Hostile Takeover

There is a hostile takeover currently undergoing in our fishtank.

We set up the fishtank roughly a year ago. Then we got some fish. Some of those fish died and we ended up with two angel fish, two algae eaters, and three fish that always swim together. Because angel fish are cheaper when they're smaller, we got small ones and didn't know what sex they were.

We now know.

Last night, we found on the air bubbler thingy little eggs. Well, actually, Wade found them. Roughly about the time he poured in some new water.

Anyways, he ran in and googled angel fish eggs because he noticed that the two angel fish were acting funny towards the other fish and obviously guarding something important.

So what we have is 50-100 little angel fish eggs and two very possessive parents. Last night, they were taking turns watching over the eggs while the other one was staring us on the outside down. It took me a while to figure out that they sensed us to be a threat. The one watching the eggs would chase the other fish away, while the one assigned to threaten us would just stare and move back and forth in front of us. Ew...scary.

One fish from the trio would be the chosen one to break through to the other side because that's where they had inhabited the tank for almost a year, trying to win back their coveted spot. However, the angel fish guarding the eggs would immediately chase them away. It was all very interesting to watch.

The gestation period for angel fish eggs are 60 hours and so far nothing has happened yet. The internet says that it's rare for angel fish eggs to actually develop into living angel fish that thrive in an aquarium setting with other fish because they usually get eaten first. But it should be interesting to see, nonetheless. However, 50-100 angel fish are a bit much for our tank to handle so pardon my morose wish that most of them don't survive.

Book Review 1/04/09

Book: Mercy
Author: Jodi Picoult
Pages: 400

I'm clearly on a Picoult kick right now. This is the third one of her's I've read in the span of about a month. Like the others, it was a bit slow to get started, but once it did, I had a hard time putting it down.

Cameron MacDonald resents the Scottish lineage of his ancestors that has squashed his dream of becoming a travel writer and drawn him back to the small town he grew up in to take over the position of police chief after his father dies. Constantly dreaming of running away and traveling, Cameron meets his match at the florist shop his wife owns. Starting down a slippery slope of unforgivable transgressions, Cameron finds that maybe the life that he's been dreaming about all these years is not one that he really wants in the end.

Meanwhile, a distant cousin, Jamie, arrives in Cameron's town with his dead wife in tow, admitting that he was the one to kill her--at her request. Suffering from a terminal illness, she had asked her devoted husband to end her life. Now, Cameron must arrest him for murder and decide which is more prevailing--blood or the law. Can the boundaries set by a law ever be fuzzy enough that someone could get away with murder?

Another social issue takes center stage as Picoult asks the question: Do you love someone enough to kill them? Your own answer may surprise yourself after finishing this book.

Hopes and Dreams for 2009

A new year often signals a rebirth of sorts. The opportunity to become someone different--someone better, wiser, healthier. January 1 is a blank slate. A clean canvas.

January 2 is marred by the mistakes you made on January 1. The old you--the-diet-coke-chugger-and-chocoholic that you threw out with the New Year's Eve trash the day before--rears it's ugly head, tempting you with unbelievable headaches and a short fuse. If you make it past January 2, you're halfway there.

Oh, and if you make it past the sleepless nights with a newborn and the frustration that often accompanies the first few months of nursing that make you want to give it all up and just bottle feed your crying baby and save your own tears for something worthwhile, and the three year old that is running a million miles a minute and never seems to stop.

So maybe for me, the halfway point will be closer to May or June.

But for all intents and purposes, let's just say that I've made it past January 2. And the caffeine withdrawal headache is just a dull ache that I only think about when it's quiet and since that doesn't really ever happen, it's not really there anymore, and the frantic need for one last bit of chocolate is diminishing so that I only think about it occassionally--like when it's not quiet and I want something to numb the noise.

