OH WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME WHEN YOUR ENTIRE BASEMENT FLOODS?

Many of you may remember this past Wednesday evening the viscious thunderstorms that came through central Ohio. Well of course true to form, Eldon was out of town and I was alone in my bed listening to Tornado sirens wondering if and when I should move the children to the basement. I had taken a Tylenol PM at 10 pm and the sirens woke me up at 11:30. (RUDE) I thought to go check on our laundry room. We have a door that goes to the outside in there and in the stairwell outside, is a piddly excuse for a drain that often clogs and sends water into the laundry room. Since it was raining so hard, and if you notice the state of my laundry room from the previous post, I should at least get the clothes off the floor so that the already clean ones wouldn't have to be washed again. I cleared the drain in my garments and then picked all the clothes off the floor. I looked out the window at all the lightening and marvelled at mother nature.



The next morning I thought, I should check the basement. It's always been a little sketchy during wet weather. I opened the door and saw Lake Gale. True to form a little toy floated by at the stairwell. Panic began to make my throat swell shut. That day I had a HUGE day at work trying to close deals out for the quarter ending June 30. The President of our company had already called that morning asking me how things were progressing on a certain deal. Jackson had a Dr. appt. at 10 am and Eldon was out of town. I called my mom in a panic asking how you got that much water out. We thought about calling someone to come do it, but I didn't want to pay $1000. I decided there was nothing I could do at that moment so I left and took Max to his swimming lesson, Jackson to the Dr. and then made a stop at Home Depot. Now this part of the story is my favorite.



Eldon and I are very different. He would have paid someone to come fix it, or would have thought it not a big deal and bought the smallest most affordable solution. Normally I would have paid someone as well, or I go buy the coolest gadget on the market to work on it myself. Jackson and I went into Home Depot and I bought the coolest Wet/Dry Vaccuum. I also bought one of those industrial strength fans. It cost a bit, but I thought well it's not $1000. I made plans for my mom and Lisa to come over after lunch to help. I also sent an email to Eldon that just said, FLOODED BASEMENT, CALL ME. Since his new promotion, he now has a secretary that can read his emails. Oh yeah, then the largest stress of the day, the State called me saying there was a problem with my quote on the deal that the President of my company had called earlier about and I was going to have to scrutinize a spreadsheet of 1000 lines before 2 pm. HOW!!!!



I dropped Jackson off, ran into work to try and solve my issue. I got a team of people working on it and then left. On my way home I stopped at Wendy's for lunch and ordered a large drink. I got going and it was a large Iced Tea. I add this only because I hope that many of you can relate to how annoying something that little can be. I can't drink Iced Tea!!! I don't want it, I want my drink! So I turned around and got it taken care of. Just more stress. I came home, and realized that we had to assemble the vaccuum. HMMM and I started moving stuff out of the basement while my phone kept ringing. Lisa came over while we were assembling the vaccuum and just laughed at how serious we were about it. Eldon called and said he got an early flight home and would be there. We started to work on the carpet in the basement. Eldon got home and we looked at the sump pump. It was totally fried. AHA an answer to our problems. I look outside and the sky is black. I thought to call Steve Sabin in our ward to ask him what to do. Well I dialed the number and handed the phone to Eldon so he could pretend it was his idea.



The tender mercies of the Lord were upon us as Brother Sabin answered the phone, said he was on his way to High Priest meeting but would stop by before and tell Eldon what parts to buy and then come after to help him put it in. The whole family jumped into the car because Eldon doesn't like to shop by himself for some reason, and we headed off to Lowe's. We bought one of the few sump pumps they had left and headed home. I put the kids to bed, realized I was exhausted and laid down while Eldon and Brother Sabin installed the new sump pump. They said that it ran straight for 10 minutes just pumping water out like crazy. Thank you Brother Sabin.



Our house now smells like a diseased bog, but we are getting it cleared up. I'm looking forward to spending time in our bog this weekend doing nothing! I feel like my test right now is fitting in everything that comes at me as well as what I already have on my plate. It's become a fun game (at least I pretend). You know after awhile, you can't smell the bog once you get used to it. It's probably not the best time to come visit us!

