Boys are so stupid, sometimes.

It's late, and Felicity has randomly woken up, as she's been doing lately (I think it's a growth spurt, whee). I feed her, and am rocking her to sleep in my arms. Eric is playing video games.

My brother calls my cell phone. I don't answer, as I'm with baby. Eric doesn't answer, because he's lazy.

He then calls Eric's cell phone. Eric finally think to himself, "Hm, maybe I should answer it, could be important." He goes to find his phone, but doesn't get there in time. He thinks to himself, "Oh, well."

David THEN calls the house phone. Of course, at this point I'm nearly livid, because I'm trying to put my baby back to sleep, and if Eric would just ANSWER THE FREAKING PHONE she'd be asleep already and back in her crib, instead of jerking awake and looking for the source of the noise.

Eric sees that it's my brother, again, but instead of ANSWERING THE PHONE he ignores it, because now he's annoyed that my brother has called so late, and so many times.

HOW THE HELL DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL?

Wouldn't the fact that somebody has called EVERY freaking phone in the house signify to any normal person that they REALLY need to talk? I was assuming an emergency or something. Eric was just "annoyed" and so didn't answer.

So I finally put baby back to sleep, and call my brother back... and he says sorry for calling so often, because it wasn't an emergency after all, HE JUST HAD A COMMENT ABOUT AN EMAIL CONVERSATION WE WERE HAVING.

WHAT. THE. HELL.

Why couldn't he just EMAIL ME THE DAMN COMMENT?

Why can't my husband just ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE?

Argh. Stupid. Boys. Argh.

This is mainly for Sarah, since I know she'll find it just as amusing as I did...

A few minutes ago two very stylish city girls knocked a bit frantically on my door. They wanted to let me know that we had a huge brush fire on our property (!!!!!!).

It was actually a very small, very controlled burning pile of brush and other yard debris.

It was actually our obnoxious neighbors' property.

I'm still giggling a bit.

...

Oh, and life is okay - I got sick again, Felicity got sick again, Eric got really sick again, but we're better now. And the daffodils and tulips are blooming. And I have hot-pink geraniums to plant!

Oh, and my mom has a HUGE kidney stone, so there's an operation scheduled for in a week, but that's nothing compared to the huge operation she had to remove a tumour that THANK GOD was not cancerous. I've pretty much been taking care of various family members for the last month.

(So in case you were wondering why I still haven't been updating, now you know.)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
The flames will not set you ablaze.
Isaiah 43:2

I do love me some Jesus! God is so good!

Also, Felicity has the best auntie, ever. Auntie Sarah already got her a pony! Her name is Windy, and she's an adorable little pinto for an adorable little girl. Whee! =D

I can't wait for my beautiful sister in law to pop! She's around 12 weeks along, but I wish she were in her ninth month already so we could play with our babies together! I'm sure she wishes she were in ninth month as well, since her morning sickness is so bad she's on anti-nausea medications, wearing wrist bands, and still can barely eat (let alone keep anything down). If you're the praying sort, please add her to your prayer list (she's lost 12 pounds so far!). Ahh, but yes. Whether she has a boy or girl, I can't wait to see them both riding ponies (because of course her child will have a pony before he/she is born, I'm sure!) and chasing chickens and jumping with lambies together. Yayayayayay!

Also, I'm totally not ready for another baby, but sometimes when I look at Felicity my heart just fills with so much love that I kind of think I need another baby just so I can get some of this love out before I explode. But then I remind myself that adding another bundle of joy would not only make me much less lovely (can we say cranky, sleep deprived, and bankrupt from the cost of diapers?!), but of course I'd love the new baby just as much, and then I'd have twice the excess amount of love. I'd definitely explode.

Which reminds me, I'm not sure if I posted it here or not, but my brother David was talking about the new Blackberry Storm a month or so ago, and after he made a comment on how cool it sounded, Eric just replied, "Sounds messy."

I love my husband. He's so good at making me giggle. Incessantly. For hours on end.

And on that note, I'm off. I have to make his lunch for tomorrow, anyway. It's Friday, so he gets an extra cookie to celebrate! =D

So. Shelly arrived, and then a few minutes later so did Georgia, Julius, Ryan, and Jessie. We were off to Northwest Trek! It really is a lovely place, except the last time I went there it was practically deserted (of course, it wasn't a Saturday on one of the last weeks of summer). We saw lots of animals, but no moose, sadly.

That wasn't what made my time there not nearly as enjoyable as it should've been. While we were on the tram, I got a phone call from my mother. About my father, who apparently was in the Emergency Room.

( And the rest is behind a cut, because it's long )

So basically, we finished at NW Trek, and then Eric and I took the group out to Aaron's Ark, a lovely spot in Eatonville with great burgers. Then we headed back to the ranch, Georgia and Shelly got to collect eggs from the chickens (while Ryan, Jessie and I made fun of them), and then they headed home. Eric and I packed and headed to my parents' house.

