An Unexpected Sunday

It's taken days since being back in Phoenix but I'm feeling better again. I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't fall back asleep so I had some breakfast and continued watching Boy Meets World. At 5:30 I went back to sleep, thinking I would only sleep a couple more hours.

I had planned on going to a nearby church for their 9am service. I woke up at 9am. Since I still needed a shower, I decided to wait until the 11am service. Yesterday I had gone to a nearby salon to get my nails done. I got acrylic nails. The service was supposed to be 90 minutes but she took 2 hours and barely spoke to me. Afterwards I decided that my nails were too long so I called to get them filed down but no nail technicians were in today. I found another place a drive away and they did a great job!

Since church was no longer an option, I went to the movies! I saw the new X Men movie. I enjoyed it except for the baby a row or two behind me. It really bugs me when parents bring babies and toddlers to the movies. They are too young to sit through a movie and they disturb those around them. 

After I stepped out and looked around I discovered that the theater is connected to a mall. This mall is different from any other I've seen because it was connected to Walmart, Target, Ross, Costco, and other unusual mall stores. There was even a coffin store! 

I passed a chair massage store and decided to get a quick massage. My neck and shoulders were sore so it felt nice to get the knots kneaded out. I did a little shopping then went home and jumped into the pool. It was warm and relaxing!

I made Shake and Bake Chicken and pasta for dinner and watched more episodes of Boy Meets World. A good night!

Days Three & Four of Omaha Trip

I was so exhausted that after eating breakfast, I went back to sleep. I didn't go to Katie's house until 1pm. We all decided to go to the Half Price Bookstore. Dad pushed Brayden in his stroller around the store. Audrey was the one who wanted to be there most. She could spend hours looking at books.

We hung around at the house. I was in the living room with everyone while watching TV and one by one they all went outside so when Brad came home from work I was all alone. I was comfy!

I made it until 7pm and then I was too hungry and tired to stay. I picked up yummy food from Red Lobster and returned to my hotel. Why am I always sick when I'm visiting my family?

Day Four: Katie and Brad went to the hospital and she got induced at 7am. I waited at Katie's house while playing with Brayden. I had only hours before my plane left. Mom suggested I go to the hospital and be with Katie and Brad while I still can. I hugged everyone and left.

I've never been in a delivery room before. Katie was hooked up to heart monitors and already had her Epidural so she wasn't in pain. The nurse came in and estimated that Katie was 7-8 cm dialated. The heart monitor alarm went off and more nurses came in. Suddenly it was go time. I held Katie's hand and placed a wet cloth on her forehead. I called Audrey and told them to get over now. It was 2pm and suddenly it was possible that Colten would come in time for me to see him.

Katie said I could stay in the room. I've seen A Baby Story many times and didn't get grossed out so I wanted to see if I could handle it live. Mom showed up and we watched as Katie pushed Colten out! I witnessed the miracle of life and it was awesome! He arrived at 2:41pm 7lbs and fair haired. And what was his first action as he came into this world? He peed on the doctor! I laughed and cried.

The doctor showed us the placenta and even turned it inside out. It was so weird! I grabbed Katie's camera and took pics of Colten on his scale. Then we all cleared out and gave Katie and Brad their privacy. Dad, Audrey and Brayden were in the waiting room. I showed them my phone pics of Colten.

I returned to the delivery room to say goodbye and collect my things. I touched Colten's arm and kissed Katie's forehead. It was time to return to Phoenix.

The trip home was miserable. My ears refused to pop and the woman next to me had a baby who wouldn't go to sleep. She kept touching my computer and I had to watch Princess Bride again because my other dvd wouldn't play. Jeff picked me up. When we got back I went into the house to give a quick hello before passing out in my casita. Hana was playing with her Grandma. She saw me, ran up to me saying "Erie!" and gave me a big hug. I feel better!

Day Two: Tyler's Party

My sore throat was escalating to fatigue and coughing. I slipped out of the party to take a short nap in the back seat of my rental car. My brother, Dan knocked on my window to let me know it was time to go to Tyler's party. Tyler lives in Papillion which is about a twenty minute drive away. When we got there, in the front yard was a bounce house!

