Terrible Tradgedy - Two Bees Take a Tumble

We are recovering from a rash of bad luck here in the Campbell casa. It seems the two ladies of the house are prone to clumsy accidents. Last Friday night, I was on my way out of the house for this cute Primary activity we were doing, a drive in movie for the kids. I had not been feeling well so I was rushed for time after having fallen asleep in the afternoon.
I was taking Jasmine so I put her in the car and went back inside to grab the last things I needed before we left, namely my camera and a pillow. As I began to descend the stairs, my slipper slipped on the top step and I fell on my back all the way down. The camera hit every stair also and it is broken. Also, I got some extremely large goose eggs on the back of my leg and back. I did get up and make it to the activity but I paid the price later. I didn't get up out of bed all weekend not only because I couldn't move but because I was also very sick.
Monday I wasn't feeling that much better and then Jasmine decided to be like Mommy. She was climbing the basement stairs and somehow she fell and at the bottom landed on her arm. She cried for almost an hour, which is unusual for her. We decided to put her down for a nap and hoped that when she woke up, it would be a distant memory. Well, she never fell asleep and we noticed she wouldn't move her hand or use it. We made the decision to take her to the pediatrician. They sent her for x-rays and they found that our sweet child had fractured her wrist - in both of the bones, the ulna and the radius.
We took her in Tuesday morning to get a cast put on her little arm. She was so brave and didn't cry when they were setting her arm. She got a pink cast and is calling it her pink arm! She was telling everyone how she fell down the stairs. She loves the sympathy.I also went to the Dr. on Tuesday and was diagnosed with a sinus infection AND bronchitis. You can imagine, I have not been able to train for my big walk this week and now just pray to get better so I can get back to it! I cannot even tell you how grateful I am that we have good health insurance and that Lorne was here for the first part of the week to take care of his girls!

Nothing to do next weekend?

Next Weekend is the Chocolate Lover's Festival in Fairfax, VA. It looks to be a great event and Marcia and I are entering the Chocolate Challenge. We have designed and will make our own cake (and a tasting one for the judges) and hopefully win the competition! We are excited and confident that our cake will be awesome!

So, check out the website at http://www.chocolatefestival.net/ and come out and see what we did! I will of course be posting a picture when it is done!

Such a Bad Day!

So, you all know by now that I am training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (don't worry, I haven't forgotten to hit you all up for money yet - that's comin'). Anyhow, today I got up and got into my workout clothes because after I dropped Jasmine off at school, the plan was to go to the gym and walk the 3 miles that I am supposed to walk according to my training schedule.

It did not happen. Jasmine's school is only a half a mile away and halfway there my car started doing some funny things. The car started losing power and jerking a bit. I listened for noise but there wasn't any. Also, as if in a scary movie, the check engine light started flashing. It seemed to be saying, "Warning, Warning, Danger!". I got the car to school and decided it would not be a good idea for me to drive it anywhere else for fear of breaking whatever was broken worse.

Luckily for me, Lorne had come home last night (only for the night) and was still at home preparing to leave. I called him and my knight in shining armor came and rescued me. I spent the rest of the morning calling the insurance company (to ask if they covered towing), calling the dealership to let them know my sick Passat was coming in, and calling a towing company to come and get the car. Then, I drove back to the school (this time in Lorne's car) to wait for the tow truck to arrive. About 45 minutes later, the car was on its way to Springfield and I was on my way to the airport so Lorne could rent a car.

Needless to say that I only had enough time after all that mess to drive home in the nick of time to pick Jasmine up from school. Here, the story gets a bit more depressing. As I was bummed out, I couldn't face making a healthy lunch choice so I broke down and went to the Golden arches for lunch. Oh the dirty shame. I even knew while waiting in the drive through line that this was not the answer to my problems but I didn't care, I was feeling wreck less.

Well, since you should never use food to medicate, you guessed it, it didn't help. After the double cheeseburger, large fries and Diet Coke (to wash it all down) I felt worse and believe me, I knew I would. No matter, the deed was done. I cemented it with a handful of chocolate dipped pretzels because, what the heck - I was already down for the count!

In my misery (and yes, I was wallowing), the phone rang. It was the dealership. As I asked the nice man what was wrong, he sighed. I knew this was not to be a good call. He gave me a list totalling to around $2500. All important stuff. The reason my car broke down comes down to this list:

1. The Secondary air pump (I didn't know I had one of those) seized up and stopped working, thus needing to be replaced. Because it seized up it caused problem number 2...

