After work tonight, the girls and I walked outside to be greeted by a stinky smell. It was like a rancid dumpster--but it was everywhere. Anyway, Mialee said, "Oh gross! It stinks out here!" Sierra followed by, "What is it?" and Nikell wrapped it all up for us with, "Change diaper." Seems logical to me.

It was a Sad, Sad Day...

I was released from Young Women's today. Jason and I were called into the bishop's office on Wednesday where I was "released." I immediately broke down sobbing. You have to understand that I have been in Young Women's for 4 years. And I loved it. I have been through 3 Young Women Presidents and this would have been my 4th year at girls camp. I loved my various callings and I loved the girls. No, I wasn't burnt out. No, I didn't ask to be released. In fact, the hardest part about the whole thing was that I wasn't given any warning and I was the only one being replaced. Which means it's hard for me to not feel like it's more about me being pushed out, than it is time for a change. That and I feel like I did something wrong. But, with no explanations beyond, "It's time." and knowing I was mostly just "biding my time" anyway...what can I do? I'll tell you what. Keep going to church. Put on a happy face and pretend like it doesn't hurt. Get over it. Move on. I will. Don't worry.

Vibram 5 Fingers

We took a trip to Eden this weekend to get Jason some Vibram 5 Finger shoes. He has been "training" for these shoes in hopes of running the TOU Half in them. It's like running barefoot, but with a bit of protection on the bottom. I laughed when I saw them and the whole brown effect reminds me of bear feet, but I must admit that these are some seriously comfortable shoes. I think after the baby I might be jumpin' on the band wagon. Anyway, the fastest way to Eden, from Logan, is through Avon (i.e. "unimproved" roads if your jiggy with the forest service slang). So we took the Jeep. Jason and I were thinking it would be fun to do some back-roadin'. The girls thought it was fun to be able to roll down their windows (we have a mini-van...not a new one...so no rolling windows in the back). In fact, it was somewhat similar to a ride at lagoon; complete with screaming and arms being raised to intensify the effect. All in all, it was a fun little outing, and don't worry, there were a few good hills and some great mud puddles too!

On HypnoBirthing

Have I told you about HypnoBirthing? I love it. It saved me... I knew that if I got an epidural with Nikell there would be dire consequences and so decided to go natural. And it was an amazing experience. Now, a couple of years later, another baby is on it's way and I have been brushing up on my hypnobirthing skills. With Nikell, I simply stayed home until she was on her way down and out and then we turboed it to the hospital. It worked well enough. There are a few things I don't tolerate well...nurses, hospital beds, that stupid painful fetal monitor that they strap onto your belly while you're in the middle of a contraction, nurses thinking that their stupid paper work is more important than your actual situation or well-being, being confined to a hospital bed, oh, and the fetal moniter! Ha ha. So, last time, I went in and had the baby 20 minutes later. But, even then, it was a 20 minute (albeit silent) fight with the nurses. They would try to hook me up, and I would simply swat them away. Jason would then say, "I don't think she wants that on." The nurses would nicely explain that they are trained robots and only know how to do what they have always done and then we would start the fight all over again. In my head I was thinking, "Just let me have the baby. I have been home and in labor for 8 hours and no one has been monitering the heartbeat of my baby the whole time and now I just need you to get her out! The heartbeat doesn't matter! What are you going to do? A c-section from the birth canal? She's already down there and headed out, just get her out PLEASE!" But, alas, they are what they are, mindless at times, and the fight continued. Thankfully, I won, becuase Nikell really was coming out and their monitering really didn't matter...

Anyway, I decided to have a little chat with my doctor this time around. I politely asked her to use the doppler (the one they use at your appointments) instead of strapping the moniter to my poor aching belly. Her reply? "I too am a mindless robot that relies on the paper feed to cover my back in any given situation." Hmmm. Let me put this another way. "I am giving you fair warning that I will not allow them to put the fetal monitor on me. If you want to moniter the heartbeat of my baby you will have to find another way to do it." She said, "I am still mindless robot, but maybe if you absolutely deny it then we could possibly try something else." Ha ha. Not that it matters, I don't plan on being there all that long.

Doctors drive me absolutely nuts.

Bear Lake Marathon (full for Jason, half for Nancy)

Aren't those cute kids? Who could resist taking pictures of kids being that cute? You gotta love those cheesers :).
The sad part of the day...BJ leaving. These people move a lot, but this is the first time they have decided to go far far away. We'll miss them and the fun they bring to McKellar get-togethers.
The exciting part of the day...Nancy and Jason both placing in their age divisions! You guys rock!
This is Nancy, in the back, in the pink. She looked so good in this race! She is such a trooper. Way to not give up Nancy. Oh and congrats on not peeing.
And this is my sexy marathoner. He is such an inspiration. It honestly makes me sick at how easily things come for him...but he is always stepping it up and trying something new and better...so he deserves all of his accomplishments. This race was run in flatter, non-supporting shoes, to help him prepare to run barefoot (or in vibrant 5-fingers). And it was his best time ever, at 3:27:06, placing 2nd in his age group.

You know, I rarely worry about Jason (there was that one time at Disneyland), but it seems like every time he runs a marathon there is 15 minutes or so of me fretting about what could have happened. This time, they started much later than planned and so he came in later than he planned. They didn't shut down the roads either, which was kind of nice because I could just drive around until I found him, but kind of scary because imagine two semi's going two directions with runners on both sides of the road (I'm pretty sure Jason broke the rules and ran on whichever side he wanted). Anyway, he was late and I was imagining all kinds of scenarios until I found him, safe and sound, running with a smile on his face!

You are awesome Jason. I cannot even express how grateful I am to be able to claim you as mine...it's like I get some of the glory from how amazing you are. Thanks for making my life fun and keeping us all moving forward with your never-ending goals and projects. Oh, and it would be nice if the kitchen were done before the baby came...

We have TILE!

Special thanks to Jason for 2 days of hard work, tile design, and color scheme master...

Today...

1. I spent an hour or so buying 100 boxes of mac n' cheese at Albertsons and I am giddy because I feel like I won the consumer battle.

2. I am considering the word "chillax." I hated it for the longest time, but I think it might be growing on me because I just found myself using it. Either that or I am becoming desensitized.

3. I just read a study about mircrowaves that says they do not actually kill all the good stuff in your food--in fact they may preserve more of the vitamins and such because they cook faster. I am relieved that all of the beans I have been feeding my children have not gone to waste.

4. I have yet to do my hair or put on clothes that are probably socially acceptable (yep, I still went to the store). And I probably won't even change before my doctor's appointment... Who really cares?

5. I picked up Sierra from school after a meltdown because she left her lunch in Daddy's Jeep and the secretary tried to coerce her into eating the yucky school lunch. How dare she?

6. I cleaned up Nikell's pee on the kitchen floor after she escaped from her towel-clad spot on her bedroom floor (supposedly waiting for a diaper). Then I even sweeped and mopped!

7. Yeah, I even did some dishes and some laundry.

I think I'll turn in and call it a day already.