Spaetzle and Lentil Soup!

I thought I'd let you all know that there are more pictures in our web albums. This is Happy's first baking experience, or at least his first baking experience as a married man. He made corn muffins and they were excellent!

There are also pictures of me making spaetzle and lentil soup for the first time! Both came out good and I had fun making them. Then again, the lentil soup didn't take much.... I just put everything in the crockpot and let it do all the work. Crockpots are great :-)

The other album that I added is from this weekend when we went to Pasadena to have breakfast with "the guys" and Katie. Then we went to Christie's tennis match. I have a better idea of how tennis works, but I was completely ignorant before. I think now I'd say I can watch a game and sort of understand what's going on. It was kind of cool though since Happy and I will have tennis courts to use at our new apartment! Ok, that's it for this morning. Have a good Tuesday!

Semesters

I've just finished my first semester of teaching. I've never experienced a faster semester. Time flies when you're having fun! I'm taking a class this year through Fresno Pacific University called "Teaching Elementary Physical Education" so that I can become more informed and organized when it comes to planning my classes. I love my job, I love my wife, I love life, and I love my God! Have a great weekend!

The Dentist

Just after Christmas Happy and I visited our new dentist. I found out I had two cavities. Bummer. But, I finally made an appointment to go in yesterday at 4:30. Not only did they drill and fill my two cavities, they also sealed 5 of my other molars and they feel weird. Now all that's left is to get one crown on a molar that has a silver filling. I'm sure that will be fun.

Once the dentist came in my little room I told him my "issues" with needles (thinking of the Novacaine) and he told me that for 99% of kids getting fillings, they don't use Novacaine because the drilling really isn't so bad. He gave me the option of using it or not. I opted not to use it. All in all, it really wasn't so bad (even though he did drill four separate times--he'd drill, rinse, then say "Just a little bit more...") and there was only one point where my eye twitched at the pain. For me, it's well worth it to not have the shots.

The last cavity I had filled was a long time ago, but I clearly remember at least 6 shots of Novacaine and still being able to feel the drill just as much as I did yesterday. Then I had a numb mouth for several hours. Yesterday I didn't! As I was leaving they asked if I wanted to have my teeth cleaned right then because one of their appointments didn't show up. Apparently there's new technology to clean teeth (shows how long it's been since I had my teeth professionally cleaned) which uses baking soda and a high powered sprayer. It tasted kind of gross, but it made my teeth whiter :-D Aside from the baking soda dusting on my face afterwards, I liked it much more than the nasty stuff I used to have.

So, even though I asked Happy to meet me at the dentist and drive me home, I could have driven myself home after all! In light of my exciting evening at the dentist (all of it took less than an hour), I thought I'd ask, does anyone else have any memorable dentist experiences to share?

Bacteria

Yes, that's what's in my sinuses right now. After a couple weeks of fairly regular headaches and fatigue (and at the prompting of my wonderful husband) I finally visited my allergist to see if there was something wrong. He said my ears look great, which I'm very thankful for, but my nose is a mess. Actually, he looked in my nose and said "You have a bacterial infection in your nose." He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic, which I began taking last night. I'm thankful that it seems to be as simple as that. I'm hoping that it is.

I learned last night that most nasal passages are like a maze, designed to keep bacteria from getting into the sinuses where it can cause worse problems. Unfortunately for me, my nasal passages are keeping the bacteria in my nose. Bummer. But, God's design is pretty amazing. He's got great ideas :-)

Mac

My new laptop came! It's a Mac. I like it. It's cool.

BLUE?!?!

What does it say about me that the most exciting thing about my day at work--yes, I was genuinely excited--was the fact that I got to use a blue highlighter on the invoices I code instead of yellow since we need to order more yellow highlighters? Yeah, and to make it even worse... I then started thinking "How exciting would it be to use green or orange! And I could have days... or weeks where I use one color and then change it... maybe I could use a different color for each month!" Ah, the little things in life :-)

Two Quotes

Two quotes from two men who were not Christians. I thought these would be good to help us stop and think for a moment in our busy, busy lives.

"I tremble for my country when I think that God is just."

-Thomas Jefferson

"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand."

-Mark Twain

The Whirlwind Tour, Epilogue

I know that you're all salivating to hear the story that my lovely wife decided was mine to tell, so here it is.

Amy's dad drove us to Logan International Airport in Boston early in the morning, so we arrived plenty early. After printing our tickets we joined the already backed-up line to make sure that Amy could get in because of the ongoing Godwin/Gilmore dilemma. We stood in line for about 20-25 minutes before getting to the front of the line and finding out that we did not need to wait in that line. Then we pushed, pulled and carried our baggage to the security checkpoint. And here's where things started to happen.

