tried fake tan. I know, what? I was curious so I thought I'd give it a whirl and change up my look.
As I've said, I enjoy being pale so I wasn't looking to go full Oopma Loompa, I doubt anyone is but regardless, I wanted something subtle - a little radiant pick-me-up. I tried out the TanOrganic Tan Trilogy Try-Me kit which includes an exfoliating glove to ready your skin or erase your previous tan, a mitt to apply your new one, self tan spray and moisturising oil to lock in the tan when you're done.
You can gradually build up your tan and re-apply it as you see fit but being a novice I stuck to the "less is more" notion and I think it served me well. I think it's also better to apply a new layer every evening if you're looking to get a more sunkissed look. Using the kit was super easy and quick, though I did mess up a patch on the back of my leg which I rectified the next day XD
It takes eight hours to really develop and while I was quite dark at first, after my shower in the morning I was content. I loved the natural fade and the fact that I couldn't really smell much. I'm quite familiar with that fake tan smell from my years at fashion school, I remember one particular moment when someone yelled, "Oh my god, who is wearing fake tan? I can smell it!".
TanOrganic is also cruelty-free and lacks all that icky paraben business with 99.6% natural ingredients. I mashed up some pics I took before and after application to give you a good idea of how it came out. If you're interested you can shop the products online at http://www.tanorganic.co.za/ Xx.


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Christopher Knight was hoping this would happen. Though best known as Peter from The Brady Bunch, he is actually landing legitimate acting gigs that have nothing to do with the classic 1969-74 sitcom. Case in point: Tonight, he guest-stars on the season finale of Less Than Perfect (9:30 pm/ET on ABC). And, believe it or not, there's no wink or sly reference to his Brady past (not even a mention of pork chops and applesauce). So how did this all happen? A little show called The Surreal Life. Thanks to VH1's reality celebrity mixer, the former child star finally had an opportunity to remind Hollywood he wasn't 14 anymore. "I have this age-disparity thing," the 47-year-old Knight tells TVGuide.com. "I'm constantly confronting a teenage version of myself." Luckily, Less Than Perfect's executive producer, Gene Stein, has been watching the adult version on Surreal Life this year and likes what he sees. "He just radiated niceness and charisma," says Stein, a self-professed Brady fan who had previously met Knight through Perfect costar Eric Roberts. That niceness came in handy when the show needed an actor to portray a Denny's waiter who just so happens to be a man of the cloth. (Knight officiates an impromptu wedding ceremony between Patrick Warburton's and Andrea Parker's dysfunctional characters). "If [they were] looking to cast a 'nice guy' role," Knight jokingly points out, "being on The Surreal Life worked for me. But if they were looking for a demonic killer, I don't think it would've helped." Despite Knight's initial nervousness, all went well during the episode's taping, even if it was a little, uh, surreal for the show's star. "Everybody was excited he was there," says Sara Rue, who counts herself a fan of Knight's VH1 sideshow. "It was certainly weird, [though]. He's older, so it's almost like it's not the same person. And then, all of a sudden, you get these glimpses of 'Wait a minute, that's Peter Brady!'" By the time the Surreal season finale airs on April 24, Knight will be on to his next project, the lead role in Light Years Away, an independent sci-fi film that will also feature his former reality housemate and present live-in girlfriend, Adrianne Curry. (She won the first season of America's Next Top Model.) Just like those old Brady Bunch episodes, it seems everything has worked out. And just like his TV dad, Knight even has some words of wisdom to leave us with: "I suggest to people to get out of their comfort zone and try something new. Something interesting can happen."
(Disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.)


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Rebecca's TangoLife Milonga
Theme: Canada, eh?
Bellingham, WA
Milonga 6:30 – 10:30 pm.
Entrada $15 ($20 CDN)/ $5 college students
DJ MARINA RICHTER of Vancouver
This year TangoLife is celebrating the world's beautiful cultural diversity through our monthly themes. Continue the tour with us!
