friesenfam.net | Friesen family blog

April 2, 2008
by janette
3 Comments

confused about the whole meme thing

So, in reading what a meme (pronounced sometimes like “dream”, sometimes like “mem” from “memory”) actually is…I’m gathering that it is generally the same thought or process that can be replicated or evolve in some manner…

Therefore, shouldn’t all meme’s then have the same questions and we should all just answer those, or is the fact that we’re all just posting 7 random facts about ourselves enough of a similarity that it counts? I can’t help it…I’ve always been a rule follower and want to get it right. I do like the idea of the meme on Sarah’s post (life in the parsonage) about everyone posting pictures of being hugely pregnant…especially because being huge wasn’t something I realized I was until AFTER I had Ellie and then looked at pictures of myself. What an enlightening moment that was.

I also don’t know if what I post on my meme would contain cultural information…which seems to be a requirement in the definitions that i’ve found (unless of course you could argue that it will in some way affect my children culturally someday to know all of these weird things about me…or perhaps help them to evolve past these weird things since they will have a somewhat similar genetic makeup as i do).

Anyway…not to be a party-pooper for those of you actually still reading this…a list of 7 random things about myself…

1) I have been run over by a car

2) I am the middle child, and everything they say about us is true

3) I love musicals

4) I bowled with a Wii today for the first time

5) I have had multiple jobs…taking me from youth directing, to making chocolates, to teaching preschool, to now being a librarian.

6) We have a cat named Cleopatra Evinrude (after the boat motor)

7) As a camp counselor, I played the game “hot chalaca”, requiring one to run around the fire pit, while blowing on a hot coal held in one’s hands. (No one ever said I haven’t tried a lot of stupid things…don’t worry mom, I only played it once, and didn’t get burned.)

There you have it..some facts about myself that you may or may not have known, some interesting and some not, but all true.

I feel now that i have done my civic duty for the day…

April 2, 2008
by janette
3 Comments

My attempt at nesting

They say all expecting moms go through it. I don’t know so much about that. I swear I never did with Ellie and most of my family would tell you that I don’t have a nesting bone in my body. I mainly see it as “cleaning” that needs to get done before the baby shows up.

Since I have only three months to go, we decided it was about time we switch some things up and make room for the new baby before I get any fatter and can’t move anything.

We attempted to do this this past weekend. (I thought the early stages of the flu were just stomach cramps from doing too much while moving by the way)

Here is the mess/ “creative process” at the height of it.

I am now proud to say that we have a new office (formerly Ellie’s room), and Ellie has a new room she’ll share with the baby (formerly the office).

While I still find myself walking into the office to look for something for Ellie and into her bedroom to log on to the computer, I’m sure the confusion will slip away soon…along with the rest of my mind. Nathan doesn’t seem to be having any problem with the relocation…perhaps pregnancy brain is not something to mess with and it isn’t the best time to rearrange furniture. All I can say is that when this baby comes out, and hopefully some of my brain cells return, people are going to be amazed at what I am actually capable of.

April 1, 2008
by janette
2 Comments

so sorry for the absence

So, through blogging, i’ve come to realize that I have far less time on my hands than I thought I did.

If you have been keeping up with our blog, you will realize that it is impossible for us to blog more than a handful of times a month. My word of warning…beware as we approach the sixth or seventh blog for the month, as you may not hear from me again.

In all fairness, I was going to attempt to break the blog curse last month, but then i was struck down…not so much by lightening…but by the flu (for the second time in March). If any of you have ever had the flu while pregnant, it is an affliction I would not wish on my worst enemy. The only way to describe it with some accuracy is your body is at all out war with itself. What isn’t changing and making you sick because you’re housing an alien life form, is now making you sick because you have the flu. And what you could manage to eat before and keep it down isn’t looking so good now.

I am still at home today, attempting to drink more than a few sips of gatorade and eat more than a small bowl of chicken broth (both substances I find completely vile).

For my friends at work who are reading this, I promise I’m not just skipping out on you…this is my one attempt at feeling connected to anything outside my house today. Its also my one attempt at feeling somewhat human. We’ll have to see what the day holds…I may attempt showering later to add to the feeling human list.

On a further note: I wrote this post this morning…and have showered…adding another accomplishment to my oh so fulfulling day!

March 24, 2008
by janette
2 Comments

Bob and Larry

When we’re home during the day, Ellie will sometimes ask to watch a movie. A favorite of late seems to be Veggie Tales (not an all bad favorite to have!). She’ll ask to watch “bob larry”. Its so very cute, and how can I resist getting a little time to accomplish something as well as some quality cartoons for her? Its a win, win.

March 17, 2008
by janette
3 Comments

A new friend

A couple weekends ago, we were out shopping for minivans…ahh, the dreaded but so necessary part of being parents of 2…

We stopped at Rydell Chevrolet, where one of the salesmen used to be a volunteer for me when I was a youth director in Cedar Falls. We were out looking around and went inside to warm up a bit when another salesman asked Ellie if she wanted a bear. I wasn’t really listening (I was across the room talking to Todd), and I heard “would you like a beer?” “A white beer or a brown beer?” Assuming all was okay, and that my husband wouldn’t really let this guy give my daughter a beer…I went on talking to Todd and ignoring what was going on.

Eventually this man disappears and a few minutes later reappears holding not one, but two white teddy bears. I was a little confused, but thought…okay…whatever. Apparently, when asked how many bears/”beers” she wanted, one or two…she said two.

Only after having Nathan recant the whole conversation with me in the car on the drive home and realizing that the man had indeed offered her bears, not beers, did this all make sense to me.

A long story short…a new friend is here…both the bear, and the salesmen at Rydell Chevrolet.

Here is a photo of Ellie, our salesman, and the new van…