Polar Plunge 2010

My sister Aimee is going to school to become a special education teacher. She is wonderful with "her kids" that she works with now and is going to be the best special ed teacher ever! She decided to start volunteering for the Special Olympics and when she went to their website she found this Polar Plunge fundraiser they do every year. The goal is to get people to pledge money for you to jump into a frozen lake. Crazy right? So Aimee, Jordan (our brother), and I decided to do it together. We woke up early on a Saturday and got to Deer Creek Reservoir in Heber at 9 am. The temperature gauge on the car said 19 degrees outside and I began to wonder what in the heck we were thinking.  Then we walked down to check out what we'd be jumping into. They had cut huge blocks of ice out and had a ladder on the other side of the hole for us to climb out on. The water in the hole was already getting a film of ice on the top. It was really cold already and we were still dry! After registration they had a costume contest, Aimee was Pippi Longstockings, there was a Mr. Clean, a leprechan, a figure skater, and a whole bunch more. Then we all walked down to the hole. There was a big crowd around and they read our names one at a time, taking turns jumping in. It was fantastic cheering everyone on as they took the plunge. I had asked if Aimee, Jordan, and I could go together so finally she called our names and it was our turn. Walking up to the hole together I held my pants up so they wouldn't get wet, don't ask me why, just habit I guess. I could see my parents and Duffy and Maisy on the other side thinking we were nuts. A few seconds later we all jumped in together. It was instantly cold. Imagine thousands of needles poking into your skin, your lungs freezing up, and being barely able to move, it was cold! I didn't go all the way under like Aimee and Jordan did but next year I promise I will. Jordan hit the ladder first (so much for ladies first) and I was saying "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" I was next and got about halfway out before I bailed out onto the ice so Aimee could get on the ladder. I still have a huge bruise on my knee! The hole was not close at all to the trailers where we were getting dressed so we had to run, soaking wet about the length of half a football field to get dressed. There was only one safe place to get onto the boat ramp we had to walk up so there was a huge traffic jam of dry people and I yelled "Seriously?!?" Finally some of them let us through, I was freezing by this point. By the time we got to the trailer my feet literally felt like blocks of ice clumsily tromping along. Once inside the trailer and semi-dry though I was really surprised at how not-cold I was. The whole experience was absolutely amazing and I plan to make it a tradition. There were several special needs kids there and a few even took the plunge, it was great to see them there supporting us. What a life experience, there aren't too many people who can say they have jumped into a frozen lake (on purpose especially). Can't wait until next year!!!

So I Can Look Back and Remember

Life is stressful right now and the blog's taken a hit. I really enjoyed November I just need to get back into the habit! Anyway, yesterday Duffy had been upstairs playing for a while and when he finally came down he was in a pair of warm-up pants and his Vance Bennett Construction hoodie. As he climbed back over the gate he asked me if I knew why he was in those nice clothes. I said "Why?" and my 3-year-old little boy replied "Cuz I'm taking Sharon out to dinner tonight"! I about died laughing. He was so serious talking about going on a date with his imaginary friend. This kid is going to be a ladies man. He also said they were eating at a restaurant so they didn't have to go to her "dang house". What? Haha.
Maisy's latest obsession is getting completely undressed, diaper and all. In fact I just had to take a break from writing this post to get her dressed again, this time she's not getting out, I put her in some zip-up jammies and she hasn't figured them out yet. I know it won't be long until she does. I remember Duffy going through this stage and me walking into some yucky messes in his room after nap time. I used to have to put him in his zip-up jammies backward so he couldn't get them off, I'm anticipating I'll be doing that with Mais soon too.
Something that's been stressing me lately is waiting to see if we are going to be approved for my dream house. I haven't wanted to post about it because it will truly be a miracle if we get it and I've been working very hard not to get my hopes up, but since this blog is a sort of journal for me I want to look back on this time some day. I'm growing weary of renting and the two bedroom town home we are in now is in no way big enough for the 5 of us (dog included). The house we are looking at is all we'd ever need and since the market is so bad we would be paying about $100,000 less than it was selling for 18 months ago. It was built a year and a half ago but hasn't been lived in so it would be all ours. I'll post details if we get it, no need to do it if we aren't going to end up there. I just want to know one way or another, this waiting is not healthy for me.