Today has been exciting! We attended our final adoption approval meeting and now our profile is active for birth parents to view. We are excited to meet the birth parents who are interested in us.
After our approval meeting, we found our new amatuer radio call signs online. Now we can communicate with other hams. Our call signs came just in time for Field Day tomorrow.
Yay Us!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
HAM Anyone?
Yesterday was the big day. Marty and I took the test to become Amateur Radio Operators. Marty has had an interest in becoming a Ham since he was in Boy Scouts. We have been to Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) more than once since we've been married. Marty has studied the materials several times but life was often times too busy. Well, a few months ago I received an e-mail from a guy at work about an upcoming event where he would be at a booth sharing information about amateur radio. I did not know this guy (he works at a different facility). He sent out this e-mail to every employee across all facilities. I immediately forwarded his e-mail to Marty.
The Ham spark was reignited. Marty picked up the manual a few days later. A few weeks later, a representative from our stake came to church to find out if there was any interest in Ham classes. We raised our hands. We studied at home. Ham classes were offered and we went. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Did I say Marty studied? (Marty still thought he wasn't going to pass.)
Testing day came. Of course, Marty was scared. But we were prepared. There were two test times offered at two different locations: 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. We decided to take the test at 9:00 AM (Just in case Marty's test anxiety won and he needed to retest). We arrived, took the test and waited for scores. It is a 35 question test; you need to answer 26 questions correctly to pass (you can miss 9).
While Marty's test was being scored, he told me he was pretty sure he missed at least 7. NOT TRUE. We both passed our test with identical scores of 33. In fact, the test examiners asked if we wanted to take the exam for the next level. We chose to study and then take the next level another day.
Now, we just have to wait for our call sign and then I think it will be difficult to get Marty to stop talking.
The Ham spark was reignited. Marty picked up the manual a few days later. A few weeks later, a representative from our stake came to church to find out if there was any interest in Ham classes. We raised our hands. We studied at home. Ham classes were offered and we went. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Marty studied. Did I say Marty studied? (Marty still thought he wasn't going to pass.)
Testing day came. Of course, Marty was scared. But we were prepared. There were two test times offered at two different locations: 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. We decided to take the test at 9:00 AM (Just in case Marty's test anxiety won and he needed to retest). We arrived, took the test and waited for scores. It is a 35 question test; you need to answer 26 questions correctly to pass (you can miss 9).
While Marty's test was being scored, he told me he was pretty sure he missed at least 7. NOT TRUE. We both passed our test with identical scores of 33. In fact, the test examiners asked if we wanted to take the exam for the next level. We chose to study and then take the next level another day.
Now, we just have to wait for our call sign and then I think it will be difficult to get Marty to stop talking.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Oh, what a tangled web we weave...Mommy training 101
Miriam here. Over the weekend, we went to the Estes Park Wool Festival. It was so much fun. Yes, it was muddy but the llamas, alpacas, goats and sheep were cute and fun to talk to. While we were there I bought some wonderful hand spun and dyed yarns from a seller from Texas. She had some of the most beautiful color combinations. I'm a sucker for variegated yarn. Marty insisted that I buy at least two hanks of yarn. I suggested that he pick out one color he liked and I would pick one color I like. Then, he changed the rules, he picked out one hank and I picked out two. I chose my yarn quickly before Marty added more yarn to buy. Marty asked me if the hank he picked out would make a hat and I said it would.
So on Tuesday night I decided I am going to start on a new knit hat for Marty. I was looking for a hat pattern on Knitting Pattern Central. As I'm looking at patterns, I think to myself that I can not choose a pattern if I don't know the gauge(# of stitches/ inch) for the yarn. Handspun yarns don't come with gauge suggestions.
It's about 9:30 PM and I decide I need to wind the hank into skeins so that I can gauge the yarn. This should be a simple process. It should only take about 5 - 10 minutes. I grab the hank and unwind it so that it looks like a large circle of yarn. While holding the yarn open in both hands, I announce to Marty I could really use a yarn swift to hold the yarn open while I wind the yarn on my yarn ball winder. BUT, I think I can wind the yarn without tangling it. I'll just lay it neatly on the floor and it will be OK.
Well....It wasn't so OK. I believe it took about 2 seconds into the winding to have the largest knot I have ever seen. I now find the other end of the yarn and start to untangle it. At about 10:30, Marty says let's go to bed. I suggest he go without me. I tell him I'll be back shortly. I really did think there would be one magic knot I would undo and the whole thing would be fixed.
Apparently, it took me until 1:45 AM to undo the knot. In that time period Marty went to bed and got up to check on me, kindly suggested I finish the next day and returned to bed. He was very supportive; despite the fact that I was driving him crazy by starting a new project so close to bedtime and not letting it go.
While I was untangling and winding I had many random thoughts (as I normally do) but one thought stood out in my mind: 'It's been a long time since I've been up this late. Although I'm tired, I'm still awake enough to concentrate on the task at hand. Hey, maybe I'll call this Mommy Training. I will be able to get up and take care of our children.'
So on Tuesday night I decided I am going to start on a new knit hat for Marty. I was looking for a hat pattern on Knitting Pattern Central. As I'm looking at patterns, I think to myself that I can not choose a pattern if I don't know the gauge(# of stitches/ inch) for the yarn. Handspun yarns don't come with gauge suggestions.
It's about 9:30 PM and I decide I need to wind the hank into skeins so that I can gauge the yarn. This should be a simple process. It should only take about 5 - 10 minutes. I grab the hank and unwind it so that it looks like a large circle of yarn. While holding the yarn open in both hands, I announce to Marty I could really use a yarn swift to hold the yarn open while I wind the yarn on my yarn ball winder. BUT, I think I can wind the yarn without tangling it. I'll just lay it neatly on the floor and it will be OK.
Well....It wasn't so OK. I believe it took about 2 seconds into the winding to have the largest knot I have ever seen. I now find the other end of the yarn and start to untangle it. At about 10:30, Marty says let's go to bed. I suggest he go without me. I tell him I'll be back shortly. I really did think there would be one magic knot I would undo and the whole thing would be fixed.
Apparently, it took me until 1:45 AM to undo the knot. In that time period Marty went to bed and got up to check on me, kindly suggested I finish the next day and returned to bed. He was very supportive; despite the fact that I was driving him crazy by starting a new project so close to bedtime and not letting it go.
While I was untangling and winding I had many random thoughts (as I normally do) but one thought stood out in my mind: 'It's been a long time since I've been up this late. Although I'm tired, I'm still awake enough to concentrate on the task at hand. Hey, maybe I'll call this Mommy Training. I will be able to get up and take care of our children.'
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
I made the announcement on the old blog
I have made it official on the old blog/website that we are updating the site to be a full all - in - one site with links, pictures, blogs, and other great options. Miriam has worked for many hours to get this up and going and is in the final steps of pre-production. I have seen the site and I cannot wait for it to go live the new site looks so cool.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
New website
Good news the ourmissingleaves.com site is soon to be different. It is in the process of being re-designed to make it more informative and interesting. In doing the change we will be moving the blog part of the site to blogger.com and use their interface. This will open up many good changes, like others being able to read, post, and comment on our blog. Please keep checking back for the changes and our first real big announcement about our adoption.
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