We're only mostly dead

Miracle Max gave me a chocolate covered pill...and I'm back and ready to storm the castle. A lot of things have gone down in the last month; I'm not even sure I'll remember everything.

Karl had a birthday...shout hooray! He turned 30! We had entertained the idea of a big party, but he just wanted to relax. So we went out to dinner with his parents and had a little celebration. Here is us at dinner.

So as some of you may have read on Karl's sisters' blogs, their Papa (grandfather) passed away September 11th. Karl, Carson, and I were all able to go over to Charleston, SC for the funeral. It was a really quick trip but we were all so glad we went. The funeral was really nice and it was good to see Nanny (Karl's grandma). She got to see Carson again although he wasn't a tiny baby like last time. This time he and his cousin Kenzie were running all over her house trying to destroy. It was nice to be with Karl's family too. We got to spend one day at the beach and the water was still really warm. Here are a few pics of the kids at the beach. It was low tide so there some little pools and rivers for them to play in. Carson also helped himself to every one's lime-ades. Apparently he thought they were all for him and also very delicious.

I took the 4th and final section of the CPA exam on Monday. I didn't feel as prepared as I did for the other ones, but hopefully I still passed. If not, then I'll still have one more section and I'll have to take it in January or February. I got back my score for the audit section and got a 93!! That's at least exciting. I've also been working for 3 weeks now. Carson seems to have adjusted really well. I've adjusted too. I'll be honest, the first week was EMOTIONAL! I was a crying wreck everyday when I'd get home and would wallow in my guilt every night. I've calmed down about most of my fears though and I really feel like everything is going to be fine.

Carson has learned the meaning of time out. We started them a few weeks ago and they have worked wonders. We only do it for 1 minute, but he knows the words "time out" now. We'll tell him no a few times and then if he keeps doing it I ask if he needs a time out. He usually just freezes the minute we say the word. And then of course there are the times where he completely ignores me and then we have to follow through. But I was amazed at how in 2 or 3 weeks that word had so much meaning to him. His new favorite thing is to do something he knows he's not supposed to do (like hit) and then look at me and say "NO!" really seriously. It's like he's trying to beat me to the punch or something. It's actually pretty funny and it's hard not to laugh. He has yes (ya) and no down. He says them all day long. He may not understand what I'm asking him, but he understands the tone of voice for a question and will reply yes or no just depending on how he is feeling. But if you bring out a fruit snack, he starts saying ya over and over and shaking his head yes as frantically as he can.

Karl's birthday money + trading in our Play Station 2 and Game Cube + 20 games + 6 controllers + probably some other things = A brand new Xbox 360!! Karl is like a little kid at Christmas. I'm happy too because the first game we bought was Guitar Hero. I have to say I'm pretty much an amazing rock star. At 8 pm, the fog machines turn on, I strap on my leather pants (or sweats), pick up my guitar, and transform into the artist that I am. And, in true rock star fashion, I save the dishes or laundry for another day. I might as well live the life style...now that I've found my true calling.

I can't think of anything else cool that has happened so I may supplement this later. Here is a video to say goodbye, or perhaps I should say goodnight.

Lame Post

Okay - So I don't have the time to do this post justice, but I thought I should say something. I've started my new job!! It's definately fun and exciting. What?? Accounting...exciting? Well, I like it and it's excitingly new. It's an adjustment from spending all day with a 1 year old to spending all day with adults. Instead of "Is that a ball?" and "Do you want some cheese?" I get to ask "Where are the K-1's?" and "Can you help me with this Foreign Tax Credit?" Everyone is really nice though and I haven't been eating lunch by myself. I take that as a good sign. Carson seems to be adjusting well too. I miss him way more than he misses me. He's only 1, but I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to move out and start supporting himself...if he could get paid to point and say "whoa."

I'm crazy busy right now though. I work all day, get home an hour later, spend 2 hours playing with Carson (I plan dinner and then Karl is sweet and makes it), Carson goes to bed and I spend 3 hours studying for the next CPA test which is on the 13th. Then I get up at 5:30 and start it all over. I think I'll be a lot more on top of things once this test is out of the way - one more week! I'm actually really needing to study right now but Jessie (sister) reminded me of my lack of recent blogging.

This is all I have time for right now - but I've got a funny video coming and some pics. Look for it sometime after the 13th, once I'm sain again.

