"The One The Only The Truly Incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band!" - and Why I Hate Them

The Stanford Marching Band members do not wear uniforms.

It takes 5 minutes to introduce them (see post title).

They do not march.

They do not have very many members.

And, apparently, they do not think.

A little research (thanks, Wikipedia) has shown me that the band has given several questionable performances, including one at Notre Dame in which the band director dressed in a nun costume and conducted the band with a cross instead of a baton, and another at a game against BYU in which some female members dressed in wedding veils and the band director proposed to each one in turn, while the announcer referred to marriage as "the sacred bond that exists between a man and a woman...and a woman...and a woman...and a woman."

What the heck?! Who - exactly - thought that was funny?

Probably the same people that thought their halftime show last Saturday was funny.

I am not - in any way, shape or form - affiliated with those people.

The entire halftime show was one big long insult directed at a school - my school.

They poked fun at everything from the fact that ASU did not give President Obama an honorary degree (personally, I'm glad they didn't), to the fact that no astronauts have graduated from ASU, to ASU's graduation rate. And then they pointed out that everything ASU lacked, Stanford has had. Oh, and they mentioned that at least one good thing going for the school is the fact that they can afford beer.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Stanford is supposed to be one of the best schools in the country. I'm sure they are one of the best schools in the country. Reputations like theirs don't just spring out of nowhere.

I would never say that ASU is a better academic institution than Stanford. That's just not a viable claim.

But that does NOT give Stanford the right to point out what they think is wrong with our school and basically call it a school for morons, underachievers, and golfers (but not Tiger Woods).

I mean seriously - who does that?

What group - especially a group who is supposed to represent the entire school - would stoop to taunting, jeering, and degrading another school that is visiting for a football game?

If you think you're awesome, keep it to yourself. Otherwise, you're going to get another reputation - that of a stuck-up university that goes out of their way to point out any statistics that make them better than others.

Sure, you can tell me it was all fun and games - and hey, maybe it was. I can laugh at myself - really, I can. I can take jokes that are made in good nature - whether they are directed at me, my family, my lifestyle, whatever. And maybe no one at Stanford actually thinks this way about ASU, apart from whoever writes the ridiculous band shows.

But then why not crack down on whoever writes the ridiculous band shows? It really should be done, before this joke of a marching band completely embarrasses an otherwise entirely respectable university.

At least, that's my two cents. It had to be said.

If you want to read the entire transcript of the halftime show, click here.

But I wouldn't blame you if you just stayed far away.

Roadtrip at 37 weeks. Check.

Don't hate me because I'm crazy.

I mean, I'd rather you didn't hate me at all, but especially not because I'm crazy.

But I did just spend right around 30 hours in a car this weekend.

With one (1) pillow and four (4) men.

Applause is not necessary, but appreciated.

So yes, Friday morning, Dallin and I, along with my dad, my brother, and Dallin's brother, left for our drive to San Francisco, to see our beloved Sun Devils in action against the Stanford Cardinal.

The drive was actually pretty pleasant, and not any longer than the drive to Salt Lake, which I've made several times. Took us under 12 hours to get there, including stops to eat and everything.

Saturday, we explored the lovely city of San Francisco a little bit. It really is a nice place! Lots to see.

Lombard Street (incredibly crooked and incredibly steep. Scared the crap out of me.):


Steep hills (including a very steep one that the boys decided to race up. They all regretted it after. I died halfway up, and I was walking):


Ghirardelli Square (no, we didn't buy/eat any chocolate while here. Probably a sin of some sort. But the chocolate/ice cream shops smelled divine, and the square itself was beautiful):


Of course, we had to check out the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, this proved more difficult than you might think...

Golden Gate: attempt 1


Golden Gate: attempt 2


Golden Gate: attempt 3


Yeah, these were all taken at different times, probably over the course of 5-6 hours! The weather was perfectly clear and sunny everywhere but right around the bridge. We finally decided to drive over it, just to prove to ourselves that it actually exists. It does, by the way.

