Runnin' through my head

Here's a couple of things I was wondering about this morning. . .

1. If I just try and have a baby now, can I count those 5 pounds I gained during my girls week toward the 'pregnancy' weight gain??

2. (as I'm wondering #1) does anyone ever open a candy bar to find anything OTHER than "Sorry, this is not a winning piece. Please Try again." Ok, I will, RIGHT NOW!

100 (or more) things about me

So, I'm heading off to girls weekend. Remember this? Well, we're at it again. This time we heading for refuge at my Mom's house. It'll be 6 glorious days of jammies and food and late nights and therapy sessions! My brother is even joining us for an amazing occasion that I'll write about when I get back!

My mom decided to plan a daughters breakfast. She remarried about 12 years ago and he has 10 children. She's invited all of the daughters and daughters in law to come and have brunch and chat. We're each writing a little (mine is more than one page. . .sorry, mom) bit about ourselves to get reacquainted. We were all together (15 kids plus spouses) for their wedding but haven't ALL been together since then.

I had started this post a while back (I think the initial date was 9/05 when I went back to edit it. I'm not sure why I didn't post it then, but I'm posting it now.)
I'm sure this is more than you'd ever really want to know about me, and it's just a taste of what makes me, but here it is. . .

1. My full name is Wendy Sue Schwendiman Mar
2. Schwendiman is a Swiss name. Way back when, they spelled it with 2 n's on the end of it, perhaps because they felt it needed ANOTHER LETTER???
3.Mar is a Chinese name (it was probably originally Ma or Mah before they came to America)
4. Schwendiman means man of the valley, Mar means horse
5. If you go to Neiderstocken (in the valley of the Stockhorn mountain) you can still see the family home where my ancestors and current relatives live.
6.Matt and I would love to take the kids to China someday.
7. When I was growing up people called me Wendy Schwendy
8. I'm the fourth of five kids.
9. I fought like crazy with my little sister Julie, sometimes still do
10. My family now lives coast to coast, my brother is in NYC and NC, my two older sisters are in CA, Julie is in WA, Dad in AZ and Mom in UT.
11.I get together with my mom and sisters for a Girls weekend every year!
12.My family moved to Nebraska the fall before I was born.
13.I lived in the same house until I got married, except for a couple of years at BYU.
14.Matt and I met when I was turning 15, he was turning 16
15.I used to stay after the youth activity and watch him play basketball
16.He was a "hottie" and would wipe his sweat on me to flirt (Ew!)
17.His sister Jordan was born a few months before we started dating.
18.She just graduated from high school, it makes me feel old.
19.Mormons aren't supposed to date until they're 16
20.I agree with that (in hindsight)
21.Matt served his LDS mission in the Provo Utah mission
22.I went to college at Brigham Young University (in Provo)
23.We were engaged a week after he got home.
24.We've been married for 12 years now (the 6th-9th were the hardest, the last couple years have been the best)
25.My mom got re-married 3 days after Matt and I got married.
26.Matt and I spent only 1 full day of our honeymoon by ourselves (opening gifts, Utah Jazz game, Mom's wedding, and the Nebraska Bowl Game on TV)
27.My parents divorced when I was 11
28.Being 11, 12, and 13 stunk (I think it does for almost everyone). . .you couldn't pay me to be in junior high again.
29.I cried when I was "promoted" from 6th grade.
30.My favorite teacher was Mrs. West
31.I can still sing my elementary school song
32.Wouldn't you like to hear it?
33.At age 4 my favorite outfit was a pair of overalls and a blue shirt
34.I wore it every day
35.I was a "tomboy"
36.I never had a barbie
37.I did have strawberry shortcake dolls
38.Our cat had lots of kittens when I was growing up
39.We named all of them (Laverne and Shirley, the Fonz, Shawn Cassidy, etc.)
40.We used to put the kittens in a baby carriage and roll them down the sidewalk
41.My parents gave away our cat to a "farm" or so they said.
42.I love to dance
43.I was captain of my high school dance team
44.A lot of the young women I work with are 'surprised' to hear that.
45.Does that mean I'm not cool anymore?
46.Was I ever?
47.I love to ballroom dance.
48.I was on one of the BYU ballroom dance teams in college.
49.I won 2nd place in a dance competition (the 'quickstep')
50.Matt can't dance but, he tries really hard :)
51.He knows it
52.He took ballroom dancing lessons to surprise me once.
53.This summer he's taking me to a week long BYU ballroom dance camp!!
54.He knows I love him because he can't dance and I still married him, maybe this summer he'll learn to shake his booty!!
55.I always loved 'doctor' shows when I was little.
56.When I first started college I was thinking about going to medical school