Few Updates

So Karl had his surgery on Friday. He woke up really wired and I think it scared the nurse. The adrenaline (or the steriods they gave...I'm not sure what they do) wore off a few hours later and he felt a little more worn out. The doctor said it went well. His cuts are healing up nice. There is a little bruising around most of them but I think they should look good really soon. Karl is just so happy to have some of the real big ones out. They annoyed him all the time.

I got back the results to two of my CPA tests, tax and business concepts. I passed both (96 and 91). YAY!!! Now I still have to hear about the audit section and I'm still studying for the financial section (not yay).

I'm going to be phoneless for 2 more weeks. We can renew our plan in exactly 2 weeks from yesterday and I don't want to pay $100 for a phone when in 2 weeks I can get a more expensive one free. So I know I'm totally lame and every one out there that would call me (not that many people) is annoyed with the inconvenience. I say...blame Carson. Or we could perhaps blame my father for not saying I would lose it more dictatorially (just kidding Dad). So email and I do confiscate Karl's phone on some days when I need to make calls. When we renew our plan we'll probably get a home line too so that should be good.

Small note - to those of you out there with private blogs - I want an invitation. Let me know if you don't have my email. I'm not sure how to get it to you without posting it on here...but we'll figure it out.

The Rest of My Trip

More fun Spokane events:

We meet my dad at his office one day (he got to show Carson off a little bit) and then we all went to Manito Park. We had planned to feed the ducks - as is the tradition - but the parks in Spokane all just posted signs disallowing the feeding of birds. So that idea was out, although we toyed with the idea of Carson building his criminal record. So we looked at the ducks, Carson tried to go swimming, and he also found the only spot of mud in the area. So then we went over to the gardens (another part of the same park). We enjoyed looking at the huge rose gardens while Carson just ran around. It is always a pretty park though and I was glad to go back. Here is a pic of Carson trying to join the ducks and then two to show the pretty rose gardens.

My friend Sarah (pictured at the lake cabin) works at a children's science museum called Mobius. So one afternoon Sarah, Jessie, Carson, and I all went down to the museum. The place was awesome. If only I had been 10 because I would have been in heaven. Carson loved it and just ran around crazy. They had a stage with costumes and instruments, water feature tables where you could direct the current, a little mini city with little child size cars to drive around the streets, and a billion other things that are way too many to list. Sarah helped Carson with the water tables (which were his favorite). There were also really cool bugs there. The stick bugs look so much like sticks it's crazy.

One afternoon we decided to rent a bike trailer for Carson and go out to the Centennial trail for a bike ride. The centennial trail follows the Spokane River and goes all the way to Idaho. I thought Carson would love it...but like so many other things, I thought wrong. He just sat back there crying. So after a while of biking I stopped and took off his helmet (gasp). This seemed to help for a while but then he decided he still hated it and started crying again. So we turned around and biked back to Riverfront Park to go to Pig Out in The Park. (I know a lot of names there).

First, Riverfront Park...it was the site of Expo '74 (and yes...people in Spokane still talk about it). It is really green and pretty, the Spokane River runs right through it, and there are lots of cool things to do there (the giant wagon, the garbage eating goat statue, Imax, ice skating, etc.) All those from Spokane are nodding right now saying "yes, I love that garbage eating goat." It's a statue of a goat and if you put garbage up to its mouth...for example a napkin, it just sucks it right up. Talk about entertaining a kid for hours and the kid is picking up all the garbage with out even realizing it. One of the park's events if called "Pig Out in the Park." They hold it every Labor Day weekend. Tons of food vendors set up stations, there are live musical performers, and then other random vendors (like at a fair). Pic of the huge wagon (which kids climb up into and then slide down the handle. The other pic is the Spokane River with the back of 1/5 of the food vendors. Back to the story -

So we biked to the park and then all got food. It was delicious and I was disappointed I didn't have two stomachs so I could try more options. Especially since they had elephant ears and funnel cakes...how could I choose? Once we all finished we started to bike back to the bike shop to return the trailer. I was hearing this weird grinding sound but decided to ignore it. It didn't go away though so then I finally got off my bike to check it out. Oh...hooray! I had a completely flat back tire. So we all walked our bikes back to the shop. We returned the trailer and fixed the tire. Not that this caused the flat, but the store owner informed me that the bike frame was much to small for my height. I informed him that was because it was my bike from when I turned 12. Somewhere in the ride with Carson crying and my flat, I handed Carson my phone to calm him for a little longer. As I did it my dad said "oh, honey, don't you just think he'll throw it out?" I replied, "nah, it should be fine." Well...now I don't have a phone and I'm pretty sure it's somewhere along the Centennial Trail.