Tagged by Becca

This is a really fun tag. 10 photos you have to take with out cleaning up first. So here is an introduction to reality at the Gale house.

1. Dream Vacation - The Four Seasons Hotel in Bora Bora. I think the picture says it all.

2. Self Portrait - My toes after I had the ingrown toenail surgery. I guess the Half Marathon was a little too much for my toes. I apologize for the remaining iodine on some of the nails that is truly disgusting.

3. What my kid is doing right now - It's a little grainy but you can see that Max is watching TV in his underwear and Jack is pretending to watch too.

4. My Closet - It's a disaster. So no pride here you go.

5. Favorite Room - Eldon and I love this room. It's finally done. We just sit in it at night and feel the peace. It's the only room that is clean 90% of the time. I LOVE IT.

6. Favorite Shoes - These are my beloved slippers. I love them. I wear them in all seasons and they make my feet very happy. Eldon hates these slippers with a passion, but he has never offered to replace them, so they are still my favorite.

7. My laundry room - This is the messiest room in my house 90% of the time. I should have put it as my closet since we always get dressed in here. I have in my mind a system but it has yet to be fully implemented. The clothes are on a table, they aren't piled that high off the floor.

8. Second Bathroom - I love this bathroom. I picked the colors and the mirror. I love it.

9. My Kitchen Sink - I can't believe the dishes were done. Lucky for all of us, it looks like this.

10. My Fridge - I declined to show you the inside. We stack everything we don't know what to do with on top of the fridge, and have lots of family pictures on it.

I tag anyone who would like to participate.

Update on the weird rash

The weird rash is poison ivy. I must be the most naive mother on the planet. I thought we were totally void of it on our property until some Landscapers came to give us some bids to do some work and pointed it out. I was terrified of it and wouldn't let the kids go near it. Well the Landscapers pulled it all out and apparently dragged it along the grass! Well my little Darth Vader was fighting invisible villans in the same grass that evening. Of course it was all over his face the next day. I just thought he was the special sick kid who got weird things from time to time. I guess that is usually my role so why would it not have passed on to my child? Anyway, he has poison ivy, he is on an oral steroid that is working fantastically and I think we are on the mend. He told the baby sitter today that he did not need any Benedryl for itching because it would just interfere with his plans. He knows it makes him tired. I was proud of him for actually turning down medicine. He did not get that from me, definitely his father's side on that one. I still don't think I could identify it even if I'm looking at the attached picture. I was not a very good science student. I better beef up on it!

THE ANNUAL WEIRD RASH

So for the last two years, Max has come up with some unexplained contact rash. Last year, it was all over his chest and wouldn't go away without steroids. This time unfortunately it's all over his face. It's so sad because he is so handsome and so not handsome with swollen and red puffy dots all over his face. It's impossible to tell him not to scratch it, he's 4. So instead of waiting two weeks hoping Benedryl would cure it, I took him to the Dr. on day 2. Hopefully the steroids will work their magic and we will be back to normal by the end of the week. The Dr. and I cannot figure out what causes this on him. If anyone has any good ideas, let me know.

Gale Family Vacaton Part 2 - The Waterpark

The night after the Circus.