The reality is that caffeine I can give up. I don't "need" my diet coke. I only want it. And if I'm strong enough and determined enough, I can give it up. Cold turkey. I can resist the temptation of the friend who kept a case for me in her fridge so I could sneak over there during the summer and enjoy an ice cold beverage. I can order something different at the restaurant. The ultimate goal is to give up carbonation all together. But, for now, I'm concentrating on caffeine. Baby steps.

Chocolate, though, is a completely different story. I could never give it up completely. What, with it's heart healthy benefits that have been touted recently in the news, it's almost a health food. However, moderation is key. Perhaps eating the equivalency of the weight of my newborn in chocolate in one week is a bit overboard. And chocolate milk has been proven to be as efficient as gatorade after a long workout. Bonus, since I don't like gatorade, but I do like chocolate milk.

However, these two vices are not my hopes and aspirations for 2009. They are just a means to getting to those hope and aspirations.

There are five things on my "list" I'd like to complete this year. I'm not going to reveal them right now because I don't want to jinx them. Just suffice to say that three of the five have to do with physical activity (surprise, surprise), one is a hobby of sorts, and one is spiritually based.

Other hopes and dreams include clocking a 25 minute 5k, running another marathon (hopefully the St. George), writing more, and cleaning out the house. I swear I clean out the house at least once a year. It's the one thing on my to-do list I have no desire to do, but I hate the feeling I have every time I open the pantry or the cupboard where the tupperware is stored (read: shoved) or open the closet door to find something to wear. Every year about this time, I start to feel trapped in my house and the walls are caving in. This year it's a little more extreme since we have 3000 square feet of stuff stuffed into 1500 square feet.

Good luck to all on their new year resolutions. May you make it past today, at least.

2008 By The Numbers

Number of days on a ship: 7
Number of ice cream cones eaten on ship: Upwards of 20-25
Number of miles ran on ship: 1/4
Number of pounds gained while on ship: 7
Degrees in Cabo San Lucas on January 10: 82
Degrees in Salt Lake on January 10: 28




Number of miles in the half-marathon I ran in January, a week after gaining seven pounds on a seven day cruise: 13.1
Number of miles I enjoyed running in the half-marathon: 2



Cost of taking the math subject test of the GRE for the fourth time: $130
Number of bananas Mighty Mouse brought to the math subject test of the GRE: 2
Cost of taking one class at the U for having failed the math subject test of the GRE for the fourth time: $984.71
Number of bananas I would've liked to have smashed into Mighty Mouse's face: 100's



Number of softball games we played: 10
Number of softball games I resented: 10



Number of 5ks ran in 2006: 9
Number of 5ks ran in 2008: 1

Number of years we've been married: 7
Number of new furniture items bought since we got married: 2
Number of new furniture items bought in 2008: 2



Number of stores I had to visit before finding an elephant costume for Halloween for a determined three year old: 1
Number of prayers offered in thanks: 1000's


Number of Sundays I looked forward to going to church: 2
Number of Sundays I went to church: 40



Number of months pregnant in 2008: 10 1/2 (I had a miscarriage early on in March and then got pregnant again right away)
Number of weeks I was before I couldn't fit behind the desk in school: 34
Number of weeks I was when I went swimming last: 36
Pounds gained during pregnancy: 28
Weight of baby born 3 weeks early: 8 lbs 4 oz
Days until I was back at prepregnancy weight: 11
Number of days Aunika was in the NICU: 6
Cost of Aunika's NICU stay: Roughly $22,000
Percentage of households in the United States making less than $22,000 a year: 25.24%

Number of diapers we've blown through in a month: 350+
Number of poopie diapers I've changed today: 4





Years since graduated from high school: 9 1/2
Years spent in college: 9 1/2
Tuition cost for two years spent at CEU: $0
Tuition cost for 5 1/2 years at U: $17,422.57
Percentage of households in the United States making less than $17,500 a year: 18.63%
Amount given to us to help with tuition that did not need to be paid back: $0
Amount still owe the U: $0

Number of items on list not completed: 95
Number of items completed in 2008: 5


Here's to a happy 2009!