My Daddy's fine. He has a concussion, and right arm is probably broken, but we only know for sure that he has a hairline fracture/crack on his elbow. He'll be going back tomorrow or Monday for another analysis, and he'll need a bit of physical therapy, but he's left handed so it's not a huge deal. And his head is fine, he just needed stitches and we can't let him sleep for more than two hours at a time. I've been pampering him all evening, which I think he's really enjoying. Poor Daddy.

And darned stupid communication issues. I totally freaked out for no reason. Anyway, I should go so Eric can play WoW.

My brother turned... older. Yesterday. Or two days ago, since it's late. Early.

Aly's never heard of MacGyver.

Also, two weeks ago I was humming "The Right Stuff" and she didn't recognize it.

She'd also never seen the tricks where you balance a spoon and fork on the edge of a cup with a toothpick, or tilting an almost-empty soda can, or wiggling a spoon/pencil to make it appear rubbery.

Yeah. Old. You! People who were born before the end of the 1980s! Comment and make me feel better about myself, yeah? I've got to stop surrounding myself with young'uns.

Oh. And Eric's family is trying to sell the house that he's been fixing up for us to live in, because a different one that his parents have been trying to buy for like, twenty years, has finally gone on the market. But they have to sell the property we're fixing in order to be able to buy the one we all really want. So, if you pray, please include us in your thoughts to God tonight (and tomorrow and the next day). We really need to sell this rental in order for things to work out (which would give us a nicer place to live, and then a place for his parents to retire)...

Got back to Pullman today, long but fun drive.

Eric's grandmother measured me for the dress, and I was pleasantly surprised by my measurements (yay for not being nearly as big as I thought I was in the tummy, and bigger than I thought I was in the chest)! I'll need to contact her with some changes, though, I think, because I spoke with my mom about the pattern and we both realized I went way too low on the back unless it's a scoop (right now I think it might be pointy, which is a bit too harsh for the classic romantic look I want). I gave her a lot of my ideas, and she's going to design a pattern based on that and what will look good on me. So long as the core things are the same, I know I'm going to love it. Sweetheart neckline with straps, poofy tucked skirt.

Oops, I forgot to call the woman in charge of the Grange, where I want to have my reception. Must do that! ACK!

Hooha. Anyway. I have one month to lose two inches. Whee! I doubt I can do it, but I'll pretend I'm going to try and that will make me feel better.

Eric's family got me my very own personalized study bible (American Standard Version, which is my favorite after King James). With "Suzy Schactler" on the front. I got all teary eyed in the restaurant. My mom and I also received photo albums of Eric as a child. ACKCUTENESSACK! I also got to feed cows and collect eggs from chickens and play with puppies and kitties... Oh, I am so very, very blessed. Gourmet dinners and tractor rides make Suzy a very happy girl.

The engagement dinner went swimmingly. For $700 total, it darn well better have! (That's not including the $800 for Korean outfits.) Yeesh, my mom and I are big spenders.

Anybody in Idaho going to any of the MLK events tomorrow? I need a program, if you do! Extra credit, yo!

Going to watch some girly movies and do some homework. Ta!

Today will be a good day, I can tell.

Woke up this morning to Eric studying for his test (he likes to use my computer), and then off he went (but he didn't ask for a ride, so I slept in!). Got up at 8:20am because Mama called. Had a nice chat with both her and Daddy, for about an hour.

My parents had lots of fun in Maine. As in, an extraordinary time. I've been telling them for years to go, but they always had too much work to do. I'm so glad that they finally got to see everyone... It's been about 15 years. My Daddy told me my Grandpa cried when they walked in the door. I wish I'd been there to see that. Oh, well, there's always pictures. Plus, since I'm getting married in LESS THAN 200 DAYS (ACKACK!) I'm hoping that some people will come over and I'll get to see them. It's been so long, though, and I was so young the last time, that I hope I'll be able to distinguish who's who. (Also, Aunt Jo! I'm a size medium!)

Hm. Must do some schoolwork, write some emails, and prep for cooking a 25-pound turkey tomorrow. Yikes!

I am surrounded by an abundance of fruit and fruit-related goodies.

Today, I:

 · Drove 400 miles
 · Picked apples and helped make home-made cider
 · Delivered a gallon of honey, a box of peaches, and a box of apples to my delighted mother
 · Played on a bouy tree swing
 · Ate steak for the second night in a row
 · Discussed wedding plans with my mother
 · Learned the difference between cottonwoods/alders and hemlocks/firs/cedar
 · Missed my kitty terribly
 · Played with two adorable border collies (Bess says hi, Sarah!)
 · Pretended to do homework
 · Confirmed, yet again, that I am truly blessed.

I love my family, and my future family.

Good night, lovelies!