Great News!

We arrived home from Mexico at 1 AM on Saturday, January 3rd. If this date does not jump out at you, let me refresh your memory: it was the date the boy scouts came around to pick up Christmas trees. Unfortunately, due to our late arrival home and the fact that we had to work that day, our Christmas tree did not get undecorated and therefore was not picked up by the dear scouts. UGG! We were left to our own means of getting rid of it. So, we did what any other person would do--we waited a day, removed the ornaments and then threw the tree on the side of the house (just out of the view of any guests or visitors) and hoped for the best. Personally, I hoped it would just evaporate or that nature would very rapidly work its course and biodegrade it into bark and soil for my garden next year. For 25 days, I had no such luck. Until today, day 26....We arrived home from some errands to find that it was gone! My idea worked! I just knew if we left it there long enough, it would disappear! My guess is that, due to the economic crisis, local Christmas tree farms can no longer afford to plant new trees for Christmas 2009 and have been forced to locate, save and reuse trees like ours. Whatever the case, we're thankful that ours has been removed from our responsibility!

I need help/Dell and I are not getting along

I think my week-long sick time on the couch completely killed the laptop (Dell Inspiron E1505). It worked just fine until Friday when I think it joined me in sickness. I'd been watching a bunch of shows from abc and nbc online to keep me occupied, using the laptop as my "tv." It was plugged into the wall the entire time so I know it shouldn't have been draining the juice more than usual.

Anyway, all of a sudden, the laptop will shut down all open programs and log you out of the current username. It it won't shut the computer entirely down, it just logs you out. Then, when you log back in, a sweet little message pops up that reads "Your battery is still able to charge properly, however, it is nearing the end of it's usable life." Then it gives you a link to where you can buy $180 Dell replacement batteries--thanks but no thanks (it's only a year and a half old!)

To make matters worse, if you leave the laptop or close the cover, when you return, it won't "wake up." You have to completely shut down the computer and restart it again to turn it on.

The part I couldn't understand is why is continued to log me out/shut down while it was still plugged into the wall. Who cares if the battery is dying...shouldn't it still work fine if it has the wall/adaptor as a power source??! I did a little experiment and removed the battery so the sole source of energy would be through the adaptor. Lo and behold, the computer still randomly shuts down programs and logs you out (but it does not give the battery message upon logging back in) and it also requires complete shutdown to get it going again after leaving it for 15 minutes.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME!!??? I am so inept when it comes to computers and doing want to go spending $200 on something that won't fix the problem. Thanks!

Confessions of a Dietitian

Wanna know a secret? Even dietitians do not always eat healthfully. Or at least some don't. Okay, so maybe I'm the only one. Normally, I just LOVE whole wheat breads and pastas, fresh fruits and veggies and yogurt and granola. But it is like my tastebuds become two-faced when I am feeling under-the-weather. I was cracking up today thinking about the foods that sound amazing to me when I'm sick:

-thick white toast with lots of melted butter

-toasted white bagels with butter and garlic salt

-plain white pasta with parmesan cheese (from the green can)

Seriously, that's pretty much all I've been wanting to eat. Notice they are all carbs? It is like my tongue and tummy rebel together saying "GIVE ME PROCESSED WHITE FOODS and nothing else!" Oh yeah and my beverage of choice today is White Grape Raspberry Juice with a "shot" of 7-UP (for the record, the juice is 100% juice so I'm practicing at least one thing I preach....)

Hopefully my diet will return to normal shortly (although I must admit I'm LOVING eating a few pieces of white bread here and there--a real luxury for me!)

Whine

I'm feeling a bit under the weather and it is driving me nuts! I am so not a good sick person. A lot of people would welcome the opportunity to lie on the couch all day and watch tv but not me! I don't mind a little of it here and there but not 3 days worth! I started filly icky on Friday night (sore throat) and it is slowly progressing into sinus congestions, overall aches and headache. Graham says he's been able to tell when I've fallen asleep the last couple nights because I start moaning (probably because I can't breathe and the tickle in my throat sends me into coughing fits). Poor guy! I guess I've been keeping him up...

On another note, I went in to the doctor to have my thyroid and some other labs checked because I lost over 6# between Thanksgiving and New Years without really doing squat. So I thought I should make sure my thyroid hadn't flipped on me and caused the weight loss. Turns out that everything is peachy keen, including my hematocrit. I thought for sure it'd be low because the last time I tried to donate blood (in high school), they wouldn't let me because I was anemic. I guess my diet over the past 8 years fixed that issue...Anyway both Graham and I were really bummed not to receive copies of the labs...we're such medical nerds! I'm sure we'll be asking for copies the next time I go in.