2. The Secondary sir pump Relay burned out, also needing to be replaced...these 2 problems lead to problem number 3...

3. 2 ignition coils needed to be replaced. It seems that by the time I got to the school I was basically driving on 2 cylinder (which explains the loss of power and perhaps the blinking danger light)

Total just to get the car running again - $1150

Next, there was more bad news...apparently -

1. My front brake pads and roters were BAD, very bad. The guy said that car would not pass inspection at this time and he wouldn't recommend driving it with a child in the car (how my life is less valuable I am still trying to figure out) Front brake overhaul - $560

2. My rear brake pads and roters were as bad or worse than the front. Rear brake overhaul - $459

3. Just in case all that was not enough, my drive belts were dry and cracking and could snap at any time - recommend replacement $210

Total to make sure the car runs next month - $2379 + TAX

Well, at this point any self-respecting girl tells the man at the dealership she'll call him back and proceeds to call her brilliant mechanic of a brother. He confirms that those are indeed legitimate problems and kindly offers to do half of the work for only the cost of the parts. He said that I should pay to get the first 3 things done so we could get the car to Tysons to the garage where he works and then he will do the belts and the brakes! I am so happy, he will be saving us like $1,000.

Lorne approved of this plan and the car is ready with the first 3 things done (I have yet to pick it up - how does one person accomplish such a task? Remember Lorne is not home) I have to give it to the dealership, they were done fast and even gave the car a much needed bath.

Well, at least I made it to choir and I tried to redeem my bad lunch choice with a good dinner choice (Subway off of the healthy menu) and no dessert. Also, after picking up Jasmine, Marcia came over and we did a 3 mile workout tape she had. Even though it was the middle of the night, I am glad I did it. Now it is off to bed for me! I am sure tomorrow will be another day - a better day!

Jasmine's trip to the dentist

So, about a year ago, Jasmine chipped her upper front right tooth on the side of her crib. Some of you may recall the story. At the time, we called the dentist and she said if Jasmine wasn't complaining about it, it was no big deal. So we decided to ignore it. As Lorne was changing Jasmine for bed a few nights ago, he noticed that the chipped tooth was ever so slightly a different color from the rest of her teeth and he was a bit worried about it.

Since Lorne had a dentist appointment on Monday with our wondeful Dr. Scott, he asked her about it and she requested to see Jasmine. Lorne called me at home and I got her ready and met him there. Jasmine wasn't so sure if the dentist was a good thing, I kept telling her it would be fun. I didn't want her to be a coward like her mommy is about going to the dentist!

She loved it. Dr. Scott is great with kids and she put these little sunglasses on Jasmine and then the vaseline on her lips (this was especially something Jasmine loves because she is always asking for "lips" when I put on lip stuff!). Dr. Scott assured us there was nothing to be worried about, that the tooth was fine and not infected or rotting. She also took advantage and checked the rest of her mouth and said everything was looking great! Yay for daily brushing!

For my car too!

Lately when we pray, Jasmine has wanted to add into what Lorne or I may be saying in the prayer. We always start with thanking God in our prayers and as we pray to thank Him for our blessings, we almost always get a nudge from Jasmine as she whispers, "Thank you for my car, say thanks for my car!" Here is a little girl who knows from whence her blessings come and she is so cute to do that. The other day when we built the snow man she also nudged us and said, "For the snowman too!" as we were listing our thanks in our prayers. I just always thank Heavenly Father for a little child who is the most amazing thing I have ever seen and who brings the most joy to my life!

Jasmine's newest play pastime (other than driving in her car) is pretend cooking. She has gotten all of this pretend food and in her little play kitchen, she will cook up fun things for us and bring them to us to "eat". We always pretend to eat and tell her how delicious it is. She always looks at us and asks, "Do you want come more?" and then if we say yes she will bring us more. Last week, grandpa was here watching her and he told me that she was cooking for him. She apparently brought him some food and when grandpa didn't play the game right, she put her hands on her jips and said (in her bossy sassafras voice), "Granpa, you are supposed to pretend you are eating it!" PRECIOUS!!