57.I decided I wanted to have a family and be a mom, and maybe not be SO crazy.
58.I'm a dental hygienist
59.That's pronounced "Hi-Jen-ist." not "Hi-Jean-ist"
60.A lot of old people pronounce it "Hi-Jean-ist"
61.I'm a faculty member at the UNMC College of Dentistry
62.I like telling people that I'm a faculty member.
63.I was hired the same year I graduated (1997)
64.I love working with the students
65.I've been awarded "Favorite Part-time Faculty member" several times
66.I hate a lot of the "stuff" that goes along with working at a University.
67.I keep telling myself I'm there for the students
68.I teach a Medical Emergencies class
69.Two of my students have fainted in clinic
70.I love giving anesthesia
71.I hate getting anesthesia
72.I do my own 'prophy' (cleaning) in my bathroom mirror.
73.I bring my instruments every time I go to see my mom and step-dad.
74.I even cleaned their teeth in England
75.With yellow latex dishwashing gloves (I forgot my own)
76.I completed a study abroad program in Jerusalem. It was amazing.
77.I want to go back.
78.I would not want to go back right now given the situation over there.
79.I have 3 beautiful little girls
80.Now I don't know if I would ever want a boy!!
81.I can whistle really well (so can my Dad, and so can my 6 year old Molly)
82.I can wiggle my ears
83.I hate when people are late to pick me up to go somewhere
84.I'm usually late to church (not my fault of course)
85.I have known my best friend, Lisa, since we were 2!
86.My birthday is the day before hers.
87.We used to think we seriously were twins
88.We have a picture of us carrying our 3 year old birthday cake.
89.We had "twin" purple dresses when we were 7.
90.We were baptized on the same day, her Dad baptized me.
91.We've known our friend Cimony since we were in 1st grade
92.We called ourselves the "Chocolate Chicks."
93.We also called ourselved the Silouettes (Ci-Li-We-ttes)
94.We were really cool (weren't we?)
95.We all went off to BYU together and were roommates.
96.We ran out a total of about 5 other roommates
97.We had lots of FUN!!
98.Cimony and I used to just about die laughing at Lisa's interpretive dances ("The greatest love of all" by Whitney Houston, was the favorite).
99.We got together to celebrate Lisa and I turning 30 at Cimony's in Chicago 3 years ago.
100.We always thought we would grow up, get married, live right next door to each other, and our kids would marry each other.
101. I live in Nebraska, Lisa lives in Utah, and Cim lives in Chicago. I guess we'll have to work on the arranged marriages.
101.I once performed CPR on a 9 year old girl at the Lincoln airport.
102.I was fine until I stood up when the paramedics got there, then I broke down.
103.I hope I NEVER have to do that again
104.I'm addicted to TV, I love reality TV shows (Amazing Race and Survivor are my favs)
105.I once was chosen to be on a TV game show. They were taping when I was going out to Utah to visit my mom so I had to postpone my appearance. A month later the show got cancelled. It was called "Paranoid", on the ABC family channel, hosted by Peter Tarkin (Press your luck).
106.I had played a lot of "Who wants to be a millionaire" on my computer. Almost all the questions at the try-out for the show were from the game.
107.I cry when people win on game shows, or on shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
108.I love watching Nebraska Football
109.I love to go out to eat (Chinese food, or a great steak.)
110.I love to play games
111.My siblings and I once stayed up Christmas Eve until 6 am playing a game.
112.We love to play cards, board games, speed scrabble, and do puzzles.
113.I don't have a "most embarassing moment"
114.My sister has a great one that I usually tell in those situations (sorry, Heidi)
115. I LOVE my family. It's fabulous that we get along so well with our extended family on both sides!! Sometimes people are amazed by it. That's one of the reasons I want to have another baby. So my kids can grow up and have great siblings and have great fun with them. (Like girls weekends!!!)

Blake rocks Bothell!!

"last line says 'Welcome Home Blake'"


Ok, all you American Idol fans! My sister Julie lives in Bothell, WA (just outside of Seattle), and it's the hometown of Blake Lewis! So, she called me on Friday as she and her family were driving to go to the parade. Here's the email I got from her yesterday. .



So, in case any of you are jealous...we got to see Blake on Friday and it was AWESOME!!! He was about 50 ft from us, which as close as I've been to stardom in a long time...

Here are a few pictures. If you want to hear the music, go to youtube and search "Blake Bothell". He sang about 5 songs, including one freestyle beatbox, where you can see/hear how he can replay what he was just singing and sing over it - that's what the black strap over his shoulder is - he has a keypad on his right side to control the repeating and then a whole system at his feet..it's pretty cool, even though he can't use it on the show.