O Canada, what would we do without your gracious presence in our world? Your national pride combined seamlessly with your open arms? Your old world charm layered upon your progressiveness? Your hectares of tundra contrasted with metropolitan cities? Your well-mannered Mounties and your kick a## hockey? Yes, you are much more than lumberjacks and maple syrup, because your TANGO COMMUNITIES are OUT OF THIS WORLD WONDERFUL! Please join us, from near and far, in celebrating our 150 year old neighbors from the True North. Wear red. Wear white. Wear plaid shirts. Wear your glowing hearts.* DJ Marina will give us magical tandas like the Northern Lights.
Rebecca's TangoLife Milonga
First Sunday of Every Month
Majestic Ballroom
1027 N Forest St, Bellingham, WA
An elegant Milonguero gathering place for the Pacific Northwest
Featuring traditional tango music, in formal tandas
Cabeceo friendly, respectful line of dance, plus one mixer tanda
"Best milonga in the Pacific Northwest." Since 2010.
Come early–http://www.bellingham.org/
Stay late– Sheraton 888-671-1011, Or GuestHouse Inn 360-671-9600
Questions to Rebecca Niemier: email@example.com, or 360-739-0685
Website: www.Tangolife.biz
"Friend" me on Facebook for events, photos and updates.
* O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Rebecca Niemier


text: I have to be honest, I have a hard time picking carpets that actually work in our own home. I can always find options for our clients; I just have a hard time actually selecting something for me because my boyfriend is 50-50 on the things I bring home. Once I ended up painting the wall a different color because we found a new carpet that I just had to have. Now I hope not to do so because I love the Oriental rug pictured below, and our living room wall color is a buttery yellow. I usually find most of our carpets for our clients in Manhattan, but locally I find a lot of rugs from Jafri Rugs in Albany.mostly They have a larger selection than anywhere else I have seen around here, and the prices are good. I am waiting to make my purchase until this weekend because they are having a big sale, and all carpets are up to 75% off until August 28th. Jafri Rugs is at 116 Wolf Road, Albany, 482-5755


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If you've ever thought about starting your own handmade business, this is the class for you! I've been selling handmade goods online since 2011 and I've learned so much over the years. In this class, you'll learn how to turn what you love making into a source of income, as well as practical tips from branding to customer service, and how to avoid common mistakes along the way.
I'll also give you advice on how to set up your small business legally, how to pay taxes, and many other questions new business owners may find themselves stumbling over. While this class focuses mostly on selling online (mostly because it is the simplest and cheapest option!) I'll also give you some great tips for selling in person.
Lesson 1: How to Start a Handmade Business
In this lesson, I'll teach you the basics. You'll learn about choosing and registering a business name, doing market research, coming up with your "brand" and even paying taxes!
How to Start a Handmade Business Started
Lesson 2: The Costs of Selling
Many new business owners aren't fully aware of the start-up and continual costs of selling handmade items. In this lesson, I'll go over what to expect.
The Costs of Selling Started
Lesson 3: Running a Successful Shop
Once your shop is up and running, you need to make sure it stays running well! This lesson will cover pricing your work, customer service, SEO, staying organized and more!
Running a Successful Shop Started
Lesson 4: Promoting Your Handmade Business
One of the biggest keys to running a small business is making sure people know you're there! This lesson will give you tips for reaching new customers and retaining current ones.
Promoting Your Handmade Business Started
Now that you have the skills, what are you waiting for?
Get out there and make something!


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As the riding and racing we do becomes ever longer, over ever more extreme surfaces in ever more remote locations, highly accurate and repeatable air pressure measurements have become more critical than ever before.
No longer does your roadside flat repair need to get you just the 12 miles home, but may have to get you through the next 12 hours or even the next 12 days of your event.
For those who push the ultimate limits of body and machine, we've developed TATTICO Bluetooth® which embeds a highly accurate Bluetooth® pressure transducer inside of our award winning TATTICO mini-pump, allowing you to read highly accurate pressure on your Apple or Android device any time, any place.
- Seamless connection to iGauge mobile app for clear, accurate pressure reading
- 6061 Alloy barrel and gripping surfaces
- High-efficiency piston design
- Long extractable filler hose with locking presta/schrader chuck
- Maximum pressure 120psi
- 9-1/2" length
- Includes direct-mount backed with retaining strap
- Easily replaceable CR2032 battery.


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New Milford observatory expanding meteor program
NEW MILFORD — Monty Robson peered at a computer screen at the John J. McCarthy Observatory, examining a streak at the bottom of the image of a recent night sky.
