Five Fast Ones

I have such a great family, but to be honest, I don't think I really fully appreciated my extended family until I myself became an aunt. I never realized how amazing it is to be an aunt until Carson was born. Then Kye came, then Case, and now my first niece, Corinne. I love those four little munkins with my entire heart, and I am so blessed to be so close to them. It's amazing how time flies, though. Carson turned five this weekend. Wow! I remember the day Collin and Katie told me they were pregnant, and I remember Carson's birth. I was actually in the delivery room for the entire process, so I can honestly say I've known Carson since his very first breath. What an amazing five years that has been, too.

The first 10 days of his life were pretty scary. He was VERY sick when he was born, and he was admitted into the hospital for a 10 day stay while they did everything in their power to make sick little Carson whole again. When he was finally released from the hospital, he had to be on oxygen, so Collin and Katie had to carry a little oxygen tank with them. We weren't sure if this little guy was going to be ok or not.

Carson's 1st Birthday

Carson's 2nd Birthday

Carson's 3rd Birthday

Carson's 4th Birthday

Carson's 5th Birthday

Is it just me, or is this little guy such a cutie??? Those eyes are amazing. Here are some more pictures from Carson's pool party this weekend.

All the little ones have something in their mouth...

Grandpa Doug and Case

Baby Corinne's first time swimming. We Huskers do NOT approve of her Badger swimming suit.

Blizzard of Aught Nine

We sure do have the weather people to thank for this one! They talked this storm up like it was going to be the blizzard of the century. The entire city of Denver shut down before even a snow flake had fallen, including every school district in the city. By noon, almost everyone who had to go to work had been sent home.

Was it the storm of the century as predicted? Not so much! Granted, we did get a lot of snow. It was more snow in one day than we've had all winter, but it wasn't as bad as they predicted. Nonetheless, I got a snow day on Thursday AND Friday. And next week is Spring Break, so here's to an extra long break from those naughty kids!

In true Shi Town form, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos. Case and Aunt Dido
The snow drift is taller than Case!

I've already cleaned off most of my car, but there was a lot of snow.

Shan and I just ventured out to the mall because we were bored. The roads haven't really been plowed, BUT it's already warming up outside the a lot of the snow has already melted. It is a BIG, FAT, SLUSHY, WET MESS outside. Wear your rain coat if you head outside, folks, or you'll get wet!

Naked in a Tanning Bed

I was reminded of my next story this weekend when my friend and I were talking about being knocked out. I told him I had been knocked out twice, which was my first mistake. I should have just said, "I've been knocked out," and left out the word "twice." He wanted to hear my stories, so I went into extreme detail of how I was knocked out by my friend, Mike, who ran into me while I was skiing. I figured if I talked long enough and told enough details, he would forget about the word "twice" and change the subject.

I wasn't so lucky. When I finished my story of being taken down the mountain by the ski patrol on a sled, he asked, "So, when was the second time you were knocked out?" Shoot, I sure do get myself into trouble (read my last post if you don't know what I'm talking about).

Now mind you, I was afraid to tell him this story for two reasons. First and foremost, it involves me being naked. Second, it involves a tanning bed, and I already knew how he felt about girls who fake and bake. However, I had no choice but to share my story.

A few winters ago, I decided I was a little too white for my liking. While heading into 24 Hour Fitness to work out, I saw a saw advertising unlimited tanning for a month for only $24.99. What a deal! If you know me at all, or have read any of my posts, you know me well enough to know that the word NO and DEAL do not go hand and hand with me. I tried my hardest to say NO to the DEAL, but all my mouth would say to the man at the desk is, "How can I sign up for the tanning DEAL?"

I was determined to get my money's worth, so I tanned every other day for the entire month. I got into a routine. I would tan for the first 10 minutes of my "workout" and then actually workout for the remainder of my time at the gym. I ALWAYS tanned first because I would get hot while in the bed.

Before I continue, I must explain that 24 Hour Fitness had these cool new high tech beds. They were actually stand-up beds, as in you had to stand up for your tan. You did not lie down in the bed like normal tanning places. It was kind of like a small shower, where the door opened, you stepped in, you shut the door, you hit the turn on button, and then you grabbed two handles above your head so your arms were up in the air. This was to avoid any weird tanning marks on your side. By having your arms in the air, your entire body was tanned evenly. Also, these beds were super high tech, which meant you could get the same tan in only 10 minutes instead of the lay down beds that took 20 minutes. They got hotter faster, but that meant more time was spent working out instead of tanning.

