Sights and Sounds of Fall

Ah, fall! That time of year when summer fades, and you can just feel the change in the air. There are certain sights and sounds that are unique to this season, the visual and aural reminders that yes, autumn has indeed arrived.

Things like....

billows of smoke emanating from the nearest mountain range,

a layer of ash on your car when you wake up in the morning,

the sound of fire engines wailing and helicopters life-flighting,

soccer games that get cancelled due to poor air quality,

lungs that fill with smoke when you take a deep breath,

and kids who inform you they played Heads Up 7-Up for recess since they couldn't play outside.


Welcome to southern California.

Way Back When-sday: Open Mouth, Insert Foot

This one comes courtesy of my husband, the incomparable Erik. Way back when we were dating and first married, we worked at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. There we had a co-worker named Venita. This is her. Sorry about the poorly scanned photo, I pulled it out of my scrapbook.Incidentally, a few hours after this picture was taken, Erik and I got engaged. Just a fun sidenote that has nothing to do with the story.

So anyway, this story is about Venita and my (kind, loving, friendly) husband. Keep in mind that at the time this incident took place, he was a naive 24-year-old who was eager to meet and befriend everyone.

So we were at a co-ed baby shower for a co-worker in our department. Several co-workers and their spouses/significant others were there, including several unfamiliar faces. Ours was a fairly large department (the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiolgy, in case you were curious), and neither Erik nor I had worked there for very long. Thus, we hadn't met everyone yet. This fact caused me to draw inside my shell, too shy to introduce my newly-graduated-from-college self to all these grown-ups who surrounded me. But Erik, as always, was game to meet new people and extend a hand of friendship to those around him.

Erik walked over to our friend Venita and said hello, then gestured to the woman sitting next to her and asked "Is this your mother?" Now, let the record show that Venita often told stories about her mother, whom she was obviously close to. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that Venita would bring her mother to this event, and Erik wanted to help this unfamiliar-to-him, and thus possibly visiting, woman feel comfortable. Venita responded "This is Mary. She works in our department!"

Venita laughed at this case of mistaken identity. Mary, however, was not as amused. Luckily Erik is just lovable enough that she couldn't stay mad at him for long.

The best (or worst) part of the story is that Venita's mother had died about a year previously. So, there was no physical way she could have brought her mother to the baby shower, even if she'd wanted to!

I Am a Warrior

And I'm here to save the day!

Bathroom Remodel

There are so many things in my house that I want to remodel/improve. I am trying to take it one room at a time, but my problem is this:

I get 90% done, then I get bored and move on to the next project. Then, those last few details that will make the room perfectly finished remain undone for weeks, months, yes sometimes even years because I just can't bring myself to do them. So I make lists and include all these tiny little finishing touches, and every day when I pass said room I think "Oh, I've got to put those knobs on" or "One of these days I'll caulk around the toilet." This goes on for, like I said, oftentimes weeks and even months. Rarely years. Once in awhile years. OK, often years. Usually more like months. Which really isn't much better, let's be honest.

And then one day (this day was yesterday for me) I FINALLY decide to just do it, and it takes me a total of 8 minutes to complete everything. Then I proceed to kick myself and repeat "WHY did it take me so long to get around to doing that?!!" Not that I'm dwelling on it. I'm not dwelling. I'm relishing in the fact that our downstairs bathroom is FINALLY done!!! And it's lovely. Wanna see?

Here it is before:

Boring, ugly, with gross wallpaper and carpet. Seriously, the reason people put carpet in a bathroom is beyond me.

We ripped everything out and started from scratch. Caleb looooooved helping with the demolition. And honestly, what five-year-old boy (OK, he was four then) doesn't?

The wallpaper was the worst. It took days and days and DAYS of spraying and scraping to get it all off. Can you tell this is a memory I don't care to relive?