"That's the moon and that might be something," Robson, the observatory's director, said as he clicked to play the video of the night event. "Yeah, that's a meteor."
Observing meteors is one of three areas of focus at the observatory and the topic of this Saturday's program, which lasts from 7 to 9 p.m. It specializes in asteroid confirmation and meteorite studies.
The facility, which is funded only by donations and grants, began observing meteors with the Leonid Meteor Storm of November 2001, drawing a crowd of about 1,000 people just less than a year after opening.
In 2013 the observatory installed its first all-sky camera. "What we found with the camera is there's a heck of a lot more meteor activity than we thought," Robson said.
About two meteors are observed each clear night and sometimes the camera will register four. Each one is broken out into a picture, video, spreadsheet and text file with time stamps.
By using photos taken of the same portion of sky at the correct time, then factoring in the distance between the observatories, astronomers are able to determine the trajectory, orbit and rate of meteors and confirm asteroids through various networks. This can determine where the meteorite hits so pieces can be recovered. The McCarthy Observatory is known for being accurate in determining the sky positions.
The observatory can capture 600 kilometers of night sky, covering most of New England, a portion of Canada, west to the Pennsylvania-Ohio border and south to Virginia. Robson said the Czechs have the best meteor and asteroid programs, determining accuracy within meters.
"I know we don't have the resources to be as good as the Czechs but we want to be as close as we can," Robson said. "We're a near-sea level, amateur observatory that's open to the public and tops in the world in nearly everything we do."
The McCarthy Observatory is only one of three locations in the northeast in the Sky Sentinel Meteor Network, which it joined this spring. The other two are in Pennsylvania, leaving a large area uncovered.
Robson hopes to change that. A high-resolution digital camera and video camera are expected to be operational this year to improve the accuracy and quality of the observation programs. Once they get out the bugs, he hopes to encourage other observatories in the area to join a new network so that they could monitor this part of the country, which both the Sky Sentinel and NASA acknowledge are under covered.
New Milford has a history with fireballs.
A meteor was seen coming down from Albany, N.Y., in December 1807, exploding right over New Milford. Pieces fell and landed in Weston, dubbing it the Weston meteorite. This was North America's first recorded fall, which means it was seen in the sky and then the meteorite was recovered on the ground.
"It shook the houses for 50 miles, especially to the north," Robson said. "If there was a seismograph, it would have registered."
A piece of that meteorite is at the observatory, just one of a robust collection that includes samples from 230 different locations.
It's important to learn about the meteors, asteroids and meteorites because it's inevitable something large will hit the Earth, Robson said. These are always monitored and NASA tracts them out in 100 year increments to determine the possibility and danger of something hitting the Earth.
"The more we know about it, the better prepared we'll be and the more we can predict," he said.
Robson views the observatory as an important tool to get students interested in science. The facility is located at the high school and volunteers hold programs at the schools. Area schools and scouting troops also come to the site on field trips and students will team up with the observatory to do projects.
"Underlying all of that, our main goal is to excite students to the value of learning and to promote science literacy — that's our mission," Robson said.
firstname.lastname@example.com; 203-731-3345


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888 Poker has seen revenues increase 88 percent year-on-year as it takes a major slice of the Spanish market and looks forward to further growth in the States.
It was a case of all the eights for 888 Poker, as the company´s revenue in the first quarter of 2012 showed an 88 percent year-on-year increase, prompting investment bankers and stockbrokers – Panmure, Gordon & Co. – to upgrade the company´s profit forecast by a staggering 22 percent.
The company´s growth has been attributed to the shutdown of Full Tilt Poker coinciding with the launch of features intended to attract recreational poker players – such as the player-focused Poker 6 Platform and the popular PokerCams. Other promotional initiatives offered by 888 Poker have also increased its market share, especially the no deposit poker bonus of £5.00/$8.00.
888 Poker Reign in Spain (after PokerStars)
888 Poker is also looking forward to a profitable second half to the year after capturing a quarter of the recently-regulated Spanish market. Although officially the company are adopting the view that they will have to invest significantly to maintain that position (good news for Spanish online poker players!), figures would suggest that 888 Poker is wiping the floor with Bwin.Party (terrible software and worse customer service) and iPoker (who never really bothered turning up).
