An eventful week

In an effort to keep friends and family informed without needing to inform everyone individually, Jordan and I have decided to join the weblog world. So, if you have been informed of the existence of our blog and still find yourself uninformed about the happenings of our family, I acquit my husband and myself of all responsibility and rest it squarely on your own able shoulders. :-)
Our plan is to write a weekly update(which some of you may not find the least bit interesting), but with a new baby on the way and no internet access from our own abode, it may happen less frequently. We'll just see how it goes. In order to add your own comments to our blog entries you will need to create a username and password (which will enable you to create a blog of your own, if you so desire). If this idea seems like too much for you right now, we welcome comments via email as well.
This said, I leave you to the reading of our first ever blog update. Enjoy.

Monday, May 29
Memorial Day marked the first day of Jordan's approximately two-week break from employment. We celebrated the occasion by sleeping in to an unearthly hour and eating waffles for our very late breakfast. Jordan, with his new found free time, decided that it was high time he and Ryan got together to watch that "guy movie that [their] wives are sure not to appreciate" they've been anticipating for some time now. Upon calling Ryan after breakfast, Jordan was reminded that not everyone is as unscheduled as he currently is. After consulting the Lewis' calendar they decided that Monday evening was the only time this week that the "guy" movie was a possibility. It was, therefore, decided that we would be driving down to Murray that evening for Jordan and Ryan to engage in a form of male bonding that is still a mystery to me.
Also after finishing breakfast, we were notified that my family would be having a barbeque dinner and were invited to join them in Farmington. Even with our scheduled trip to Murray, we were without dinner plans and able to attend the barbeque and enjoy the company of all my in-state family members. My parents' backyard is considerably more comfortable to picnic in than I remember it being as a child. This is undoubtedly due to the incredible increase in shade that has developed in the years since I moved out. That Sycamore tree took forever to grow, but is now quite impressive and provides a comfortable amount of shade.
As Jordan and I got ready to leave the Lowe parents' house, we were greeted with a reminder of automotive frailty from our dear car. We were in the car with the motor running when we found that our sweet automobile would not shift out of park. We tried restarting our car. We tried adding more gas (since we were well aware that we were nearly empty). My brother-in-law, Aaron, tried taking the gear shift apart to see if it were gummed up with something. Nothing worked. Our car remained in park. As Jordan's dad came to pick us up so that we might borrow their car, I contemplated how it was possible for our car to pick such inconvenient moments to stop working; this moment being more noticeably inconvenient in light of the fact that our car had been in the shop the week before in order to make it compliant with state safety standards. I'm certain there was some lesson to be learned from the situation, but I am still at a loss for what that lesson might be.
With my spirits considerably dampened, I was ready to just call it a night and go home. Jordan, however, rebutted that visiting friends would improve my mood much better than would our own apartment. Reluctant to admit that he was undoubtedly right, I just let him drive in the general direction of Murray. After stopping in Bountiful for a brief Memorial Day visit to the cemetery (where Caleb's grave was beautifully decorated by many loved ones), I was feeling more in the mood to socialize and so we continued to the Lewis' household. While Jordan and Ryan enjoyed a sci-fi "guy" movie, I spent the remainder of the evening enjoying conversation and Canasta with Lanae.

Tuesday, May 30
First thing in the morning, we called our mechanic to see about getting our car in to be worked on. In the confusion of the day before, Jordan and I had neglected to think about leaving a key with our car and, therefore, had to venture out early to correct that situation. We didn't stick around to wait for the tow truck, but are told that there is an impressive set of skid marks from our car being dragged away. Due to a miscommunication in our early morning conversation, our car didn't end up getting towed until well into the day. Consequently, it didn't get looked at until well into the afternoon. By the time the problem was located, it was too late for our mechanic to get the needed replacement part and so, our day was basically wasted in waiting around for nothing to happen. We spent our waiting hours at the Johnsen parents' house where Jordan
studied for a Pathophysiology exam while I, sadly, wasted most of my time on the computer.

