Rollin' n Rebates

This post represents the latest update on the happenings of the Illustrious Johnsen Family. Read below the horrifying account of two weeks of dangerous and thrilling escapades! Marvel at the daring escapes, the scary monsters, the narrowly avoided doom! Wait, wait, sorry...that's not our life, it's The End, by Lemony Snicket, available now at your local book retailer! (cheaper at Sam's than B&N, btw, lol, ttfn :P)

Monday, October 2
[A] Isaac was playing on the floor as I folded laundry (do I ever do anything besides laundry?) on the couch. As he practiced the skill of slowly scooting in a circle by rocking from back to side to back, I looked up just in time to see him roll all the way onto his tummy and pull his arm out in front of him. Naturally, the film in our camera hadn't been replaced since our family picture excursion last week so I couldn't document the results of his feat. Instead, I pulled out the camcorder, rolled Isaac back onto his back and proceeded with a conversation similar to this one. Can you roll over again for the camera? *Sneeze* Will you do it again? *Sneeze* Huh, buddy boy? *Sneeze* *Sneeze* I think Isaac is allergic to the thought of repeating a performance.

Tuesday, October 3
The problem with being accomplished in a given area is that one is never satisfied when things in said area turn out less than excellent. If our readers would excuse my boasting, I happen to consider myself rather proficient in the baking department, especially the subcategory of cookies. So, remembering that it was the first Tuesday of the month, I decided to make cookies for my moms' group meeting (and our responsive readers . . . don't worry Megan, I haven't forgotten you). Jordan came home right before I put them in the oven and in our haste to enjoy a long discourse of the day's events we forgot to set a timer. By the time we could smell the cookies, alas! it was too late. They were past the point of golden brown and far from being as tasty as they should have been. Unfortunately, my time was up and besides, I was experimenting with freezing the rest of the cookie dough. The problem was that people at my meeting kept complimenting the crispy cookies while I barely wanted to admit that I had brought them.

Wednesday, October 4
[J] After having lived here for over a year, today we finally had (just about) everything fixed that was broken when we moved in. Arthur, our maintenance guy, was very efficient and friendly. I can't remember if we ever mentioned the fact that we really like having an apartment manager who actually does his/her job, so I will mention at this time that we really like having an apartment manager who actually does his/her job. Now I would actually recommend that people live here. (Our last manager, now departed, never returned our calls and took three months to fix our broken window.)

Thursday, October 5
[A] After what could arguably be considered the worst night's sleep of Isaac's short mortal existence, he and I made a pact to stay in our pajamas and lounge about in bed all day. Upon entering into said agreement, Isaac promptly spit-up all over himself and created such an over-abundant volume of wetness that his meager diaper could not contain the whole of it. Needless to say, our pact was broken, but I wouldn't let go of the lounging in bed idea so easily. During Isaac's first nap, I worked on crocheting around his blanket from the comfort of my covers. Instead of recouping from lack of sleep, I only succeeded in making my arms tired from holding the blanket up where I could see it. Thus ended my endeavors of being mildly productive and yet a bit lazy at the same time.

Jordan spent the day at work, then joined Josh in a game of volleyball at a church in northern Clearfield. The highlight of the evening was spending time after the game at Pace's in a pleasant conversation with his twin, which is intended both as a well-deserved slight to the other players (not Josh's regular crew) and a compliment to Josh. At the close of this sufficiently long day, he proceeded home with a peace offering of popsicles for his waiting wife.

In other news, the freezing of the cookie dough experiment proved to be a successful one. I cooked up the rest of the batch from Tuesday (remembering this time to set a timer) and they turned out beautifully.

Friday, October 6
In a fit of extra energy, I decided that it was high time for the bumper pad that had taken up residence on the back of our couch to find a new home. So, I spent one of Isaac's naps making the ties (which were a royal pain) and another one stitching them on. With pad in hand, we all made our way to the nursery to admire the finished product. However, the lack of corner posts made the tying on of the bumper pad so precarious that when all corners are attached, the middle sags to create a convenient suffocation hazard. It is conceivable that the problem could be corrected, but considering that it took me 4+ months to get this far . . . I might as well put it away until I run rampant on a spree and buy the crib of my dreams (you know, the one with corner posts). [I think the solution is to drill holes in the head-and footboard, but my spouse is averse to the idea of mutilating our furniture. - Jordan]

Saturday, October 7
Isaac and I departed at the early hour of 9:30 and drove into Salt Lake to attend a Festival of Trees workshop at Primary Children's. It was a very surreal sort of experience to be bundling Isaac up and walking through those front doors. I gathered the information I needed for my tree submission this year and we proceeded home to listen to the BYU game (the score was already spread by about 40 points for BYU).

