Life Continues

The last few weeks have been adventurous for us. Last weekend we were in Wyoming for the funeral of Cathy Higgins; the mother of Allison Higgons who is a good friend of Ami's. The trip went smoothly, but was less than super happy.

Our family has been sick of late. The cycle goes like this. Simon gets sick because the wind blows wrong. Then Ami gets sick because she spends all day with Simon. By the time Simon is getting over it and Ami is at the worst stages I get it. This go around Ami got it the worst of anyone being basically stuck in bed for two days over the weekend.

My most precious material possession (my cell phone) suffered a semi-fatal end. The earpiece went out the day before we left for Wyoming. I was "forced" to buy the brand new G1 for t-mobile. So far it has been a great transition. I would say we have had a crazy new year so far but we are looking forward to better times.

On a good note I have been extra busy lately teaching concealed carry classes. There is a strong rumor going around Utah that Obama is going to take away guns and concealed carry permits and that if you get it now yours will be grandfathered in. This is so ridiculous it makes me giggle when I'm falling asleep but it sure has been good for business.

Jacob Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com

I'm a bad father

When I'm babysitting Simon but still need to get work done I just put on one of his favorite Baby Einstein DVDs on in my office. He will just sit there and watch for about forever. Don't anyone tell Ami!

Another Fond Snow Memory

I always enjoyed building snow caves in the snow when I was younger. On Monday amidst all the snow shoveling I decided why not? So I did. The last picture shows both Holly the dog and I inside the cave. Since these pictures were taken the neighborhood kids have taken over my cave. There have also been two other snow caves built on the street. Sounds like I started something.


Jacob S Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com

Merry Christmas Ami

Ami we have known each other for 10 years now. For Christmas I have produced this little slideshow video for you my love. Enjoy:

The First Snow Shoveling of the Winter

I have always taken great joy in shoveling snow. As children the Paulsen boys ran a snow shoveling business in our neighborhood. I'm not sure how it all started but the fact that we lived in an area full of old widows didn't hurt business.

I remember Jeff and Eric waking up early on snow days to go out and take care of the shoveling. I was young and jealous. Eventually Tim was also allowed along and by the time I got to go out Eric and Jeff were long gone. Tim and I would shovel between 8 and 10 walks and driveways for at least half of those homes.

These were great growing moments in my childhood. Not a lot of words were spoken but we would bundle up and shovel snow from 4am until it was done which did make me late for school on more than one occasion. Eventually Tim also grew out of the job and then I was alone. Granted this meant for double the money for me but also double the work. I never regretted it and as far as I can remember I never complained about it either. I took valuable lessons from the hard work, early mornings, and the service (even if paid) we did for very old people.

Eventually it seems as I began to get older and ready to graduate from High School the old ladies started to die off. As my ability to do the work dimished, so did my number of customers. I'm grateful to those wonderful people who paid us Paulsen boys money to learn priceless lessons on those early, cole, wyoming mornings. A shout out to the red house on the corner, Grandma McCrann in the pink house, Mr Copiak (spelling) next door, Mike & Joe, they yellow house, Grandma Constantino, and the lady with the astro turf steps that made us use the broom.

Now as an adult I look forward to getting out and shoveling my walks. Today was the first time of the season!

Jacob Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com

PS Eric do you have anything to add?

Another Phase in Life

As you can see Simon is on the move again. This has caused me to reflect on everything going on in our lives right now. We are entering a new phase of life which is marked by the following:

1. Simon is almost 1 year old and walking.
2. Its been a little more than a year that I've been 100% self-employed.
3. A new James Bond movie is in theaters.
4. 2 years in this house
5. A new president
6. I've re-listened to all the Harry Potter books

Jacob Paulsen

Ami Likes Cough Drops

Two nights ago I was struggling with a sleepless night. We have been passing around the "cold" in our house the last week. Well I had it and was unable to sleep. After an hour or so I decided to get a cough drop. I opened my night stand where there is a bag of cough drops and began to try to pry open the ziplock type seal on the bag to get to the drops. It caused a little noise and out of nowhere Ami began hitting me in the side quite forcefully.

I wasn't that stunned since she often hits me during the night in order to get me to stop snoring or stop breathing into her face. However this time she was hitting much harder than normal and wasn't letting up. I said:

"I'm just getting a cough drop."

Ami said, "Oh, Can I have one?"

I said, "Sure."

I gave her one and she went back to sleep. She doesn't remember this at all but says that around 5am she woke up and couldn't remember why she had a cough drop in her mouth.