How we met, a love story

I've been asked several times to share the story of how DH and I met. I thought this would be a good time to do that. Our weekend wasn't busy, it rained, I hobbled around, not much to report so a story from the past :)

I was a single mom teaching first grade in CA. My 2 older girls went to school where I taught and little Pickle spent her days playing with her best friend Ashley and her family. It worked out great because they lived a few blocks from the school and I could drop her off on my way to work and then when Connie went to pick up her older daughter she would bring J to my classroom. The girls would play and do homework and then we'd head for home. Anyway, I made a good friend while teaching there named Ellen. I'm not sure what we had in common because she was quiet a bit older than me, happily married to the love of her life, never had children and traveled the world. Her husband was an AF Col and they had been stationed lots of interesting places. Still we became great friends.
One day Ellen came to school and told me that she had met someone the night before. Al (her husband) was a fighter pilot and a guy he had flown with (DH's uncle Tom) was in town TDY. They had dinner with Tom and his nephew. Ellen came back to work the next day saying how wonderful DH was, tall and handsome and smart. He volunteered with some youth program and was kind and easy going. This impressed Ellen. After she told me all about how great he was she said that she told DH that we met at The Great Wall (a local Chinese restaurant) every Friday night and she invited him to meet us there that weekend. This wasn't exactly the truth. We had gone there before, and we did spend our free weekends together sometimes but every weekend was a bit of a stretch:)
That Friday Ellen and Al, another single teacher named Kim, another teacher and her boyfriend and I went to the Great Wall. Kim and I were both meeting "the catch". We got there first and sat down at a table. Before we got there Ellen had worked out a strategic seating arrangement because she said he was a bit of a low talker and mumbler and wanted us to be able to hear him. (he was, but he's kind of out grown it...kind of). Kim and I could see the door and when he walked in Ellen said there he is, and oh, he's brought a friend. We thought he was handsome, and so was the "friend" (who turned out to be his father visiting during a work out of town weekend.) Dinner was fun. We laughed a lot and the food was good. I didn't really think too much about it because although he was very nice, and indeed handsome, he wasn't LDS.

The next details I am not sure I remember exactly the right order but somewhere along the way he called Ellen and asked for my phone number, she e-mailed me and asked if that was okay, I said yes and he called. We talked on the phone a couple times over the next few days and then he left for Ohio for Christmas.

When he got home a week later he called and asked me out. I said yes but was a little nervous because I wasn't sure that he knew which one I was. Kim was tall and blond and single. I was short and dark. He came to my apartment and when I opened the door I could tell I was the right one. Whew! He came in and I showed him my apartment and pictures of the girls then we went out. At the end of the evening he asked what my plans were for the rest of the weekend. I told him I was going to church the next day and invited him to come with me. He agreed right away so the next day he came and met the girls and went to church with us.

Note: this was the first time they had met anyone I had dated. I didn't want to involve them in meeting a bunch of guys who turned out to be "someone mommy was dating" but I had a good feeling about him and I also had a strong confirmation to my prayers that he was a good guy and that he would accept the gospel, if I presented it non apologetically and with courage.

We went to church and while we were waiting for the meeting to start the conversation went something like this: he asked me who are two guys with name tags? I said the missionaries. What do they do? They teach people about the gospel. When can I meet them? (as soon as I finish scribbling this note and passing it back to them) After church. Long story short he started the lessons. We started dating.
On February 13 he got baptized. It was very nice. My dad baptized him and my best friend Nellie was there and several ward members. After the baptism he said I need to talk to you and we walked down the hall. I was thinking, Oh great, he's been baptized for 5 minutes and he's changed him mind already..What do I say? Instead he got down on one knee, pulled out a beautiful ring and proposed. I said yes and after a moment we walked back down to see our friends. There were tears and hugging and laughing and it was a great day.

