I feel a blog coming on!

Oh my goodness! Where to even begin at this point? Right?

So much to say.

Mother's Day was a blur. Had to work at a craft faire with my mama-in-law, Rosa, on Saturday and Sunday. Also was one of the speakers in Sacrament Mtg. on Sunday, so that was crazy.

I usually enjoy writing and rehearsing my talks, but for some reason (extreme dieting, maybe?) I couldn't focus and was up until 1:00 A.M. Saturday night writing it. So then I never even re-read it before giving my talk. I felt nervous and disjointed almost the whole time I was speaking, which is weird for me, but I made it through and I think it was okay. Mike said it was and so did a few others, but I had to leave so quickly afterwards (to go sit at the craft faire) that my lacking self esteem never got the all reassurances it was craving, ha ha. C'est la freaking vie, no?

The craft faire was, bleh. I don't enjoy the faires if you want to know the truth. I never get paid for working them because we never sell enough that I would feel good about taking anything from the small profits. But it's part of Rosa's dream and I want to help her in any way I can. She is so good to me and everyone else she knows! So bring on the faires. I'll do it for my Rosita.

I barely got to see Penelope on Mother's Day. Not even a single picture together! That was the main bummer for me. During Sacrament Mtg., she wailed as soon as she saw me at the pulpit and couldn't come to me. A friend quickly whisked her to the hallway and I didn't see her again until the meeting was over and she needed a diaper change before I left for the faire. It was so hard to leave her behind, but it was best that she not attend the faire and get sunburned and/or possibly lost in the crowds.

Don't know why I'm going on and on about Mother's Day. Guess I just haven't talked about it with anyone, and it's been a little blue spot on my heart.

In other news though, I am ridiculously excited for this weekend's annual Bug Fair at the LA County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH). I don't know when I've been so excited for a show in years! Maybe it's because we can better afford it this year than in the years before. Maybe it's because I know exactly the types of insects for which I am searching, so it feels somewhat like a treasure hunt. Not sure, but I am super-duper excited to go and so is Michael.

Have I told you before what Michael does for me every year? He takes on extra side jobs (on top of everything ELSE he already does!) and then gives me the money so I can spend it on dead bugs. Seriously. And he INSISTS on it, too. During our leanest years, he still somehow always found a way to make sure I got this once a year "treat". And you might think I'm exaggerating, but we've been going to the show for so many years now (i think close to 8?) that he anticipates it as much as I do. It is one of our only traditions apart from picking out a Christmas tree. Aren't we crazy kids? I am blessed to have my husband support my hobby. Honestly I would have given it up ages ago if it weren't for Michael. Maybe he knows that, too. It is so important that we support each other in the things that bring us joy, don't you think?

Anyway, we had been planning to be the first ones there at 9:30 on Saturday morning, but then I suddenly realized that Mike works at the temple on Saturdays. (Used to be Tuesday nights for over a year, but it was too hard with work, so he switched recently to Saturday mornings.) Duh! So then he felt awful for being the one who would make us go late. I told him it was fine (and sincerely meant it!), but he was pretty sad. (You see, there are lots of people there early on the first day to try and buy the most rare insects for their collections, so going late means possibly missing out on some cool things.) So THEN, Michael calls me and tells me that we can try to rent a room at one of the Church apartments (on the grounds behind the temple), so that way he can sleep a little later than 4:00 A.M. and we can also leave within minutes of his shift ending around noonish. I had never heard of such a thing, but turns out it's true, so we're booked for Friday evening at the temple apartments! Crazy cool. Mike can sleep til 5:00 A.M. for once, and he can nap for the 30-45 minutes it takes to drive there. YAY!

So now what I need to do to prepare for the insect show is to start cataloging my exotic weevil collection right away. That, by far, is my best developed collection. Even so though, I have managed in my zeal to accidentally duplicate a couple of my species and subspecies. So in an effort to avoid doing any more of that (which, believe it or not, can be QUITE costly), I am going to create a Facebook/iPhone album full of my weevils. And if I have time after that, I'll try to get some of my other green beetles or pyrops catalogued as well. Stay tuned!

Penelope recently had her 15 month check up. As usual, she's huge! 95th percentile for height at 32 1/4" and 75th percentile for weight at 24.12 lbs. It's crazy how fast she is growing! She wears mostly size 2 clothing, which has a lot to do with her huge head (also in the 95th percentile). I never, ever, thought my 15 month old would be half my height, but she certainly is. CRRRRRRRazy!

The last two rooms in our house are creeping very close to being finished. Floors and windows are taped off so texture coating and then paint can be applied. Then we'll call the carpet installers and get the rest of the carpet put in. Funny that the rest of it (the carpet) went in last July...There is only so much that can be done when you have a husband who works 12 hour days, is the Elders Quorum President, and a Temple ordinance worker. When I think of it that way, I am surprised we are as close as we are to finishing! Michael is The Man. :)

Sorry no pictures this time. Our computer has been having issues, so we don't have access to most of the things we've downloaded. I will try to include links to my Facebook albums for those who aren't on there.

Hope this finds everybody doing well! I have missed you all and your wonderful blogs! Thanks for your encouragement as I make my way back into the scene.

Love,
Autumn