With that being said, I entered the gym one particular day to tan then work out. The man at the desk told me all the beds were full, and it was going to be 30 minutes before one was open. I told him that was fine; I would just work out first. So I did my 30 minute workout on the elliptical machine, and then headed to the tanning room.

Each bed had its own individual room, and of course, the door locked. It was completely private. I was already warm and sweaty from my workout, and the room itself was hot from the beds. I took my time undressing, and I even sat on the chair for a few minutes to cool down (don't worry, I still had my pants on). By this time, I was pretty hungry and thirsty and just wanted to get home, so I set the timer for 8 minutes, took off my remaining clothes, and stepped into the bed.

I was about four minutes into my tan when I started to feel woozy; I could tell that I was overheated, dehydrated and under-fed. I decided to tan for another minute or two before leaving for the day, so I mentally braced myself for another minute of heat. All of a sudden, I knew that I was going to pass out. I got dizzy, my head started to spin, and I knew that I needed to sit down ASAP. I reached for the door, and as it opened, I felt myself start to go black.

I came back to consciousness as soon as my head hit the hard floor. I hit the floor with such a hard thud that it actually un-knocked me out (is that possible?). I was lying naked on the floor (thank God it was a private room!), and I had a splitting headache. I had to lie there for a few minutes before I could even sit up. I was sick to my stomach, and I knew that my head was going to have a lump. When I was finally able to get up, I crawled to the chair and sat on it. I pulled the trash can over to me for fear I was going to throw up. It took me about 15 minutes to gain enough consciousness to get dressed and get out of that room. People were probably wondering what had happened inside that room.

I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, I had a giant lump on my forehead and cheek where my head had hit the floor, and my right cheek had a rug burn from sliding on the carpet. I was in bad shape. I looked like I had been in a fight, I was sick to my stomach, and I had a headache from hell.

I decided that story was only to be shared with me, myself, and I, so I didn't tell anyone that story for years. Enough time has passed since then that I tell that story with a laugh, but it most certainly was not a laughing matter at the time. I never tanned again after that incident.

As my friend asked me about my second story of being knocked out, I'm sure you can see why I hesitated to share with him. It's not like a naked woman lying in a tanning room because she passed out from the heat makes me look super attractive!

But I did what I had to do...I told him I was playing softball and was hit in the head with a bat. I mean, come on, which story is more attractive? Passing out in a tanning bed or passing out because I'm athletic, sporty and daring? You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing...

Bad Luck

Once every few months, I'll get a text from April that says, "I'm in a car wash. Can't help but laugh at you..." I smile as I read her text, but shudder thinking of the meaning behind that text.

You see, I have a lot of strange stories. I'm not an accident prone person, per say, but I just have the weirdest stuff happen to me. Sometimes it's because my mind is running a mile and minute and I tend to get frazzled. Sometimes it's because I react before thinking through the consequences. Sometimes it's just because bad things happen to me.

I have bad luck with car washes, and it all began about five years ago. To this day, I am terrified to get a car wash. Not only does the motion of the sprayers make me car sick (I have to close my eyes or I get nauseous), but I am scared to death that I will never get out of the thing alive.

My story begins (and ends) with a car wash. I was hired by Enterprise Rent a Car five years ago. I was warned I would have to wash cars, and I was OK with that. And wash cars I did! By hand, nonetheless, but it was also a welcomed time to get out of the office and relax for a few minutes. I was elated when I moved offices and my new office had an automatic car wash! All I had to do was punch in the code, drive forward, put it in park and relax while the sprayers did the work.

It was my first day at this new office, and they sent me to wash a car. I punched in the code, the door opened, I drove forward, I put the car in park, the doors shut, the sprayers started, and I sat back and relaxed. I had to shut my eyes to keep from getting sick, and since they were closed, I decided to enjoy a tiny little nap. It was dark in the wash, as all the doors were shut. I let the noise and shaking of the car soothe my stressed out nerves. I didn't fall asleep, but I was so relaxed that I decided to take a moment longer after the wash was done before heading back into the office.

Little did I realize that the garage door had opened to let me out. And little did I know that it was on a timer and I only had a few seconds to exit before the door shut again. So as I was enjoying my moment of relaxation in the car wash, the door opened...and the door closed. And I was in a car trapped in the car wash!

The realization of what had happened slowly began to sink in. I knew that I was going to embarrassed, but I knew what had to be done. All I had to do was call someone in the office and they could come punch in the code to get me out. I reached for my phone.

Where is my phone? Ah, it was in the office where I had left it. That's when I kind of began to panic. No phone, no one would hear me if I yelled, and I was trapped in a car wash. I really had no other option than to sit there and wait until someone else had to wash a car.

