I'm It!

Becky tagged me to do this list. Wow I even finished and posted this before the birth of your 2^nd child. Are you not impressed?

1. What I was doing ten years ago:
I was pregnant with Amber. The rest is a blur. Oh, yeah, I was working at Holiday Inn. Actually I wasn’t working because I was to sick to do anything but lay in bed and occasionally crawl to the bathroom. That was great fun. I think I recovered about 2 weeks before Christmas – which would be about now!

2. Five years ago:
It was the end of 2002, so that means we’d just had the Olympics here (the only time Utah’s bus system has run extremely well), David’s mom had just passed away and David just had his shoulder surgery. And it was right about the time his diaphragm started going out. More fun memories.

3. One year ago:
Sadly enough, this one is harder to remember than 5 or 10 years ago. I’d been working at MSC for about a year. One person got fired and another quit – fun in an office that has 5 people. Oh yeah, and Meagan had just turned 16 and was starting to drive.

4. Yesterday:
Got to work full time because Georgia took the day off for her Biology final. I really don’t like working full time. Then David, Meagan and I went to buy her a new swimsuit because the 2 she had been using are literally falling apart. I drove the suburban ’cuz I didn’t wanna get stuck in our driveway again like I did Saturday morning.

5. 5 snacks I enjoy:
Lindt dark chocolate, stretch island fruit leather, hagen daas ice cream, pecans, granola.


6. 5 Things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million:
Pay off my mortgage, sell my house and move to the country. Quit my job, write, draw, paint, grow a big garden. Pay off all my siblings and friends mortgages. Find out how to invest my money and live off the proceeds. Find good causes to “invest” in (like saving the environment, helping people around the world have clean drinking water, stuff like that.) That was more than 5, wasn’t it?

7. 5 locations I would like to run away to:
An uncrowded island with clear blue water, warm sandy beaches and room service. Alaska or Montana in the summertime. A spa with massage therapists, yoga classes, etc. A cabin in the woods next to a babbling mountain stream and lots of big, shady trees.

8. 5 bad habits I have:
I’m picky – especially about food, lately. I love to wear sweats and baggy clothes. I’m a procrastinator. I like the internet too much. I giggle a lot.


9. 5 things I like doing:
Sleeping. Reading. Writing. Talking to family and friends. Goofing off with my kids and husband and dog (it kinda freaks my dog out, sometimes).

10. 5 TV shows I like:
I don’t watch TV much these days.

11. 5 things I hate doing:
Trying to clear clutter from my house – I swear it multiplies like rabbits. Making sure my kids do and turn in their homework. Getting my kids to do their chores. Laundry. Go to work 5 days a week (can’t it just be 2 days a week? Or not at all? My work isn’t really that horrible, but I have SO much other stuff to do!)

12. 5 Biggest joys of the moment:
Hanging out with my family and/or friends. Yoga. Snuggling up with a good book and a cup of herbal tea. Eating a really good meal (especially if I didn’t have to cook it). Going to the temple.

Now I'm going to tag Meagan, because she's the only one I know who has a blog that hasn't been tagged. Or, Sheri or Mom, you can start a blog and have this be your first post. (No pressure . . . )

Concert Update

Jarom's band concert is tomorrow night Wed. Dec. 5 at 7:00 pm at the Jr. High. His band teacher put the wrong date on the flyer she sent home.

Amber's chorus concert is Wed. Dec. 19 at 7:00 pm at the Elementary School.

They would love to have anyone come who can.

Twice a Month

I think blogging twice a month is about my style. Especially when I have a computer/internet connection at home that don't always co-operate. Now my mouse is not working - or more likely the socket the mouse plugs in to. There's always something.

Anyway. Last week I went to Meagan's swim meet with Murray High. Becky, Ray and Dana were there. They were very entertaining. Dana is still in love with Tyler. Ray looked at all the swimmers and said something along the lines of, "If I were co-ordinated, didn't sink in water and were at all athletic, I could do that." Considering all of Meagan's knee problems, she did quite well.

Speaking of Meagan, she turned 17 yesterday. Can you believe it? It doesn't seem like that long ago that I gave birth to my oldest child. When I got home from work, Meagan asked if she could invite her friends over to watch a movie or play games. I told her she could either on her birthday or on Saturday, but not both. She ended up falling asleep on the couch at 8 pm, so I guess that means she chose Saturday. Good thing her friends didn't come over last night!

Jarom and Amber have concerts coming up. Jarom's is Wed. Dec. 4 at 7:00 pm at Kennedy Jr. Amber's is Dec. 19 at Jackling Elem. I think it's at 7:00 pm. I'll have to look when I get home. Cameron and Meagan don't have any concerts this year. Sad, huh?

Well, I'd better go back to work. I'll post again in two weeks! (probably . . . )

I'm Back . . .

I don't know what to blog about. My mind is blank. Let's see, we survived Halloween. Amber and I have been cleaning her bedroom for the past few weeks. It has been FUN! My idea of clean and Amber's are totally different. Someday we may even get done. I think we're about half way there. Today we were going to go donate a bunch of Amber's stuff to the DI and they closed down the one closest to us. Guess I'll have to find another DI.

Meagan is still swimming. I took her to see my kinesiologist and she said that Meagan's hamstrings are too tight and her quads are too loose. She gave Meagan some stretches to do before swimming and told her to make sure she drinks powerade before she swims so her muscles don't get dehydrated. Hope she gets better!

Jarom is in the living room with Amber and me practicing his trumpet. Brass instruments sure are loud. Oh, for the days of string instruments again. Alas, I think they are over. Meagan would rather join Concert Choir, she thinks. (Wouldn't have anything to do with a certain boy named Tyler, nope, not at all.) Jarom is getting better and better - I can sure tell when he's practiced and when he hasn't.

Cameron finally got his gameboy back today after a month or so of begging. Aren't I mean? I must remember to get it back from him before bedtime so he sleeps tonight.

I guess that's about it. David's allergies are driving him crazy today. His eyes have been bright red. Yardwork is not so good for him. I think he's asleep already. He says it feels better when his eyes are closed. I think I'm about ready to go close my eyes as well.

Hey, Becky, someday I may actually do that "tag" thing, but not tonight. I am a BAD blogger. Sorry.

Kickboxing with Wallabies

The other day I told Meagan that since I would be taking her to the doctor for her swim team physical when I normally go to cycling and yoga, I would go to Kick-a-lates on Thursday instead. Kick-a-lates is kickboxing and pilates, I explained. She said, What? Kickboxing with wallabies? I have been laughing about that ever since. Obviously she was tired - of course it was 5:45 am - that's what time we have to leave for her to get to morning swim practice on time. I did tell her the wallabies would probably win.

So, today, I psyched myself up to go to Kick-a-lates. I was just positive I would look absolutely stupid doing kickboxing at the gym. I got in to the room and it was actually Musclebuster instead - another class I have been afraid of taking. I did survive. Now my knees kinda hurt, but I did keep my knees behind my toes when I did squats, like the instructor told us to do, so I guess I'll be ok.

Meagan had her first swim meet of the season yesterday. She had one the week before, but couldn't swim because I couldn't get her in for her physical in time. I only made it at the very, very end of the meet when they were cleaning up, but David made it for some of Meagan's swimming. Apparently on her first event, she was ahead of everyone else until she had to do her flip-turn, then her knee hurt her, so she got behind. After that, she had 2 goggle malfunctions. Poor Meagie.

David and I have decided to take her to an orthopedic surgeon again so we can find out if there's anything else she can so. She was very sad yesterday, she said, "I thought the last orthopedic surgeon said swimming would help, not hurt."

Almost Halloween

It's almost Halloween and Amber is very excited. She's trying to decide what to be for Halloween this year. The Elementary School got a new principal, so they finally get to have a Halloween parade at school again. I'm not sure if Amber's ever gotten to be in one before. I asked her and she doesn't remember being in one, so probably not.

