Sick of being sick

Many of my family and friends know how sick I've been lately. I caught a cold that started last Tuesday with a horrible sore throat. It then progressed to my ears and caused infections in both of my ears. Anthony and his dad were nice enough to give me a blessing on Sunday.

We went to the doctor on Monday and he said that it not only caused an ear infection but pink eye in both eyes. The doctor gave me a prescription for the pink eye and an antibiotic for my ears but he told me not to fill it for three days since I'm so allergic to most antibiotics.

I'm finally starting to feel a little better and had my first night of decent sleep last night. Hallelujah! I think I'm on the upswing. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it a whole day at the office today. I just hope that Anthony doesn't get sick because he has a final tomorrow. It's a three hour comprehensive final. Wish him luck!

Anthony's Half Marathon 2010

This is Anthony's third year running the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. I ran last year and I have to say I was a bit jealous of him running again (it's my own fault for not preparing). It's quite an exciting race that runs right near our house.

Anthony's time this year was 2 hours 4 minutes and 57 seconds (2:04:57). I was so happy that I actually got to see him cross the finish line! The first year he ran (2008) I was stuck in traffic. The second year (2009), I was running so I didn't get to see him, but the third year (2010) was a charm. I was right next to the finish line and he even saw/heard me!

Congratulations, Anthony! You are amazing!

April Fool's Day

Okay, the only reason I'm spilling the beans now is because I know that Anthony won't read my blog today (he's busy prepping for a presentation at school). Otherwise, I would wait until tomorrow to tell my diabolical schemes I have planned. PLEASE DO NOT TELL HIM MY PLANS!

Last night, I smeared the toilet seat with peanut butter and even put a little on the toilet paper roll. It looked disgusting! When Anthony finally came upstairs (around 2 a.m., mind you), I heard this sweet little "Brooke....are you feeling okay?". I started snickering and couldn't cover up that I had made a silly prank. I made him think I was really sick and left the bathroom in a nasty state.

Here are my other pranks I'm planning on doing to him today (I'll have to thank the young women of my ward for some of their ideas):

• Put liquid soap on the doorknob to the house from the garage (so he can't open the door)
• Give him a shower of butter- basically, you carve a bar of soap out of a stick of butter. It looks and feels just like soap. He takes showers at night, so I should have time to prepare this. This one will be hilarious!

Wish me luck that he doesn't get too mad. I'm still thinking of some more pranks I could pull, but I think these are good for now.

Hot water is a good thing

So, my parents came by last Friday and installed a new hot water heater in our home. It is working fantastic! It took a little while for the old rusty water to flush out from the old hot water heater but now, as Anthony says "The water doesn't taste anymore!". It also runs clear (no more nasty chunks of rust).

It was a good thing that we replaced the water heater when we did. When Anthony and my dad were carrying it up the stairs from the basement, a huge chunk of rust popped off the bottom. I'm sure that weakened the structure and it was just a matter of time when the bottom would pop off and we would have had hot water leaking all over the basement. Thanks again to my parents for helping us out with this task! I'm looking forward to the next big task this summer..... redoing the upstairs bathroom!!!

It's a good thing that.....

We are going to replace our water heater.

This morning, I woke up and it was freezing in our house! Apparently, there was a problem with our gas (and yes Anthony, I did pay the gas bill). The heater would attempt to start up but then the gas would not ignite. I checked the stove and it would light, but then quickly fizzle out. I called Questar and they sent a technician out to take a look.

Apparently, there was some air in the line which meant that they didn't properly bleed the line at some point. Of course, when the technician checked the stove, it worked for him and burned like a champ. He went down into the scary room in our house (the unfinished part) and lit the pilot to the water heater. When he was down there, he was stumbling for words to describe the condition of our water heater and Anthony quickly jumped in to let him know we were trashing the old hag on Friday and getting a new one. Good thing; apparently, there is about an inch of sediment on the burner alone (who knows how much is in the tank). Gross! Thanks, mom and dad, for being willing to help us out with the water heater!

A Baby Shower for Amy!

I was asked to make the invitations for my cute sister-in-law Amy's upcoming baby shower being held at my parents house in April. I decided to try to be crafty (it's really against my nature), but I actually ended up having a good time making these.

I still need to decide if I'm going to crochet flowers for hair clips to put in the invitations or not. It all depends on how much time I have. I think it would be a nice touch if I can make the time.

Here's just an example of the invitations I've made. Each one is different from the next. I didn't do the traditional baby shower invitation, but decided to go with a colorful spring time pallet.

Water Heater-o-Rama!

I got a nifty bonus from work this month and was hoping to put it towards something cool like a stainless steel dishwasher, but that all changed when we decided to see how old the water heater is. It's 20 years old!!! I'm amazed that the bottom of the thing hasn't rusted out completely and burst! We've noticed that when you turn the hot water all the way up, after a few minutes the water turns a nasty orange-brown and chunks of rust come out of the faucet. Not good.

So, Anthony and I have been thinking about remodeling the upstairs bathroom this summer when he has a break from school. We can't do it until we get this water heater replaced. There would be no point if we worked on the plumbing in the bathroom, only to have the mixer get plugged with nasty rust. I'm learning so much about water heaters that my dad would be proud. My mom and dad are even planning on coming down to help us remove the old one and install the new one (too nice!!!). Maybe we'll buy them lunch ;o)