The Last Days

I know at one point tonight I was asleep. I'm not sure which. However, I am pretty sure the point in which I woke up was when My Better Half came in to bed after readying our ipod for this weeks cross-country adventure, saw the dog and broke down. It is now 3:30 in the morning. I've been up since 2. In approximately 4 hours I am to drop Elder off at the repair shop for an oil change and an air conditioner fan motor...thingy. Approximately 1 and 1 half hours from that the rescue shelter in which we've entrusted our precious Clementine, is coming to retrieve her. Somewhere betwixt Elder's and Clementine's appointments I must retrieve my children from their impromtu sleepover at the Dayton's so as to say goodbye to our family canine and also our home. It is finally here. Just some sweepage and wipage of the joint and we are on our way. I don't really know why I am crying at this point. I cried--for days, I might add--when I had to move to this "God-awful" place, remember??? What is the deal??? I better compose myself before my tears create more water damage in My Better Half's computer. He might not be too happy about that, especially considering he just got it back this morning. Anyway. Change is hard. I've never liked change. In fact, I am down right terrified of change. Change should only be something loose that you find in the pocket of your jeans or unexpectedly in the couch. That is good change. The other kind always makes me cry and worry if we've made correct decisions. Fear of the unknown, I guess. Fear of unforseen elements. When Thing 1's development in my womb had reached the point where it was worthy of comments like, "Lady, you are having this baby to-day, aren't you?" (Ha Ha. No actually. I have 4 more weeks, you sensitive male. Are you saying I'm fat?), I remember these distinct, slightly disturbing, thoughts in my head: "Oh dear, Ab, what have you gotten yourself into? What were you thinking??? You weren't. And now you're having a baby. You have to have this baby. It has to come out of you. There is no turning back. You can't woose out, fake an injury so you don't have to perform labor. Hide. No. You have to give birth to this...thing." I am not exactly sure why this is relevant to the situation. Perhaps it is because I've reached this point in our move. There is no turning back. Perhaps is it because My back hurts so bad from all bending and lifting that is entailed in moving that it feels like I am going into labor. That is also a viable relevancy. I guess, what I do know is that I am truly going to miss this place. Place meaning our apartment, and its early 20th century fabulousness and location, but mostly dirty, gritty, real, diamond-in-the-rough Buffalo, NY. The 198. Our Ward building that is painted like a fast food joint (then you realize it has a steeple, so it isn't. Then you notice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sign and think, Huh. Wierd. They don't usually look like that.) that resides across from the Catholic projects. Mayor Brown and the amount of times he says the phrase City of (or people) of Buffalo, EVERYTIME he is on the news. Our friends both student and non. The accent (oh how I'll miss the accent). Hertel. Shopping at the garage, the estate, or the curb. Man I have loved this place. Who knew? And now we are leaving it. Who knew? Pray for us in our new adventure, most especailly that Elder has the estimated 6000 miles he has planned for him this summer, but also for Clem that she will be happy and healthy and not miss us like we will miss her.


Over and Out,
Former Soldiers

Come on, people

OK, I wanted to tell you that I just cashed in my swagbucks for an amazon giftcard. What did I do to earn this giftcard? I searched the internet with swagbucks.com instead of google. What are you waiting for? And for those of you who did sign up, congratulations. Hopefully you use it and earn yourself some cool stuff. For the rest of you, here you go:


Click on this!

My Shameless Promotion

OK, here I go promoting services.

I'm sure most of you use yahoo or google or something similar for searching the Internet. You hook them up when you click on the links they provide, but do they ever pass it along to you? NO!

Enter Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a search engine just like yahoo, google, etc., and when you search with them they randomly give you "swagbucks" for doing so. A swagbuck is the same thing as a credit card reward point or something like that (except you don't have to buy stuff to get rewards--you just have to search the Internet like you already do). After you have accumulated swagbucks you can hop online and redeem them for cool stuff like amazon.com gift cards and other things you might like.

If you create an account under my link, I get a swagbuck for every swag buck you earn (up to the first 100), and you get the same thing if people create an account under you. See, all the benefits of a MLM without having to pay 100 dollars a month for an exotic juice that will cure the cancer your bound to get if you don't drink the juice. (Did that make any sense?) And just so you know, you do have to create an account (how else would they keep track of your swagbucks) but it's completely free.

So next time you hop on google to search for something, just think, you'd be banking swagbucks if you were at swagbucks.com instead. Try it out, tell your friends to try it out, and enjoy all the cool stuff you're going to get.

Check it out HERE (Remember to use this link so I get hooked up for your first 100 bucks!)

OK here's the catch. Just kidding. Here's more stuff I didn't add in the post. You can only win once a day from searching. You usually win one swag buck, but you can sometimes win 2, 5, or 10 swagbucks. You can also earn swagbucks by recycling old cell phones or using their discount codes at online stores like walmart.com. Another way to win swagbucks is to become their fan on facebook. They always have free giveaways, trivia, and stuff like that for their fans.