Meagan was mostly excited about going to a corn maze and she's been to 2 so far, so she's set. She is trying to decide if she's going to dress up this year or not. Her friends keep talking about it. The other 3 kids have pulled out the Halloween costumes that still fit them and wear them around the house - grim reaper costumes, mostly. Cameron and Jarom are trying to decide if they are too old to go trick-or-treating or not.

Cameron and Jarom are both going on a field trip with Quest today. They are going to Odyssey Dance Company's "Thriller." Sounds fun. I guess I'll know tonight. All Cameron would say about the last field trip ("The Diary of Anne Frank") was that is was weird. Jarom wouldn't even say that much.

David went to the podiatrist yesterday and it looks like he isn't going to have to have surgery. That's good. His foot is 50% better than it was the last time he saw the foot doctor, so physical therapy has helped him quite a bit.

Meagan has a swim meet tomorrow. If you want to know when they are, just go to the Hunter High website and there is a list of dates and times. Or you can call us and ask!

Work is pretty slow right now. Odd, since last year it was during the summer that it was slow and it got busy after school started.

Full-Tiime Work

I survived the first week of October. How do people stand to work full time? Especially if they have children? As you can tell, it took me all of last week to recover. At least I'll have a big paycheck this time.

David and Jarom found out about their mole biopsies. Jarom's is ok, one of David's is melanoma - but the very earliest stages of melanoma. The dermatologist said that on a scale of 0 to 100, David's melanoma is almost a 1. So that's good and bad. David is going to the physical therapist now for his foot, hoping this will allow him to forgo surgery.

Meagan and Tyler both made their 200 laps for the swim-a-thon on Saturday in less than 2 hours. I can't even imagine swimming that far. Meagan had 6 minutes of the 2 hours left, Tyler had about 35 minutes. I'm impressed.

Cameron is addicted to the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Sometimes I'll find him up late at night or early in the morning reading. Thanks, Sheri! Just kidding. I guess I'll have to read the first book at least to see why Cameron and Sheri like them so much.

It's Already Half Over!

I survived the first week of October. How do people stand to work full time? Especially if they have children? As you can tell, it took me all of last week to recover. At least I'll have a big paycheck this time.

David and Jarom found out about their mole biopsies. Jarom's is ok, one of David's is melanoma - but the very earliest stages of melanoma. The dermatologist said that on a scale of 0 to 100, David's melanoma is almost a 1. So that's good and bad. David is going to the physical therapist now for his foot, hoping this will allow him to forgo surgery.

Meagan and Tyler both made their 200 laps for the swim-a-thon on Saturday in less than 2 hours. I can't even imagine swimming that far. Meagan had 6 minutes of the 2 hours left, Tyler had about 35 minutes. I'm impressed.

Cameron is addicted to the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Sometimes I'll find him up late at night or early in the morning reading. Thanks, Sheri! Just kidding. I guess I'll have to read the first book at least to see why Cameron and Sheri like them so much.

Jarom, on the other hand, seems to be addicted to Science Mystery Theater 3000. He kept watching the "Wild Rebels" one this weekend. Then he and Meagan would go around singing the Wild Rebels cereal jingle. Silly.

Amber just finished reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to me. She loves Roald Dahl books. I think the book is even sillier than the movies. Didn't think that was possible. Of course, Amber loves the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books, too. Every time Amber reads from them, they remind me of Rachel (RCH). I think if she wrote children's books, that's what they would be like.

And me? I've been doing pilates and yoga. I went to pilates on Saturday morning and this morning. I like yoga better, but more people seem to show up to the pilates classes at the fitness center, so I guess that's why they have more pilates classes. Pity.

Crazy Week Already

I am working full time this week because Georgia is on vacation in Seattle. I am jealous. Mostly because she is not at work going crazy like I am. It is so busy and I am so behind.

David and Jarom both got to go to the dermatologist yesterday and get moles cut off. Fun, fun, fun. I've done that before. Jarom was NOT happy. David handled it a little better.

David is wearing a boot this week in hopes that he won't have to go in for surgery to get bone spurs cut off his heels. Hope that works. He's having fun limping around in the meantime.

I am having fun getting up at 5:25 every morning. Tyler and his parents had some issues, so now he doesn't get to use the car and I get to drive Meagan (and Tyler) to swim practice every morning. I think by the time I get used to it, swim season will be over (it ends in February).

That's about all the excitement for this week - except that Jarom is getting his bottom braces put on today. They put the top ones on a couple of months ago. Poor Jarom. At least he'll get all his pain over with at once.

It's Been Awhile . . .

It's been so long, I'm not quite sure what to write. My internet at home has not really worked for the last 2 months, school started, etc, etc, so I haven't done any posting.

I do have to tell you about clothes shopping with Jarom. He really needed school pants, so he and I found him several pairs to try on. He was in the dressing room with the door closed and I asked him how it was going. He opened the door and told me: "I'm ok with the pants, but the wall rejected them!" I was wondering what he meant by that, then he pointed at the floor and showed me where all the pants had fallen off the hook on the wall onto the floor. He's so funny.

Let's see, what else? Oh, yeah, we went to Amber's SEP conference last night and found out she's the best reader in her class. At the beginning of the year, she's where the school district is hoping she'll be at the end of the year. I knew she was a good reader, but not that good. She's really in to "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books right now.

Meagan is doing all right, I guess. She finally went up to her swim coach and told him she can't run, jog or do lunges around the track because it hurts her knees too much. This was only when Tyler went up with her and MADE her tell the coach. Good for Tyler!

Cameron. Last night he took Jetta out to the backyard. On the way in, he did a roundhouse kick and kicked his shoe up on the roof. Luckily, it rolled off on its own.

And me? I survived David being gone for almost a week. I was so glad when he got back! I do not like being a single parent. As for David, he said he had fun, but says he's not going to Vegas next year. The 7 hour trip with hardly any stops is too much for him. We'll see . . .

My Mom

My mom is so funny. We went to visit my parents last night and took my mom her belated birthday present. Part of it was a little Tigger "action figure" - because my mom loves Tigger. She looked at the box and said, "Ooo . . . ages 3 and up." I said, "I hope you're old enough for it." She answered, "That's debatable."

This morning David told me that last night he used the bathroom at my parents' house. After he came out, my mom asked him if he found any soap in there. He said, no, he hadn't. My mom said, "That's because the soap bottle had an octopus on it, and I couldn't stand to look at it. I've been putting smiley faces over the octopus. You can use the soap now."

I had no idea my mom is anti-octopus. The things you learn. Now I know why my family is so entertaining (at least I think so!).

Someday I'll have to tell you Ray's definition of "nerd." And about his t-shirt collection (Mr. Rodgers, Bob Ross, etc, etc.)

De-Tox

Can I just say that I really hate detoxing? This past month has NOT been fun. I guess I'm going through all this because my kinesiologist is moving and I have to do it sometime?

This week has been BAD. Everyone I know is moving out of my neighborhood. I feel horrible. Work has been CRAZY. The weather has been weird. I guess life could be worse, but I want it to get better.

And So It Begins

Ah. Back to School. The early mornings, the trip to a VERY crowded Walmart for school supplies. What's not to love? I just can't wait until I - I mean my kids - start getting homework. Actually I don't really do their homework for them, but just making sure they do it and turn it in (hopefully on time) is almost like an extra job for me.

Meagan got put in the wrong math class, so I got to go to the school counselor with her to change that class - which, of course, facilitated moving around a few more. Meagan's on the swim team this year. That should be interesting. She's wanted to for years, but now that it comes down to it, she's not so sure. Lots of practices. Before and after school? Probably. She's not sure yet.