During his slowest ever work shift, Jordan finished all his possible work and began trying to invent things to do at 5:15 pm, leaving one and one-half hours later after giving the shortest report of his career to the graveyard nurse. Elated at the prospect of spending so much of his evening with his family, he rushed home and . . . reluctantly agreed to go grocery shopping with me instead of spending the occasion in more leisurely pursuits. But hey, he got a pound of tofu out of the deal. Really, what more could a man ask for?

Sunday, October 8
After several weeks of disrupted routine, Isaac decided that it would be better for his schedule to stay home for a while (in all honesty, I think he made this decision in an effort to have compassion on my poor nerves). My family graciously obliged Isaac's request and gathered to our humble abode for the celebration of Auntie Em's birthday. Fun times were had by all (or at least we think, since we received no complaints).

Monday, October 9
After three years of marriage, we decided that the time had finally come to buy a washing machine of our very own. After Jordan got home from school, we all piled into the van to go searching for that perfect model. Well, the perfect model was a top loader with an enormous stainless steel tub, no agitator, and slightly creepy digital controls and cost something like $999.97 which is merely pennies, so we bought it and took it home to the house of our dreams. Then, we woke up and decided on a lovely model of a much more reasonable price (read "within our means") which has "infinite water levels" and is cute to boot! [Alison greeted her first load of laundry with something akin to the joyful exclamations of a child on Christmas morning, and has done nothing but laundry ever since, although strangely without the complaining tone earlier expressed. :)-Jordan]

Today we also signed up for Qwest DSL, although we will try to find the modem elsewhere instead of renting/buying it from Qwest.

Tuesday, October 10
[J] Alison did her first load of laundry today in a washing machine she can call her own. In her own words, the experience was "exhilarating! All I ever hoped for...and more!" Not having a dryer yet, she used every available chair to drape wet laundry. Our conclusion: a dryer would be quite useful. Emily and Aaron have offered one they are keeping in their garage, which we will hopefully have next week.

Wednesday, October 11
Work was so stressful today that I won't talk about it. In other news, we called Radio Shack to inquire about DSL modem prices, only to discover that if we had signed up through them, we would have received much free stuff, as well as a free modem (by mail-in rebate). So, we hurriedly called Qwest and revoked our application (it hadn't been activated yet, and it's still Qwest so they don't care), then drove over to Radio Shack. For the same monthly price we will get a free modem, an mp3 player, and a $100 Radio Shack gift card. So, we're content. We should be activated next Monday.

Thursday, October 12
[A] My response to Jordan's request to take the camcorder to work (a co-worker has been anxiously waiting to see footage of our cute little boy) was that it was a sure-fire way to get Isaac rolling. In fact, my exact estimation was that Isaac would roll-over five times. After calling Jordan at work to let him know the count was up to three, our darling boy rounded out the afternoon by rolling two more times before taking a nap. Oh, my prophetic soul! Or perhaps it is just Murphy at work. By the time Isaac went to bed the tally was up to ten. Sadly, Jordan was delayed getting home from work and missed all of the day's excitement. [P.S. it was so busy my coworker didn't even see the video, thus completing the sad irony. - Jordan]

Friday, October 13
[J] I stayed home and studied for a test while Alison went to Isaac's 4-month appointment with the pediatrician (paediatrician, for our British readers). After a while of studying, we decided Isaac should have gone with her, so he drove our other car after her. Or not. Anyway, the appointment went well, although it took a long time due to overscheduling. Dr. Nye had nothing but praise for Isaac's development (and Alison's mothering skills). Our son remains in the 75th percentile for weight and the 95th for length. Several needle-pokes later, they were on their way home to pick me up so I could go to my meeting at work. Alison and Isaac read in the car while I learned about exciting new developments in the workplace. My wife and son went to Barnes & Noble to buy our copy of The End (Book the Thirteenth of A Series of Unfortunate Events). Isaac's immunizations caught up with him while Alison signed the receipt of sale, bursting into infantile song on the way out the door. I meanwhile, took two tests and did quite well on both.

Saturday, October 14
The only thing of note that happened today was the receipt of an adorable little boy's outfit from Auntie Emily, with the accompanying pleasant visit. Nobody cares about my work. Really. At least not today.

Sunday, October 15
Emily and Aaron graced us with their presence for dinner, where I cooked tofu for the first time (in a soy sauce and brown sugar glaze) and rice with sweet & sour sauce. It turned out pretty well for a first effort.

We hope you have enjoyed this installment in our record. Please stay tuned, as we will soon (we promise) be reporting on more recent events.