I sat there and waited...and waited...and waited...

Finally, about ten minutes later, a car pulled up behind me. This guy, who worked for the car dealership, punched in his code. Much to his surprise, there I was trapped in the bay. I rolled down my window and peeked out at him.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I've been trapped in this wash for a while now. Can you move your car so I can reverse?"

He was none too pleased, but he reversed. I then reversed, and he just shook his head at me as I came out backwards. I quickly drove away so I wouldn't have to explain myself. Once inside my Enterprise office, the rest of the team was wondering what happened to me. I didn't give them the "full" story, but I told them I had been trapped inside the wash bay.

With that memory still in mind, I went to get my car washed this week. I paid my money, pulled into the bay, put it in park, and set back to relax. Actually, I had a book (New Moon), so I eagerly picked up my book to read while the car wash did its thing. I was so absorbed in my book that I didn't realize until five minutes later that the wash hadn't started. Oops. I'm sure the guy waiting behind me was a little bit annoyed at me. I looked up and the arrow was pointing me to move forward. So I pulled forward. Still no wash. I reversed. Still no wash. Forward, backward, forward, backward. Still no wash!

Gosh, I sure do have bad luck in these things. I finally pulled all the way out and went into the gas station to tell them it had taken my money but I hadn't received the wash. The man working behind the counter was from another country and barely spoke English. I tried to explain what happened, but he didn't believe me (or couldn't understand me). His manager came out, and I explained to him what happened. After a few minutes of speaking to each other in another language, they agreed to give me my money back.

So here I am. Still with a dirty car. Still with bad memories of washing my car. Still with bad luck following me wherever I go.

Slithering Snakes

There's a story coming out of Denver about snakes. Yes, that's right, snakes. It's made every single major news program in the city of Denver, and the story sends chills down my spine. Long story short, a friend went to a guy's house to help fix a broken pipe. This friend crawled under the house to do his work, and as he was working, he could feel something moving underneath the tarp. He removed the tarp to find 41 large bull snakes underneath him. He's quoted as saying, "There's a tarp covering the ground, and as I go to pick that up I feel something moving under my feet, and I'm wearing flip-flops of course at this point," Stafford said. "So, I move the tarp and there's just a sea of snakes I'm standing on." This is a picture of the snakes. They were all alive, and the two guys released the snakes back into the wild (thanks a lot, guys!). The news is telling us that snakes are going to be spotted a lot more and a lot sooner because of the dry, hot weather we've had this winter.

I am terrified of snakes. In fact, as I was reading this story, I actually felt like I was going to throw up. It makes me shiver just to think about it, and I swear, if Jeff ever finds snakes underneath our house, I'm out of there in a heartbeat (Jeff is probably devising a plan right now to plant a snake under the house).

I have a snake story. It's just about ONE snake, but it still gives me shivers to think about it. Back in college, I lived with my friend, Hayli. We lived in a cute little house, but we occupied the basement. The owner of the house had turned her basement into an apartment, so in order to get into our place, we had to go down a flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was our front door, which opened into our apartment.

One afternoon, I was alone in the living room reading a book. Hayli was in class, and I was waiting for her to come home so we could go shopping. I heard someone come down the stairs, and then I heard a blood curling scream that I will never forget. Then I heard someone run back up the stairs.

I was terrified. I didn't know what was going on, and my heart was pounding. I thought Hayli had been mugged, or worse yet, kidnapped. I ran to the door, unlocked it and hurled it open. Hayli screamed from the top, "Shut the door. There's a snake!" I looked down, and sure enough, there was a snake trying to slither into the house." I screamed and slammed the door shut right before the snake could make his move.

So I was standing on one side of the door inside the house, Hayli was at the top of the stairs outside the house, and we were trying to figure out what to do. Then Hayli screamed, "The snake is trying to slither under the door! Go get something to catch it." I'm sure you can imagine my horror. This snake CANNOT get into our house! I ran to the kitchen and started throwing things around. I finally found a pitcher, which was my best option at the moment. I ran back to the door.

"Hayli, where is it trying to get through?"

She directed me where to put the pitcher. I told Hayli she had to go get help. Something needed to be done. She took off to go find our landlord.

In the meantime, I'm standing at the door with a pitcher in my hand waiting for a snake head to pop through the crack. The minutes slowly passed as I waited for Hayli to find help. After what seemed like ages, I heard a male voice at the top of the stairs.

"I'm afraid of snakes, but I'll see what I can do to help," the man said.
"Please hurry," I shouted through the door. "I can see the snake head through the crack."