The best pics we got of it were while we were driving over it. The fog cleared considerably in the middle:

Crazy California fog...grumble.

We checked out various other highlights, including Union Square, AT&T park, and sorta-kinda Fisherman's Wharf. We also drove to neighboring cities to check out Apple and Google headquarters, as well as a history of computers museum, which was fascinating, but apparently not fascinating enough for me to take pictures...I actually think I doubted that they would let me take my camera in, so I left it in the car. But other people had cameras...but by the time I realized that, the car was so far away...

I get lazy sometimes.

Anyway, considering the fact that we only had one day to see the whole city, and that we made a couple food stops and what-not (including one at Costco...sometimes you just need a taste of home. Plus it was Saturday which equals sample day which equals bliss), I think we got a pretty good tour of the city!

And then it all went south for the winter.



I thought we were going to win this game. I really did.

We did not win this game. We did not come close to winning this game. It simply did not happen. I don't think it even thought about happening. How lazy of it.

And not only did we lose, but we had to listen to Stanford's JOKE of a marching band make fun of our school! I am not going to go into this now, since there is still more to write about the trip. I think it deserves its own post anyway. Just know that I am upset. Up. Set.

Anyway, sometimes its heartbreaking, being a Sun Devil fan. But we plow on!

(Please disregard any and all fatness, tiredness, and/or makeuplessness in this picture. At least Dallin looks good.)

My incredible slackerness as a photographer shone through the next day, when we made our way home. I didn't take a single picture. And the sad part is...we took the long way because it's prettier!

Yes, we drove home along the Pacific Coast Highway. We made our way through the Redwoods to get to the coast (holy big trees!), and then drove down it. Really gorgeous stuff!

And I didn't get a single picture.

Oh p.s....if you're going to take the PCH, make sure you have an extra six hours or so. Seriously. We left around 7:00 am, only made a couple stops (including an elephant seal infested beach, the Hearst Castle, In-n-Out, and a gas station at which we got locked out of the car and had to call AAA) and didn't get home until almost 2 in the morning!

And yet, I am here to tell the tale. Complete with baby in belly. Come bumpy, curvy roads, changes in elevation, and walking until my flip flops cried, baby stayed put. Thank goodness.

It really was a great trip. I'm glad we got to squeeze a little somethin-somethin in before we two becomes we three.

Oh yeah- did I mention that Dallin fell in love with the area and basically wants to move there? I blame it on Google.

Lazy Days

I'm in a lull. A hull of a lull.

It would almost be hard to tell you what I'm up to these days, because I'm simply up to so freakin little.

I used to have a million things to do every day. I used to work for 8 hours, have full-time, on- campus school, have a group of friends that lived close by that I could hang out with, and have this one amazing boy that I didn't live with that I just HAD to be around all the time.

Busy days these days constitute having homework and/or laundry.

I mean, let's face it: two people do not make for a very messy house, so there is only so much I can clean. We don't exactly have a lot of moo-lah for me to go shopping for more house/baby decor/stuff. My current condition restricts any active activities I could be doing. There just isn't a lot for me to do.

I should probably be soaking this in like a good bubble bath, since once the baby comes I'll probably be nice and swamped and sleepless and such.

But you know what? I feel totally like, worthless right now. Like a worthless lump. Because my days are spent sleeping in, checking out millions of baby things that I'm never going to buy online, and playing minesweeper on my phone. I might shower. I might take a couple snack "breaks." I might read a little bit (although most of the time, reading makes me feel lazy too). Homework days are Mondays and Thursdays, so I do that on those days.

But mostly, I just feel really bored and really lame.

It's not like I really want a job, per say. I completely loved my job at the school over the summer, but with starting school myself, and the impending period of time that I'll be baby-bound, it's probably best that I'm not employed full-time at the moment. I'm still technically "employed" at American Eagle...at least, I think I am...but I haven't worked there in...a looooong time. And I'm pretty much to the point where a shift would be rather uncomfortable now (5-8 hours straight on my feet? Yeah, no gracias).

