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I had a hard time coming up with something to say today until I was listening to the radio this morning (On the way to get an ice cream cone with Sammy. At 10 am. It was strawberry cheesecake and fabulous!). The DJ mentioned that it is the 20th anniversary this weekend of Depeche Mode 101. How crazy is that? I almost didn't believe him, but then realized that songs from 101 were played at every dance I attended in my youth and realized that 20 years ago I was 14 and, yup. That's just about right. When did that happen?

Narrowing down my favorite Depeche Mode song would be nearly impossible. They are the first band I really, really loved as a whole and I continue to love their stuff. I just dug out a disc I made a few years ago (actually, I think Jacob made it for me!) of my favorites at the time. I think it's a good mix and if made today, I'd only make a few changes:

1. Condemnation
2. The Sweetest Condition
3. I Want You Now (huh...not a favorite, but a memory song for me)
4. Stripped
5. But Not Tonight
6. I Feel Loved
7. Dream On
8. Sweetest Perfection
9. It Doesn't Matter
10. Walking In My Shoes
11. Shine
12. Home
13. Higher Love
14. It's No Good
15. Waiting For The Night
16. In Your Room

If I had to pick a favorite now, the following would definitely be in the running!

Shake the Disease - this is the song I put on mixed discs most often, except I usually throw on the Hooverphonic version. Still a great song.


Dream On - loved greatly.


It Doesn't Matter - I'm pretty sure I could never get sick of this song.


Home - The one that would rival Shake the Disease for the top spot. If there were a top spot.


It's No Good - Because I seriously cannot choose.

Bad Season

Sammy, poor little guy, is feeling miserable. He has inherited most everything from his daddy, but he seems to have gotten my seasonal allergies. I am assuming because of the never-ending winter Utah saw, this spring is lingering on into summer and things are still in bloom. We are all on meds and still sniffling and sneezing and scratching our eyes like mad. Poor Sammy seems the worst of all. His baby strength meds are barely making a dent any more and now I'm searching for a pediatrician a little earlier than I thought I would have to.

We ran down to Salt Lake yesterday to buy diapers (What?! I like the Target brand!) and I was again struck by how much my son is the spitting image of Isaac. They look alike, do things exactly the same, have the same demeanor, etc (let's not discuss the downright hero worship Sammy has for Isaac! It could be a blow to the ego if I let it...). It's very hard to find any of me in Sammy. This is never more evident than on car trips of any kind. I never have to check Sammy's diaper while we are out. I stopped carrying diapers in my purse by the time he was about four months old (and I only lasted that long out of fear rather than necessity!) and only have a couple of emergency ones tucked into the car door pocket even now. He has definitely inherited his dad's bladder. Isaac has super-human bladder qualities. Holding it until...well, I don't even know. And now there's Sammy. He has NEVER pooped unless he's home. And he won't pee, either. He just holds it until he's home. So we changed his diaper yesterday morning, left, ran our errands and came home several hours later. His diaper was dry. In the next hour, we changed him three times. My sister swears this will make him easier to potty train, but I still think it's a little bit of an odd trait to inherit!

Oh! and on a completely unrelated note...we have a few words to report! He now says daddy with clarity (FINALLY!) and started saying baby yesterday. Of course, he labels everything not an adult a baby, which I find amusing.

I Feel I Need to Announce...

I AM BACK INTO MY PREPREGNANCY PANTS. Wow. Something good DID come out of the sunburn! I only tried them on while trying to find non-sandpaper items to wear. Woooo - Hoo! (Phoebe style, of course) My wardrobe is starting to double...

(Yes, I know it's been 2 years. We aren't focusing on that. Just on the part that made me do a little dance this morning!)

Random Wrap Up

First of all, Happy Father's Day! I kept forgetting about today amid my immense amount of pain (more on that later!), but I did manage to shout from one room to another a lack-luster Happy Father's Day to Isaac this morning. Man. It's a good thing we don't stand on ceremony around this house! More importantly, Happy Father's Day to my own dad. I'm sure my sister will have a wonderful post about him later today and is it too incredibly lame that I just say ditto early? Yeah, well...PAIN, people!

We went to our town's summer festival on Friday night with my sister and her family.



It was a beautiful night and Sammy got to enjoy (and avoid eating at) his very first picnic.


I got a new print for above my desk from this artist. It's a beautiful shot of a Belgian street. Muted to red tones. I wish there was a thumbnail on his site of it!

I also got a print for Sammy's room. It's from this artist and is of a cartoony looking boy in just a diaper and oversized suit jacket singing on a stage. It's absolutely adorable!

Then, on Saturday, my sister and I got up bright and early and had a garage sale. I've never had one before, but with the move, I had so much I needed to sell!

I was holding onto to things I no longer needed nor wanted and my goal when we moved was to only move with those things we needed or loved. I had 20 or so boxes in my garage from the move that I opened up this week and priced for the garage sale straight out of the box. I was happy that I didn't feel the need to keep any of it (except the shirt that I've been looking for for two months! I have no idea how it got into a garage sale box...). Between the two of us, we had a lot of stuff to sell - especially baby stuff!

We started at 6 moving everything out and about 8 realized that the front of my house faced DIRECTLY east. Fun times! My only moment of weakness came when a lady came to buy my rocking chair. I have had this rocking chair for nearly 14 years. It was the first piece of furniture I bought after I married my ex. It's moved with me from house to house and state to state and I loved it. It went to the garage after Sammy was born due to lack of room and I assumed it would go in Sammy's room here, but, again, I didn't have room, so back it went to the garage. I tossed around ideas for it (on the porch someday when we have a porch, in the back yard, etc), but I ultimately decided to see if it would sell. It was still with us around noon and I decided it would just go in the back yard, but then a lady made an offer on it. It was my only moment of wavering, but I let it go. New memories, letting go of the old. It was still really difficult.


Today I stayed home with Sammy while Isaac went to church. Because my house faces east, I was confronted with the worst sunburn I've had in many, many, many years. In fact, the last time I was this burned was my second year of college after I spent the day at the sand dunes with my boyfriend wearing clothes NOT exactly "Ricks approved". I am always (well, obviously not always!) vigilant with the sunscreen and hats and not being in the full sun from 10-2 and all of that. I put on my sunscreen on my face yesterday AND wore my hat, but I didn't think about my shins peeking out from my capris. And now I can't stand up straight without it feeling as though my skin is going to rip apart Alien style. I couldn't get up the stairs last night without Isaac holding my hand and supporting my back. I felt about 95 and going to my death especially while he kept making me laugh. Clothes are torture and I scrawled the biggest OUCH in blue crayon on the shower tiles this morning when the water hit my legs. I see a lot of nothing in my future (well, my future dreams, anyway! I have a full week ahead of me...).

So, for your enjoyment (I'm sorry you can't see how bad it really is...):


Thankfully, it was a really successful garage sale...