A Wednesday List

1. I just realized how long ago I did a post. I don't have any pictures prepared, so today you get a list. Don't be too excited.

2. This past weekend Jared and I went out on a date..without Janae! We finally got the guts up and asked a friend that lives down the street to watch her. She cried as we were leaving, and it was really hard to leave and let her be. Our friends told us later that she only cried for about two minutes. Whew! We went to On the Border, which was terrible, and then to see Fast 5. That movie was awesome! Best one of the bunch so far. We can't wait until it comes out on DVD so we can buy it and watch it over and over. Best part of the night: having some adult time with just the two of us. It had been so long that I'd forgotten what it feels like to just hang out with him. I highly recommend date nights!

3. There's been some serious weather issues happening since we've been here. We've had some pretty heavy thunderstorm action, and the Mississippi River has risen to 48ft high. There's some serious flooding going in the areas around the river, but we've been unaffected by it. Jared has been a mad man at trying to get some of our food storage set up. We've also had a bunch of tornado warnings and scares. I'm not sure if any have actually touched down, but there hasn't been any damage. Just the sirens, and they always seem to happen at night when Jared is at work. So I'll huddle with a book and my lantern on the couch until the storms die down and the sirens go off. I'm totally freaked out that I'll fall asleep and not hear it coming and not be able to get to Janae in time. I've lost a lot of sleep in the last few weeks!

4. I had my first freeway adventure last week. I drove down to Jared's work to bring him dinner, and it was the first time I'd been on the freeway since we moved here. Everything I need is right here in our area, so there really hasn't been a need to go anywhere else. The freeway system here is confusing. Sometimes the exits are on the right side, and sometimes on the left. The on ramps are so short that it leaves hardly any room to accelerate and merge. And sometimes the exits and the entrances are the same dang road! So you're trying to get on and merge at 15mph with cars that are getting off going 50mph. It's quite frightening. And TN drivers are not nice. They won't let you in and they are extremely aggressive. Aggressive as in "i'm nearly even with my exit but am in the fast lane so let me just cross five lanes and get off right now". Yeah, frightening.

5. My ward is doing something really fun this summer called "summer outing groups". Each woman in the ward is responsible for planning an outing for the other families in the ward one week out of the summer. Last week we went to the park, and this week we are meeting at a ladies house in the ward that has a bounce house. It's such a great idea! We try to do cheap and inexpensive things, and it promotes ward unity and gives all the moms an opportunity to socialize with adults at least once a week.

6. It's super hot and humid. It was 95 yesterday, and I'm not sure what the humidity was. I think this summer is going to put me through the ringer. I grew up in Dallas, but I think living in Utah for so many years made me soft. And there are no public pools here to go to for a break! Apparently no one in Memphis knows how to swim. I guess a bunch of people drowned so they shut everything down. Sucks for me.

7. Janae is doing wonderfully. She still isn't sitting up super great yet, but we do it everyday. It's definitely apparent how developmentally behind she is from other kids her age. I have a friend whose little boy is only a few weeks older than Janae and he is already crawling! Whenever I tell people how old she is, they always have a slight look of shock in their eyes. I always want to kick their butts for thinking poorly of my kid, but in the end.. they're just strangers so who cares what they think? The people who know us know that she was born two months early, and why she is "behind". Besides which, she is as stubborn as an old goat so I think even if she was full term she'd still do things in her own time. Oh, that kid and I are going to have some battles. She's almost 8mo old and she already thinks she's the boss. I seriously hope I make it out alive.

8. Jared is working and sleeping. We are on totally opposite schedules, and we only see eachother for a few minutes in passing everyday. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. Janae and I really miss him, and our weekends are so precious because he's actually home and awake. He is working so hard right now, and we are crossing our fingers that something good is coming our way soon. We'll let ya' know. ;-) He's been trying to look for a new car, since gas is killing us right now with him commuting in a truck. I don't even want to tell you how much we're spending per month on gas, it'll make you sick. I had no idea the car shopping process was so in depth. Are all men like this or just Jared? Holy smokes.

9. Apparently I had a lot to say. If you made it this far, congrats! Give yourself a pat on the back. We're all doing great, and are lovin' life!