Amy and I both got out our wallets to show the kind man our ID.

Horror of horrors, Batman!

My driver's license was gone! I stared at my wallet with a dumb look on my face as my mind raced through all the other places it could possibly be. Unfortunately, the only thing I could come up with was that I had accidentally thrown my driver's license away with my boarding pass and ticket upon arrival in Boston.

So, I jogged back to the ticket counter and cut in front of at least 100 people waiting for their boarding pass. I told the kind lady my predicament and she reprinted my boarding pass and added an extra security code and warned me that I'd be searched. I thanked her and ran back to the line for security. Halfway there I realized that I wasn't tugging my carry-on behind me. All I had with me was my backpack. I had left my carry-on in the line when I took off to the ticket counter.

I looked all around as the line moved forward. I couldn't see my bag anywhere! I finally reached the front of the line. The airport employee checking ID was a new guy so I asked if someone had found a bag in the last few minutes. He said, "Oh, you're that guy." In case you're wondering, this did not bolster my wavering confidence in actually catching up to Amy (by this time, she's already waiting for me on the other side of security) and making our flight.

He told me to go back to the restaurant halfway to the ticket counter and ask the state troopers with the dog, because they had my bag. I thanked him and ran back to the state troopers. I interrupted their conversation, identified myself as the guy who left his carry-on by the line and asked if I could have it back. They all gave me a condescending look that I tried my hardest to ignore. One of them pulled out his walkie-talkie and called a fellow trooper who had my bag. The trooper told me to go outside and find the all-black truck. He also added that it would be $100. I was pretty sure he was joking, but I didn't think it was that funny. Once again, I thanked him and ran outside the airport where I saw an all-black truck just stopping. The state trooper stopped the car in the morass of traffic, got out, walked all the way around the back of the truck, gave me a look of disgust, opened the passenger side door and handed me the carry-on. I thanked him and ran back inside the airport and got back in the security line for the third time!

When I reached the front of the line I told the man checking ID that I had lost my driver's license and had already talked to the people at the ticket counter. I showed him my credit cards and my bank card. He examined them quickly and let me through. I put my carry-ons through the X-ray machine and had to be taken to the little area where "random" searches are made. A kind sir searched me and then searched my carry-ons. Everything was fine until he unzipped one of the outside compartments on my suitcase. I had forgotten that that's where I had placed the ice pops that my mother-in-law had put in my stocking on Christmas morning.

"What the [heck] is this?" he asked.

At this point I'm completely embarrassed because this obviously doesn't look good. These could be bombs, drugs, etc. I sheepishly told him that I got them in my stocking for Christmas. He grunted something about it being okay and then continued searching. He then asked me why "that girl over there is staring at us." "That girl" happened to be my wife, who was patiently waiting for us to finish. He finally finished and let me go.

Amy and I then literally started jogging to our gate. We heard a final boarding call and they announced that they needed "Andre and Amy Gilmore to come to" the gate. We made it on the flight but couldn't sit together.

So, all in all, it wasn't a bad day. Just another fun day in this post-9/11 world!

More pictures?!?

Even though I have nothing interesting to post about, I thought I'd mention that Happy added the second half of our Honeymoon photos to our Web Albums. It features Virginia City (home of the Mark Twain Bookstore, pictured below) and our day in Yosemite.



By the way, at work we got a new Pitney Bowes machine. It just so happens that I'm the one who usually puts postage on any mail that's going out. I'm SO excited!

I did it!

Yes, that's right, I finally posted the pictures of our trip to the East coast. I must warn you though... I was pretty terrible at taking pictures while I was there. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that we were never in one place for very long. By the time I remembered that I had brought my camera, we were leaving. Some of the pictures are because Happy took the camera. He's much more diligent with taking pictures. But I did get some good Christmas morning pictures, which is very important!

Today is a very quiet day at work and there was minimal traffic on my way to work. I'm guessing it's due to the fact that many people have today off as it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bummer that we don't have it off, but it's not a big deal. Happy has today off and still had practice with his guys because they'd be able to use the gym (as opposed to the parking lot where they usually practice). Such dedication!

It's also SUPER windy and really cold in this front lobby where I sit. I have the heater on my feet and it's making my hair more static. Sigh. Oh well. Now I'm going to code invoices so when they come in the mail I'm not left with such a huge stack. Have a lovely Monday and enjoy the day off if you have it!