I grew up going to waterparks. I love the water. I do however have some pride, and hurdling myself down a slide and landing non-delicately in the water with everyone watching has lost its appeal over the years. But, I have to give my children the same opportunities I had growing up and Max has been in swimming lessons for the last year and a half and is no longer scared of the water. We went out to the Cherry Valley Lodge water park. We got a suite which consisted of a separate bedroom with a king bed and a couch bed in the main room. The room itself could be described as tired. I could see it's potential which reached it's height probably 10 years ago. But it was something that I wouldn't care if the kids ran around and played with things. The landscaping was amazing. I enjoyed that. We checked in at 11:00 am and changed into our suits. I then describe the next part as the "GLORY WALK" through the hotel in my swim suit cover up to the waterpark. Thank goodness I had a cover up! When we got our wristbands on and went in, it was a bit overwhelming. So much to do and where to start. We found a table to put our belongings on for the day and then hit the lazy river. Max loved it, Jackson was unsure. The water was plenty warm, just a bit swift for the little dude. I was stopped by the Lifeguards that I had to be in the tube not on it. That was a bit challenging as the hole in the tube was smaller than Max's mommy. But the good thing about water is it is slippery and somehow I got in there. I wanted to be the mom who had cool hair while she played at the park, but no such luck. I have short hair and when it gets wet, it is man hair. So I just stiffened my upper lip and walked with pride around the place. My kids loved it. In the little kid area, there was a zero entry pool that was about 1.5 feet deep. They had a dual slide that was about 10 feet long. I seriously believe that no child has gone down that slide more than Max did that day. It was HOURS of sliding down the kiddy slide. The funny thing was Jackson. He was very nervous. One of us took him to the top and the other stood at the bottom to catch him. The tricky part was whoever went to the top had to go down the slide after him. That was exciting for big mamma to go down the kiddy waterslide. Once he went down he was hooked. So Eldon and I took turns and it was fun. The nice thing was that they lowered the hot tub temperature so that the kids could get in it. It was one of those indoor/outdoor kind where you could go in and out. Jack liked that the best. After about 4 hours we were STARVING and EXHAUSTED. We ate a small lunch played a bit more and then went back to the room for a nap. All four of us were out for 2.5 hours. We got dressed, and then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. It was good, but looming over us was Max saying "Mom I want to go back to the waterpark." In order to avoid going back the next day, we put on our wet suits and tromped back to the water park. We did the lazy river again and the kiddy slides, the hot tub. I don't know if exhausted is enough of a word to describe how we felt that night. I kept waiting for the kids to crash. I hear they do that when they play like this. We got everyone's pj's on and turned on the TV. Wouldn't you know that High School Musical 2 was on. Max has been dying to watch it. He's 4. I don't get it, but we pulled out the couch bed and got them all settled and we all watched. Max waited to the last song before he shut his eyes. They both slept well, but Jackson was up at 6:30. The kid needs to be slapped! We were on vacation!!! We packed up and went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast. YUMMY!

My boys watching High School Musical 2.

Overall it was a great weekend. We spent quality time together. That was the goal. I am happy to say that I was considered a fun mom. That's what I have always been going for.

Our weekend away where we didn't have to travel!

Waiting outside the Circus.

I have been trying to figure out the best way to spend time as a family without having to travel all over the country. My first thought was to go camping. I was pretty jazzed about it, because you can't have more quality time than that. Then if any of you remember the weather the last few weeks, or should I say RAIN! As we were approaching the camping date, I was stressing out because Eldon was traveling and I had to get everything ready by myself and it was cold outside. The day before we were supposed to go, a co-worker asked me if I was high trying to camp with little kids in the terrible weather. I told her of course that I don't get high, just high on life and she offered a different suggestion. So our plans changed last minute. We had always planned on going to the Circus on Thursday night, stay downtown in a hotel and then head out the next morning to the next place. Instead of camping, we went to the Cherry Valley Lodge/ WATERPARK just outside of Columbus. Now this is true love. Eldon and I are not bathing suit people. I am a fish in the water, I just prefer to be alone. So this was a step outside the box for us, but we knew the kids would love it.