I got to be in Spokane for my dad's birthday and my aunt Jenny's birthday so that was really nice. It was a really nice trip and I was so glad to be there. Thanks again Mom and Dad! Here is just Carson in our backyard. He ate a zucchini straight from the garden (gross). He also loved the swing my dad made.

Real Quick

I'll update about the rest of my Spokane trip soon - but I thought I should post a note in case people are trying to reach me. I lost my phone in Spokane (details to come later). If you read this...now you know. I'll try to get a phone soon but it might not happen for a few weeks. Anyway, email if you need anything. I usually check once or twice a day. Or you can call Karl but I don't really want to post his number on here. Sorry about the inconvenience. Kasey

Spokane!

So we've been having a blast in Spokane. Two of my three sisters are here at the same time so that has been fun. We spent a few days hanging out here, a few days up at the lake cabin, a night at Courtney Spear's wedding, and now we are hanging out again.

A girl trip up to the lake is a yearly tradition (we all don't make it every year but the years we do are awesome). We make large batches of spicy and regular commantors (chex mix and muddy buddies). Courtney changed their names years ago and we've all called them that since. We invite friends, play some ultimate charades, stay up way too late, and just have fun. This year the weather didn't cooperate but we still had fun. We all got a lot of reading done - and reading in a cabin next to the lake is almost as nice as reading out in the sun on a lake. Carson kept us on our toes - baby proofing the cabin wasn't too bad. My friend Sarah and Jessie were trying to sun tan but the sun thought different. You can see they are both wrapped up in towels.

Carson didn't seem to mind the cold water but once he started shaking we called it good and gave him a hot shower. Every morning during breakfast his lips would turn blue. I think the cold air plus the cold milk for breakfast might have done it. We made sure to warm him up afterwards.

Courtney's wedding was beautiful! She looked gorgeous as always and she and Josh seemed so happy. Jessie did a great job as a bridesmaid. It was so nice that I was able to be in town at the same time as her wedding so I could go. I'm glad I was there to see her. (For those who don't know - Courtney is my little sister's best friend. They've known each other since 2nd grade or so and they were always together. Courtney became another sister to us and we all love her so much).

Carson ran through the sprinklers for the first time today. Our backyard in AZ is non existent so we never even go out there. He loved it although the water was cold! The air on the other hand was perfect at 80 degrees!!

We've got more fun activities planned so I'll update later.

3 down, Reschedule, Churro

So I took the audit section of the exam yesterday. I feel pretty good about it. I have 3 down now and only one more to go. I'll take that one in Oct since the test isn't offered in Sept. I get really worked up on my drive to the testing center. There is just soooo much information running through my head but I know it's too late to study because I can't retain any more. So I do a little old school Backstreet Boys therapy. I'm pretty sure no one can resist to sing along to "The Call" or "Shape of My Heart". And let's not forget the classic "I Want it That Way". The songs usually make no sense but I have to sing and dance and all of the sudden I'm not worried about my test, I'm relaxed and in a much better mood to concentrate when I get there.

Karl's surgery got rescheduled. He is a little bummed because he was all ready to have it done - but I am so relieved. I was really stressing about leaving the day after. They called to reschedule and I forced Karl to wait till I get back. So everyone can still check on him (I'm sure he'll be lonely), but at least now he won't be dying.

Carson and I went to lunch today. He had his first Churro. He grabbed the whole thing and took a big bite. I thought he was going to love it with all the cinnamon and sugar, but he spat it out after a few seconds. He does like the cinnamon and sugar though. I was laughing in the restaurant pretty hard because he was seriously licking his hands (from bottom of the palm to tips of the fingers). He would have been happy to just lick the churro but apparently he doesn't like the texture or something. A little odd seeing as he'll eat basically anything. Anyway - it was pretty funny to see his tongue flattened against his hands. I wish I had had a camera.

Gas prices have gone down a little which is nice but it's also made me crazy. I find myself saying "$3.67!!! That's so great!!!" - which we all know is a crazy statement. $3.67 is still ridiculous compared to just a little while ago. Oh the way our mind sets can change.

Next time I blog I will be in the much cooler city of Spokane. Hooray!