After seeing him in person, it is obvious that he can win this thing...he's by far the most talented musician...he just depends on what he can pull together for the show. Btw, the mayor did get a fax from Paula Abdul - his judge's choice song for this week is "Roxanne" - should be good!

-Julie



I'm a little nervous about "Roxanne", seriously. . .no one can do it better than Gordon. So, we'll see. I am a Blake fan though, I think he's the most current of the final 3.

Early bird gets the worm. . .err. . .dress!

So this is the dress I saw on my Time out trip down in KC. It's Banana and I loved it. I saw it again and tried it on when I got back home. . .BUT really, I can't spend $168 on a dress, and a silk one at that. I could just envision greasy goldfish crackers and half chewed fruit snacks all over it at church. (someday, someday. . .) And it did fit me a little funny (at least that's what I keep telling myself), BUT looky here. . .





I snatched these two up at, get this, JC Penney!, and with the early bird sale and coupon I spent just under $70!! Yippee! Don't you think they're just crying out for some fabulous red beauties on my feet? I think they'll be my dancing dresses for our trip!!

p.s. if you click to enlarge the pics, you can get a sneak preview up our upstairs remodel (Whitney's room). We hit a wall (like a BRICK wall) in completing the bathroom and hallway but found a great guy that is doing the finishing touches as we speak!!

Do you. . .May Day?

I'm wondering if this is just a Nebraska, or a mid-west thing. I grew up here so this is what we've done every May 1. To celebrate May Day the kids make up a little goody bag to their friends and neighbors. Some make a little basket of spring flowers to hang on their door, or a cup or bag of popcorn and little candies.

The best part is the delivery. I still remember the excitement from when I was a kid. You're supposed to sneak up and put them at the door and ring or knock. If the person is able to catch you, they're supposed to give you a kiss. All morning, even before school began, the doorbell was ringing. Then after supper, we were having dinner outside with the missionaires and the kids ran around to the front several times to catch their friends.

Molly had made one for her friend Sam. She was almost giddy as we were driving over to his house. The rest of the goodies I had in the front seat but she had Sam's right in her lap. She said it was taking so long that she was starting to eat his popcorn! I think she was just a little nervous and excited. As we turned the corner she said

"And now for the best day of my whole life. . ."

It was SO cute. We got there and she sneaked all around, but oh well, he wasn't even there to catch her. She had fun anyway.

I was thinking next year it would be great to paint little cute pots and grow some wheat grass to deliver to my own little May Day friends.

So, do you do something like this for May Day, and if not, why not start it up next year??

Planet Earth, Nebraska style

I hope you watched, or have been watching this. It's fanflippintastic. (That's my new word for springtime). I love those kinds of shows. My kids learned early on, as soon as they saw a glimpse.

"Mom, is that (insert any animal name here) going to die now?"

Well, it's NATURE honey. That's what happens. Everything has to eat.

And so it is right in my backyard.

We live in a well-established neighborhood. Great houses, all different styles, no 'cookie-cutter' homes here. We have huge Oak, and Blue Spruce trees all over, and that also means we have tons of squirrels and rabbits. Oh, my, do the rabbits eat well around here. HUGE rabbits. You can pull in the driveway at night and watch the bunnies run!! Well, I don't have to tell you that lots of rabbits means more and more little bunnies every spring. Since spring has sprung and we've been outside every night with all the neighbors, we have a few stories to tell about our bunny nests. (Let me just take you aside here and say that although I care for animals, I'm not a complete, crazed, ANIMAL LOVER. Yes, animals have their place, but not 20 large bunnies in my backyard. . .thankyouverymuchI'mgoingtogogetmyrabbitrepellantsprayrightnow.) One neighbor nearly ran over them with the mower. . .I know he's not the first to do that. Another had found their little bunny nest under their little playground. Ours always find their way to our woodpile. SO. . that brings us to last night.

We had all been hanging out with the kiddos. . chalk, bubbles, bigwheels, etc. We were getting ready to head in and I was chatting with my neighbors Mitch and Deb. I hear a 'screeching' and turned my head to see a huge black crow carrying away a little bunny in it's beak. I'm SERIOUS! It was totally like Planet Earth right in my backyard! My jaw I'm sure dropped and Mitch and I turned back and caught each others face at the same time. HOLY COW! DID YOU SEE THAT?? Deb was the funniest. . .she has no sympathy. . .her beautiful plants get eaten up every year. With all the screeching (bunny and other crows), we saw a couple of big bunnies run and Deb said. . .

"yep, there goes your baby."

Sorry. . .it WAS funny.