The GamFam will be proud

Warning: If you have a weak stomach or are opposed to reading about bathroom habits DO NOT READ FURTHER. I post this mainly to impress Steve's family.

Before I married Steve I had no idea he had a family secret. A BIG secret. A secret I discovered on our honeymoon. Late one evening Steve went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. I waited for him to come out so I could use the bathroom next. I waited, and waited, and waited. Then I timidly knocked on the door. (We were still on our honeymoon, so of course I knocked.)

"Steve, are you okay?"

"Um. No."

"What's the matter?"

"Um."

"Steve, are you sick?"

"Not exactly."

"Then, what's wrong?"

"Well . . . I sort of plugged the toilet."

"You what?"

"I flooded the toilet, okay? There's no plunger in here, so can you please go down to the front desk and ask for one?"

At this point we argued for a few minutes because I was too embarrassed to go ask the attendant at the front desk for a plunger. I'm can't remember why I caved, but I eventually trudged down to the front desk. The attendant at the desk looked at me dumbly when I made my request:

"You want what?"

"A plunger. You see, my husband flooded the toilet." (Notice that I make sure to specify that I was not the culprit. Heaven forbid that someone think that I clogged the toilet.)

The girl at the desk looked at me strangely and then went into the janitors closet to look for a plunger. She returned empty handed.

"We don't have a plunger."

"You're sure? You don't have one anywhere?"

"Nope."

"Um. What am I supposed to do then? It's almost 11 o'clock at night."

"I dunno." (Did I mention that the attendant was probably still be in high school?)

"All right," I sighed. "I guess we'll figure something out."

I realize now that I probably should have made the attendant look again. I mean after all, this can't have been the first time the hotel had this problem. They had to have a plunger SOMEWHERE. Instead I hauled my confrontation-avoiding hiney back to the room and told Steve the sad news. We ended up at some grocery store at 11:30 at night buying a plunger. Our first plunger. How romantic. I should have seen the signs then.

It wasn't until I shared this experience at a Gammon family get-together that I found out the full secret.

The Gammon siblings have intestines of steel. Apparently, it was at least a weekly occurrence for someone to plug the toilet when the kids were growing up. And it wasn't just the boys. Steve's brother-in-laws swear that they have to keep industrial-style plungers in their homes to keep those Gammon girls from overflowing the white throne. And according to Steve's toilet-clogging siblings, the toilet does not flood from an over use of toilet paper--if you get my drift.

Anyway. I have a point to this disgusting story.

This afternoon, in an effort to avoid a nap, Allison informed me that she went "poo-poo in pants." I took her to the bathroom and pulled down her pants to find a baseball-sized mess in her pants. After disposing of the "poo-poo ball" (this was Al's term, not mine) into the toilet, I went to flush.

My two-year old flooded the toilet.

Eww.

Back to Reality

So our vacation is officially over. Steve went back to work yesterday and was on call overnight. We had such a good time during his time off. After we got home from North Carolina, Steve's brother John and his wife and baby came to visit.






Little Spencer is only a few weeks older than Lindsay.





He is a fun little guy and is the spitting image of his father:










We had fun hanging out with John and Kori and Spencer. Rachel and Jesse also played with us when they were available. We enjoyed some awesome barbecue, played some pretty competitive games of cards, saw some of the sights and sounds of our fair city, and enjoyed the paddle boats at a local lake.










It is amazing to me how happy the girls are when Steve is around:

Sometimes I can't decide if vacations are good for me. I think that they ruin day-to-day life for a while. Even though I can't wait for our next vacation, I dread it a little too. I've heard of post-partum depression, but is there such a thing as post-vacation depression?

North Carolina Trip and Random Pictures

Jamie says I have to post something. Here is my first attempt at blogging:

Today we got back from a 4 day trip to North Carolina to visit Dave and Serena. We left last Friday after I got off from work and drove all night until 4:00AM. We decided to do it this way so Allison and Lindsay would sleep most of the way.

Over the weekend we cruised "The Triad" and "The Triangle" seeing all the immense sights and sounds of these locations. For Non-North Carolinans, "The Triad" is composed of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, and "The Triangle" is composed of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Allison enjoyed paddle-boating in a nearby lake and practicing her artist skills at the Greensboro Art Museum.

Allison became the Queen of Dave and Serena's home. Within minutes of arriving at their home, she walked around like she owned the place leaving a wake behind her wherever she went. Lindsay didn't care one way or the other as long as she was being held by whoever.

Here's Dr. Allison with her surgeon's cap:

Here's where we live (as seen from Schuyler Nichols' plane):

Lindsay needs to be on this post too:

Tagged

Hey, we've been tagged by my good friend Lindsay. I thought I would post my results and then I'll post Steve's answers later--just for fun. I've been after him to post something for a while, but he's just been too busy. After all it is the Gammon family blog. Anyway here are my answers:

4 jobs I've had . . .
Greaseball #4 -- Digging trenches for my dad's landscaping company.
Salad Girl -- Stocking the salad bar at an old-time saloon. Who knew that cowboys liked salad?
Old Man Bum wiper -- Nurse's aide at the Veteran's hospital.
Registered Nurse -- Still wiping bums, but getting paid more to do it!

4 movies I could watch over and over. . .
Roman Holiday
Goonies
Pirates of the Caribbean--I'm a sucker for pirates, AARGH!
Little Mermaid-- Oh, wait. That's not me, that's Allison. Over and over and over.

4 places I've lived . . .
St. Louis, MO
Cincinnati, OH
American Fork, UT
Saskatchewan, Canada -- Okay, so it's just wishful thinking.