Last night she was at her grandparents house again and she was pretending to be a King. My parents had the missionaries over and she walked up to them and announced she was the King. One of them looked at her and said, "Don't you mean the queen?" and she said, "NO, I am the King." and walked away. Well, I guess she is learning that we think she can be whatever she wants to be. If she wants to be a king, then she can be one!

Our Jasmine has learned that many things in life are powered by batteries but she hasn't learned that there are still some things that don't require them. Everytime something doesn't work or needs to be fixed she says, "Mom, it needs batteries."

The Snowman needs Help!

As we had some snow today, much to my delight, Jasmine naturally wanted to play in it. She had school this morning so after school and lunch she had naptime. I promised her that after naptime we would build a snowman. Well, it took her FOREVER to fall asleep and when she woke up, it was already dark outside. Lorne thought it was still managable so we got her bundled up and went outside to build our snowman.

She really had fun helping daddy and she even ate some snow. She also insisted that the snowman needed a hat, so I found one for him. Jasmine loved him and even gave him a kiss. She didn't want to come inside after we were done.

We left about 20 minutes later to run some errands and the poor snowman had fallen (I don't think his proportions were right - after all, an Australian who never had snow growing up built him!). Jasmine gasped and said, "Oh No! Daddy, the snowman needs help!" I thought that was the cutest thing! Long live our snowman!

Someday is now I guess

So my mom called me last week and asked me if I would do the Avon walk for breast cancer this year with her. She has decided that she needs to do this and is trying to ask all the women in her life. So far, she has asked me and her friend Margie and we have both responded yes. I have asked Kelleen and Marcia and have yet to see if either will join up! The rest of my awesome girlfriends are either pregnant or live too far away!

Some of you may remember that I did the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure (5K race) two years ago. I have always thought it would be cool to do this LONG walk someday...I guess the time has come, and not a moment too soon. I think this will be a great thing to do before I turn 30 this June. The race is May 3 and 4th here in the Nation's Capital! I am super excited to train for this and see if I can indeed walk 26 miles. I am pretty sure I can and I am hopeful this will help with some of my New Years resolves to be healthier and to lose weight. I want to look fabulous at my party in June!

So, in order to walk, I have to raise $1800 - so watch out everyone, I will be tapping you for a donation!

New Years' Travel - Part 3 Canada

After leaving Cleveland, we headed up north to Chatham, Canada where we would meet up with our friends Summer & James Thorp and their little boy Hayden. Summer was one of my mission companions and we have remained close despite the fact that we live far apart. They had come to see us a few times so we decided it was our turn to go there and we wanted to spend New Year 2008 with them.

Summer found us a great deal at the Wheels Inn. This is a family resort type place where they have an indoor amusement park, bowling, swimming, and a myriad of other activities. We thought it would be a fun activity for us to do over the New Year.

Jasmine really enjoyed the amusement park, especially the roller coaster train ride which we must have ridden about 20 times the 2 days we were there. She also liked the Ferris Wheel and the airplane ride they had. All of us enjoyed the arcade and we won tons of tickets and really enjoyed playing the Deal or No Deal game. James liked that game too. Bowling was also great fun. I got the best scores I have ever gotten. That could be because they had the gutter guards up for the kids! Jasmine bowled and did well. They had these ramps for the kids to push the ball off of so that they could get in on the action. She looked cute in the small bowling shoes!On New Years Eve we had more fun. We played all day and then in the afternoon Jasmine got her face painted with a butterfly on it. She was so excited. She is a girly girl in every sense of the word and she sat very still as the guy painted on her. She was so careful not to touch it and she even took her nap with it on her face. When it came time to wash it off before bedtime, she wasn't pleased. While we napped, the Thorps went swimming. They said the water was cold so we didn't feel the need to go swimming. We had a buffet dinner (the last supper before the healthy goals kicked in) and then they had a dance for the kids. We got in on the action too! We danced for about an hour and at 9 PM they did a balloon drop for the kids. It was great - we did the countdown and everything.Afterwards, we went back to our rooms and put Jasmine to bed. Then we watched the Rockin' New Year show and I fell asleep around 11 PM because I thought the performers were boring. Lorne woke me up at midnight when the ball dropped and he kissed me and I rolled over and went back to sleep!
We headed home on the 1st as Lorne had another business trip to get to and also Jasmine had school on the 2nd. It was a nice drive back, we always enjoy road trips together because we get to see the scenery and talk to each other. It was a most gratifying trip to begin our 2008!