A few more minutes went by with no talking. I could hear something going on right outside my door, but I wasn't quite sure what was taking place. Finally, Hayli told me I could open the door. I ran up the stairs to find the man who lived across the street. He had yellow, rubber gloves pulled up to his elbows (the kind you wash dishes with). He had a shovel in one hand and a towel in the other. He was sweating. He told us that he was deathly afraid of snakes (hence the gloves, shovel and towel), but he just couldn't let us girls suffer without offering his help. We thanked him profusely, and he took off to his house across the street.

Hayli told me our landlord wasn't home, so she just started knocking on doors until someone finally answered. This man, lucky for us, unlucky for him, was the first one to answer, so he got roped into helping us with our snake problem.

From that day forth, I couldn't go down our stairs without first making sure a snake wasn't at the bottom waiting for me. I even took to skipping that last step and jumping into the house, just to make sure I wouldn't get eaten by a snake. We moved out of that place shortly thereafter.

Silence is Golden?

I am surrounded by noise from the moment I wake up until the time I go to bed. My stupid alarm wakes me up every morning at 5am with a blaring beep. I immediately turn on my radio to my favorite radio station. I stumble to my bathroom where I turn on that radio loud enough so I can hear it through the shower. I listen to the radio while I get ready and all the way to work.

I work inside a high school, so you can imagine the noise I encounter when I walk through the doors. My entire day is based around 14-18 year olds, so I am constantly being asked questions. At the end of the day, my head is swimming from all the noise.

What do I do about that? I turn the radio on while I drive to the gym. I get to the gym and I immediately encounter noise. Weights clanking, people talking, radio blaring, thoughts running through my head. I listen to the radio on my way home. I get home to find Case running through the house. I go downstairs and turn on the TV. I watch TV while I do random chores around the place. It isn't until I go to bed that the noise is all gone. And I drift into a dream filled sleep...

I hate the silence. It gives me too much time to think. Too much time to think about my struggles. Too much time to think about my wishes. Too much time to think about my stress. Too much time to think about my hurts. So I fill my life with noise so I don't have to think.

Today, however, I escaped the noise. I went for a bike ride all by myself, which isn't something I normally do. As I rode the hills (that about killed me, by the way), I couldn't escape my thoughts. My thoughts ranged from school work that I had to do, to the stress of finding a job, to the book I am reading, to my friends, to my family, to my weekend that is promising to be a lot of fun.

Do you know what I discovered? Silence isn't really that bad. My thoughts really aren't that terrible. Maybe I should enjoy the silence more often... And no wonder I enjoy bike riding so often. It's the only time my life is silent.

My Dream

Have you ever had a dream that was so vivid you thought it was real? I had one of those dreams last night. I had a dream that my boyfriend and I planned a cruise together. It was a two day, one night cruise, so we didn't have a lot of time on the boat. Nonetheless, I was stoaked. On the first night of our cruise, we were going to go to a fancy dinner, which involved dressing up.

Of course, I called my friends to help choose the dress. Abby and Kari to the rescue. On the day of the cruise, Kari, Abby and I headed to the mall. We shopped for hours for the perfect dress, but I couldn't find anything. Nothing fit right, or it looked terrible, or it was too expensive. Hour after hour passed, and before I knew it, it was almost time to load onto the boat. And I still hadn't packed yet! I was getting frantic.

I finally found a dress that would be OK. I was disappointed in my selection, but it just had to do. I ran home to pack. I shoved everything I needed into my bag, and now I was finally ready for the cruise. I was so excited, I could barely wait for my boyfriend to pick me up.

My cell phone rang, and it was my boyfriend. I assumed he was calling to tell me he was at my house but instead he was calling to tell me some bad news. After answering, he proceeded to tell me he had a bad headache and decided he wasn't going to go on the cruise. He told me to go without him, and if he felt better in the morning, he would join me for the final day.

I was furious! I was livid. I have never been so angry in my life. How could my boyfriend cancel our cruise for a stupid headache??? How dare he! Then I had a decision to make. Was I going to cancel the cruise altogether or was I going to go without my boyfriend? I decided to go without him, and I figured I would have fun without him. It was his loss, and besides, I had already paid for it.

And then I woke up. The dream was so real, I was angry when I awoke. But even funnier than that, I woke up thinking to myself, "Duh! I have a brand new dress in my closet that would be perfect for the cruise." Then I remembered it was just a dream; I shouldn't be angry because it hadn't really happened, and why was I thinking about a dress to wear when I didn't have an occasion to wear it?

I laid in bed this morning trying to calm down. It was the most vivid dream I've ever had, and it really worked at my emotions. Phew, thank goodness it wasn't real.