Deep Thoughts

I have a lot going on in my head and I thought I may need to unload.....
- If your husband puts in his two weeks at work and he has no future planned in a rough economy, would I still go to prison for taking his life?
- Should it bother me that my son lovingly refers to his three foot tall stuffed Batman as his little brother? It does. I wish I could give him a real brother. (Or sister!)
- If you are invited to a New Years party, that is being thrown by the "Popular Crowd" in the neighborhood, would you still attend knowing the invite came because the "Cool Family" you usually spend New Years with was invited too and really wants to go?
- Should I be anticipating the new season of The Biggest Loser that conveniently starts NEXT WEEK?
- Is it worth eating all the christmas chocolate and goodies if I have to take numerous shots to cover all the carb intake?
- Since I put up my christmas tree a week before Christmas, can I leave it up until May? I love sitting beneath it at night, reading a book.
- Why have I not had my hair done since March?
- Why do the four wheelers get to park in the garage, but I have to scrape an inch of ice off of my windsheild every morning?
There are many more deep thoughts encircling my mind, but I don't have time right now!

Our 12 Days of Christmas

(By true love, I mean Darrel!)

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- A phone call at work at 7:40 (in the morning.)

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- Complaints of extreme chest pain, shortness of breath and numbness.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- Two phone calls from my office to my MIL and neighbor, Nurse Carrie.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- A visit to the ER on Christmas Eve eve.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- An ultrasound on kidneys, pancreas and liver.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- A seperate two hour test on the gallbladder.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- Yummy lunch in LDS hospital with my Mother In Law

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- Seven hours in the ER with a discharge to go and see a specialist.

On the nineth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- No work for a week, ordered by the doctor.

On the tenth day of Chrismas, my true love gave to me,
- His broken gallbladder that only works at 10%.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- Lots of prescriptions to fill at the pharmacy.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
- A little 4 year old throwing up numerous times on Christmas Day!

I am so glad that the holidays are almost over and can't wait until we get into the specialist to get this Gallbladder problem solved. I hope that all the stress, worry, sickness, headaches and sleepless nights get better from here.

Merry and Bright

Isn't the holiday season supposed to make us feel "Merry and Bright?" Then someone tell me why I am feeling depressed, unmotivated, stressed, irritated, annoyed, pissed off and worn out!

The Unrein Update

It appears that the only time I blog lately is when I have fallen so behind that the only option of catching up is to write an official Unrein Update. I had been documenting my life in pictures, but sadly, when my battery on my camera died last Saturday, it apparently wiped out my memory card. So, here is the "Update," minus a lot of pictures and entertainment.

VINYLITIS - It appears that I have recently come down with a flu type virus called vinylitis. It takes over your holidays,leaves you little time to actually focus on getting Christmas ready for your family and demands all your time crafting vinyl projects for others. So far, in the last two weeks, I have made two signs for my neighbor, christmas gifts for my friend, Young Womens gifts for my aunts ward, ornaments for a christmas party swap and an overwhelmingly huge project for the windows of Steadmans Recreation in Tooele. Don't give up on me yet Kelli, Misty and Brittany. You are all still on my to do list, along with neighbor gifts, family gifts and name plates for our Young Womens program.

NETI POT - A few weeks ago I actually lost my voice. I dont think I have ever lost my voice. I felt horribly awful. I could not breathe, I could not talk and I could not sleep. My wonderful sister and brother-in-law suggested that I use the clever invention called the "Neti Pot." Have you ever heard of this piece of patent pending garbage?

I got the giggles. This is weirdest sensation I have ever felt. In the right nostril I laughed so hard my eyes were watering. (More than likely, it may have been the Neti Pot juice coming out my tear ducts.) The left nostril stung so bad that I could not let the whole thing cycle through. I yanked it out and then took some Ibuprofin for the huge headache it left me with. It did, however, get me breathing enough to get a full nights sleep.

DECKED OUT - After complaining to everyone imaginably possible, I scored myself a new "FREE" prelit christmas tree. I was so excited to get it set up. My mother and father in law bought it at an after Christmas sale a few years ago, set it up twice and decided that it was too large for their family room. So, because I am their favorite (and because Mike and Kelli were offered it once too, but they had already bought a new one) it was given to me. Darrel and I finally pulled it out of the box on Sunday night. This is almost word for word what happened next...

Big D: "Why are there so many cords in this damn thing?"

Traci: "I don't know. Just get the blasted thing up. Stop swearing too."

Big D: "Damn is not a swear word."

Traci: "Then how come you never say it in church or in front of the Bishop?"

Big D: rolls his eyes

Big D: "Dont touch the tree until I get it all put together."

Traci: rolls her eyes

Big D: "I just broke the stupid @$$ tree. I HATE CHRISTMAS."

Traci: picks up the piece to see what happened

Big D: "You don't believe me that it is broken? Its broken, I broke the damn tree."

Traci: throws the broken piece on the floor and goes to bed for the night.

At work the next day, Traci's wonderful mom showed up with another FREE prelit Christmas tree.

I rushed that tree home, left it in the car while I grocery shopped, attended a Christmas party and finished up some vinyl. Finally, at 10:30 that night I got it out and up. ALL BY MYSELF. Behold its marvelous cowboy beauty....