Hope everyone else is staying healthy and NOT catching this icky cold/flu bug.

Last night, for the first time....

....in the history of our 1 year, 10 month and 1 day marriage, WE ORDERED TAKE OUT PIZZA! I know, it's a little crazy that we've never done this before but we honestly haven't. I've made homemade pizza a number of times but we've never ordered out so this is a pretty big milestone for us. :o) I had an awful, very sad day at work (sometimes I just hate working with sick babies), plus I think I'm coming down with a cold so pizza and a movie seemed like a great mindless activity.

On a more healthful note, for Christmas, my parents gave me a gift certificate for organic produce delivery from a local farm here on the eastside. Every other week, I receive an e-mail letting me know the contents of that week's box. I think I am going to love the challenge of using up all of the produce AND trying whatever new items may be included in the box.

This week I received:

Purple Top Turnips
Hass Avocados
Garnet Yams
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Green Leaf Lettuce
Roma Tomatoes
Red Onions
Eggplant
Cameo Apples
Bosc Pears
Orlando Tangerines
Navel Oranges

I have some yummy recipes picked out for using the produce and can't wait to see how they turn out. I was a little nervous about the turnips and I think rightly so. I found a recipe for roasted turnips, sweet potatoes and apples that had been rated 5 star by other cooks but I disagree! Yuck! Neither Graham or I enjoyed it very much. If anyone has a better recipe, I'd love to try it as I'm sure this won't be the last time turnips appear in my box....

On another note

So it's been a while since I really sat down and blogged...Good morning everyone!

Life here at the Crozier household has been a bit chaotic since arriving home from our trip. We don't have any days off together this week which is a huge bummer but we both have plenty of projects to work on and so we're trying to keep busy. I for one have to keep myself occupied for 12 whole hours alone today while Graham's at work-I'm hoping to take this opportunity to work more on scrapbooking some wedding pictures (I'd like to get the book done before summer) and maybe I'll even finish the last 2 chapters of my novel.

We have a couple pieces of exciting new this week, one being that we locked in to refinance our mortgage so now we'll have a 30 year fixed loan and actually be paying down principal which I'm very relieved about. We were able to get a great interest rate and so our monthly payments will be less than $100 more than they were with our interest only AND we'll be paying down the principal. We are so thankful that we can now afford a 30 year fixed loan! This obviously means that we're planning to stick around in our place for a while which had previously been a huge topic of conversation as we were wishing we could buy a house...

Our second bit of news is that GRAHAM COMPLETED HIS APPLICATION FOR GRAD SCHOOL! If you received our Christmas letter, you may already know that this was a possibility. Well it is a reality now--he drove the application over to UW and submitted it yesterday (it's due today at 5 PM). Phew! It was quite a stressful time for us, trying to figure out which tracks he should apply for. In the end, he applied for their Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, specifically selecting the clinical nurse specialist and family nurse practitioner tracks. There are definitely plus' and minus' to both options but I'm really proud of him and can't wait to hear back. One of the oncology docs he works with (who loves him and always wants to take him and I sailing) completed one of his recommendations so I think that will be an asset in setting him apart from other applicants.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. We're praying lots and trying to keep very open-minded about the future. If Graham does get into school, he'll be working and going to class full time and so refinancing and staying put in Kirkland seemed like our best option to keep everything affordable. Today someone is coming to complete an appraisal on our place (a part of the refinancing process) so I guess we'll be finding out whether our condo has decreased in value or held it's own in the ugly market right now (I'm hoping our nicely-tiled bathroom will bring up the value!) :o)

Hope all you readers are doing well....keep us in your prayers!

Happy 1/2 Birthday to THIS guy!

Okay everyone....he's 25 1/2 today! And I'm sure he'd groan if he knew I was sitting here blogging about it. He's still a little iffy on the whole 1/2 birthday celebration thing which is beyond me--why complain when you get a present, cake and get to feel special for one more day of the year?! Anyway, unfortunately he signed up for an extra shift at work today so we're not able to do much celebrating. I did get up early though and made him coconut french toast (he didn't remember that today was his half birthday and so it took him a while to figure out why I was up at 5:15 AM making breakfast on my day OFF) and he should find a cupcake in his lunch when he takes his break at work today. Anyway, feel free to embarrass him and call or e-mail your well wishes. :o)