4 favorite television shows . . .
So You Think You Can Dance
Lost
Sesame Street--It let's me take a shower in the morning, how awesome is that?
American Idol

4 places I've been . . .
Sharon, Vermont
Matewan, West Virginia
Key Largo, Florida
Havasu Falls, Arizona

4 favorite foods . . .
Grilled squash and onions
Rachel Cobia's chicken fajitas
Homemade bread and raspberry jam
Vegetable lasagna

4 websites I check often . . .
hotmail.com
kraftfoods.com
msnbc.com
craigslist.com

4 hobbies I enjoy
reading
jogging--okay so I don't enjoy this right now, but I will once I get back into shape.
cooking and feeding people
quilting

4 people I tag . . .
Jesse and Rachel
Leslie M.
Heather P.
Shayleen L.

You're it!

Mmmm . . .

We tried a great new recipe tonight. Here it is:

Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Red Peppers with Cucumber Relish

2 c. plain fat-free yogurt, divided (Greek-style recommended)
3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 large sweet red peppers, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 large cucumber, diced
1/4 c. red onion, diced
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. yogurt, 2 chopped garlic cloves, rosemary and lemon juice. Add chicken and let mixture marinate at least 15 minutes or overnight in refrigerator.

Grill or broil chicken and peppers--about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, to make relish, combine cucumber, onion, remaining 1/2 c. yogurt, remaining garlic clove, parsley, oil, salt and black pepper in a medium bowl. Serve relish over chicken and peppers. Yields about 1 1/2 c. of chicken/ pepper mixture and about 1/2 c. relish per serving. (5 points per serving)

This was pretty fast and easy and it was delicious. I realized while I was typing, however, that I forgot to add the garlic to the relish. It was still great! Leftovers would taste great in a pita or wrap the next day.


It kind of reminded me of this recipe that I tried a few months ago, which was also really yummy and fast.


Greek Chicken Kabobs

1/2 cup KRAFT Greek Vinaigrette Dressing (I used a generic brand)
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, cut into small wedges
1 medium lemon, halved

COMBINE dressing and mayo; pour into large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken; seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with the dressing mixture. Refrigerate at least 20 min. or up to 2 hours to marinate.

PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade; discard bag and marinade. Thread chicken and onions alternately onto 16 wooden skewers.

GRILL 8 to 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally. Meanwhile, place lemon, cut-sides down, on grill grate next to kabobs. Squeeze lemon juice over kabobs just before serving.

Enjoy!

Change is good

A few months ago I saw something on the Oprah show that really made me think. A pastor of a church in Kansas City who preached a sermon about speaking positively and the effects of complaining. At the end of his sermon he handed out some plastic bracelets to the congregation and gave them a challenge. He challenged them to wear the bracelet on their right wrist as a reminder to not complain, speak negatively, or gossip. The challenge was to go 21 days without complaining or speaking negatively thereby creating a habit of positive thinking and speech. If the member of the congregation messed up, then he or she was to move the bracelet to the other arm and start over. Apparently a large portion of his congregation have taken the challenge and have succeeded.

I was so inspired by the story of this congregation. I complain ALL THE TIME. I knew it was time to start working on it. So I got on the church's website and ordered a bracelet. (It was free!) It came in the mail a few weeks ago and I started the challenge immediately. Then I gave up after changing my bracelet to a different arm at least 5 times in about three hours. I decided to give it a little time and then start over.

Last weekend I had a little breakdown. Steve was on call the majority of the weekend and both girls were quite a handful. So when Steve came home Monday and told me that he had to study all night, I lost it. Unfortunately, Allison was the unwilling witness to my breakdown (Steve had gone to bed) and I think it frightened her. After I put her down for a nap too I had a little time to reflect. Here is what I came up with:

I have lost touch with what is really important. I've allowed myself to wallow in my "poor me" mode and forgotten all the good things I have in my life. I've also allowed myself to only focus on just getting by and I've forgotten to do the things that help me to thrive. I read something this week that reminded me that feeding myself spiritually should be my highest priority. Whether that means reading my scriptures, or taking time to really ENJOY my family, I need to take care of myself. I am truly blessed and when I feel spiritually awake and alive I can recognize my blessings. When I am not taking care of myself spiritually, I perseverate on all of my "problems."

So I've come up with some things that I can do to help myself. And I will try again with the "A Complaint Free World" bracelets in the near future. Hopefully I will be a little more successful the next time I try it.

And I wonder where those chubby cheeks came from . . .

Lindsay has been so smiley this week. I have tried to catch it with my camera all week, but this is the best I can do. I guess I can scratch becoming a professional photographer off my list off my list of careers I'd like to have. She really is much cuter when she smiles than this fat-cheeked picture shows!

I want to tell my mom how proud I am of her in this somewhat public forum. She is on a backpacking trip in the Uintahs right now--probably being eaten by mosquitoes. Anyway, this is a pretty major accomplishment for her. She has been getting up early the last few months and walking or hiking 2-3 miles. Mom, I am inspired by your diligence. Now if I could just follow your example.

I found an awesome treat when I was at the grocery store the other day. I generally don't buy into the "100 calorie" treats--way too expensive and a waste of good calories. But I was walking by the Hostess treats section of the store and I saw, you guessed it, 100 calorie packs of Ding-Dongs. What the . . . Ding Dongs? So I closed my eyes to the price tag and bought some. They come with three tiny little cupcakes per portion. I tried some when I got home, and they were pretty good. By the end of the night, however, I came to a realization. Hmmm. . . four 100 calorie packs equals 400 calories. Whoops! So the moral of the story is: 100 calorie packs of Ding Dongs--good. Eating 4 portions of them--not so good. ( I failed to mention that each pack had 5 grams of fiber. Which made my tummy VERY unhappy.)

Okay, time for bed. Or maybe laundry. (Can you guess that Steve's on-call?)