This problem is compounded by the fact that I have the most amazing, busy, hardworking husband ever. Yeah, ever. He gets up super early every morning so he can be done with everything he has to get done (has to get done) so he can have ample time to spend with me before he collapses from exhaustion. He works so freakin hard to provide for us. I just feel like I'm not doing my part.

And it makes me feel really, really guilty. He can usually talk for quite a while about all the things he did that day, and when it comes to my turn...I, quite literally, have nothing to say.

Which then makes me want to cry.

I need something GOOD and WORTHWHILE to do. I guess it's not like all my craigslisting hasn't paid off (I've saved us a good chunk of cash on some good baby stuff, thanks very much), but having nothing else to do makes me feel like a lazy slob. A fat, lazy slob, in fact.

I get to go visiting teaching today (YES!). But then what? I mean, that excitement really only happens once a month.

Do I just wait out my slump until baby gets here? Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hobby-type thing that also happens to not cost any money?

Maybe I'll just blog...a lot. You'd love that, wouldn't you?

Yeah, I thought so.

Beautiful.

Dear Danny Sullivan and Chris McGaha,




Thank you.

oh...bot?

So.

Yesterday I went to get my third trimester ultrasound. My doctor said it's pretty routine for them to do a third trimester ultrasound...you know, to see how the baby's growing, positioned, etc. Plus she said I was looking a little on the small-ish side.

Hmph.

But I went happily, because hey, I wanted to see my baby.

So after the shirt was up and the jelly was rubbed and my innards were revealed and some head/heartbeat/leg/whatever else measurements were taken, ultrasound technician lady asks, conversationally,

"So, what are we having?"

I assume she knows it's a baby, since she can see it more clearly than I can, so I figure she's talking about the gender. My powers of deduction are amazing.

"Oh, it's a boy!"

"All right, let's check that out."

So she moves the little prober to that general area, and checks it out.

Brief pause.

(UTL=Ultrasound Technician Lady, K=Katie)

UTL: "It's a boy?"

K: "Um...yeah."

UTL: "Seriously, I told you it was a boy?"

K (out loud): (nervous laugh) "Yep!"
K (thinking): "Yes you told me it was a boy! I've been in here with you two other times and you told me it was a boy! You drew a little arrow on a picture! You used the word 'scrotum.' YOU DEFINITELY TOLD ME IT WAS A BOY. That is why I have boy-ish crib bedding. That's why everyone's been giving me boy clothes. That's why I've been stressing out over a BOY name. BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME IT WAS A BOY."

UTL: "Did I really? Did I write that down? Did we keep any of the pictures?"

She spins her stool around to look at my chart on the counter, and flips through some pictures trying to find the "proof." I lay there just watching helplessly, a "smile" frozen on my face.

UTL: "Well, there's the picture. I guess I did tell you it was a boy. Let's look again."

We spend the next few minutes trying to figure out if there is a protrusion that sticks far enough out between my baby's legs to be a boy part, or if the fact that it doesn't seem to stick out very far, plus the fact that we can see a faint line (although boys have those too), means that we're checking out a little miss.

In the end, UTL decides that she's sticking with boy. She says she's only been wrong twice in her 20 something year career. She also says that one of those times was about 3 months ago, so she's a little paranoid.

My mama bear mind interprets that as, "You got me just as I was losing my touch."

But she did say she still thinks it's a boy. And she sure seemed pretty dang sure when she cried "male" before. I'd say it would be pretty odd for this baby to not be a boy.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself. Over and over again.

Oh and also, my baby is plenty big enough, thank you very much. She's guessing he'll be 7 1/2 pounds-ish when he's born. I've also apparently been doing great with my water drinking (YES!) because there's a lot of "great water" in there. Oh, and the baby is settled pretty low in my tum, which is what's making me look/measure small-ish. This also means he might come a smidgen early.

Assuming, of course, that he is still a "he."

Heh heh heh heh....heh.