Furthermore, whereas Bwin.Party were hit with a €33 million fine by the Spanish tax authorities and paid another €10 million to the Germans for sports betting tax, 888 Poker got off relatively lightly by paying "only" €8.7 million to the Spanish taxman and practically nothing to the Germans due to a much smaller presence in Spain prior to regulation and the lack of a substantial sportsbook presence in Germany.
The States Await for 888 Poker
In addition to good times ahead in Spain, the company also has a significant interest in the forthcoming regulation of online poker in the USA – particularly in Nevada, where the company is already in development of a B2B poker business platform for Caesars Interactive and WMS Gaming. If the competition from other interested parties in the US is as ineffective as it has been in Spain (PokerStars excepted), the sky will be the limit for 888 Poker – and those who play on the site!


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The new Link-Belt HTC-86110 crane is base rated at 110 US-tons (90 mt)! The fundamentals of the 86110 evolve from the successes of the market leading HTC-86100 and will be a great addition to Link-Belt's already dynamic hydraulic truck crane lineup.
The 86110 features a 164 ft. (50m) main boom that outreaches the truck crane competition and challenges European-built all terrain cranes in its class. The main boom tip height is 172.6 ft. (52.6m). The telescoping sections of the 6-section pin and latch boom ride on Link-Belt's proven Teflon impregnated wear pads, which means there's no need to grease the bottom of this boom. Plus, all the sheaves and both pins of the hoist cylinder feature sealed bearings as well.
Available is a 58 ft. (17.6m) on-board fly that features four offset positions of 2, 15, 30 and 45 degrees, and an innovative approach for erecting and stowing, focusing heavily on minimizing the number of times a ladder is needed. The fly also features an integrated 10 ft. (3.0m) fly that reeves up to 4-parts of line and is capable of 26 US-ton (21.7mt) lifts. The 10 ft. (3.0m) fly is ideal for applications where two load lines are necessary for lifting one load. Two additional 16 ft. (4.9m) lattice boom extensions bring the maximum tip height to 261.6 ft (79.7m).
The front and rear axle groups of the 86110 have a combined transport capacity of 107,250 lbs. (48.64mt) at highway speeds in excess of 60mph (96.5km/h) – a fully equipped crane can travel with its standard 16,000 lbs. (7.2mt) of counterweight without the need of a boom dolly. An additional 32,600 lbs. (14.7mt) of counterweight is offered bringing the maximum counterweight to 48,600 lbs. (22mt). With the overflow of counterweight being less than 45,000 lbs. (20.4mt), there is ample capacity on one-overflow truck for a tool box, rigging, mats, and more.
A fully equipped 86110 can reduce its transport weight to less than 90,000 lbs. (40.8mt) when all the counterweight is removed. It is boom dolly capable, and when traveling with a 3-axle boom dolly, a fully equipped 86100 with 36,000 lbs. (16.3mt) of counterweight can travel under 20,000 lbs. per axle.
Powering the HTC-86110 is a clean idle certified 450-horsepower (336kw) Cummins engine with 1,550 foot-pounds of torque for the North American market. There is also a Tier 3/Euro Stage IIIA engine available for regions outside of North America. Both engines couple to ZF's AS-tronic automated transmission with 12 speeds forward and two reverse. The controls for this transmission are similar to an automatic (no clutch pedal) and yet have the performance of a manual with automated pump dis-engagement for on-highway travel and jobsite maneuver modes.
The winch package delivers a maximum line pull of 20,739 lbs. (92.25kN) and can provide over 16,000 lbs. (71.17kN) of line pull up to the 4th layer, ideal for ¾ in (19mm) wire ropes that are line pull rated at 15,700 lbs. (69.83kN) and higher. The maximum line speed on the winch is 495 feet per minute (150.8 m/min) – impressive numbers when compared to other trucks and all terrain cranes in this class.