It was time for the circus and we drove down and met Eldon at the Nationwide arena. He wanted to eat dinner there, I had suggested going somewhere else, but I also wasn't very hungry so I didn't care. We got there and there were many vendors outside selling cool light up toys. There were these swords that Max saw from the street when driving up and he had to have one. It was $8 and I thought that was extreme, but Eldon and I said we were going to make this a magical night for the kids. HUGE WARNING TO ANY FUTURE CIRCUS GOERS. DO NOT GO HUNGRY AND DO NOT WAIT TO BUY TOYS INSIDE! We bought the sword and then went inside to get oriented. The very similar light up sword inside was $20!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS! A lemonade was $9!!!! Popcorn was $8 and Cotton Candy was $12! The only redeeming quality to the cotton candy is that it came with a clown hat. Oh and they were quick to point out that the $20 toys had a 2 year warranty on them if you called the 1-800 number on the back. Very comforting. Besides all of this though, we had great seats. We went and sat down and watched the pre-show. The kids were a little stressed out with all the people and not really understanding what they were getting into. Eldon found a $4 hotdog and some Nachos to tie him over and I managed a 32 ounce soda. As we sat down and everything got started I swear it was five times louder than the legal limit. Max had his hands over his ears the whole time. We put kleenex in his ears to help. Jackson of course pooped his pants right before the show. I didn't have a diaper and you couldn't go out and come back in. So what was mom's job the whole night? Watching and smelling Jackson all night. He also drank about 3/4 of my 32 ounce drink, so you can only imagine what his diaper was up against. After it had been going for awhile, he got tired and sat on my lap trying to sleep. My jeans started soaking up what his diaper wouldn't and it was quite the mother/son bonding experience. I just tried to ignore it and have fun. The circus is amazing. Max loved it. Jackson just loved being with us. When it was over, we ran out to the car in the pouring rain that we would have been sleeping in the next night and we were happy to be doing something different.

Eldon had arranged for us to stay at the Marriot Residence INN downtown. It was just newly remodeled and fantastic! The boys thought there was nothing more cool than a pull out couch. Since Jackson had napped the last hour of the circus, he was ready to play and had an infectious attraction to flushing the toilet. It gets annoying after awhile but he wasn't breaking anything. I had to finish up a work project and finally got to bed at midnight.

We went down for breakfast the next morning and then headed out to the Water park. I will write part two later as I am late and need to get going.

Max with the ever so valuable Cotton Candy Hat and light up sword.

American Idol Disappointment

Unfortunately, I get a little too wrapped up into the TV shows I am watching. From the beginning of American Idol season 7, I have been cheering for David Archuletta. When he forgot his words on the Beatles night, I voted for him 15 times to help him stay in. I have to say after the final night I thought he had it in the bag! He totally out sang and performed David Cook. Who knew that Cook was so popular? When they announced the winner, our DVR quit right after they said "The winner is David....." We had to quickly turn the DVR off so we could try and see who won. I was flabberghasted! I was disappointed with last years winner as well. So I have been asking myself of late, "Am I that out of touch with the pulse of popular culture in America?" All I have to say is if David Archuletta puts out an album, I WILL BUY IT!!!! I will not buy David Cooks. I'm sure I'll hear enough of him on the radio. So now we are onto "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!"

TO MAX AND JACKSON

Before I was a Mom: I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom: I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom: I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom: I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom: I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that somethingso small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom: I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache , the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Max and Jackson, this just says it so clearly. I can't even begin to tell you the joy you have brought to my life. Thank you for being my boys.

Mom

Rock Band

So my sister and he husband just bought I believe to be the funnest game on the planet!! ROCK BAND! I have much more talent at the guitar and pretty much stink at the drums and am ok at the vocals. I love that multiple people can play at a time and I love that I am learning a little bit about how difficult the instruments are. Secretly I am quite a fan of the hard rock songs with major power cords. It's very fun. It's fun to let Max pretend to play too so he thinks he is a part of it and he isn't ruining the game! LOVE IT!

Darth Vader and the Pet Store Poem

I have to say that I was a bit concerned that Max wasn't learning much academia at SYC this year. But today I was treated with his first poem and I'm quite impressed. I'm sure there was a high amount of teacher involvement, but I can feel Max's presence through the entire thing.

"Darth Vader went to the pet store

to buy a fuzzy pet.

He looked at all the animals

to decide what he should get.

He found a rhino headed crocodile

and Sally was her name.

He took her home to the Death Star

and fed her mangoes every day."

How cute is that?????