New Years' Travel - Part 2 Cleveland

Our second stop on our New Year tour was Cleveland, Ohio to visit Michele and Terry. Michele and I have been friends since my Ohio State days and she means the world to me. We try to see each other 2-3 times a year and 2007 we only saw each other once. We decided that since it was on our way to Canada, it would be a good time to stop, rest and visit.
We had a relaxing time while we were there. We watched the Bourne Supremacy and the Bourne Ultimatum and we snacked and visited a cool Farmers market. Jasmine and Michele played with some of Jasmine's new toys.
We also took the opportunity to get a much needed oil change and just enjoy the chance to catch up. We always feel so relaxed and not hurried when we are there. It was a great 2 days.

New Years' Travel - Part 1 The Big Apple

So, the day after Christmas we readied ourselves to leave for a week. We had decided a few months back that we would go to Canada to visit Summer & James - friends of ours (Summer was one of my mission companions) as they have been down to visit us twice and we haven't gone up there (except for their wedding like 6 years ago). They were thrilled to have us. We also decided we would stop in Cleveland on our way, to break up the trip and see Michele and Terry (who we hadn't seen since my birthday). Well, to make it even more fun. Lorne has been busily and stressfully trying to close a deal with Toys R Us and so he had to go to New York for a business trip, so we tacked that on at the beginning as well.

We spent Boxing day doing just that. We packed our things and also got the house ready for our new window installation that took place while we were gone (thank goodness, I didn't want to be around for that!). Rory also came over and we hung out with him for most of the day until we left around dinnertime to drive up to the Big Apple.

We arrived rather late and Jasmine threw a fit in the car about an hour before we arrived. She was exhausted and I decided she had watched enough movies on the DVD player so I pulled the plug - literally - and she went ballistic. She screamed at the top of her lungs for 20 minutes (we times her) and she was just beside herself. After 20 minutes I told her it was enough and was very stern with her and she eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep.

This was Jasmine's first visit to New York City and I was excited that she was there while the Christmas decorations were still up. If you haven't been there during the holiday season, you must go sometime. The city is amazing and the decorations are breathtaking! Jasmine and I had fun piggy backing on Daddy's business trip and we got to eat like queens and stay in a nice hotel room (courtesy of Oracle).

I took Jasmine shopping, which is something you also must do in New York if you have never done it, best shopping in the world! The only problem was I forgot to bring the stroller, a mistake I wish never to duplicate. We walked around New York and shopped for 3 hours and it was the most difficult and frustrating shopping I have ever done. Have you ever tried to shop one handed for clothes? And tried to carry the clothes and keep a grip on a feisty two year old? This is not for the faint of heart. Only a true and dedicated shopper would venture to continue after the hassle of the first store. She was constantly trying to make me let her go and trying to touch things (she shoplifted a roll of Spree candy - I didn't notice until we were away from the store but I went back and paid for it later). Did I mention it was raining?

I managed to find some cute stuff and almost stayed within budget! I also took Jasmine into the Disney Store on 5th Avenue and she was in heaven. I told her she could have one toy and she chose a Disney princess toy (that's my girl!).

After the shopping fiasco we went back to the hotel for Jasmine to have a nap. She crashed hard, I am sure all that walking took the energy right out of her!

That night we had a reservation to eat at Perilla 9, a restaurant in the Village owned by Top Chef Season 1 winner Harold Dieterle. He wasn't there (sniff) but the food was amazing and totally worth the splurge. We had the scallop appetizer (to die for) and then I had Pork Tenderloin (with Pomegranate seeds and grits) and Lorne had the Duck. It was amazing. There was even a Risotto side that Jasmine had as her dinner that was creamy and full of flavor, she loved it.

We stopped at Magnolia Bakery so I could check out their famous cupcakes and take a look at their bakery. I wasn't that impressed. I think my flavors are more creative and taste better. But it was fun to do a little business research. I bought some cupcakes and we enjoyed scoffing them down.

The next day we strolled around New York before we had to get in the car and begin the 7 hour drive to Cleveland. We showed Jasmine Rockefeller plaza and also Radio City Music Hall. We bought her a pretzel on the street and looked at the fun Christmas decorations. It was fun. We then packed up our things and left New York City. Thus ends part 1 of our journey toward the New Year.