OK, are you ready? Dun-du-DUH!!! Voila, our new and improved, and recently completed, bathroom!
It's hard to get it all in one shot since it's such a small room. Here's the counter, sink, and fixtures. I just love the look of brushed nickel.
Vanity:

Mirror and lights. The walls are a mossy green color.
Travertine floors. Erik cut them all with a wet saw which made even more of a mess than the wallpaper, but wetter. I laid all the tile myself. I loooove how it turned out. It looks kinda yellowish here, but it's actually more of a tan color.
The picture that inspired the color sheme:

I'm so happy with it! Now I can move on to other projects guilt-free, right? Except I'm already knee-deep in finishing up the kids' rooms and ready to move on to the living room. Oh, and then the kitchen needs some work....

Shiny Happy Yellow

I never did post about this in the summer when it actually happened, but we got our house painted! It was badly in need of a new paint job, and we figured we may as well pick a color we like better than boring old gray (no offense if you have a gray house). I have always wanted a yellow house, so we decided to go for it!

We first chose a few yellows from the teeny-tiny 2-square inch samples and the painter painted larger patches of them on the house so we could see them. Can you say NEON YELLOW?!!

I think our neighbors were getting worried. But, we toned it way down, and I love how it turned out! The color we chose is the furthest one away in this next picture. A small patch of it looks like a light beige, but when you apply it to an entire two-story house it's a nice creamy yellow.First they primed it,

then came the yellow paint! It was so exciting to see the house transform before my eyes!

I think it looks great with the white trim, don't you? Please pardon these last two pictures; apparently I am incapable of taking a straight up-and-down photo. Do you think my head is crooked? Don't answer that.I also wanted a red door, but Erik wasn't quite ready for that kind of commitment. So, we stuck with white. I am going to work on him... But I do think the white is just dandy, don't get me wrong.

I love my new yellow house. It's such a happy color! If you live in the area come over and see it! Heck, even if you don't live in the area come over and see it! Me and my yellow house would love to see you!

Slimy

Yesterday when I was on the phone, Ben found the one-gallon jug of bubble solution. He somehow managed to get the lid off, and by the time I found him he was sitting in a rapidly growing puddle of slippery, slimy liquid.

Think he had fun?

The best part was when he stood up and tried to walk. He was sliding everywhere. Good thing he has a well-cushioned bum.

Ah, to be a one-year-old and discover the world for the first time! Everything is new and exciting!

Old Man

Yesterday was not just the first day of school, it was the birthday of the patriarch of our family. That's right, Erik's as old as me now. The kids get a big kick out of the fact that I'm 6 months older. Whenever we take turns doing something in order of age in a feeble attempt to minimize arguing among siblings (youngest in the family always goes first), Olivia is sure to point out that Daddy gets to go before Mommy.
I'll admit I'm a little relieved that for the next six months, we will be the same age again. Saves me a lot of hassle.

In typical Rasmussen fashion we had an extravegent, over-the-top celebration. It consisted of a homemade dinner, a few presents from Big Lots (the local Dollar Store closed down, so we had to find a new go-to gift store), and (Daddy's favorite) a storebought cheesecake adorned with whatever leftover candles we could scrounge up.

Ben wanted to help Daddy open his gifts.
Pardon the belly hanging out over his shorts. He got his shirt dirty at dinner and I was too lazy to go upstairs to get a new one. It's a good thing tummy rolls are cute at his age. Heaven knows they're not nearly as adorable on me.
"Oh, wow! Strawberry scented car freshener and a tire brush! Just what I always wanted!" Actually, Ben was more excited about the tire brush than anyone. He wouldn't let go of it all night.
Yes, I decided to go with the baby cheesecake over the huge, decadent, 12-piece one. Because let's face it, who is home all day with easy access to the leftovers? My tummy rolls would never forgive me. They would just multiply. And then my pants wouldn't fit, and I would cry. And then eat more cheesecake. Believe me when I say I know how this works. I've been there before.

But enough about me. Happy 35th to the best, most helpful and kind husband a gal could want, the most playful and patient daddy, and the most fun and creative statistician ever (yes, it's possible to be a fun statistician)!

Happy Birthday, Babe! We love you!!!