While we're on the subject

Max (bewildered after hearing a strained grunt in the distance): What is Daddy doing?
Mom: Sounds like he's going stinky, bud.
Max: Oh.

After a brief ponder, Max removes himself from his chair and putters down the hall toward the bathroom.

Max (bursting with empathy): Do you need me to rub your back to help you get it out, Dad?


We ain't makin' this up. We couldn't if we tried.

more max

I never meant for this to turn into the blog of my son's funny sayings, but this one was just too good to pass up:

Dad gives Max an orange.
Max replies: I love oranges. They make me want to rule the world!

This boy is such a treat sometimes.

Crazy Mormons

Max, is Perry a child of God?

Yes!

Are you a child of God?

No, I'm a big brother of God!

Oh, really? What about mommy and daddy?

Mommy is a mother of God and daddy is a father of God.

Update

I'm not even going to try to match my wife's wittiness, so I'll just cut right to the chase on what's new with us. We have decided that we are going to be going to Happy Valley for the summer and we'll be leaving the beloved (not sarcastic--we have really grown to love this place) Buffalo the first of June. Hopefully I will pass my comprehensive exams on May 23rd (prayers are not only welcomed but encouraged) and we will be officially done with this stage of our lives. If not, I'll have to come back again in September for round two. It won't be the end of the world, but kind of annoying.

If nothing changes between now and then, we will be leaving Happy Valley, UT and travelling back across the country where the family will set up shop for the next three years in Happy Valley, PA while I set up shop in this incredibly awesome building! BOOYA!! (By the way, the library provides a fantastic view of one of college football's greatest stadiums. If you come visit, I'll be happy to show you! Disclaimer: The quality of football played at said stadium may or may not have been an influential factor in the decision making process.)

We are still playing the waiting game with a few places and the wait list game with some other places, so, although these are our plans for now, there is still a small chance that they may change. But the plans to be in Happy Valley, UT for the summer are pretty much certain. Hope to see a lot of you soon!! HOLLA!

A Note to the Fine Print

(1) acceptance =/= attending, moving, or any of the sort.
(acceptance does not equal attending)

(2) acceptence --?--> attending, moving, etc.
(acceptance MAY lead to attending)

Can you tell that I took a break from my homework to write this?

Holla

...for the Buffalo's Soldiers Giveaway! That's right. For the first time ever My Better Half and I are sponsering a GVIEAWAY. Are you ready? The first 25 people to comment with your email address on this post will recieve a FREE email for 30% off all of your purchases made March 13-16, 2009 at all Gap locations. This is where we holla. You know you want to win it. Entries must be receiced by 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. That would be tomorrow folks. Some restrictions may apply*. Good luck. And don't forget to Holla!

*Restrictions are to be read aloud, qickly, and muffled. Ready. Set. READ! Residents of Buffalo and surrounding suburbs are not eligible. Emailing it to you would be plain silly. I can hand deliver an invitation to you. Rights are reserved to give preference to those belonging to my family tree if needs be, as well as the right to combine members of my family tree who live geograpohically close to one another so as to leave room for more winners. I reserve the right for you to conduct yourself in whatever way possible to ensure you are among the 25 who win. Bribes are accepted. Speaking of acceptances, My Better Half was just accepted to the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. Holla. Thing 2 recently bumped her head on the filing cabinet giving her a lump and a mild scratch as I typed out this post. Ouch. Thing 1 locked himself in Clementine's crate also whilst typing this post. Thank you. Have a great day. Did I just hear you holla?

So...

I joined Facebook today. Actually, that is a half truth. It wasn't today. Nor was it me. Which, I guess, if you're being technical, makes that statement a flat out lie. Whatever. My Better Half did it. I was sitting right next to him as he furiously clicked away creating my online persona. I told him I not to do it. I told him I wasn't ready. Ready for the commitment Facebooking (I believe is the correct terminology) would entail. He wouldn't listen. Thus, I have an account and profile giving me open access to my increasing* number of friends' profiles and a whole can 'a worms. I am reeling from all of the excitement, chaos, and suffrage of an intense fear of Facebook rejection. What if So-And-So from Way-Back-When doesn't want to be my friend? Afterall, it has been a long time. There might be a real reason we haven't spoken for a while... It seems to me, though, if someone requested to be my real-life friend I would never deny them friendship. Nor would you. That would be blatently rude. Jesus said love everyone. Treat them kindly too. But. What if Facebookers don't share this same charitable attitude??? I am not sure I am ready for that kind of stress-inducing agony. Furthermore, Say So-And-So does forgive me for my transgressions of Way-Back-When and does accept my e-friendship. What do I do with it? Do I really catch-up with this person? Does this person really want to catch up with me? How is it done? If So-And-So writes on my "wall" and asks me a question, how do I respond? I'm all a mess of sweaty palms and social anxiety--if you can even call it that, as Facebook is not exactly social, per se.