Jarom decided he doesn't want to take band after all - since we told him he has to help pay for whatever instrument he gets. He didn't like that idea at all. He wanted to take French, but that class is full, so maybe he'll take Spanish? There are only 2 French classes and each of them had 44 students in them already. Wow. Sounds like they already need a third class.

Jarom took the Quest test yesterday. He had to get at least 90% and he got 99%. He is so happy he is in Quest now. Jarom looked the happiest he has all week - he was actually beaming. I'm very glad for him. Starting junior high has been a rough transition for him.

Only problem is, they didn't have any gym classes open during the times he needs so he still has to take band. He is now taking art instead of band, which makes him very happy, but how does that work when gym is a required class? Maybe he'll only take a half year of band? Which probably means he still has to buy an instrument - for a half-year class. I tried to point this out to his counselor, but she just wasn't getting it and I was tired from not sleeping so well last night, so I let it go. I did feel bad for her because ALL of the classes were closed. The gym classes already had 70 students in each of them. Wow. That's alot of kids. Today even Spanish was full! Hopefully Jarom can get the classes he needs next semester.

I am SOOO glad we didn't have to make any changes for Cameron and Amber. Whew!

Back to School 'n Stuff

I figured I should post something - it's been awhile.

All the kids start back to school on Monday. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Jarom got to go to school this morning for 7th grade orientation. It lasted from 9 - 11 am. I really need to go buy him some pants. The only pants he has that fit dress code are too short or too big around, so today he chose to wear the floods rather than the gangsta pants. I'm sure the school would have had more of an issue with the latter.

I'm SO glad that it's finally starting to cool off. This has been a HOT summer.

My mind is blank now. Can't think of anything else to say other than I will be really glad when the Stake Presidency has made up their minds about Stake sports. I think they are really close. Glory Hallelujah! I have spent the past week going to volleyball training meetings.

I didn't actually practice any volleyball - just scorekeeping. That has way changed since I last played. The funny thing is - I'm not athletic, but I'm kinda sorta in charge for sports for the YW in our stake. I was the one the rest of the team had to drag to games on Saturday mornings (because they wouldn't have enough players for a team without me) and I NEVER went to practices if I could help. it.

I do have to admit, I like volleyball better than basketball. When I was growing up, our stake had a ward with a basketball team that had a lot of big, agressive polynesian girls on it. They were scary. I hated basketball. If they had had soccer back then, I would have gone for that. Girls soccer in Bountiful was non-existant when I was the right age. C'est la vie, eh?

"Tirobrwdfrydedd"

My mom says I need to update my blog. It's good to know at least one person reads my blog!

Hmmm. What have we been up to? Nothin' much. Cameron and Jarom are at scout camp this week. Meagan spends every moment we will let her with Tyler and her other friends.

Amber finally got to go to Walmart and the Dollar Store and spend some of her birthday money. She got some paintbrush markers that are really pretty fun to use. She and I made a flag with a dragon on it on Sunday. Then we had to name the land we made the flag for. Tirobrwdfrydedd. Nice name for a country, huh? It's Welsh for "land of enthusiasm." Amber and I are in to Welsh stuff lately.

Meagan and I finally started reading Harry Potter 7 last night. I kept almost buying the book and then I didn't - 'cuz I figured if I bought it, I'd probably spend the next couple of days reading it and not doing much else ('cept work and stuff). Kailien sent her copy home with David last night, so that settled it. I have to read it now.

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy?

Everything is so crazy in the summertime. Holidays, birthdays, camp, kids going every direction. At least I don't have to worry about if they are getting their homework done and handed in. I don't know which is harder. I am almost glad for the school year to start - I think.

We were supposed to go to Wyoming the weekend before the 24th of July, then everything started happening - car problems, finding someone to watch the dog, not being able to get a vacationer (a portable liquid oxygen tank for my husband). In the end, we didn't go because he couldn't get a vacationer. We might just buy one to have on hand except they are kinda big and cost $3,000 - $4,000. Oh well.

In the end, we went up to the canyon and hung out on Friday. That was fun. The best parts were roasting marshmallows and wading in the cold, cold creek.

On Saturday we went to South Towne Expo Center and checked out the floats that were going to be in the 24th of July Parade. That was funner than actually watching the parade on tv - which was quite boring. David and I liked the quilted float the best - especially that fact that all the quilts and wood were going to be donated to good causes afterwards. Plus, it was kind of cool to see how they put it together close up. The crest of the wave was crocheted. Oh yeah, and did I say that David was harrassing the cast of "Peter Pan" that had a float there? At least he's entertaining.

After that we went to Golden Corral and stuffed ourselves (that's the problem with buffets - but at least they have stuff I can eat). To finish off our non-vacation, we went and saw the Harry Potter 5 movie. It was pretty good, but I was disappointed that they left out the part about Fred and George turning the entryway into a swamp. That was my favorite part of the book.

Pioneers & E-Cards

We have taken the Suburban in to the mechanic twice in the last two weeks. Seems like we get one thing fixed on it and another thing breaks. If cars weren't so convenient and public transportation so inconvenient, I do not think I would own a car. Of course, having a disabled spouse who can't walk far comes in to the equation, too.

Speaking of cars, you don't know how really dependent you are on your car until your street gets slurried. I took Amber to a primary activity and we had to walk to where I had parked the car about 4 houses away. She whined, "Do we have to walk?" I think she thought we were walking the mile and 1/2 to church. When we got in the car she said, "Pioneer children sang as they walked . . . and walked . . . and walked . . ." So we had a discussion about pioneer children walking. I'm sure that walking to our churchhouse would be nothing for them.

I have been getting e-cards in my junk mail folder lately. I am pretty sure they are all from the same place - I didn't save the first two. The first one said it was from a "family member." If I were getting a e-card from a family member, wouldn't it just say their name? Then I got one from a "neighbor." Why would a neighbor be sending me an e-card? The latest one is the best. The subject line says: "You have received a greeting card from a Worshipper." I am not kidding, it really says that. I had no idea I was being worshipped. I wonder who the next one will be from? God?

BTW, I have not opened any of these e-cards, but I am really tempted to open this last one. What kind of e-card would a worshipper send me? I can only imagine.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

David sold 2 of his paintings the first day they hung in the library. How cool is that? They are both eagle paintings.

That spot on my thigh is still sore. Not as sore, but still sore.

My mind is totally blank right now. Could be lack of sleep. Or maybe too much sleep? I went to bed at 1:00 am and got up about 9:00 am.

We took the kids over to see the fireworks at Murray Park last night. They were pretty good, but the park was so crowded we had to sit on the lawn at Murray High School to see the fireworks. It was almost surreal looking across a bunch of rushing traffic and a Costco building to see fireworks. The fireworks were big enough, though that it was no problem seeing them. I think for the 24th of July we're going to go to Churchhill Jr. to watch fireworks. You can see the whole valley from there.

Something that's really been on my mind lately is global warming. David and I watched "An Inconvenient Truth" the other night. It's almost mind boggling seeing all of Al Gore's charts and graphs and photos. You can go to www.climatecrisis.com and find out more about it.

I was surprised and happy to find out that my carbon emissions are lower than most people's - in the US, that is. Still, there is so much to do. I am rather an environmentalist - at least in my head - to me it makes sense to reduce, reuse, recycle and all that. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you should. Before I saw the movie, I thought global warming was a myth, but I don't any more. Besides, even if it is - how could taking care of the environment possibly be a bad thing???

I was surprised to find out that the film made an impact on David. On the way home from fireworks he told me, "Seeing all of the smoke the fireworks left behind made me wonder how much carbon they were releasing in to the air." Wow. He gets it. We're on the same page about this. That is cool.

The Girl with a Pain in Her Thigh

I went to the kinesiologist a week ago. That's always an adventure. She told me that I needed to clear a pertussis vaccine I got years ago. Apparently it did some bad stuff to me, so I need to undo it. I would not have believed this stuff 2 years ago, but so much has happened between then and now that I do.