Wednesday, May 31
When I awoke to begin my day, Jordan was already gone for class. I went about my usual morning routine only to discover that our apartment was without water. Despite the assurance that it should be back on within the hour, we were waterless well into the afternoon. After using our filtered, refrigerated drinking water to wash my hands, I set out to make the most of the morning by making cookies. Only after I rolled the first batch onto a cookie sheet did I think about the fact that I typically wash my hands while each batch cooks so as not to get everything in the kitchen gooey. By this time Jordan was home from school, so I put him in charge of opening oven doors and moving each batch along, while my gooey hands stuck to rolling cookie dough. The project turned out to be quite successful and we had enough drinking water left for one more hand washing. (Problem now being that if either Jordan or I needed to use the bathroom we would be quite out of luck.) Being 8 1/2 months pregnant, this was not a friendly thought.
And so we left our apartment in search of water. Considering the fact that we had their car and would hopefully sometime that evening be getting our car back, our search led us to the Johnsen parents' household. We were greeted not only by running water, but also a nearly finished dinner and invitation to stay and share in the eating of said dinner. We also got word that our car was not to be rejoining us until the next day as it had taken all day to locate a used replacement part. Considering the fact that the used part cost half as much as a new part and came with the exact same 30 day warranty, we were willing to wait one more night.
As the Johnsen family dispersed to various other obligations, I convinced Jordan that it wouldn't be too torturous to accompany me to Mervyn's in search of a "door-buster" deal on a cute going-home outfit for our impending arrival. As usual, the pickings for cute infant boy clothes that do not contain some sort of sports propaganda were slim, but we did manage to find a onesie to our liking. It depicts a shrimp with an eye patch and a puffer fish wearing a bandana and reads "tiny pirates of the sea." Quite in line with Jordan's humor and really just cute. Upon paying for our half-price "door-buster" deal, Jordan mentioned that he was in a rare mood that would permit him to roam the mall browsing and not get bored. As the fates would have it, I myself was of a similar mind, and so we roamed. It was quite a relaxing evening and sadly enough the closest Jordan and I have come to a date night in some time. We stopped at Famous Footwear, where Jordan tried on a dashing pair of sandals and I attempted to try on a pair of my own. When the pair in my usual size would barely fit over my toes, I decided that my shoe "shopping" would be better left for a post-pregnancy excursion. We made our way down to JC Penney where I had seen an adorable stuffed lion that I wanted to share with Jordan. As it turns out, JC Penney was having their own mega deal that day and our cuddly lion was also half-price and therefore, in our price range to be junior's first toy. We continued browsing stores until we found ourselves on the basement level of Meier & Frank. What would you know, but they have incredible clearance prices on all their inventory that the new Macy's management does not plan to carry. Having waited two years for such a deal, Jordan and I were finally able to buy a second set of sheets for our bed. We're living in luxury now!

Thursday, June 1
Spending the morning in menial household tasks, our excitement of the day began with my OB appointment early in the afternoon. This appointment served as a reminder of why I typically try to be seen in the morning, as the wait to be seen was at least a half-hour. While we waited, I, along with every other women in the lobby, was informed by an extremely unbashful child that I had a "big, fat tummy." Jordan and I smiled at the innocence of youth while the child's mortified mother tried to keep her daughter from causing further embarrassment. When I was finally seen, I was informed that my "progress" was not nearly as far along as the nurse the week before had estimated. Alas, no baby today.
From there we traveled to Centerville, where we were reunited with our car and managed to escape missing only an arm and a toe. As I was driving back to Kaysville, a Highway Patrolman pulled onto the road behind me and immediately reminded me that our registration renewal was in my back pocket and not the back window where it belonged. I drove along scripting exactly what I would tell the officer when he pulled me over and how he would have to take pity on me for my mistake since I had just got our car back and didn't have any tape. Right before I reached the Kaysville exit, the flashing lights went on. I pulled to the shoulder and was overjoyed to see the Officer switch lanes and pull someone else over. Be assured that our registration was in the window as soon as I exited the car at the Johnsen's.
Leaving the borrowed Saturn behind, Jordan and I took a short trip (to DI, to get rid of a large portion of the contents of our back seat that has been riding around with us for a month now) and then continued home. Having earlier decided that imminent labor was not a threat, we called Josh and Brooke to see if their offer to car pool to that evening's movie date would still appeal to them. They had a dinner engagement with Grandma Johnsen, but otherwise were all for carpooling. Considering the driving logistics, Jordan and I, having originally set our dinner date with Grandma for the following evening, arranged to join the Thursday night party instead. The four of us, Josh and Brooke, and Jordan and I, had a lovely little visit with Grandma Johnsen at her house before heading out for dinner and then proceeding to the Gateway for the X-men movie tradition with Megan and Pret. We arrived at the Gateway long before the appointed meeting time and so, Jordan and I found ourselves browsing the mall for the second night in a row. We spent most of our time in Dick's Sporting Goods, where Josh and Jordan learned how inexpensive the climbing wall is. Having always wanted to try it out, but assuming it to be rather pricey, Jordan was eager to climb. He made a gallant effort to scale the wall and managed to get half-way up before his near paralyzing fear of heights seized him. Even without making it to the top, he had a good time.
Slowly, we made our way to the theater for the 9:30 showing of X-Men: The Last Stand. Jordan, Josh, and Megan went to the first X-Men movie together before the twins left on their missions. Later, in the post-mission, pre-marriage era, we had a triple date to see X2. So, this movie marked the third installment of the X-Men movie watching experience. Over all, the movie was pretty good. Despite the low ratings from the movie critics, I found myself sufficiently entertained and even slightly emotionally moved. By the end of the movie, however, I was definitely ready for the day to be over. Jordan and I eagerly welcomed sleep that night.

