Public...Private...Reader...yada...yada...yada

I'm still trying to figure out Blogger since going private. I thought I had it set up so my posts showed up in  people's readers, but now I'm not sure. If you are seeing this post in your reader, will you let me know? Will you also let me know if you have or haven't received an invite to the private blog (I don't care one bit if you haven't--as long as you are not a creepy guy from Indonesia commenting on how pretty my children are.)

Thanks. Sorry for the lame post. Here's a funny picture of Ella to even the score.

thanks

Thanks for the input on the phones. I personally am a big fan of a live person (loved Molly's comment), but it's not completely practical right now. As a good first step we streamlined our phone tree. There used to be 38 seconds of "Welcome to Southpoint Pediatrics...our office hours are...our blogs is...our fax is...etc, etc, etc." and then the phone tree. Now it says, "Welcome to Southpoint Pediatrics. Press 1 to schedule an appointment {gets you to a live person}. Press 2 to leave a message for a medical assistant {gets you to their inbox, where they call back very quickly}. Our office hours are....the other 36 seconds..."

I'm still in favor of the live person answering the phone, at least when they can, but at least we are headed in the right direction. I mean, come one, no one wants to wait on the phone when you've got a sick kid.

In other news, today Ella pointed out that the Christmas lights weren't on. "You're right. I'll turn them on." I did, and was rewarded with, "I so proud of you, Mommy!"

Oh, Ella. When you're cute, you're cute.

***Okay, just called our office, and it's not short and sweet yet. But it will be. I promise.

polling the masses

Question:

When calling your Pediatrician's office, would you rather have a phone tree or a live person answer the phone?

Thanks.

updates and other mumbo jumbo

• Pregnancy. I am 25 weeks. Depending on who you believe my due date is sometime between February 8 and 14th. And...it's a girl. My Aunt Cari, who is one of my very most favorite people in the whole world, loved being pregnant. I don't. One more thing for me to work on to try and be more like her.
• Going organic. I try, but am far, far from doing it all the way. I try to avoid the ones that are supposedly worse, the "dirty dozen." Pretty much it just means that I don't buy as many fruits and vegetables as I used to, which has its own consequences. We're trying.
• Ella. I often call her "my Ella" and she has taken to calling herself "your Ella." Such as, "You want to share your pillow with your Ella?"
• Room swap. I've decided to move Ella to the guest room and keep Ella's room for the new baby. But I don't think Ella is ready to move to a toddler bed, so I'm going to move her crib with her. I think I'm going to buy a pack n' play with bassonette feature for the new baby. I think I'm going to paint Ella's new room a deep blue (something like La Fonda Deep Blue) and use one of these two rugs. Which one do you like better?
  Field Poppy (in green)
  
  
  
Modern Love

• Posture. I hate even talking about this. I was doing so well, and now I'm not. And the watermelon in my belly isn't helping. 2009 was supposed to be the year of the straight back. Then 2010. Is there any hope for 2011?
• This is my new favorite potato casserole recipe.
• This is my new favorite pumpkin cupcake recipe.
• Ella got these boots as an early Christmas present. I think they may be the cutest thing I've seen in a very long time.

self-reliance

I have to speak in church on Sunday on self-reliance. I've got loads of good quotes, but not a single story. And you know how boring talks are without stories. Anyone have any ideas???

You can leave a comment or email me at alissa.packer@gmail.com.

thanks from me and the hopefully-not-bored highland ward

books, please

I've got some travel in my future, and need a good book. Or two. Or three. Or maybe four. What are the best three books you've read lately?

Thanks.

**If you have good movies or TV series suggestions, I'm game for that, too.

encourage me

I love watching the Amazing Race. Mostly because I like seeing where they travel, and then dreaming of visiting all those far off places. But also because you get characters. Like the happy hippies. Or the Mormon-hating "Christian" family. Or the couple from the sticks. Or the mother and her deaf son. The list goes on and on. This year there was one couple that pretty much had it all together, and they ended up winning. They were fairly upbeat; perhaps to a fault. During one daunting task, the girl looked at her partner and said, "Encourage me, Cheyne. Encourage me." The way she said it was pretty funny, and it came off a little pathetic. Ryan mocked her. But I kind of got it. Sometimes you know you need a little encouragement, and sometimes you've got to ask for it.

I need some encouragement.

Since I was 10 I have had bad posture. Slumped over, stooped over, bad posture. My parents tried to help me {I couldn't get my ears pierced until I improved}, I would try to focus on it, and while our efforts helped for a while I would always fall off the wagon.

When we were in Italy this fall I once again noticed how poor my posture was (funny how pictures standing next to your pitch perfect sister will do that). I'm heading toward hunchback. So I jumped back on the wagon. I went to a physical therapist, got some exercises, and have been making a sincere effort.

But now it's been 3 weeks, and the 40 minutes a day spent doing these stupid exercises is getting a little old. I am seeing a difference {one of my ribs actually poked out funny, and now it is going back in place} but I can tell that I am on the verge of letting it slide. And then I may end up a hunchback forever.

So....encourage me. Tell me how you've persevered and how worth it is. Or tell me that no one likes a hunchback. That if I don't take care of this now, you won't be my friend. {I really like having friends--that one might work}

Thanks. It worked for Megan and Cheyne.

calling all crafters

I have this fabulous idea spinning around in my head...only problem...execution. So any creative ideas you have, please send them my way.

We recently completely renovated our office, and now I have 3 gorgeous exam rooms to decorate. I really want to have something in the rooms that will occupy the children while they wait, have minimal germs, and appeal to all ages. I saw these memory cards

at Antrho a few weeks ago, and it got me thinking...wouldn't it be fun to have a memory game hanging on the wall in each room. Minimal fomites (although I would still have a can of Clorox wipes on a shelf above each game for the germaphobe mamas), appeals to all ages, and tons of cool images out there.

But how to create it. That's what stumps me. I've had a few thoughts, but nothing that seems practical. I have a reasonable budget to get these rooms looking good; it seems like this could work.

So any ideas you may have, please share. Bored kids and parents throughout the Wasatch front are counting on it.

Thanks.

travel bug

Ryan and I have a week off between Christmas and New Years, and are trying to plan a trip. Anyone got any good ideas for something warm (preferably), fun, family friendly and reasonably priced? I have hit a travel wall.