So, I start taking lobelia and msm to undo the damage of the long-ago vaccine. The first morning I took lobelia, I started feeling queasy. I went to the gym anyway, but didn't do as much as I normally do. Then I get to work and look up lobelia on the internet. Two other names for it are "pukeweed" and "vomitwort." Hmmm . . . that could explain the nausea.

The weird thing is that my thighs have been feeling really sore lately and I haven't done anything to make them sore - that I know of. This morning there was a spot on the front of my right thigh that really hurt - it feels like I got a shot in my thigh today. Could it be where I got that shot all those years ago? Bizarre. Wow.

David, the kids and I went to the library this morning to hang up his paintings. They look really good on display. He hung 16 paintings and it took us an hour and a half. If anyone is interested, they will be up through July 28.

I am in charge of sports for the YW in our stake. Isn't that a laugh? I am sooo not an athlete. I like yoga, cycling and swimming and that's about it. Luckily David has been helping me and refereeing (spelling??) softball for me for the last month. At least I married an athlete. What a husband!

Gee, Mom, I Wanna Go to Camp

Meagan and I both survived YW Camp last week. It was fun, but I am soooo glad it's over. I got lost both on the way up and the way back. I seem to have gotten left behind both times. I don't find my way so easily if I haven't driven someplace myself. At least I had a map. I did make it up there and back ok, I just took the scenic routes.

The girls were cute the leaders were very nice and the stars in the middle of the night were amazing. I am too exhausted right now to elaborate. Suffice it to say, I was really glad to get home and soak in the tub! Oh yeah - no sunburns! yay!

Crazy

May and June have been such crazy months this year! End of school stuff, Cameron's trip, camp, scouts, birthdays, holidays, ACK! I will be so glad when June is over - except that it will be getting hotter . . .

The other day, Amber asked me if I would take her to the dollar store. I told her she would have to ask her dad, I had to leave for work in a few minutes. She got really confused and said, "You have to go to work in the summer?" Poor dear, she thought I got summer vacation, too. I wish. I think it may have hit her that, yes, some day she won't get summer vacation any more either.

We went to the Scottish Festival in Lehi last Saturday - on my birthday. It was fun. I only regret that I did not get to watch more of the caber toss - and see Becky sing for a 2nd time. There is so much to do there, it is hard to decide what to do. I think I would have had a great time staying in the "barn" all day listening beautiful celtic music or staying out on the field visiting booths and watching the highland games.

Yes, Becky did sing "Happy Birthday" to me - her own silly version.

We had to leave the Scottish Festival early because we had to pick up Cameron at the airport. Poor boy, he got SUCH a bad sunburn from going to the beach. He wasn't just pink, he was hot, glowing pink. Hooray for aloe vera gel, solarcaine and motrin.

Mountains and Bagels

I am working 8 hours today. Georgia's grandpa died, so she's at his funeral today. I don't like working full-time (except for the extra money).

Tuesday we had a Stake S0ftball practice for the primary aged children. Only 9 (including Amber) showed up. It was SO windy. One of the mothers there said she'd lived in the mid-west the last 3 years and when the wind blows that hard there it means there is a tornado coming. She almost didn't come, but then she remembered, oh yeah, this is Utah we don't have tornadoes (usually). Thank goodness for the mountains.

My kids are obsessed with bagels. We bought a huge bag of bagels from Costco the other day and they were all eaten within 24 hours. Then Jarom had David take him to the store so he could go get some more bagels with some of his aluminum can money. I asked my kids if they were part Jewish because they love bagels so much. They didn't get it. They had no idea bagels are a Jewish food.

Meagan has been REALLY cleaning out her room. She has probably 10 garbage bags full of stuff to either give or throw away. I should be so industrious!

David called Cameron at his hotel this morning (about 7:30 California time). Cameron didn't answer the phone "Bueno" this time. David says Cameron was still asleep. At least David got to talk to Cameron. He was sad he didn't get to the other day. Cameron goes to Universal Studios today. Only 3 days left - his trip is half way over.Speaking of trips, my parents should be home from Hawaii - yesterday.

My long-lost friend Myra called last night to tell me her oldest son Taylor got his mission call yesterday. Guess where? Fort Worth Texas - English speaking (I asked). Just think, Cameron's only got 5 more years 'til he's old enough. And Meagan, too, if she decides to go. We could have 3 missionaries out at the same time if they all leave as soon as they get old enough. How weird is that?

Bueno

Cameron didn't call home last night, so I called him. I called the hotel and they transferred me to his room.

"Bueno," someone said on the other end of the line.

Confused, I said, "Is Cameron there?"

"Oh, hi mom!" answered the person on the other end of the line.

"Cameron," I said, "I thought you were a Mexican. What are you doing answering the phone 'Bueno'?"

Turns out he was way too busy having fun to talk for very long - he had a friend who was waiting to go swimming with him. Cameron said he wished he'd brought more disposable cameras. He had already used one of the two he took and it was only the first day. I'm glad he's having fun - that's pretty much the point of the whole trip. Yesterday was Sea World, today and tomorrow are Disneyland.

Meagan went to Tyler's party last night. He changed the night so she could go. She told him she couldn't go on Tuesday because she has Young Women's. What a girl. Guess Tyler likes her, huh?

Amber is planning her birthday party - that's her favorite thing to do. David and Jarom turned in a bunch of aluminum cans and scrap metal yesterday. Earned $40. Not bad. Aluminum is 55 cents a pound now. I told David maybe Cameron would have to start collecting aluminum cans so he can pay us back the food money he owes us for his California trip.

And He's Off!

This morning we went and dropped Cameron off at the airport. It was weird sending him off on an airplane, even though he is with a big group from school. I was almost more stressed out than Cameron was. It wouldn't have been so bad if meals were included with this trip - but they're not, so he's gotta carry money and food with him.

We had to get up at 5:30 this morning to make sure he got to the airport by 6:30. We got there at 6:15. My mom would be proud!

Yesterday Cameron got ordained a Teacher. David's surrogate parents (the Clarks) and his friend Mike Wilson were there. My parents would have been there, but they are in Hawaii. So sad. They deserve it, though. This is their first big vacation ever. I'm glad they got to go.

Meagan is right behind me. She says she is going to clean her room today. That would be a major feat. Probably take her all day. Maybe she had better start soon! Just kidding! (Well, maybe not.) I get to go to work today or I would probably spend it cleaning MY room. Only problem is, it's not just mine, so half the stuff in there isn't mine. I guess it could be at least half clean?

"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." - Steven Wright

End of School

I went and donated blood to the red cross last night. When I got done, I chose one of the few "treats" I could have. Pretty limited thanks to my allergies. I got a can of apple juice. Just as I drank the last sip of it, I realized - that apple juice was in an aluminum can! I shouldn't have drunk it! Ack! I guess my only real option was the bottled water. Oh well.

Meagan went to the yearbook signing stomp last night. She said no one danced, they all sat around and signed each others yearbooks.

This morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood with my friend and neighbor, Anna. Yesterday I went to the cycling/yoga class at the gym. I suppose I am starting to get more active. The hardest thing about cycling is that I'm still having trouble breathing. Someday it's gonna get better.

Amber is so funny. We have a huge calendar attached to our back door. On June 1 Meagan wrote "Last Day of School" in blue ink. Below that in bright pink marker Amber wrote, "Sniffle Sniffle Sniff." I guess she is sad school is ending. I don't think my other 3 children are.

Memorial Day?

The long crazy weekend is over. Holidays get weirder as your kids get older. Our kids had so many parties to go to on Memorial Day, it was hard figuring out where to be when.

We didn't even visit a single grave this weekend. We did wave at David's parents' graves as we drove by. Aren't we awesome?

