Why It Pays To Stock Up...

I went grocery shopping this morning and this is what I got....

20 bottles of BBQ sauce
20 bottles of salsa
10 packages of marshmallows
10 Handi Snacks Pudding Packs
10 boxes of Capri Suns
10 packages of Trail Mix
10 boxes of Wheat Thins
8 bottles of Mayo
8 Frozen Tombstone Pizza's
10 boxes of Cereal

My bill only came to $80! I saved $270.00!!! I was so excited. I think I might go back and by some more, my cart was totally overflowing so I had to stop. This is another reason you should sign up for that website, she tells you where the deals are. I love when I can save so much money!

"If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear...."

I have pantry shelves full of food, my family is fed nightly (lately with fun new recipes) thanks to one lady that I am so in-debited to. She scours the weekly grocery ads for all the good deals and even sends out a weekly meal plan according to those things that are on sale. This woman is amazing!

Our ward challenged every family to gather a 3 month supply of food about a year ago. With 1 month left to finish up they asked the visiting teachers to ask each of their sisters how they were doing. At 1:00 in the morning I started bawling and had a meltdown about food storage because I hadn't even started and I knew my VT were going to be asking me about it. I didn't even know how to begin, or where to start it was all so overwhelming!!! I opened up about my "problem" to my presidency. That's when Shandra came into my life. Krista had this friend who sent out this email to a few people so she started forwarding it to me. From there it just started snowballing, and she had a group of over 500 people that were getting the email.

I'm so excited because she now has a website (and lucky her she's finally getting paid for all the time she has put into her work.) So after a lot of rambling, I'm trying to put in a plug for her. She has been able to save me probably thousands of dollars on grocery's. I can now go shopping for my weekly meals and shop for under $60 because I have a little grocery store in my basement already. I still go shopping for the GREAT deals and food storage supplies that I can stock up on. But it's been so much fun and it's something I never thought I would be able to do. The best part is she sends out a new list of recipes each week so you can always try new things.
So if you need help with food storage or just want help with your weekly grocery shopping (prices are for Utah stores) click the link below and sign up. Trust me it is well worth the money (The front page say's its $6.95 but if you sign up in April it's only $4.95 a couple dollars more for the meal planner.)

http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.com/

*I even made my first loaves of homemade bread today I figure I gotta do something with all this flour I'm supposed to stock up on. Yum! I tell ya, if I can do it so can you.

Weekend of Bliss...

Mike had some reward money that he got from his work. They give it to you and then they give you a list of places you can redeem it to. We usually get it and redeem it to Home Depot and put it into the basement. But this time Mike told me to just redeem it to wherever I wanted. I looked over the list and I decided I would plan a little get away weekend surprise for Mike and I. It was supposed to be a surprise but I couldn't hold it in. I called my mom to see if she would be willing to take the kids for the weekend, and of course, she was more than willing. She ended up being sick but she still happily took them and they had a blast with her. They were literally pushing Mike and I out the door.


So our weekend started out great. Mike started the day Friday by going golfing with Ryan, Derek, and Brooks. They are crazy, the day was freezing! I have a feeling it's going to be a long golf season if it's already begun:( I spent the afternoon with a friend. I was able to try out one of her new yummy recipes and she even fed my kids lunch. Thanks again for letting us drop in on you! Then we came home and got ready for our fun get away weekend.


A couple years ago we stayed up at the Marriott and I fell in love with that hotel, well at least the beds! They are so comfortable!!! All weekend long that's all I wanted to do was curl up in bed. It was a king size, and so soft and fluffy. I highly recommend it to anybody (but I don't think all their beds come standard like this, you have to ask for it specifically.)

We checked into our hotel Friday night and I was so excited because this was the view from our window....

We had the bed, the view, no kids, a TV full of movies I hadn't seen, I was set. I didn't need to leave my hotel room. But of course we did. We didn't even spend much time there.

Friday night we went and ate at one of my favorites, PF Changs. So Yummy! They have these yummy shooter size desserts you can order. They are the perfect size after you've filled up on all the yummy food. Problem was they all looked so good, I wanted to order them all. Then we were going to go see a movie but decided our bed at the hotel was a much better place to see a movie, so we went back to the hotel and rented one off our TV.