The operator's cab includes power tilt range from 0 to 20 degrees and a pull-out "Cabwalk" for ease of entry. Once inside, the operator is treated to a five-way adjustable seat that holds light, yet responsive electronic controllers. The controllers are available in either a dual or single axis configuration and have a fine metering feature for precise operation. There is a designated foot pedal for boom telescope operation, something not found in other cranes in this size class. Also, the swing control allows the operator to free swing and utilize a foot pedal for smooth braking. Aiding the operator is the Link-Belt Pulse system with telematics, and cameras that automatically let you view winch operation and swing. Extra touches are heating, air-conditioning, and AM/FM radio with Bluetooth.
The driver's cab features comprehensive gauges, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, and a clever place to store documents. Its fiberglass construction is Link-Belt proven and the interior is acoustically insulated. Cameras automatically let you view backing up and when making a right turn. Heating and air conditioning, AM/FM radio, cruise control, intermittent wiper with washer, and engine compression brake all come as standard equipment.
A work lighting package is available and includes four (4) high intensity work lights mounted on top of the operator's cab, the right side of the superstructure facing forward, on the upper work platform, and on the left side of the superstructure facing out. Also available are single and dual boom floodlights, and remote control floodlights that work in conjunction with other floodlights options.
(Original source: Link-Belt News)
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Discover the world and yourself with a golden gap year
- WYZA Life
Traditionally the domain of the teenager or early twenty-something, the 'gap year', a period where you take some extended time out to discover the world and yourself, is fast finding favour with the Baby Boomer.
Also known as the 'golden gap year", increasingly Baby Boomers are spending extended periods of time overseas purely for a holiday but often bundling volunteering at a grass roots level, with their trip.
Latest figures from Travel Associates (part of the Flight Centre group), reveal a
37 % increase in flights with no return date and an upswing in bookings for holidays of about 7- 9 months duration.
After deciding to take a hiatus from his job as a school principal, 59-year-old Gus Van der Haas decided to plan an extended trip covering more than one continent.
In October, Mr Van der Haas will begin his six-month journey in Asia, where he will be helping with a local school literacy program. From there he plans to go to South America and finish his break in Europe holidaying.
"I've always been confined in my job to the short school holiday periods, so it was a dream of mine to take an extended break discovering multiple countries and cultures I know very little about," Mr Van der Haas said.
Baby Boomer clients are increasingly taking up the idea of an extended holiday or 'life break' where they can devote their time to fulfilling bucket list style travel dreams and invest in their holidays, says national marketing manager at Travel Associates, Adrian Clarke.
"Growth has been coming from older, full-time employed or retired holiday seekers looking for unique experiences and to do something where they can make a positive contribution," he added.
He said the most popular styles of volunteerism for Travel Associates clients is community-based, working with human development projects, in orphanages or teaching positions and conservation.
One of the most popular volunteering destinations is Asia, however Africa is surging in popularity with Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania according to Travel Associates.
Top tips for planning your golden gap year
- If travelling to more than one country, try to pick ones that are in close proximity to keep flight costs lower
- Consider travelling as a group, not only can you save money, but it's a great way to meet like-minded people
- Create the ultimate bucket list and get packing
For further inspiration on golden gap year projects & destinations go to realgap.com.au and travel-associates.com.au.


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There is a class under org.netbeans.core that does what I need. Can I call/use/depend on it?
No. Not if you want your module to work in the future. Copy the code instead. If it is a thing that seems generally useful, file an enhancement request requesting an API for the thing you need to do (and make sure there isn't already a supported way to do it).
Anything under org.netbeans.core is non-public, not an API, and subject to change without notice. An API is a contract - an agreement about compatibility. There is no such contract for this namespace, under any circumstances. The class or method you are using may not even exist in the future. Depend on it at your peril.
A perfect example of why not to do this is JProfiler's plugin for NetBeans - it broke very badly across releases because it needlessly depended on the implementation of DialogDisplayer rather than on the API class - so when that class moved, it could no longer link, so the module didn't work.
If you really must use some non-API classes to do what you need to do, use an implementation dependency (DevFaqImplementationDependency) - your module probably won't load in any version except the one it was built against, but at least your users won't get nasty surprises. And ideally, notify the maintainer of the thing you're depending on - they can give you a heads-up if they think they're about to make a change that will break your module.
Applies to: NetBeans 6.8 and above


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MV was very nice to me this month, accommodating a special request.mBut how to attach an image? Didn't work.
The U.S Postal Service. More often than not they've continued to annoy me again and again and again.