End of school. Wow. Kids home for 3 months. At least we don't have to make sure they do their homework. That's good. I kinda wish all schools were year-round - then the kids wouldn't get so bored over the summer.

2 days in a row

I'm just doing this to prove I can (blog 2 days in a row, that is).

Last night I went to Meagan's Concerto Night at the high school. It was good, but most of the music was so mellow, I almost fell asleep. I think at one point I even drooled, I was that tired!

Cameron turned 14. Wow. I can't believe it's been that long ago. One thing about having children - you can't kid yourself about how old you are. They keep getting older and so do I. It's all good, though.

The only thing I don't really like about getting older in our society is that older people are not given the respect they deserve. Older people usually ARE wiser. Why do we fear old age so much? Failing health? Wrinkles? I once read that the good thing about wrinkles is that they don't hurt.

Speaking of hurting skin, you should see Meagan's sunburn from watching the iron man competition. Good thing for aloe vera gel.

First Blog from Work

Wow. I finally figured out how to access my blog at work. I might actually blog more often now. On my unofficial 15 minute break (that, by law, I should be getting anyway).

Last night we went to Amber's chorus concert at the elementary school. Somehow we had been informed that it started at 7:00 pm. Nope, it actually started at 6:30 pm. Well, my parents somehow were told it started at 6:30, so they were there on time. Amber didn't get there 'til 6:45. My parents said it actually started at 6:40, so she didn't miss a whole lot of it. I think they must have put on a flyer that it started at 7:00, which is what I wrote on the calendar, and later changed it to 6:30. Or, I just wrote it down wrong??? Good thing Amber didn't get there right at 7, huh?

The night before last, we went to Meagan's orchestra concert. First the orchestra played, then the wind ensemble, then the jazz ensemble. I liked the orchestra the best. Meagan said I always say that. I wonder, is it because I like the sound of string instruments best or because Meagan plays the violin? The whole concert was good, but rather long. It lasted almost 2 hours.

Meagan got sunburned from sitting outside for 4 1/2 hours watching some of her friends competing in the ironman competion on Tuesday. She burns so easily, it's just sad.

Cameron's Birthday is today! He's 14 now. This morning I made german pancake for breakfast, but it didn't get done in time for Cameron. Sad, huh?

I went downstairs this morning to get some hamburger out of the freezer so I could make meatloaf for dinner tonight (it's Cameron's favorite). It's a good thing I did, because the freezer door didn't get shut tight last night and lots of things had thawed. I wonder why the alarm didn't go off? We probably turned it off a long time ago because it was going off all the time and driving us crazy. In any case, we now have 35 pounds of thawed meat and vegetables that need to be used very soon. And 4 pizzas. Fun!

The Hunt

Meagan had her first official date May 12. She went to Senior Ball. At her High School, they let the Sophomores and Juniors go to Senior Ball - they just make them wait until a day later to buy the tickets. Thus, Meagan and I got the honor and privilege of shopping for a formal dress!

You would not think it would be so hard to find a decent prom dress for a 16 year-old-average sized girl. Think again. Especially if you want said dress to be modest. And under $100.

Meagan and I searched 2 malls for a good dress. There were some that looked cute on the hanger, but awful on Meagan. And Meagan is a pretty cute girl. We must have spent 6 hours one Saturday. We were both very frustrated by the end of the day.

The next week, we went on a Wednesday to a close-out bridal/prom dress store. It is only open from 9 am - 5 pm, Monday - Friday. I had to go to work early and get off early so we could get there before it closed.

Meagan's friend, who doubled with her, wanted to go with us, which was fine. She wasn't going to try on any dresses, but I told her she may as well, as long as she was there. In the end, they found 2 very pretty matching dresses for (gasp!) only $50 each. That was quite a bargain. Meagan got burgundy and her friend got teal. The only problem was, they were strapless, so they had to wear a jacket or a shrug with them.

Meagan and I were SO RELIEVED that dress shopping was over! Don't even ask about shoe shopping. Ridiculous!

The boys Meagan and her friend went out with were cute and silly. For some reason, both of them are rather addicted to ketchup. I'm glad Meagan was only in charge of the day activity.

We all survived the dance - and they all seemed to have fun. Yay! Glad it's over. Can't wait until one of my kids decides to get married. If a prom was this much trouble, I can't even imagine a wedding. No wonder my mom wanted me to elope!!!

Having your kids grow up is such a weird thing. Still, I probably have several years before any weddings happen. Are you listening Meagan?

Something from Stephen Wright:
"When I turned two I was really anxious, because I'd doubled my age in a year. I thought, if this keeps up, by the time I'm six I'll be ninety."

Amber's Chorus Concert

We went to Amber's chorus concert at the high school last week. It was during the "Heart of Hunter," so there were 4 other elementary schools performing, 2 jr. highs and 2 or 3 groups from the high school. Meagan was glad that the high school orchestra was NOT performing or she would have been performing, too.

When we first got there the high school band was playing. They were loud. I can see why Mr. Talbot has hearing problems. It was almost as loud as a rock concert.

Everyone was lined up to get free hotdogs and chips. By the time we got there, the only drinks they had left had caffiene in them. This IS Utah, you think they would have more non-caffiene drinks, but oh well. It was free. I was just glad I brought some bottled water.

By the time we got done eating, the high school madrigals were singing. They were SO quiet. Or maybe it was that they seemed quiet after the really loud band? Even the elementary school kids sang louder than the madrigals. Sad. I think they needed microphones.

Amber's elementary was the 2nd elementary school to sing. They were going along pretty well - singing a song about the alphabet - and the fire alarms went off. Blue lights started flashing, alarms blared and all of the doors to the commons automatically shut. A mother in front of us gathered up her 2 small children and scurried out. For a moment, scenes of chaos flashed through my mind as I pictured parents going crazy trying to get to their children who were all in groups in the middle of the commons waiting for their turn to sing. Fortunately that didn't happen. Everyone else just stood there like nothing unusual was going on. The school kids went on singing, even though we could not hear them.

Meagan said, "Maybe this is the fire drill we were supposed to have last week."

I told Meagan, "It's probably some little kid that's alot like Cameron used to be." Cameron pulled the fire alarm once at the Stake Center when David and I were getting our temple recommends. Cameron was probably 3 at the time. It took them about 15 minutes to finally get the alarms turned off - it was on a Sunday afternoon and the Stake President who has the keys to turn off the alarm was not there.

Right before the alphabet song ended, the alarms and lights went off and the doors re-opened. The kids were still singing their little hearts out. The second song they sang was called "Bus Stop." Kind of reminded me of that Beatles' song about waking up too late and making "the bus in seconds flat," but not quite as cool. There were a bunch of cute kids singing it, though, so that made up for it. Funny thing is, this is the first year the elementary school has not bussed kids to it. Ironic.

Our kids used to be bussed. It made life alot easier - except for when a certain neighbor girl would pick fights with our sons and then blame the fight on them. The bus driver would always believe her (she is very sneaky that way - still is). Our kids would get kicked off the bus for a day or two and she would still be riding the bus. But I digress.

We left after the 3rd elementary school finished singing and missed the parking lot crowds. By the time we got outside it was raining fairly hard. It was sunny when we left, so none of us brought jackets. Luckily David's oxygen didn't freeze up.

All's well that ends well!

More from Steven Wright:
"In school, every period ends with a bell. Every sentence ends with a period.Every crime ends with a sentence."

"Weeds can be a serious problem. Gangs can be a serious problem."

Not much to say today. Just writing to show I CAN write a short blog.

Cameron's borrowed baritone is missing, so we didn't go to the band concert last night. Kinda sad.

Amber is reading "The Miserable Mill" to me. It's a "Series of Unfortunate Events" book. They are so silly. I love the way Lemony defines words.

Jarom wants to know if Donavon can sleep over tomorrow night. I said sure, if Jarom and Cameron are like Cinderella and do ALL their chores. Aren't I mean?