Saturday morning was heavenly! We slept in. No kids asking me for breakfast. No one climbing on me in my bed. I was on my own time, it's weird you kind of forget what that's like. Anyway, when I booked our hotel room I got breakfast included, so we went down to the restaurant and someone actually cooked breakfast for me! It was a fabulous breakfast buffet. It was yummy. We decided to go over to Gateway after that, but after taking one step onto the street we quickly changed our mind and went over to Fashion Place. It was way too cold outside. We only had a couple hours of shopping because we had an appt. to make at 2:00. I had booked us couples massages. I love getting massages, and I go every now and then. But Mike has only had one one other time and he really didn't enjoy it very much. So I booked the massages at The Spa Club over at Jordan Landing and I let Mike have "my girl" Natalie. I wanted him to have a good massage, and she is FABULOUS!! We had an hour of pure bliss. Needless to say after the hour he said we would be going back, maybe even monthly. After that we had a reception to go to so we met up with some friends for dinner at my favorite, Texas Roadhouse. And then again we contemplated going to see a show, but decided going back to our hotel to our comfy bed and renting another one.


We were dreading waking up Sunday morning, knowing that our weekend was coming to an end. We slept in so late had breakfast once again and just hung out. It was so nice all weekend having no responsibilities, having nobody to tend to but ourselves. It's just another life that's so foreign to me. But it was nice coming home to my babies. Kade was sick and he just sat and cuddled all night which was nice cause he never does that. I just can't thank my mom and Kenny enough because getting a chance to getaway for a weekend like that is just priceless. I know it probably wasn't easy cause my mom was sick and Kade was sick. So again....Thank you!!

My only complaint on the weekend....It wasn't long enough!

Easter....

Kade's first Easter egg hunt at my dad's house. He didn't quite get it at first, but after he realized what he was supposed to be doing he had a blast. I think next year I need to invest in better baskets, no more of the $1 baskets from Target. Every time he bent over his whole basket would tip out. The kid has been on a sugar high though since Easter. He has loved all the chocolate!

Kaylee had a blast running around squealing. She found eggs in all the hard places.

Brayden was good to make sure everybody was getting their fair share of eggs. He just gets so excited and jittery I think he passed up quite a few while he was spazzing out.

We also had a yummy lunch with our cousins and family. We had a great day, and fortunately the weather cooperated. The kids made out with a ton of yummy candy (yeah for mom!)

The next day The Easter bunny came to visit and of course Kaylee came stumbling in bright and early to wish everybody a Happy Easter! She had been waiting for this day for months! She couldn't wait to finally be able to wear her new Easter dress. The kids all found their Easter baskets and then it was off to church. Since I didn't have my camera I still need to take pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes. We did have the professional pictures taken but as I posted before they were a disaster.

After church we were able to go over to my mom's and spend a fabulous afternoon with my family and some of the extended family. And again, more yummy food (gotta love holidays!) and another Easter egg hunt for the kids. They made out big on the candy this year. Then later that night Grandma Sonia came over to visit. She brought the kids some fun stuff. Kaylee got a hula hoop (Brayden rocks at it!) Kade got a fun Curious George car and Brayden got a kite. So happy be-lated Easter to everyone!

Funny Kids...

I have been a complete blogger slacker. I have had a couple good excuses though. First of all, our Internet has been acting up lately. Most of the time it's not working, and then randomly throughout the day I can catch it working (I hope I can stay connected through this.) Second of all I am queen of leaving my camera places. So I took a few pictures of my kids at a Easter egg hunt and then left my camera at my dads, so of course I missed out on all the other Easter pictures I wanted to get. I finally picked up my camera so I can post the pictures that I did get. Third, I just have been busy doing other things that are way more fun and exciting then blogging. J/K

I just wanted to post a few RANDOM pictures of my kids.

The other day at about 11:30 or so, Kade kept getting into the fridge so I asked him if he was hungry. And of course he told me "Ya" but I was doing something at the time so I was trying to stall him for lunch. But next thing I know he had pulled out the place mats, a dirty plate from the dishwasher, a couple spatulas (he called them spoons) and climbed up on a chair. I guess the poor kid was ready for lunch and he wasn't going to wait for me to set the table. It was kind of funny.