*My Better Half tells me that this number will surely decrease. Especially since I am simply not as cool as he. This is true. Why do you think I married him?

What I Just Heard: Second Edition

Max: "What's wrong with baby Perry?"

Mom: "She's got an ear infection."

Max: "A ear in-fec-shun?"

Mom: "Yep, that's right."

Max: "Does that mean they're gunna have ta CUT OFF HER EAR?"

a month and a half late

If you know Terry, you should love this video. If not, you might like it anyway.

How I feel:

Something Special Happened Yesterday.

Thing 2 had a birthday. Yup. She did. She is 1 years old. All morning long Thing Uno and I sang Happy Birthday to her. Of course, 1 sang the lesser known part of, NO! It's not her birfday party! We only sing Happy Birfday at birfday parties! By 10 a.m., however, Thing 2 grew weary of Happy Birthday. She stopped clapping after each rendition, which is a pretty big deal considering she just learned how and never ceases to do so. Apparently, she'd had all the Happy Birthday she could handle. Fortunately for her, my Better Half and I are carrying on the traditions of my father--er mother, rather--and did not have any festivities planned for today (as in the actual day of her birthday) other than the spontaneity of song-bursting. What? He's got tests and I've got 5 a.m. Weekends are much better for us. Though, I didn't have to teach seminary that morning and should have had a tad more energy--should being the operative word--and would have, had any of my (two) students let me know they were honoring Thing 2's b-day by sleeping in--a.k.a. NOT SHOWING. 6 a.m. no shows make for an angry anybody, let alone a mom with two Things. I pray every night that my Things will simply skip over ages 13-17 and grow into attractive, wise young adults. I am pretty sure with all the teenage angst--including my own hole-in-the-wall-kicking years--I've experienced in my wee little lifetime The Man will grant me this wish. Yup. Pretty sure.

Digressions aside, Thing 2, here are some of the reasons we adore you. I will refrain from listing the things that we...uh...don't adore in the very small instance that you do not skip your teenage years. That way when you read this, you can't blame your horrible, no good, very bad LIFE on me and the things I said when you were 1. Ha.

We adore you because:

• you might love playing peek-a-boo more than you love us. I have a video, but my Better Half has not given clearence as to its post-age yet--just FYI.
  
• you just got your first teeth, just shy of a year, and you've figured out how to use one of them to bite with.
  
• you still look like you did at 9 months old, thus, keeping you little, and me with out hunger for another.
• you give loves--performed by placing one's head onto anothers' shoulder--to any and everything, dirty old rugs included, especially when you're tired.
• you let us hold you once in a while.
• you have the baldest head this side a'the Mis'sippi.
• you love your blanket with all your might, mind and strength. We can tell this by the technique in which you tackle it upon sight.
  
• anytime we sing to you, you join in with your own melody, duh-duh, da, duh-duh... Sometimes you even lead.
  
• you giggle kick every time we come to retrieve you from your crib.
• you are precious, adorable, and full of life.
• you are you.
  

Happy Boody to ya, 2.

We wish you every happiness. May you forgive us for your chaotic, unconventional life which was the causing of many of your nap-skippings and the learning of nothing more than sarcasm and wit.

reasons to visit (besides seeing our cheerful faces).

slideshow

even cougar fans should get a kick out of this!!

And So it Begins

I've been feeling rather uninspired lately. Perhaps its the lack of sleep accompanying recent responsibilities, combined with current responsibilities, and a (not-exactly-sure-how-I-feel-about) resurrection of yet another responsibillty*. It could also be this twinging guilt imbedded deep in my gut reminding me of all the loved ones I've neglected lately, having left you destitute in a desolate land filled only with my better half's handful of mini posts--certainly not enough material to satisfy all four of our followers. Though, entertaining as they may be, these deep thoughts of his serve no real insight to the McIntier Reparte except to reveal what exactly my better half is actually "studying". Ummm, ya. At any rate, whatever the reason, I find myself museless, and to no avail as today is no different--but wait. It is.

Good Mornin' Lake Erie!

We've missed you, though I am sure you'll wear out your welcome in the upcoming months.

In other news: I've cut my hairs.** Perry, after a long awaited 11 months, has cut her first tooth--er teeth, she now has 4 and is working on numbers 5 and 6. We expect their arrival any day now. I've turned one year older (and wiser too). Jeff and I finally buckled under the pressure, signed a two year agreement with T-mobile, giving us new--and free, I might add--telecommunicaters, thus making us the proud owners of two fully functional (as in no duct tape, cracked screens, or water damage) cell phones: One pink, one blue. Yay for us. And Max still can't say Niagara Falls correctly.





*I ain't fishin' nor complainin'. I'm just sayin'. Been busy lately.
**I do have more than one, you know.

Do you think this would have changed things???

For Tupac (and Richard)

the only thing i can think of to say

It's too bad that Tupac had to miss this!  

(Check out lines 9 and 10 of verse two.)