The Many Adventures of Garffs at Thanksgiving

Last week was quite the week.

We picked up a new couch (which, due to the dimensions of our Explorer, entailed William and I running home in the jogging stroller).

I had to sell my car to convince Steven to get a new one, and boy am I glad. This replaces the broken Ikea couch we got when we were first married. It’s so soft and cushy (though we do seem to get attacked by the pillows from time to time).

We then loaded up the car to head up to St. George to meet the rest of the Garffs for Thanksgiving.

We had dinner at the lodge in Zion’s National Park.

Dinner went off without a hitch unless you count the fiasco of no highchair (which entailed a baby eating on my lap for most of the dinner until we could get a booster and an obvious need for both of us to change our clothes).

and a slight fall on the wagon while we were taking pictures of these two cute cousins.

We enjoyed the stuffed animals in the museum.

But Daniel was a little scared

And so was Grandma Karen.

William was so excited at first, because he thought the polar bear was Kiki,

But slightly disappointed when it turned out that the arctic foxes weren’t Kiki either.

The boys took a real liking to old Cousin Joe.The rest of the weekend was lots of fun.

We swam, read, slept, watched movies (including the new Harry Potter, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa), and had lots of fun with our family.

Bill and Billy enjoyed hanging out together.

And the little boys couldn’t get enough of the dogs.And the dogs couldn’t get enough of them. But the way home was less fun than the rest of the trip. My dad and brothers had come through St. George on their way to Kanab point to go hiking and towed down my grandpa’s 1968 Plymouth Satellite (which had been passed around the children in my family and was my car in high school) to bring back to my uncle here in SoCal. Being the nice people we are, we offered to tow the car the rest of the way, since we would pass by my uncle’s home on the way back.

That’s when things got interesting. After dropping off the Explorer at the dealer to get trailer lights installed, this “favor” for my uncle was getting less and less enticing.

We had trouble getting the lights to all work, and things seemed foreboding already.

Even though we drove below the speed limit through the Virgin River Gorge, the weight of the Satellite, steep/winding roads, and slight wind were too much. The Satellite turned us around 180*, we all hit the median, and the the Explorer crashed into the Satellite as it flipped over.

It was a terrifying experience. As we swerved through the canyon, William was screaming, luggage went flying, and I was worried if we would make it home alive.

Luckily, we were all buckled up and I think the Satellite and the median took the brunt of the hit, which probably saved our lives.

We are very thankful for all the emergency crew that was working on Sunday and the kindness of strangers who kept us company, gave us blankets, and held the baby as we tried to sort out the wreckage. My dad even offered to drive down from SLC to drive us home, but we decided it would be better to take the cars to a tow yard in St. George and rent a car to get home.

We all made it out with minor injuries. William’s side-impact protecting car seat prevented him from anything other than a very minor bloody nose and a lack of sleep, and Steven and I just got some slight whiplash and some scrapes and bruising. We are very thankful the accident happened when and where it did, because it made everything work out better than we could have expected. We are very grateful for family and friends who care about us and are concerned for our safety.

And VERY thankful for collision insurance.

Next order of business: buying another car. Anyone have any recommendations for a small, slightly used SUV?

Big Promotion

I gave my two weeks' notice on Friday because I interviewed and accepted the following position 4 months ago:

Position

Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Momma, Ma

Job Description

Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.

Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

Responsibilities

The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.

Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

Possibility for Advancement and Promotion

Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

Previous Experience

Unfortunately, none required. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

Wages and Compensation

Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thingabout this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

Benefits

While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Also because I was tired of getting these:

I will miss my friends at Progressive, but my new promotion offers much bigger rewards (albeit much greater challenges). It's too hard to do both jobs well.

Plus, the compensation is much bigger at my newest position as "Mom":

After cleaning out my desk, Liam and I went to the beach with our "LA Mommy Club", consisting of Bri, Julie, and Karyna (and their babies).

Liam wasn't too sure about the cold ocean waves, but he did seem to like the wet sand.

Our day in LA left him pooped. When I got home, He looked like this:

We had a great weekend listening to conference and spending an afternoon with Dave and Mary Lou and family (even though Liam slept through nearly every session of conference)

It's hard to believe my little baby is already 4 months old! I know everyone says this, but he is really growing so fast for such a little guy. He is now a shade over 13 lbs. and 24.5 inches long.

Pretty soon he won't even fit in these cute pjs that he was once drowning in.

We'll miss these puppy feet jammies.

Office Baby Shower

Last night, my office threw me a baby shower! A little awkward being the center of attention, but so much fun!!! Thanks so much to all of you for all your hard work, effort, and creativity! I am so lucky to have coworkers like you! 