Sweet Caroline - DA DA DA

Many of you may know that I am an avid concert goer. Or at least I have been. I have seen everyone from Sarah Brightman to Rage Against the Machine. (Rage opened for U2). I love to see the live show. In the past I have had some regrets for not going to certain shows ie, Tina Turner touring with Lionel Richie. I didn't think anyone would go with me to this show since I was the only person in my apartment who knew who either were. Thankfully NuSkin had Lionel as their featured performer for one of their conventions and my brother and sister were able to hook me up. But, I am sure that Tina is done touring and I didn't get to see her. So with this in mind, I have just acquired Neil Diamond tickets for August 25. Under the same premise that he is pretty old and most likely won't be exciting to see when he is 80, I should get it in now. The only exception to this was the Rolling Stones, who were weird to see rocking it out, but still very good. When I was little, my dad had the Jazz Singer record that we all used to sing and dance to. I loved it. There is a particular guitar riff that is my favorite in the song Coming to America. We have great seats and it will be great.

Below are a list of my favorite concerts over the years:

1. U2 - Vertigo Tour (Eldon's first real concert with me and the most surprised I have ever been for a gift ever. I was also 5 months pregnant which is always an experience. I know that Jackson will be very hip since he was indoctrinated in the womb with such a cool band)

2. U2 - Beautiful Day Tour (NO DOUBT opened and my brother bought me the ticket when I was poor and it was right after 9/11. Very cool tribute to America )

3. Dave Matthews Band (Went with my friend Jen and we enjoyed those around us almost as much as the concert)

4. Phish - All I can say is why they had this indoors is beyond me! I'm pretty sure I had a second hand smoke issue there! Glad my brother was with me to shelter me from the underworld I had no clue about.

5. Lynard Skynard and ZZ Top - The names should say it all.

6. Reba Macentire and Joe Montgomery - My sister went to this together at the Germain Ampetheatre and had a BLAST! Reba puts on an amazing show.

7. Depeche Mode - My first concert in Boston Massachusetts while in High School. It was the farthest I had been away from home with friends and the latest I had been out, and the most money I had ever spent at once. I loved Depeche Mode.

8. The Crash Test Dummies - We got to see this in a very small club where I was right up front touching the stage. Very cool MMM MMM MMM.

9. Third Eye Blind - My first attempt at crowd surfing (once is enough)

10. Alanis Morriset - We got a glimpse of her at the medal ceremony at the Olympics in Salt Lake 2002. It was with all the girls and such a blast.

11. The Steve Miller Band - I saw this at the Idaho State Fair and was right next to the stage. Very fun.

12. Bon Jovi - Lisa scored me tickets to this with Goo Goo Dolls opening. I was 5 months pregnant with Max. I loved Living on a Prayer. It was AWESOME!

13. Sarah Brightman - She has a very strong interpretive dance and art side to her that is a little rough for me, but as the concert was ending I saw a few members of the Quorum of the 12 apostles getting up and leaving, so I new I was in a good place with good music.

Those who I still long to see or wish I would have seen before they died or broke up:

1. Billy Joel

2. John Denver

3. Led Zepplin

4. Beatles

5. Garth Brooks

6. ABBA

7. Pavorotti

8. Eric Clapton

9. Maroon 5

10. Barbara Streisand

There are some concerts I don't want to admit to going to or liking. So we can just leave it as I love music in all its varieties and am excited to see the Jazz Singer in person.

Max can swim

We have finally moved away from the level 1. After about $500 in swimming lessons and a year and a half later, we can now successfully dog paddle and hopefully avoid drowning. He is getting better everytime he has a lesson, but I just love the smile at the end of this. I have always loved the water. I really want my kids to love it and be confident swimmers. I remember at BYU going to a waterskiing activity with our ward. There were 28 year old weight lifter tough guys who were scared to death of drowning. I couldn't believe it. Max has really stuck it out and now loves it. I just need to start little dude Jackson when he turns three. I have put this video on our family website, but I just don't tire of it. Of course my favorite feature of the who thing is Max's goggles and scrunched up eyes. It's way cute in person.