Chunky Monkey

I can't believe Aunika is already a month old. I remember thinking how long a month was when Josh turned a month old, but with Aunika it has flown by. I've been really busy though, with finishing up school and Christmas, so that's helped.

Here's a picture of Josh when he was a month old. It's eerie how the two look so much alike.

This is a picture of Aunika in her Christmas pajamas. Notice how bowlegged her legs are. That's because she'd outgrown them, but they were so cute, we couldn't resist putting her in them for Christmas. Her feet didn't fit in the bottoms either and her little toes were all scrunched. Good thing Christmas wasn't a week later

Pretty much all Aunika does right now is sleep, so it's hard to get a picture of her awake and dressed. We're not complaining about the sleep though. At least, when she wakes up in the middle of the night to eat, I can put her back down and turn off the light. If she's sleepy, she'll sleep. If not, she'll just lay there until she falls asleep. There have been a couple of times after her feeding at 10:00 or 11:00, we'll peek in at her a good 30 minutes later and she'll just be laying in her crib wide awake. I would imagine with all the noise that her brother makes, it's hard to get a restful sleep. We weighed her this morning at nine and a half pounds. See those chubby cheeks?

I think this might be a hint at a smile. She's trying really hard to smile and I think it will happen sometime this next week.

Santa brought her lots of new clothes including jeans. They're adorable and suppose to fit until she's three months old. She's already starting to grow out of a few things. Girls are really fun to dress even if it's just like a mini-me version. I was dismayed to find that there are ugly things out there for baby girls just like the more grown up version. Why, oh why, do some of these fashions insist on staying around? Though she's built like a little football player (no neck, no hair), there are some things that look really cute.

Christmas Cheer

What's better than opening up presents on Christmas Day? Sitting on the computer Christmas Eve Day and ordering your Christmas present.

Wade and I sorta made the basement count as our Christmas present this year. You know, like a very expensive fireplace was my present and an insanely expensive audio system with big screen televison is Wade's. However...

That's no fun.

So, I emailed Wade a comprehensive list of items I would enjoy getting if he felt in the mood to give me a little something something. Nothing too big. But on the top of the list was an indoor bicycle trainer. These cool dodads allow you to hook up your bike, inside, so you can continue riding it during the cold, wet seasons. Seeming as I'm set to do a triathlon in April and I've just had a baby, I need all the time on the bike I can possibly get and the weather doesn't cooperate this time of the year, usually. And I do have that newborn.

Also, as I was perusing possible 5k races and triathlons for this coming spring and summer, I came across this insane winter triathlon that's held up in Snowbasin. It's not really a triathlon because it technically has four events: Ski mountaineering, snow shoeing, snow running, and snow biking. I really want to do this in 2010. So I need something to keep me in shape on my bike since biking in the snow is not the easiest thing to do.

So today, Wade said to order the bike trainer as my Christmas gift. Awesome. I totally got exactly what I wanted. And since I still have two more weeks before I'm given the go ahead to start exercising again, there's no hard feelings that it's not here in time to open.

I'm reminded that the last three Christmases, my gift from Wade has had a similar theme. I got a treadmill and punching bag one year, a waterproof casing and headphones for my ipod so I could use it to swim laps last year, and a bicycle trainer this year. A lesser woman than me would sense this theme and hold it over her husband's head when tempers flared, but I asked for each of these items and so he's only making my wishes come true.

I still need a road bike. For the summer. Hint. Hint.

#2 Get a Bachelor's Degree

I told myself I wouldn't obsess over when the professor would post the final grade for the lone class standing between me and my degree. Yet, I found myself checking the internet obsessively.

Lucky for me the grade was posted this afternoon and I'm now the proud owner of a piece of paper signifying that I did indeed jump over enough hurdles and through enough hoops to finally be rewarded my totally useless degree in mathematics.

It's not totally useless. Just the other night, I was asked to rely on it to split the cost of a birthday meal between six of us. We each paid $1.50. (It was a cheap meal).

In any case, it's mine now and I can cross that off my list.