The rewards of putting one's foot down... a baby duck

So, after all the pets that have been falling into my lap... that Anton makes me give away (or let them go back to their real homes), I've decided to put my foot down.  I told Anton that when spring comes around, I am getting a baby animal, whether he likes it or not.  I'm waiting until spring because I only like baby animals.  Some of them are still okay when they grow up, like dogs and stuff, but we can't have a dog.

Well, the two most practical choices are either a baby kitty or a baby duck, so I told him to choose between them.  He picked the duck.  AND he decided to build a little tiny duck house for them (he's so sweet!)--we have to get at least two, otherwise the baby will be too lonely and probably die...

We have a lot of projects planned for the spring.  Lot's of fixing up to do.  Mostly they were all Anton's ideas, but I came up with the garden ideas.  It's gonna be great!  Especially since I won't have any real homework.

Also, I made a recent discovery.  I've been going to the dentist, but I have to schedule my appointments really far apart, because the anesthesia doesn't work on me very well, and if I do them close together, it doesn't work at all.  Anyway, the dentist was talking to me about it and he was saying that for some reason my body chemistry doesn't accept anesthesia very well and that I build up an immunity to it quickly.  And the assistant girl thought out loud how much that would suck for an epidural... and that's when it hit me...

Anesthesia doesn't work on me very well, so what if I ask for an epidural and they give it to me, and it doesn't even do anything?  Then they stuck that 9-inch needle in my back for nothing!  And it really would suck.  If there's anything I could choose to not be immune to, it would anesthesia!

So, I guess I decided to do it naturally, whenever it happens.  Even though I'm a total baby and can't handle any pain at all.  I'm already nervous about it and I'm not even pregnant yet.  Anton wants me to do it naturally anyway.  HE'S nervous about anyone sticking a 9-inch needle in my back.

In other news, Jana and I went to Utah last weekend for a wedding reception. Our ride's car broke down the day before we were supposed to leave, so I found a ride on the school bulletin board.  I made Jana go with me because I didn't want to go by myself.  It was fine on the ride down, except that the people driving had made some kind of spinach artichoke dip that smelled heavenly (because we were hungry), and they even offered us some, but we were way too shy to accept.  We kept saying, "oh, no, it's okay, we have our own snacks."  And I cursed my shy genes and stayed hungry, smelling the dip.

BUT on the way back, the Asian guy who had also gotten a ride from them, had apparently eaten a pound of garlic before we left.  He was a nice guy, but who does that right before a 4 hour car ride?!  I was plugging my nose a lot or holding my breath, trying to be covert about it (because I was sitting right next to him), but I don't know how inconspicuous a person can be about plugging her nose... I hope he didn't notice and get offended.  And that's about as eventful as my life gets.

All the pictures I ever said I'd post... I think!

Firstly, some accomplishments I'm proud of this past week:

-I made soup from scratch... even the noodles.  It was delicious.
-I finally made a dessert in our new house.  Brownies (Anton's favorite), but not from scratch.  I did use sunflower oil in it though, and it tasted so yummy!
-I wrote a seven page paper and made a power point presentation to go with it in a matter of hours.
-I have A's in all of my classes.
-I was voted the VP for the Child and Family Advocacy Society (which is a totally legit society that receives funding and does super awesome stuff).
       -speaking of which, my group face-timed with the author of this article today: http://unitedfamilies.org/default.asp?contentID=437 whose article was a response/warning to this proposed curriculum: http://www.popcouncil.org/publications/books/2010_ItsAllOne.asp at a UN council (they're trying to get every country in the world to adopt this horrible, evil curriculum) which you can also find a link to in the first article.  The author if the first article is a super smart lady, educated at Harvard, and is part of United Families International.

Anyway, it's a good semester.  And here are the pictures I promised... some of them are sideways, but I can't make them rotate--they're already the right rotation on my computer, so I don't why they uploaded like this.

 Ice cream made with nitrogen.

Park City.  Super expensive place/

The ferry that took us to our trail in the Tetons.

Super strong Husband.

Jenny Lake

Inspiration Peak

Silly chipmunk

Cute puppies at the shelter!

This one's my favorite.

Our baby chicks!

But we had to give them away ; (

He's so sweet!

A picture I found after Anton took the boys ground squirrel hunting with him.

Anton braided my hair and put a flower in it.  : )

Stray dog that wandered into our house right after we moved in.

She was extremely skittish.

And never made a single sound.

Baby kitty I rescued from the nature park.

She cuddled with Anton after I gave her a bath!

We had to give her to the shelter.

Anton's mom in Greece for a company thing where she works.

Her name is Nina.  She loves me.