David just finished painting a picture with 5 eagles on it. I want him to paint a picture of a weed to hang up at the Hunter Library. I think it would be funny. West Valley City is so anti-weed, and I happen to like weeds. Well, the pretty ones. Don't like the stickery ones. The title of this blog is, as a matter of fact, are quotes from the WVC clean up brochure we got recently.

Me, well. Work is overwhelming and so is my aluminum detox. Can't wait for the weekend. Plan on doing absolutely nothing. Well, maybe eating, but that's about it!

Another one from Steven Wright:
"One time the power went out in my house and I had to use the flash on my camera to see my way around. I made a sandwich and took fifty pictures of my face.The neighbors thought there was lightning in my house."

Aluminum to Me, Aluminium to Some

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Of course, that's relative for me. I went about 6 months without writing a blog, and it hasn't been that long this time.

I have to really strain to remember what I've been doing the last 2 weeks.

David's birthday was April 1. I still wasn't all the way well, but I managed to drag myself to the store to buy him a few presents. I was incredibly sick for 2 weeks (which you know about if you read my last blog) and then it was, "Wow, it's David's birthday, maybe I should do something about that."

Luckily he made lunch for his birthday. I was going to, but I was too slow and he had already started. We barely got around to making him a birthday cake. It was a joint effort. Meagan made the cake (from a box), I made the frosting, Cameron frosted the cake and Jarom put the candles on. Apparently David turned 9, because that's how many candles were on the cake.

April 1 was not only David's birthday, but general conference and Palm Sunday. It seems like it was something else, too, but I can't remember what. Luckily we don't do alot for Palm Sunday. Okay, all we really do for Palm Sunday is say, "It's Palm Sunday." Then one of the kids asks, "What's Palm Sunday?" So I tell them. Sometimes we don't even do that.

I went to the kinesiologist on April 3. She said that the reason I was having a healing crisis was because of something that happened when I was 7. 7? What do I remember from when I was 7? I thought I had somatitis or whatever when I was 8 or 9. I list off a bunch of stuff and it's none of that. Sometimes we just sit there and scratch our heads and then she starts asking more questions.

Finally we figured out it was an over-the-counter medicine I took when I was 7. I have no idea. Finally we figure out it was Pepto Bismal. You know, I always thought Pepto Bismal was an antacid. Turns out it's an antidiarrheal. I could say something else, but I'm not going there. Luckily, I haven't taken Pepto Bismal for at least 2 years - I have found that ginger or licorice work much better, without all the side effects.

So, what was it about Pepto Bismal that was/is so evil? The aluminum. I had no idea it had aluminum in it. Apparently I have very high aluminum toxicity and my body is at the point it wants to get rid of it. I guess that's good.

Did you know that the cheese they use at fast food restaurants has aluminum in it? According to Prescription for Nutritional Healing, aluminum "is added to give the cheese product its melting quality." Yuck. It also lists a lot of other stuff that has aluminum in it. Apparently most processed foods contain aluminum.

Here's another scary quote: "Autopsies performed on persons who have died of Alzheimer's disease have revealed accumulations of up to four times the normal amount of aluminum in the nerve cells of the brain. Especially high concentrations have been found in the region of the hippocampus, which plays a central role in the memory."

That could explain a lot. See, mom, it wasn't my fault I couldn't remember anything when I was younger - it was the aluminum! Maybe that's why Meagan found a brochure at the doctor's office about alzheimer's when she was 12 and thought I had it. Hmmm . . . somethin' to think about.

I have been rather obsessed with aluminum lately. Did you know that in the UK, the pronounce it "al-oo-min-ee-um", not "al-oo-min-um." Ask my brother-in-law who is from Scotland. That's the correct way to pronounce it. "Like it's spelled," he says.

I have had to change my cookware, my deodorant, my shampoo, etc, etc. The cookware has definitely been the hardest. I'm not even sure about some of it - is it aluminum or is it stainless steel? Most of it doesn’t say. The only thing I'm really sure about is a very expensive set of pans I got years ago. I've been using them a lot more lately. Even teflon is bad (it eventually flakes off - and do you really want to eat teflon?)

Well, I think I've about bored you enough.

Here's what David and the kids are up to.

David - has been really, really nice to me since I got so sick. What's up with him? I don't know, but I like it. It's not like he was bad before, but this is nice. He has also been trying to figure out which paintings to hang up at the library when he has his showing in July. Oh yeah, and he just turned 9 (I mean 41).

He also got to go get another driver's license. The driver's license division decided he needed a restriction: "must wear oxygen when driving." That's kind of a no-brainer with him these days. He can barely walk without it, driving without it would be just scary.

Meagan - I have to watch what I say about her now that she is reading my blog. Not really. Meagan has been trying to fill out her form for the ACT. She has to take it now so they know what math class to place her in. Things have certainly changed since I was in high school.

Meagan went to Ballet West's production of "Giselle" with one of her friends last night. She gave it the glowing review of, "It was ok."

Cameron - got to give his oral presentation on his job shadow this week. I asked him how it went. He said, "I don't know, but I was nervous. I felt like a reed shaking in the wind the whole time I was up there." Apparently he did ok. He got 96/100 on his presentation. He job shadowed the editor of the Magna Times, West Valley City News and Kearns Post. He said he liked meeting new people but doesn't think he wants to be a reporter or editor because you have to "sit through long, boring meetings." I think he was referring to the Kearns City Council Meeting he went to. He said it lasted 3 hours.

Cameron says, "I hate, hate, hate math." I wish he could get the math teacher Meagan had in 8th & 9th grades. The math teacher Cameron has keeps giving them worksheets. That would be ok, but there is no explanation of how to do the math on them. If you don't understand it, you have to go to the index of the math book and try to figure out where the book explains what the assignment is about.

Funny thing is, I was helping Cameron with his math and he understood a part I totally didn't get. He was rather proud of himself. I still don't get it. I was able to help him understand a lot of it though. Maybe all those math classes are finally paying off.

Jarom - is our math whiz. He never needs help with his math. That's ok with me.
Jarom decided a couple of months ago that he was going to read Eragon for his April book report. I was kind of concerned because he is a slow reader and Eragon is almost 500 pages long. We went through the book and decided how many pages per day Jarom would have to read in order to get the book read on time. I think he is actually ahead of his goal. I am impressed.

Jarom helped David make 5 dozen big cookies over Spring Break. Too bad I couldn’t eat any of them. They looked pretty good.

Amber - is in to Nancy Drew books these days. I think I mentioned that before. She is still reading them to me. It's funny how my perspective of Nancy Drew books has changed since I was 8. I think what I mostly liked about the books was that they were always eating and it listed what they were eating. I’m not sure why Amber likes them so much. I’ll have to ask her.

Amber got to spend the night at Grandma & Grandpa Young’s with her cousin Katelyn over Spring Break. She had a blast. One of the things she liked best was chopping down weeds with a hula hoe. Imagine that.

This quote is in honor of David’s Birthday:
“When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked if I had any firearms with me. I said, ‘Well, what do you need?’” - Steven Wright

Sick, Sick, Sick

Hello my 2 readers. How are you?

I have been SO sick since my last blog. I had to take 6 ½ days off of work over the last 2 weeks. Thank goodness for weekends! Actually when I posted my last blog it was just the start of my glorious illness. Hopefully after this weekend I will be all better!

I had sinusitis for a week. I made it through that with herbs, etc. It was horrible, but I did not have to resort to prescription drugs - and especially the dreaded anti-biotics. Yay!

Then . . . just when I thought I was all better, here comes the worst illness I’ve had since morning sickness with my youngest child. It’s been nine years since then - and that was horrific and lasted 2 ½, well probably 3 months, all told.