Brayden is a little obsessed with the Jazz. Every morning he wakes up and logs on to utahjazz.com to see when the next game is and to pull up stats on players and to see if they won or lost any previous games. Well we took Brayden and his little friend Parker (who I think instilled this obsession into him) to the Jazz vs. Lakers game. It was so funny to listen to these two little boys talk about the stats like they were two grown men! They had a good time. They both bought some Jazz sweat bands while we were there and some guy gave them this "Boozer Buddie" shirt. Brayden hasn't taken off the sweat bands, as you can see, he even sleeps in them.

And here is a picture of Kaylee, just being Kaylee. She kept twirling around and saying "Mom take a picture of me. Hurry, get me twirling." I don't think she understood that it goes all fuzzy when you try to do that.

I'm glad I have them around to keep me entertained.

Weekend Review

“The bumps in the road just make the ride more fun.”

I'm trying to make the most of this quote. We worked on our basement a little bit this weekend, but we had a few set backs with it. At first I was really upset about them because I want it finished SO badly and it has set us back a little bit, but now I can actually laugh at how stupid the mistakes were. They were costly mistakes, buy hey now we have a story to tell and laugh at. So if anybody knows some really short people I know where they can find some doors.

This room can be marked off our to do list....DONE!

Friday night we rented a paint sprayer from Home Depot to spray our base boards. Big Mistake. Waste of Money! We spent the first hour trying to figure out the machine, the guy that "taught" us how to work it "taught" us all wrong. After we figured that out we proceeded to spray the boards. We didn't anticipate all the pressure that would come out of the sprayer (I know it only makes sense) but we had dust all over the floor from our dry wall spraying up everywhere. Needless to say, all our baseboards have debris stuck to the paint. We truly weren't meant for this handyman stuff. They really aren't that bad, you would hope though that your new baseboards are bright shiny white, and beautiful. Not drippy looking, and bumpy with debris. Oh well, we live and learn. I know one day when I'm down cleaning those baseboards, trying to scrub off that big glob of gunk I will be laughing as I'm remembering this story.

This picture describes our day. Hoppy Floppy Easter!

Saturday morning we attempted pictures with the kids. It was a big flop! I'm not going to mention where we went but our last experience was horrible too. I was trying to give them one last chance because I bought a picture package from them and have a bunch of free 8x10's. I guess I wasted my money because I won't be going back there. Our photographer was horrible! She was so impatient with the kids, and was getting mad at Kade because he wouldn't hold his leg still. Hello, he's 2! Then they had a real bunny there to take picture's with and she just flopped it in Kaylee's lap with no warning. Kaylee kind of freaked (she's not much into animals in the first place) but then she was so irritated at Kaylee. So this was about the best picture of the day when we went and saw the Easter Bunny at the mall afterward (Kaylee wasn't scared of this bunny, for the first time this year she pointed out.)

Brayden had been a little sick with an upset stomach on Saturday but said he was feeling fine. Then lo and behold it crept right back in on Sunday night at Grandma Sonia's house. For lack of embarrassment on his part I will spare everybody details. I will just say I am grateful for a mother-in-law who isn't afraid to get down on her hands and knees and clean up the dirty work. Especially when I am standing there in complete disbelief and don't know where to start. I have cleaned up a lot of things in my day of being a mom but this one took me off guard, especially coming from a 7 year old. I'm just grateful she hadn't gotten her new carpet yet.

And then today I went and viewed the pictures crossing my fingers that magic was working behind the camera. Nope! They were just as bad as I had expected. I started crying when I saw them. As a parent you know how much work goes into getting your kids ready for pictures and then to just have the photographer be so impatient, I was a little bugged. OK and I'm a little emotional today anyway. I cried also when I spilled my ranch dressing on the floor today too.

So I guess what I've learned this week is that no matter how hard I try to get everything just right, life is going to turn out the way it wants to, ranch dressing on the floor and all. I need to let loose and laugh a little. Cause isn't life fun? Maybe a little poopy, but fun?

**This post may sound like I'm complaining, I'm not. I'm laughing. I'm way past the complaining part. **

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

One thing I appreciated yesterday: Mike picked up dinner for us on his way home from work. Then he layed the kids down for the night so I could go to Macey's case lot sale (for the 2nd time this week) with my mom... I really needed to get out for a little while and I got my year supply of sugar:)

Two things that made me smile yesterday: My basement doors FINALLY came in!!!!!! Maybe now we can get the ball rolling. And an unexpected phone call from someone thanking me for something.