The best part of baby showers is always the games.  My favorite was "Measure the Belly" where everyone had to guess how big my belly was and rip off streamers.  We measured to see who was closest.  

Ashlee was not (her estimate wrapped around me twice).

Neither was Maria (1.5X)

Esther won, by virtue of having the smallest measurements (Steve was a very close second, measurements obtained by using his own belly). 

Another fun game we did was to chug KoolAid out of baby bottles.  Janel won by biting the nipple and gulping it all down.

Our office tradition for birthdays and other celebrations is to have the guest of honor cut their own cake.  Here I am with the delicious Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake that Ruby made:

I have great coworkers.  They all pitched in (even the boys, who opted out of actually coming to the shower, probably for fear of becoming too girly) to get me some blankets and a jogging stroller!  I love that they know me so well and chose the perfect gift!!! I'll think of them every time Liam and I run together. Thanks everyone!!!

Cleveland Indians Opening Day Weekend

As much as I would have loved to stay home this weekend and handle injury claims at the office, I took the opportunity to go out of town to "work" in preparation for the Cleveland Indian's Opening Day festivities at Progressive Field.

I got to be part of the flag ceremony during the American and Canadian National Anthems (Cleveland played Toronto).  The flag was in the shape of the USA and I was somewhere around Daytona Beach, FL.

We even got to go out to the field during the warm-up (talk about good seats!)

The weekend was full of food and fun.  We had parties every day (that counted as "work") and I even got paid to go to a baseball game.  Unfortunately, about halfway through the game, it started raining really hard and the game was delayed for about 4 hours (during which we all went back to the hotel). Once the game finally started again, it was too late and cold for most people to return (and since I was already warm in my hotel room, I was one of them).

One of the other highlights of the trip was getting to catch up with Betsey Hawkins, who is currently living in Cleveland with her husband who is working as an attorney there, and their daughter, Nora. We went out to breakfast before the game and it was a lot of fun.

I even got to meet Flo!

My flight didn't leave Saturday until later in the afternoon, so I took a walk around Cleveland, out to Lake Erie.  I'd already been to the Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame, and the Great Lakes Science Center, but it taking a walk in the crisp air was a good way to end the trip (and it made for a good photo opp).

Progressive Brand Ambassador

Today I was chosen to be one of Progressive's Brand Ambassadors. I had to write a 500 word essay on how I help the Progressive brand. Out of over 20,000 employees, about 200 were chosen to go to the Cleveland Indian's opening game at Progressive Field.

                                                                                                                                     
I get to be involved with all the festivities there---a flag ceremony, the player's gauntlet, great seats, and much more. Plus I get travel and lodging expenses paid for by the company. It's a free vacation (and I might even get to meet Flo).

                                                                

Marathon and Network Champion

This Saturday is a very special day in my running career. The St. George Marathon marks my 10th marathon. I started running marathons at the same time I started dating Steve. A few days before we met, it was my 20th birthday. To celebrate, I ran 20 miles. It was a crazy thing to do, but I had done the same thing on my 17th birthday, and thought it would be a good way to get back into running (I broke my foot about six months earlier). I hadn't run more than 3 miles for almost a year, but for some odd reason, I thought that I could still manage. It was a painful learning experience.

Even so, it gave me hope. I rode the bus to the U of U with the same bus driver for the 2 years prior and we became good friends. After I told him I was a runner, he convinced me to run my first marathon so I created a running plan and picked a marathon that was 36 weeks away. I figured having a marathon goal would not only make me fit, but also give me other unique qualities that would maybe appeal to my new flame (it didn't). And so a marathon runner was born. Since then, I have done 3 every year. I compiled a list of all my marathons to see if there is any pattern.

1. Top of Utah-September 2005-3:48
2. Salt Lake City-June 2006-3:52
3. Deseret News-July 2006-3:52
4. St. George-October 2006-3:38
5. Los Angeles-March 2007-4:22 (I had the flu that week)
6. Boston-April 2007-3:54
7. St. Geoge-October 2007-3:28
8. Leona Divide-April 2008-50 mile ultra-10:38
9. Palos Verdes-May 2008 DNF, stopped at mile 18
10. St. George-October 2008---3:10?

The main thing I've notices is that I run poor times when the marathons are close together, but have done very well at every St. George marathon. I have gotten noticeably faster with the Ultramarathon and increased training and hope to get into the low 3 hours this year (I made it 14 miles at 3:10 pace last year before an injury flared up). Hoping for a PR!!!

As a side note, this week, I had a project at work to create a presentation about one of Progressive's Network Shops. My friend Maureen headed up the project because she has gotten a recent addition to her title as team leader: NETWORK CHAMPION. It is her job to help the employees and customers understand our network program. My project won.