What did I get? Somatitis. What is that? Very, very, very painful. It’s canker sores all over your tongue and mouth and throat. It’s inflammation so bad you can’t swallow anything - not even your own saliva - with out swallowing hard and grimacing because it hurts so bad.

I read on the internet that gargling with cayenne pepper will help soothe a sore throat. Oddly enough it did help my throat, but it made my raw tongue hurt worse.

I swear Sunday night I was lucky if I slept an hour. Every time I would almost fall asleep, the pain of swallowing would wake me up. Finally by 6 o’clock in the morning I was so exhausted I fell asleep for about ½ hour and drooled all over the place. Gross!

By Monday morning, I was ready to do just about anything to get rid of the pain and be able to swallow and sleep again: take anti-biotics, eat sea slugs, whatever. I didn’t care. I had gotten to the point I was speaking in one word sentences and writing my family notes, so making a doctor’s appointment was an arduous task.

I called the doctor’s office at 8 am. Earliest appointment: 11:35 am. “I’ll take it,” I slurred. It’s hard to talk when your mouth hurts really bad.

My husband took me to the doctor’s office, thank goodness. I finally got in and the doctor looked in my throat. He said, “You don’t have strep throat, you have somatitis. I’ll do a strep culture anyway, just to make sure, but I doubt you have it.”

He left for a few minutes to do the strep culture. Those have gotten really fast to do, apparently. He came back and said, “No, you don’t have strep, so I can’t give you any anti-biotics. I can give you prescriptions for lidocaine and liquid lortab. And eat lots of Popsicles, they help. By the way, you have the sympathy of all the staff. Somatitis is really, really painful.”

Then he thought for a moment and said, “Not that all our patients don’t have our sympathy, but you really earned our sympathy today.”

After that, David took me to Walmart for drugs and Popsicles. I was SO EXCITED to get those drugs. I wanted to get a teaspoon and take them in the store, but I restrained myself. Believe me, as soon as I got home, I ran in to the house, broke out a tablespoon and took the maximum dosage of liquid lortab. Even that burned, but it was worth it. The real godsend, though, was the lidocaine. Praise the name of the person who invented lidocaine! I few swishes of that and I couldn’t even feel my mouth and tongue. I was so happy I wanted to cry happy tears for the first time in days.

Ya know, when I called my kinesiologist, she said I was having a healing crisis (that's when your body is trying to clear out toxins from a past illness or incident that caused the toxins to build up in your body). Some of my illness was new stuff, she said, but most of it was old. I was trying to figure out when I had ever had this before, then it hit me. I had it when I was 8 or 9. Wow. That’s really old - I’m 40. Wonder what brought it on the first time?

I barely remember having it before, but I do remember the pain was excruciating. My mom took me to Dr. Lambert and got me some xylocaine and I was in heaven once I got the xylocaine. I don’t remember the pain lasting more than a day or 2, though.

The really good thing is that my mouth hardly hurts at all now. Yay!

So, that’s what I’ve been up to.

David and the kids? Dunno. Too sick to care until today. Thank god I’m not a single mother. How do they do it?

David and I did take all the kids to see a new dentist this morning. I think he looks kind of like Keanu Reeves - ’cept about 25. He seems nice enough. His office is brand new. Not even all the offices in the building are finished yet. Jordan Landing. What can I say? That place has popped up almost over night.

Each of the kids except Jarom has 1 cavity. That’s kind of funny, because Jarom is the one that has to get 4 teeth pulled. Like his mother before him, his teeth are too big for his mouth. Poor guy. The things we pass on to our children we wish we didn’t . . .

Well, better go.

Deep Thought, Courtesy of Jack Handy:
“Many people think that history is a dull subject. Dull? Is it "dull" that Jesse James once got bitten on the forehead by an ant, and at first it didn't seem like anything, but then the bite got worse and worse, so he went to a doctor in town, and the secretary told him to wait, so he sat down and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and then finally he got to see the doctor, and the doctor put some salve on it? You call that dull?”

Stories About Work . . . and Home

I have a couple of stories about work.

Story #1:
About a month ago, the office manager was on vacation. I was rushing around trying to get all the shipments ready for UPS. There was one repair that HAD to go out that day. Repairs are always the most fun because they are sensitive medical equipment and have to be packed carefully in lots of bubble wrap, etc. Plus, they have to be insured.
I was freaking out because the doctor had been waiting 3 weeks for this machine and if he had to wait more than one more day, he was not going to be happy. Some of the other shipments UPS had brought a day or 2 before were still not put away because we just hadn’t had time to do it yet.
I ran in to the box room to grab a box that was big enough for the machine I was shipping. It was big enough that I couldn’t see around it very well. As I was rushing back to the shipping room, I tripped over a box on the floor. I kind of caught my fall on the big box I was carrying, but not totally. I guess I made a big enough thud that the service tech came out of his office to make sure I was all right. I was a little sore, but mostly embarrassed.
I picked myself up off the floor and looked to see what it was I had tripped over. It was a big box of “Sore No More.”

Story #2:

Last week I was stuffing a bunch of orthopedic pillows in a box to ship out. I decided I’d better put a sticker on the box. While I was putting the sticker on the box, I ran my finger along the edge of the sticker and got a paper cut. What did the sticker say? “Do not open with sharp object”

OK, enough work stories.

Today I have a cold, so I am not quite thinking straight. My sinuses are clogged. I think I am better than I was yesterday.

We went to my nephew Andy’s missionary homecoming today. I asked him if it was “the best two years.” He said, “Yes, it is so far, but hopefully not the best two years of my whole life.” He said it would be pretty sad to tell his future wife [no, he’s not engaged yet] years down the road, “The two years of my mission was better than any of the two years I’ve served with you.”

I said, “Served?” He said, “I meant, ‘been married to you.’ I’m just so you to saying ‘served’ about anyone I’ve had a companionship with.” Then one of Andy’s friends pipes up and says, “Yeah, his wife is going to be a service project.”

We all laughed, but now that I think about it, your husband or wife (if you’re going to have a good marriage) will be the most important service project of your whole life.

Meagan’s friends are funny. They came up with a scavenger hunt that they did at the mall a few weeks ago. They had two identical lists that had things on them like: ride the mechanical rides like a cowboy, get a boy’s phone number, hug a boy, get 5 pennies from a stranger, get a receipt and so on. Each team had a cell phone with picture/video capabilities and 1 dollar to start out with. They could not use anything they already had on them. It made me laugh.

Meagan is getting to be quite the seamstress. Lately she has been cutting up old levi’s and gym pants and making book bags out of them. They look really nice. One of her friends wants Meagan to make her a book bag. Some of her other friends are telling her she could make a business out of it.

Cameron has finally started on his job shadow. Just getting him a job shadow was a struggle. He wants to be a fantasy author when he grows up. Try finding a job shadow like that! In the end, he is doing a job shadow with a reporter for West Valley City Journal/Magna Times. He wasn’t so excited about that until I told him that J.K. Rowling started out as a journalist. After that, he brightened up considerably.

Jarom loves to draw Kirby. He draws elaborate Kirby villages. They’re pretty cool. I’ll have to scan one in to the computer someday.

Jarom has been reading the book “Eragon.” I didn’t think he’d be able to - he’s a slow reader and “Eragon” is almost 500 pages long. We figured out how many pages per day he’d have to read in order for him to be done in time for his next book report. I think it ended up being about 20 pages per day. He’s been doing it and he’s about half done.

Amber was just looking over my shoulder. She says she likes to draw Kirby, too. That’s true. She draws a lot of Kirby pictures.

Amber says they’ve been singing “Silly Disney Sing-Along Songs” in chorus. Two of them are “Zippety-Do-Da” and “Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.” She is singing them for me right now as I type this. She’s been having fun being in the school chorus.

David and I have been busy replacing our dead Dodge Dynasty with a Ford Crown Victoria. It has about 100,000 fewer miles on it than the Dynasty. Trading cars is a lot of work.