Three things I cooked today: Nothing much yet,

1.Cereal for breakfast

2.PB&J for lunch

3.And I have started making Manicotti for Dinner

Four things that came in the mail yesterday:

1.Albertsons/Smith's Ads I love looking at the good deals of the week

2.Kaylee's Dr. bill from her nose surgery.

3.Junk

4.Magazine

Five places I went this week:
1.Rod Works I bought a few things for the house and some ribbon.

2.Hobby Lobby to pick up our family picture

3.Went to dinner with my Dad and Laura at the new Training Table. I always love going to get cheese fries and a yummy Dr. Pepper. After we went and hung out at their house for a little while.

4. The cemetery. This past week was my grandmas 8 year anniversary of passing and Bill's 4 month anniversary of passing. It's nice that they are at the same cemetery cause the kids love going to visit them. Kaylee loves to sing them all her new songs she learns at preschool.

5. The church history museum. (It's actually been 2 weeks since we went but I have been meaning to post about it and what a better time.) I went with a friend and we took our kids down town to visit the "I am a child of God" exhibit that they have. The kids LOVED it!!! We had so much fun. Everything they had was so interactive for the kids and I think they learned a lot. After we went and walked on temple square and then went of to the Beehive house. Brayden loved seeing Brigham Youngs house. But I think it was a little boring for the others. I definitely recommend going to the church history museum, and hey...it's FREE! One quick story, We had been there about 15 min. Looked at a full size Moroni that they have, some artifacts they have on President Hinckley, and then over to some things on the Tabernacle, and Kaylee looked at me while having her hand on her heart said, "Mom, I can feel the spirit so much in here. I wish we could come here every day." It was really cute. Here are some pics from our day

Six things I'll do today:

1. Organize my food storage/ storage room

2. Sand down my chalkboard wall I painted in the kids toy room. I hope it works out!!

3. Fold laundry.

4. Look through my Primary things for our Presidency meeting tomorrow. And organize my thoughts for Sharing Time on Sunday.

5. Go to Brayden's Parent Teacher Conference's. He brought home his report card yesterday and I was so proud of the way he was doing. I actually looked twice at it. I didn't think he was capable of grades like that.

6. Go pick up our doors.

Seven things I did this weekend:

1. Cleaned out Brayden and Kade's closet. I finally pulled out all of Kade's clothes that he has grown out of.

2. Had a girls night with Brandi. We watched Hairspray and made some cute pants for our girls. We still need to tweak them a little bit, but it was fun and they loved them.

3. Had a girls night with Kaylee (and Kade snuck in bed with us too.) We watched Ratatouille and had popcorn and stayed up way too late.

4. Went to the Macey's case lot sale twice with my mom. I am getting SOOO close to having my year supply!

5. Got caught up on my laundry, and actually folded it all. That's a rare occasion around here.

6. Got caught up on all the blogging I wanted to do.

7.Rearranged and redecorated my family room. (well just a few things.)

Eight people I spoke with yesterday:

1.Mike

2. My mom

3. My Dad

4. Simon's Dad

5. My little Bro

6. Bishop Wood

7. Brandi

8. Kenny

Nine totally random thoughts on my mind today:

1.Visiting teaching. I need to get it done for the month

2. My basement. I am so ansy to get it done.

3. Brayden. He has been so hard lately. I just don't know how to help him. He comes home from school in these rotten moods, he doesn't want to do his homework, he throws fit's over everything. It's so true that they get harder the older they get.

4. Mike's job. He interviewed for a new position. It's constantly been on my mind, just waiting to see if he got it or not. It's fine if he didn't, it's just hard waiting.

5. Sheri. She is going to be having her baby SOOO soon. Just trying to figure out what I can do to help her. And what I'm going to get her for her baby.

6. Mike's dad. I'm missing him today for some reason. I think now that we are getting back into our basement, I know Mike wishes he were around to help with certain things. I'm sad he's not around.