CHOCOLATE PARADISE - My mother planned last Saturday as a Super Sister Saturday. We all met at her house and made a ton of christmas treats. It was like I was in chocolate heaven. We made peanut brittle, peppermint white chocolate bark, peanut butter cups, coconut macaroons, white chocolate covered pretzels, toffee, fudge, mint chocolate ritz crackers (tasted like thin mints) and double chocolate bark. I took pictures of it all. I documented every minute. I was the queen of the camera. My blasted memory card deleted it all. Trust me, it was delicious.

CELEBRATION - Apparently there is a huge celebration in my honor happening soon at the happiest place on earth. I am so thrilled. However, I may not be able to go. Could someone afford to send me and my family to this party and in turn I will pay for your enterance fee. Click HERE for the news program advertising this once in a lifetime experience. Trust me, you will not want to miss it!

Well, there it is. The official run down of the Unrein clan. Maybe next time, it will be short and sweet, probably not, but here's hoping!

Santizing Your Teeth

Last night, while I was getting ready for bed, I told Jax to run to his bathroom and get his teeth brushed. He loves to brush his teeth, so he enthusiastically ran straight there. In the middle of shining my pearly whites/yellows, I heard him gagging and crying. Darrel ran in there and to our amusement, he was trying to sanitize his teeth, He squirt some Bath and Body Works deep cleanser directly onto his toothbrush. I grabbed the bottle and it told us to immdiately call Poison Control. Being the wonderful mom that I am, I didn't. I made him swish water in his mouth for around thirty minutes. It seemed to do the trick. Maybe I scared him so much with all my horrible dentist stories that he is now trying everything he can to make his smile sparkle.

BITE ME!

WARNING: This post was written for the sole purpose of venting. Consider yourself warned!

I have worked my butt off this season preparing for our work Christmas party. Last year, the "MEN" of the business thought it would be nice of them to move the party to Provo, to accommodate the employees in Utah County. So I did. It was a nice party at the Provo Marriott. They served a yummy buffet, we learned the proper way to fold a napkin(I can teach you sometime!) and were even serenaded by a few of the employees, with songs such as "Walking Round In Womens Underwear" and "The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen." Then the company paid for all the employees to stay the night. It was a great time. Everyone agreed that we should do it again this year. When we got to the hotel this year, they required us to put our personal credit card number on file, just in case. You know, in case I spill my Martinellis Sparkling Grape Cider on the carpet, steal a bath robe or rent pornos. I did not see any harm in that. They said there would not be any charges on my card unless I accrued some incidentals on my bill. Fine, I get it. You don't trust me. Whatever.

I got to work this morning, after a nice and relaxing weekend at the Marriott to find out that I had overdrawn on my account, been charged transferring fees and had bills put on my "emergency" credit card that I have stashed/hidden in my home. Some of you who know me, mainly my husband, know that I am anal about my bills and my bank accounts. If you spend money and dont tell me, you are dead meat. If I pay for something, I call ahead and triple check my online bank statement to make sure I have enough to cover the charge. Yeah, anal is the right word. Immediately, I called my MIL who works at the credit union and together we tried to tackle the culprit. After a little research, she informed me that the Provo Marriott had placed a hold on my debit card. WHAT? I didnt steal anything. I did not damage anything. My husband and I even spent the dang night in seperate beds! WHY?
When Darrel and I go to Denver, we rent a car. We always pay with our debit card and we are always told that there will be a $150.00 hold on the card until we return the vehicle. We understand that. However, this time, since I spoke directly to the employee in charge of booking all the rooms in advance, I was personally told, we will not place anything on the cards unless they accrue some incidentals. They did not mention a hold, they did not disclose any sort of hidden charges. GRRRR! Now I have a mess to clean up that could have been avoided by a simple employee stating the simple phrase, "We will be placing a hold on this card until Monday." How hard is that?

Mark my words.....Next year, I will be taking my business to the Best Western.

Deck The Halls

I love sitting beneath a glowing christmas tree in my living room at night, admiring the timeless ornaments from mine, my husbands and my sons past christmases. It brings such a happy, peaceful and somber feeling into our home. I love getting out all two of my rubbermaid storage containers filled/crammed with decorations to display through out my house. I love baking sugar cookies in my oven, delivering neighbor gifts in the cold and listening to the sounds of Christmas on the radio. I love sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall, watching shoppers rush from store to store, making sure to get everything on their list before time runs out. I love feeling the redneck inside of me come out as I replace a few of the broken light bulbs on the strands I left attached to the roof all year long. I love the smell of my moms stove top holiday incense cooking all afternoon. I love taking each piece of my nativity out and and explaining its significance to Jaxon. I love everything about Christmas.............Almost.
I really wish that I could say that I love my Christmas Tree, but to do so, would be a flat out lie. I dread putting it up every year. I love how full and pretty it is when it is finally all put together, but to get to the "Lovin' It" stage, takes a lot of work. My tree comes in millions of parts and pieces. First, I get to assemble the tree stand, using five seperate pieces. Then, I build up the "trunk" of the tree from four other peices. When I have all that together, I then start the long, horrible and deadly process of connecting each branch to the tree according to its color code. I am telling you, this tree requires science. I hate it. It usually takes me around five or six hours total. By the time it is finished, my hands are raw, my legs are cramped, my butt is numb and my hair is coming out in thick blond chunks. I keep telling myself that I will buy a new one but, lets face it, I am too cheap.
Tonight, though, I am going to tackle the tree. Wish me luck. I hope I survive.