Election advertising. I'm pulling a Norry here but it seems like time is accelerating. It seems like there are elections every other friggin day and with it comes all the robo-calls and mailbox filled with crap. I guess it works, in the theory that ads are not so much to get you to like a product but simply 'remember' the product so that when it comes time to buy/vote you pick the name you remember. But it sucks.
Australian postal service is worse, I guarantee. Quite often my mail is left on top of my letterbox (yes, even in the rain), packages are never delivered properly because the drivers will just put a slip in letterboxes saying they attempted delivery rather than actually attempt it, 'failed delivery' means having to go to a larger and busier post office that might not be your closest and is only open 9-5 and only on weekdays, it takes less time for mail to get to London than it does to another large Australian city, etc.My dealings with them has been largely negative in the last decade (and it's not like I'm living in the middle of nowhere -- quite the opposite), and my experience seems to be pretty common. To add salt to the wounds, their last CEO had a salary of ~3.58mil USD and a payout of 8mil USD.http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/damning-report-slams-australia-post-for-common-errors-and-defensive-attitude-to-complaints/news-story/b98e6792440e8276d8b465d1dae3cd2ehttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-03/australia-post-complaints-top-more-than-one-million/9612942http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/australia-post--you-are-the-weakest-link/news-story/dbd71e6d4b1147ae855846163008b672'http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-25/ahmed-fahour-walks-away-from-australia-post-with-$10.8-million/8841226
The U.S Postal Service. More often than not they've continued to annoy me again and again and again.
I know it is crazy but the post office close to me is great. No lines. Helpful staff. They will even tape stuff up for you, 'remind you' "this is media, right?" wink-wink so you get the cheaper rate, the people are friendly and seem to like their job. It is a semi-rural location. However, IF you have over-sized package, have to pickup certified mail, have a damage delivery, etc then you need to go to your "official" station which is several miles away in the city and a nightmare- of lines, workers who rather chat on the phone than work, totally mismanaged staff- two workers will be overrun with lines but other workers idle because there job is some other function, for which there is no demand and so on.
Oh the breadlines...pretty much every post office too...
My experience has generally been very good with USPS too. I think this is a cliche. Seriously, compare it to other nations postal services. I think you'll be surprised.
I would love for you to visit my local post offices with me. It is an exercise in frustration to say the least. It wasn't always like this though. Just over the last year or so.
Staples used to have a post office service counter inside the store (now they just sell stamps and that's it). The postal union was outside striking one day, saying they were stealing jobs, paying workers less, blah, blah, blah.After walking past them on the way in, I stopped to chat on the way out. I mentioned the vending machines, the long lines, and so on. One of them said to check the post office in a week or two and he'd see to it the policy was changed. I had a great time telling them how shitty they were, and why it was that Staples had a post office desk in the first place, why people went there instead of the post office, etc. And told him he was delusional if he thought he was going to get the Postmaster General's policy overturned. I told them Obama sucked as well, just for the fun of it. Another one got wind of my disobedience and came over all torqued off. Fuckers had fireman's windbreakers on, they weren't even post office workers. Union thugs. I scampered off after pushing a few more buttons. Lol
I always wondered why I never heard back from that opera singer in Perth.
ALMOST EXACTLY 20 years ago, Congress passed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the term of existing copyrights by 20 years. The Act was the 11th extension in the prior 40 years, timed perfectly to assure that certain famous works, including Mickey Mouse, would not pass into the public domain.
Winn-Dixie supermarkets where they have just added child-sized grocery buggies. The little bastards race them in the aisles, to the amusement of their parents, and endanger the lives of actual patrons. Theyre worse than the fat people in the electric carts. Then there are all the Amazon-vested service dogs.
Parents who let their kids climb the booth in a restaurant and peer down on you while you eat, or make faces, etc.Kids that kick the back of your airline seat.
Children whose parents let them run out of control in public. Just saw this idiocracy fambly at the botanical gardens. The little crotch nuggets were ripping the rare flowers apart while breeder cow mum watched in the background giggling.
An Arab taxi driver saw me walking toward dusk and said out his wi dow, "You shouldn't be walking alone!"I suppose he wanted me to get in a vehicle with a strange man, him. No way!