7. Girls night out. Sometimes I just let my self get so stressed about things, I need a girls night out. And I haven't seen some of my good friends in a while, it would be nice to see them.

8. Thank you notes. Someone just dropped one off at my house. It was so sweet and so random. I should do things like that more often.

9. Pictures. I am taking the kids to get their pictures taken this weekend. I'm wondering if I have everything they need for their outfits. Oh how I hate pictures, it's so stressful!

Ten emotions I felt today:

1. Tired..I HATE mornings and I had to wake up extra early cause Simon came early this morning.

2. Happy...The kids all went to school, except Kade. I love my time I get to have with just him. We bought him a ball at the store and he was SO happy. Just seeing the kid smile makes my heart melt.

3. Overwhelmed...There is always so much to do.

4. Proud..Of Brayden. He has really improved in his school work. I can't wait to go meet with his teacher and see what she has to say about him. I just always thought that because he was so energetic it would work against him in school, but his teacher has been so good with him.

5. Sad...Like I said before I have thought a lot about Mike's dad today. Wish he was here with us.

6. Confused...I don't know what to do for Brayden. He's doing well in school so I know school isn't frustrating him. I think he is just tired by the time he gets home.

7. Cheerful...a girl in my ward dropped by a thank you note with a fun surprise inside. It was totally unnecessary but she came by at just the right time she really made my day.

8. Humbled...There are a few things I have been struggling with and I've realized that I can't carry the burden by myself. I tend to carry it on my shoulders way too long before I rely on my Heavenly Father and other's around me to help me.

9. Anxiety...awaiting the news of Mike's job.

10. Grateful...I really do have an awesome life.

Isn't life rough...

Here is a pic of Mike and the boys in Sunny California. Don't they look so miserable? He said yesterday they golfed 36 holes and they were all WAY sunburned by the time they were done. Girls start checking your calendars cause I see a girls trip in my near future.

I'm gonna miss this...

The other day Kaylee asked me if I would pull out the baby albums so we could look through them. She will do this occasionally and it's fun to reminisce and remember old times when they were just tiny tiny. But the other day it just hit me hard, maybe its because I was extra emotional that day, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about how big my babies are getting. I am so quick to complain about how frustrated they have made me, or how tired they have made me, or how it's absolutely impossible to keep my house clean with them around. But today while going to collect some sanity at Wendy's by getting a Dr. Pepper I heard this song. I know I've heard it before but I don't think I've really listened to the words. It's called "Your Gonna Miss This" By Trace Adkins. Here is part of what stood out to me....

Your Gonna Miss This
by Trace Adkins

Before she knows it she’s a brand new bride
In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by
He tells her “It’s a nice place”
She says “It’ll do for now”
Starts talking about babies and buying a house
Daddy shakes his head and says “Baby, just slow down”

Cause you’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this

Five years later there’s a plumber workin’ on the water heater
Dog’s barkin’, phone’s ringin’
One kid’s cryin’, one kid’s screamin’
She keeps apologizin’
He says they don’t bother me.
I’ve got 2 babies of my own.
One’s 36, one’s 23.
Huh, it’s hard to believe, but …

You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around

I feel like I'm always in a rush, always wondering what's next in life. I think I forget to live in the moment. This is just a reminder that I need to live in the moment and slow down a bit. I think I've already missed so many precious moments because of either my negative attitude or just waiting for the next thing to happen.

After looking at the baby book with Kaylee I was looking through a book of baby poems that I have. Here is one of my favorites,

I dread the day when you are grown
When you can venture out alone.

You won't need me at your side
To hold your hand and be your guide.

You won't need me to chase your fears
To give you a hug and wipe your tears.

I know if I could have just one wish come true
I'd stay "Mommy" forever and you'd stay little you.
-Laura Taylor Mark

So over the next couple days I am going to try really hard to live in the moment. I have my three little kiddies all to myself. I have promised each of them a sleep over with mommy. Brayden is having a really hard time without his daddy. He cried for about a half hour last night and then when he woke up this morning he said, "If dad were here now we would be sitting on the couch watching soccer together." I guess he didn't take into account that his dad would have been at work anyway. It was sad. Then Kaylee played off Brayden being sad saying how much she missed Mike. So I said well I'm here with you isn't that ok? She said, "Sorry mom, I hope I didn't break your feelings." I told Mike today when I talked to him that if something were ever to happen to him that me and the kids would have to follow because I couldn't handle the whole grieving thing cause that's what I feel like we are doing here. Going through the day I've thought about a lot of things that I take for granted that Mike does for me. These are some of the things I've missed having him gone.