What's in a Name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

But my baby ain't no rose.

And he needs a name.

And he probably wouldn't smell as sweet if he was named something like...Wulfric.

Which, along with being one of Albus Dumbledore's middle names, was actually a name in one of our baby name books.

And I just admitted to you that I know Albus Dumbledore's middle names, and that I currently have, in my house, more than one baby name book.

I should really be more careful about what I write.

So... I've looked at names. I mean, I've looked at names.

**Side note: Dallin recently caught me sorting through the tab on my bookmarks toolbar labeled "baby stuff." With all the crazy "research" I've done on everything from cribs to cloth diapers to diaper bags to baby slings to names, this tab contains an unhealthy number of links. Dallin laughed. And I got mad. And I wouldn't even let him kiss it better. That's how you know I'm mad. Side note over**

But seriously, I've looked. Like, look at this website: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

Why in the name of truth and goodness would you need or want this much information on baby names? Am I really going to christen my child based on which name was most popular in Minnesota in the 1950s?

If you did that...um...well, I was going to apologize for making fun of you...but that's just too weird. Intended apology rescinded.

Anyway, no amount of online searching has really changed my mind either way about the names I've been considering, or really presented me with any new names that I've fallen in love with. And the books, lent to me by loving, caring people, have really not helped much either.

And yes, I am female, and I am Mormon, so I have been thinking about baby names since like, before I could date.

But this is the real deal. It's different when it's the real deal.

But in the past couple of days, Dallin and I have buckled down and hammered out a short list.

My criteria for names that made the short list:

1) All boy - I don't want some girl having my son's name.
2) Not super common, but something that he won't have to repeat more than once when telling someone his name. (Dallin has to do that...he don't like it)
3) Ideally, can be used with Dallin as the middle name. I think this is very difficult, because I love the name Dallin. I think it's a very strong first name, so it's hard for me to give it the secondary slot. And it's hard to come up with names that are strong enough to precede it.
4) Not super trendy or cutesy. I think those names just end up being weird.

Dallin's criteria for names that made the short list:

1) Not Wulfric.

I think he really just wants to name the kid so I'll stop stressing over it.

Well, without further ado...here are the top 10 competitors in the race to win the title by which our firstborn will be known for his whole life. Gulp.

In alphabetical order:


Brendan

Derek

Devin

Jacob

Jaxon

Layton

Logan

Parker

Tanner

Trevor


Some stick out to us more than others. Some have been on the list from the beginning. Some are more common, some are a little more unique. Some are more like "filler" names, like we like them, but would probably just use them if we decided we didn't really like anything else. You know?

Anyway, that's the list. We'll see how long it takes us to narrow it down completely. I really want to have a name picked before the baby is born. I am not a student of the "When you see him, you'll know" school. I think brand spanking new babies look pretty much the same for the most part.

If you feel the urge to comment on a particular name or whatever, feel free. I can't promise we'll listen to you...but you know, if it'll make you feel better.

But we're not voting or drawing out of hats...yet.

I Want...

This cozy comfy-ness to rock my baby in:
Of course, I'm not picky. I'd take it in red, too.

Oh, and be a love a make sure to throw the matching ottoman in? Cheers.

These cookies:


Now, who wants to make them for me? Don't all jump at once. Ok, you can all make them for me, if you insist! Gosh.


This diaper bag:


Please note: There is no way on earth that I would ever possibly need this diaper bag to the point that I would actually pay for it. Therefore, I shall never own it. And there will be weeping.

A pumpkin spice blended creme from Starbucks:


Ooh-da-lolly, those things are good. If you've never had one, go get one now. But come pick me up first. Because really, it was my idea.

These maternity jeans:


The best part about these is that they are not terribly expensive, so I can probably actually buy them! When I say "Hip hip" you say "Hooray!"

This list really could grow quite a bit more. But before you color me selfish, consider that 3 of these 5 things are within financial grasp. I'm really being quite self-depriving, you know, to deny myself these things.

We'll just see how long the denial lasts.