Friday, June 2
I started this day by leaving Jordan sleeping soundly, and taking cookies to one of my Visiting Teaching sisters with an apology for having the lack of brain power to realize that May had turned to June. After a lovely and lengthy visit with Aubrey, I returned home to find my dear husband scrubbing the kitchen floor. As I greeted him in his energetic pursuit, I began to realize how exhausted the previous days had left me. Consequently, as Jordan left that day to visit Grandma Johnsen, I respectfully declined the option to join him and instead rested at the empty home of the Johnsens' with my feet up and occasionally interrupted myself to move some laundry along. Jordan spent a bit of time visiting with Grandma before driving her to Smith's Marketplace to buy flowers and potting soil. On the way home from their excursion, they stopped to buy some dinner after which Jordan spent the remainder of his visit playing the marimba. Despite his lack of marimba access over the past year, he was pleased to see that his skill had not completely faded, but rather it all came back quite naturally. While Jordan was still out, the Johnsen parents, having just finished watching Sidney's 5K race, called to invite us to join them for dinner. I readily accepted the invitation and Jordan, having already eaten, stayed at Grandma's for a little bit longer and then joined us for dessert.

Saturday, June 3
After many months of not finding a flannel I wanted to use for our baby's official mom-made-this-for-me blanket, I managed to decide on a lovely flannel at Ben Franklin's. The only drawback to my finding this flannel is that Ben Franklin fabric seems to be ten times the price of fabric anywhere else. However, earlier this week we found a 40 percent off coupon in the Hometown Values mailer, which helped to take the sting out of the exorbitant price. So, armed with cash designated as baby money, Jordan and I ventured into Ben Franklin to retrieve the special flannel. I even managed not to get distracted by all the other fabric and craft supplies so that our trip was quite quick.
Upon exiting the craft store, we hit the road for a trip to Logan to visit our friends, Nathan and Ashley Crookston, and their brand new son Andrew Nathan Crookston. Not remembering when exactly their baby was expected, Jordan called that morning to find out that he in fact had been born just two days earlier. Our Saturday schedule being wide open as it was, the invitation to meet the newest Crookston was eagerly accepted. With our own automatic car back in our possession, I was able to drive while Jordan continued our literary adventures by reading Eragon aloud. The drive to Logan is much shorter than I had remembered (possibly because we didn't miss the exit and end up taking the long way around), and was passed quite enjoyably. When we arrived at the Crookston home, we were greeted by Ashley's mother and the Kaysville Crookstons in addition to the new father and son. (Ashley was taking a nap, but was too soon awakened to feed a hungry Drew.) Drew is an adorable, skinny, little baby, though nothing in comparison to Caleb and undoubtedly inferior in cuteness to our yet-to-be-named. After a nice visit, when Jordan and I were on our way out, we were informed of one Firehouse Pizzeria and invited to join Nate and Ashley for dinner. I was completely shocked as Nate and Ashley left their house (naturally, armed with the cell phone) and trusted their sleeping two day old to the able hands of Ashley's mother and journeyed with us across town for pizza and dessert before we started our trip down the canyon. (Dinner, incidentally, was delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Logan at meal-time.)