Saturday adventure, a run in with a bat, and tagged

Last Saturday was Wayne's day off for the week (yes, a total of four for the month), so we decided to take a little trip to Ithaca. We've heard from many people how beautiful Cornell's campus is and there are hiking areas and waterfalls there too. So off we went in our hiking gear. On the way there we passed the Whittmer farm and debated on whether we should stop or not. We decided that if the boys were not freaking out on the way home that we would stop and take a look. As we continued driving there was a sign that said Waterfall Overlook. We looked at each other and decided to stop. The waterfall was Taughannock Falls. They had hiking areas all around. We stopped for about an hour. Then we headed to Ithaca. We weren't prepared for the tiny narrow roads by the University and the parking nightmare. We were all so hungry that we stopped at the first decent looking place after finally finding a place to park the van on the road. After lunch we were done with the winding, crazy roads in Ithaca and decided to head back home. As we came close to the Whittmer farm we asked Jacob if he wanted to stop. He said yes, so we quickly turned onto this little road and drove a half mile or so down the road. There is a really big visitor center there and the little farm. The visitor center is also combined into the ward building for the area. This cute little sister missionary was already giving a family a tour and was so excited when we popped in. I would say the youngest child in the other family was eight. With Jacob and Trevor we lasted for less than five minutes and had to slip out. The kids had a blast running on the grass and we didn't have to worry about traffic and such. I can see why people want land when they have children.

Now, onto my bat story. On Tuesday Wayne was on his last day of inpatient medicine (YAY!). I was putting the kids to bed, the hall light was the only light on and out of the corner of my eye I could see a flash at the bottom of the stairs. I looked that way again and a bat was flying up the stairs and came into the boys room. It was just circling. It was so big. I would say about a foot long. It was furry and nasty looking. I was wigging out. I grabbed Jacob and threw him onto my bed. Then I ran and picked up Trevor while dodging the bat. Trevor just looked at it and said, "butterfly". He was mesmorized. I slammed their door shut and tried to figure out what I should do to get rid of this nasty thing. I called one of my neighbors who gave me security's number (which I should have anyway) and I called them. They said they would send someone over right away. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. It was my friend and her husband that I had called. He was holding something to whack the bat and something else to catch it. He said, "We've come to get the bat." I said, "Security is sending someone right now." He said, "I want to get the bat." So I said, "Go for it!" As they went up the stairs and opened the door there was no bat to be found. That made me freak out even more. What if it didn't appear and I had to wonder when it was going to make another entrance? Finally the bat came out again. Melanie said, "That thing is huge!" We ran down the stairs and left her husband, Michael, in the bedroom. After a minute he came downstairs and said, "We need to let it fly outside." Melanie said, "I'm not touching it." I said, "I don't want to touch it either." He said, "No, I just need you to make sure it flies outside when it comes down the stairs." So we're standing there wapping paper towel holders and brooms so that the bat would fly outside. He was in the room for a few minutes and then came down with the bat wrapped in a blanket. He then let it go outside. As he was letting it go Security drove up and two minutes later Wayne came home from work. It was 9:45 p.m. Needless to say, I made them seven layer dessert bars the following day. It really freaked me out. Those things are gross. Thankfully I didn't let it show and the boys seemed completely unphased by the entire thing.

Julie has tagged me. I've been trying to think of seven random things about myself. I'm not sure if I have that many interesting random things to report. Here it goes:

1. I was a really bossy kid. Don't get me wrong, I loved to play and surprisingly, I had a lot of friends, but I liked things my way and it took a little while for me to realize that other people liked things their way too. I would say by fourth grade I had pretty much figured that out. My poor siblings, on the other hand, had to deal with my bossiness for much, much longer. Especially my older brother, Chad, who is almost five years older than me. We fought like cats and dogs. We're past that now . . . thank goodness.

2. I have always loved to sing. I took dance lessons from three until highschool. The only reason I stopped was because I was on Dance Company and a Cheerleader, but my passion was singing. I paid for my own vocal lessons when I was 15. I continued taking them through high school and well after. I stopped when we moved to Virginia four years ago. I received five music performance scholarships after high school, but thought that I would have a more stable job if I received a degree in Finance (which I really enjoyed). So, I got my bachelor degree in Finance instead. I still hope to go back and get a Music Performance degree one day.

3. I've known my husband since I was 12, but we never said a word to each other until he was 16 and I was 13. I was playing the piano for a stake church production. I didn't know that you played the tenor part an octave lower than it reads on the treble clef line. He looked at me and said, "Um, I think you're supposed to play it an octave lower." I was humiliated. Here was this cute, hot is more the word, boy and I was this overweight awkward girl, who of course never talked to boys three years older than me! I just said, "oh, o.k." and that was it. He doesn't remember that, but it wasn't until after his mission that we ever spoke again. Thankfully I was not awkward, and was much more comfortable talking with boys. I thought he had no interest in me whatsoever when he came home from his mission. When I saw him in church he would immediately look the opposite direction.

4. I developed a fear of heights after visiting Niagra Falls two years after Wayne and I were married. We were crossing the bridge from the US to Canada. I looked down and my legs started shaking. My stomach was in knots. It was really windy on the bridge. To this day I don't do heights well. We went to Virginia Beach and had a hotel room on the 14th floor after Jacob was born. Wayne took Jacob on the balcony and I about wigged out. I knew he would keep him safe, but it still scared the crap out of me. After that Wayne just kept him inside and let him look from the window.

5. I really love to race. I know that I will never win anything, but I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon one day. I'm not sure if that will ever happen, but I'm going to try and make it happen. I think running initially was to lose baby weight and to have something for myself while Wayne was in medical school. Now, it is something I really enjoy and again is something for myself. I want to run all of the marathons in Utah. I have two marathons, four half marathons, and two ten milers under my belt. Next up, the Country Music half marathon in April and the St. George marathon in October 2008.

6. Wayne and I honeymooned in Hawaii. Need I say more? We loved it!

7. My first kiss was with a player. He had been trying to kiss me for a good month. After he kissed me I, the stupid girl that I was, thought it was magical and we were going to be boyfriend/girlfriend. Not one week later he was onto his next conquest. Thankfully for me I had a lead part in our high school musical. He was also a lead. At the end of the show I got to slap his face. He looked at me beforehand and said, "I really want you to slap me. I don't want it to look fake." I said, "If you say so." At the end of the show I slapped his face so hard it was red for the rest of the night. At the cast party he said, "Why did you slap me so hard? I had to pop my jaw back into place." I just shrugged my shoulders and that was that.