Tyler and Gillian were running around with their friends. Dan and I went inside and said hi to his family and set down our gifts. Then we went back outside to watch the kids have fun. Parents kept showing up with their kids. We kind of took on the role of co-hosts by greeting them and taking the gifts inside.

Dad, Mom and Audrey were at church but I heard Dad say he might come to the party. He showed up later with Katie and Brad while I was passing out the birthday cake. Tyler had a Minecraft cake this year. I've never played the game but I thought Scott did a great job designing it.

It was also great to see Ruth. Her cancer has returned. She had a couple of nurses looking after her. Her mother in law made an over the shoulder cover for her colostomy bag. I thought it was really creative and thoughtful. Ruth was in good spirits and I enjoyed catching up with her.

Day Two: Brayden's Party

The hotel I stayed in had terrible reviews but it was cheap and really close to Katie's house. I was glad I had brought my ear plugs when I could hear my neighbors at 1am. Otherwise it was a good night's rest.

I went to Katie's house and helped set up decorations in the backyard for Brayden's party. Katie had pics of Brayden for his first 11 months attached to card stock and wooden airplanes and other transportation. Katie is creative like me! We hung up a line of string and arranged the pics from birth to 11 months. It looked great.

Brad's mother, Teresa, picked up the birthday cake and other food from the store. I volunteered to help bring things inside. I was glad I wasn't the one carrying the cake upstairs because I tripped on the stairs. It was loud enough that more than one person asked if I was okay (and I was okay). 

Brad's Italian and loves to cook so we had great food! He made meatballs, Italian sausage hot dogs, and guacamole. Brad set up Brayden's tent in the living room. It was in the shape of an airplane. I never saw him go in it but Shelby the cat claimed it right away and hissed at anyone who came near. 

Brayden enjoyed his new Mickey Mouse chair and then it was cake time. I predicted that he would cry and I was right. After he tried the smash cake, Katie and Brad tried it too and then a toddler named Pressley got to enjoy it. The larger cake was delicious! We were hoping that Katie's water would break during the birthday song but no luck.

Day One of Omaha Trip

Jeff gave me a ride to the airport. Angie and Hana waved bye to me as we drove down the driveway and I wondered if Hana though I would be right back. I had a sore throat but was otherwise fine. My flight was non stop and I sat next to a couple with a six month old. He was cute and well behaved on the flight. I watched the Princess Bride on my laptop.

Since I was getting a rental car, I knew not to expect anyone but I kept an eye out anyway. There's something about being in your home town airport that fills you with a sense of pride. Don't ask me why. I got my suitcase and rental car and headed to Katie's house. Brad texted me while en route so I knew they were all expecting me. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, arrived at Katie's house, walked in the door, and the house was empty!

Okay, technically I was greeted by the cat, Shelby. I called out but no one answered. Then I looked in the backyard and found my dad and Brad. I gave them hugs and found out my mom and sisters went shopping for Brayden's party.

About an hour later they got back and we all congregated in the living room talking about the birthday party and what not. I don't know how we got on the subject of food but Mom looked at me and said, "Is there anything you won't eat?" Ouch! Slammed by my mom in less than twenty minutes. After a minute she tried to clarify that she meant I am not a picky eater, that I am always trying new foods. I just thought back to my childhood crying over the veggies on my plate and the time Mom made chipped beef but served it with rice instead of toast and I refused to eat it. Maybe she was thinking of sushi but I didn't exactly believe her.

Then came the criticism. Your nails are too short. Your hair's too short. Your feet are dirty (my feet are rough from wearing flip flops in Phoenix). $10,000 isn't enough money for a down payment on a house. What about money for furniture? Even if you find a house with a rental suite, you may still need to rent out your other bedrooms to support yourself. Nag, nag, nag. Can I go to my hotel now?

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I've been negative about Phoenix and I'm scared about the triple digit heat we are about to endure but I'm freaking out wondering if I should stay.

If I go back to Utah now, it is unlikely that I will find a job that pays what I make now and then I will have to pay rent and get a car. If I want to get a house, I will barely have any money each month to set aside for a down payment. However, my friends are in Utah. I would be happy there.