*I had to bathe the kids last night. He usually does this so I can have a few minutes to myself or to catch up on anything that needs to be done.
*Bedtime routine by myself...need I say more.
* Watching TV and having no one to comment on the shows to, No one to get me a glass of water, or a blanket, and no one to cuddle with.
*Having to make sure the house is locked up before going to bed. I usually don't think twice about this.
*Going to bed by myself. I love having someone to talk to before I go to bed. I was lonely.
*Kade woke up in the middle of the night, I had to get up with him. Kade usually doesn't do this but when he does Mike is usually so dead asleep he will do anything I ask him to.
*6:30 this morning when the kids woke up. I had to get up with them. He's usually so great to take care of the kids until he has to leave for work.
*The phone calls and text messages I get through out the day.
*I have a sink full of dishes that I can't save for him for when he gets home.
*I'm out of milk. He will always stop on his way home from work and pick up anything I need.

It's nice having a partner (but after reading this it sounds more like I have a slave, sorry honey.) I really do rely on him way too much. I'm not sure what I would do without him. I've been really sad lately for people that have lost their spouse , my mother-in-law, a guy in my ward, one of our old family friends just lost her husband. No one should have to be lonely. So here's to living in the moment cause you never know what life is going to hand you, and at any given moment you could be thinking...I sure miss that.

Boring vs. Fun

A couple years ago Dr. Taylor Hartman came and spoke at an enrichment night we had at our church. He explained so many things that had puzzled me about Mike, about myself, why our personalities were so different. Since then I have been intrigued with The Color Code, I feel like it just hits our personalities so dead on! So recently I have been reading The People Code by Dr. Taylor Hartman. It talks about peoples motive and why they do the things they do. If you haven't taken the The Color Code test here is the link and you can take it online for free.


http://www.thecolorcode.com/abouthartman.html#

If you know your personality color, post a comment. I love reading more about people's personality's. It helps me figure them out and communicate better with them.

So, until we came across The Color Code I couldn't figure my husband out. I struggled to know why things just didn't get done. Basically what I learned is that if it doesn't have the word FUN in it, he's not interested, he's checked out and onto the next fun thing. The thing I can be grateful for is he has a titch of red in him that carries into the work place. But by the time he's off work "bye bye responsibility hello play time." Some other things I have learned about my wonderful husband and other yellow personalities:

- they can't commit. Yellows start more projects then any other personality but successfully complete the fewest.

-They do things simply for the sake of enjoying it.

-They have a mental attitude that allows them to appreciate what they have, rather than be miserable about what they don't have.

-Yellows are restless and find sticking with tasks boring.

-They have difficulty committing to anything that takes priority over play time.

-They know all things will work out no matter how desperate the situation may become.



Mike and I are COMPLETE opposites. I think that's why we work, we can balance each other out. Now that we know why we do the things we do, instead of trying to change them (even as annoying as they may be) we just try to make it work. As a white here is what I have learned about myself and maybe for a few of you who might want to know me a little better.



- Whites are passive.

-They usually hold their true feelings safely tucked away from others who may be judgemental or disapprove of them.

-Whites are kind people and hate seeing people mistreated. If you are unkind to a white you will lose her respect.

-They are lazy! (Just try and get me moving in the morning!!!)

-Whites are stubborn. They prefer to give the silent treatment because they have a hard time trying to express their feelings. Don't assume that because a white is silent, she is compliant.

-Whites lack direction and commitment.

-Whites are boring, they like to be entertained by others or be by themselves.

-They don't speak up for themselves.

-They can't make decisions. But absolutely hate it when someone tries to control you.

-They are even tempered and make the best children (and yes I would have to say that I was the best child.)



So as you can see I am boring and Mike likes to have fun. Mike likes the social scene, I would much rather be at home curled on the couch. I like to fly under the radar, Mike likes to be noticed. but somehow it works. He pulls me off the couch and gets me excited about life but at the same time I calm him down and give him a list of projects when needed.