David went to Las Vegas the beginning of last week. Half of the Vernons went to Las Vegas with Andy to celebrate him coming home from his mission. Meagan thought that was a rather odd way to celebrate a missionary homecoming. Me too, really.

The main thing they did was go to the “Tournament of Kings” at the Excalibur. They also went to the Las Vegas temple. David said Andy took breakfast to a couple of missionaries he knows who are serving in Las Vegas. I guess you can find religious stuff to do anywhere you go - even Vegas.

The kids and I would have gone to Vegas, too, but we didn’t have enough money for that. C’est la vie.

Thoughts on Life and Death

Jan. 10, 2007

It's been such a long time since I posted! Of course, I was without the internet at home for 4 or 5 months (major withdrawal, I can tell you!). Now I am down to lowly dial-up netzero, but at least it's cheap - and I'm all about cheap right now. I love reading my sister's blog - I swear it's the only thing that keeps me sane at work - that's what I do on my unsanctioned break. I work for a small company and they have weird ideas about breaks, but I won't go in to that.

Since I am quite possibly the only person in the whole wide world that reads my blog, it doesn't really matter what I write (or even if I write), does it? Yes, it's sad, but not that sad. At least I can look back and see what I've been up to - it's kinda like an internet journal. Better than a journal on my computer, because my computer likes to crash occasionally and I'm really bad at backing it up, so there goes my whole journal.

So, yesterday I was reading my sister's blog (the ranting closet - or was it spoon!). It had a link to a crazy cupcake blog that had a link to the "gluten free girl" blog. This, being gluten-free myself, I was interested in. I rather enjoyed the blog - it was upbeat and happy and Shauna (aka gluten-free girl) is so full of life. It was a nice evening reading her blog. THEN . . . my oldest daughter comes home from Young Women.

"How did it go?" I ask her.
"Oh, it was ok, we played volleyball with the boys. ---- is SO stupid, though."
Oh boy, I thought, another tirade about how much my daughter does not like ----. I am used to this, having heard it for years. I am getting ready to give my "be nice" speech when the conversation took a TOTALLY unexpected turn.

"Yeah, one of our leaders took the older girls out in the hall for a few minutes to tell us some sad news about one of our friends; then ---- bursts through the door and says, 'Hey, everyone is supposed to be inside playing volleyball, not out in the hallway! Come on you guys, who died?'"

Then my daughters eyes teared up. I looked away from the happy blog I'd been reading and knew from her look that one of her friends HAD died. Suicide. Yesterday afternoon. How could a 16 year old girl who seems so happy and alive, has so many friends, so much talent and so much to live for kill herself? How? Everyone who saw her earlier in the day said she seemed as happy as ever.

Of course, I know how. Depression. Why else does anyone kill themself? I have been there myself, on the brink - thinking that I am worthless and I don't deserve to live and life is too painful and the world would be a better place without me and it would be so much easier to just give up and die. I, too, have had friends that have committed suicide. So have both my parents.

I couldn't help but think about the girl's family. Especially her parents. What must they be going through. How horrible. What a nightmare. That's what people don't think about when they attempt suicide - what an important place in this world they hold. What an important place each and every person in this entire world holds. It's kind of like "It's a Wonderful Life" - each of us are as important as George was - though we may think we are insignificant, we are not. John Donne was right all those years ago: no man (or woman or child) is an island and when the bell tolls, it really does toll for all of us.


Jan. 11, 2007

Well, tonight Meagan and I went to a fireside at our Stake Center. It was for the youth of the stake who needed some comfort and wanted to try to make sense of the recent suicide I spoke of on my last post. Like I told everyone who asked, it was uplifting in a depressing sort of way. Even though I did not personally know Meagan's friend, her suicide hit me hard.

I guess I keep thinking about how close I came to doing the same thing and how it would have affected the people around me - and how thankful I am that I didn't go through with it. Truthfully, I never really got to the planning stages, only the thinking "I am so miserable and in so much pain I just want to die - wouldn't it be such a relief to not have to deal with life anymore?" I couldn't get to the planning stages because I knew that if I did commit suicide I would have to answer to God, and what would I tell Him? I couldn't deal with that.

Meagan's friend, unfortunately, was not so lucky. God saved my life. I have no doubt about it. I don't know what the difference is because I do not know exactly what was going on in Meagan's friend's life and in her mind. Only she knows that (and God, of course). I still ache for her parents.

Maybe what really scares me is that my kinesiologist (who has helped me so, so, so much) told me that after I had my third child, I was depressed, but after I had my fourth child, I was apathetic. Apathy, she says, is even worse than depression because you have given up. Be thankful for your depression, she tells me, because it means you are opening up yourself to feeling again and you have a chance for healing and getting better.

I don't know. Apathy was/is so much less painful. I think I'm afraid that if I allow myself to move from apathy back to depression, I might get suicidal again, and that's scary. Really scary.

I've been there before and it is NOT a good place to be. I don't want to EVER go there again. Is that why I keep sabotaging my efforts to get well? My 16 year-old-daughter is so intelligent beyond her years.

When I told her that her friend is in a better place now than all of us, she said: if you die depressed, don't you stay depressed? Why would you want to kill yourself if there's life after death and you're going to have to deal with pretty much the same things anyway? What did your suicide attempt accomplish? Nothing except making a lot of people around you sad. This is the same girl that told me when she was in 6th grade and I was griping about all the work her science project was: "Mom, you need to learn to enjoy the process, don't worry so much about the end result. This is fun!"

February

I can't believe it's already February. Now I can officially do my taxes, and I guess I should. Meagan - is spending the night at Kailien's - Kailien has found her a temporary job grooming dogs, so Meagan is happy she will have money again. At least for a little while. Cameron & Jarom - are camping with the scouts at Crystal Hot Springs. Scouts do the craziest things. Who would actually want to go camping in the winter? They almost got left behind because the scout leaders told David they would be leaving at 3:30, then they left at 2:30. Luckily one of them came back for Cameron and Jarom - he had already gone about 20 miles, but he was nice enough to come back. Amber - is staying home alone with her dad and me. I think she likes being an only child once in a while. We played Clue, Jr. which made Amber very happy. Me - for some reason the tomato soup we had for dinner did not agree with me. Fortunately, I have found that ginger tea works alot better on upset stomachs than alka seltzer ever dreams of and is not nearly so toxic. Wow, how my life has changed in the last year and a half. Things I used to think were crazy (like hardly ever eating canned/processed/fake food) I have come to realize are very much common sense. I am getting healthier for it. Life is seeming better to me than it ever has before and for that I can only be grateful! David - has started another painting. Elks. He has also been really good about cooking for us the past few weeks. That IS nice!

Only a Year!

It's been such a long time since I posted!

Of course, I was without the internet at home for 4 or 5 months (major withdrawal, I can tell you!). Now I am down to lowly dial-up netzero, but at least it's cheap - and I'm all about cheap right now.

I love reading my sister's blog - I swear it's the only thing that keeps me sane at work - that's what I do on my unsanctioned break. I work for a small company and they have weird ideas about breaks, but I won't go in to that. Also, since I am quite possibly the only person in the whole wide world that reads my blog, it doesn't really matter what I write (or even if I write), does it?

Yes, it's sad, but not that sad. At least I can look back and see what I've been up to - it's kinda like an internet journal. Better than a journal on my computer, because my computer likes to crash occasionally and I'm really bad at backing it up, so there goes my whole journal.

So, yesterday I was reading my sister's blog (the ranting closet - or was it spoon!). It had a link to a crazy cupcake blog that had a link to the "gluten free girl" blog. This, being gluten-free myself, I was interested in. I rather enjoyed the blog - it was upbeat and happy and Shauna (aka gluten-free girl) is so full of life. It was a nice evening reading her blog.