If I go to another state as a live-in nanny, I run the risk of not being a good fit for the family and having to leave.

Angie needs me to stay. Hana gets sick every time she visits a daycare.

If I stay here, I am making really good money for a family I get along with really well and I don't have any payments to worry about beyond my student loans and phone. I can afford to make good loan payments and set aside good money for a down payment on a loan.

Here's the tricky part: I don't have any friends here beyond my employers. I don't have my own car to travel whenever I want. I could buy a car but I don't have a great place for parking it. We are at the end of a dead end street where parking is a red zone. I can borrow their cars when they aren't using them. Sometimes Angie rides her bike to work so I can drive Hana around during the day.

It makes financial sense to stay. It makes emotional sense to go to Utah.

What is Art?

On Saturday I went with Hana and her parents to the Phoenix Art Museum. It was a short walk from the neighborhood but Hana wanted to talk instead of riding in the stroller so it took longer. It's funny when I end up pushing an empty stroller so I like to make up a baby name and have an invisible baby in it. I'm still waiting for my chance to creep someone out when they walk by and I say, "There there, Isabella, don't cry" and all they see is an empty stroller!

I had gotten two free tickets for the museum from the library but because we wanted to see the Hollywood section, we had to buy full price tickets. $20 each! So Expensive! But Jeff paid so I got in for free.

The first section we saw had life-like statues of people. I took one of a man from the shoulders up shown here. I wanted to take one of the full likelife man but there were snooty security people everywhere, reminding us to look at the signs for which pieces we can photograph. I wanted Angie to take of pic of me next to him, pretending to ask for directions!

I guess I don't really get what makes art art even though I've taken an art history class. I'm seeing a room taped off but we can look in and see construction tools lying on the floor and that is art. There's a sleeping bag and a trash bag in the middle of the room where we can trip over them and that's art. One cool thing I saw was in a movie room where they showed a short film of a twenty dollar bill. As you watch it, you see tiny movements taking place like someone walking across the yard or someone painting the white house. 

The Hollywood Costume section was strictly no photography allowed. I guess someone managed to sneek a pic because I got this off of the internet. Basically they had costumes from tons of movies like Ocean's Eleven, The Bourne Identity, Star Wars, Kill Bill, Indiana Jones, American Hustle, 102 Dalmations, Elizabeth, Rocky, Batman, etc. They used screens of the actor's faces above the mannequin wearing the costume. I wanted to touch them!

This spherical light thing was in the front lobby. Hana almost touched it! They really shouldn't keep breakable art in a child's reach.

They had a children's section with bean bags, books, and paper. The paper was for writing the next line of one of the stories posted on the walls. You would write a sentence on the paper and then place it in the slot next to the story. Hana was too young of course.

Her parents went ahead and bought a membership so I can take Hana there again, even if just to get out of the house and the heat. I'm listed on their membership as one of their kids!

Encanto Island Amusement Park

For the last two Fridays, I have been taking Hana to the nearby amusement park. There are three events in which she can enjoy there: the train, the carousel, and the splash pad. The splash pad is an enclosed area with a hard blue surface and a variety of sprinklers for the younger kids to run around in. Adults aren't allowed so I sit on the edge with my legs draped over and hold a towel for Hana to come dry her face. Hana likes to dip her face into the sprinkler and then giggle as she tries to find me and dry her eyes. She does it over and over again like a game. I like it!

I'm not allowed to ride on the carousel horse with Hana so I stand next to the horse and hold her on it. While we ride, I watch her expression, trying to figure out whether or not she likes it. The second time we went, I placed her on a tiny horse that didn't move up or down, just around. After it was over, she said "Again" so I knew she wasn't satisfied with just the circular motion and we rode the larger horse for a round.

The amusement park is next to a golf range so we get to see golfers and a lot of greenery as we ride the train. Hana doesn't like to hold still for the ride. She either sits next to me or on my lap. Once she decided to take her sun hat off and I was afraid it was going to fall off the train but luckily it fell on the seat floor. The train goes through a tunnel twice and it's a good distance for your money.

I like taking Hana here because it is close by. I need to look into other places so she doesn't get bored.