Four months later we were married, six months after that we moved to TX. It was a whirlwind. He has remained true and faithful to his baptismal covenants. He is one of the smartest people I know, he's not easy going, but he is a catch and that is our real life love story.

Friday

Went to the orthopedic surgeon today. We got a good look at the ankle.

There is a bone fragment floating around and a crack and ligament damage. We already knew that. He said sometimes these things heal well with rest, and icing, and the boot. So that's what we're going to do for about a month. I can walk on it, as soon as it's comfortable. That will be a relief.
If it doens't heal well we'll do orthoscopic surgery and remove the fragment.

It sounds like a good plan to me and I am hoping that it will heal and I'll be up and running in no time.

Meanwhile my dear friend Tori brought dinner tonight. We all loved it, DH LOVED it. It was a very tasty stew. G liked the carrots and kept asking for more. We are very lucky to have been showered with many tasty meals. The kids are going to be sad when we go back to me opening a can of spaghetti sauce and calling it dinner!

This photo is much cuter than my ankle so it won.
Happy Friday night! We're just hanging out. Papa took the three girls to the ward social. My foot hurts after being up on it all day so we opted out. What a great Ward Party Princess I am. (pathetic)

where you live MeMe

Amerimeximadra at Mayham in Mexico tagged me with this fun MeMe

What do you like most about where you live? The people here are very friendly. When we moved to Texas from CA that was the first thing I noticed. I like living in the Bible belt because even though not everyone has the same beliefs as I do many have good solid Christian values and I love that. There are many nice things to do in our area. We have an awesome zoo, many nice restaurants and a fun down town area. At the same time this is really where the west began and the casual cowboy atmosphere is fun.

Is there anything strange about where you live? Some places it gets so cold that kids can't play outside. Here it gets too hot. If the weather is "bad" (read: Hot) the schools cancel recess and the kids stay inside. Also our schedules are often run by the railroad. I cross three train tracks taking S to school. If I get caught once or more we can be late so we have to leave early to miss the "stoopid trains!"

What's one of your all time favorite music albums, and why? I am not a huge music listener. I love music but I love the sounds of silence and quiet and still more. I love Josh Groban and have two of his CD's. I also love Voice Male, we are already listening to their Jingles CD. My girls listen to music a lot and I like a lot of the stuff they listen to but couldn't tell you what they're called.

Did you have a passion for something as a kid that you still have now? (If not - what is one of your passions now?) No, I am passionate about trying to do a good job raising my family but I haven't found a personal passion. Maybe I'll find one someday!

What do you like most about having a blog? I love keeping in touch with great Grandma B with my blog. We have several family members who read it and they really know the kids through their daily escapades. I have a couple RLF who read and that's turned out to be kind of fun, I thought it would be wierd but it's not; and meeting OLF is really fun.

I tag: Three Blond Boys and JoyIsMyGoal.

Thursday Night Lights

S had her first performance at a football game tonight. Our team lost 24 to 35 but the drill team looked great. They were sparkly and crisp and it was so fun to watch!
S is really enjoying the drill team. She's made lots of nice friends and loves to dance.

Papa, H, J, DH and I went to watch.

Yummy Dinners

If you break you ankle then you would really want to have a friend like joyismygoal.

We have been very spoiled this week.
Yesterday Sandy and Gretchen brought in dinner. It was yummy .

Today Marcia did. It was wonderful! The kids liked everything and the brownies were to die for!
bonus: everything came in this cute picnic basket which the kids thought was so fun. Now I just have to manage to get it back in a timely manner.:)


Tomorrow I go to the orthopedic surgeon. Hope it goes well. My foot still hurts, don't know if that's normal or not. I suspect yes, even though that is the annoying answer. It's hard to do nothing. The kids have really been good sports about helping out but I suspect we'll all be glad when I am back on my feet.

Great news, D is meeting us in Ohio for Thanksgiving! I am SO excited. We always love when she comes home for a visit, even if home this time is at Nana and Abba's. She hasn't been up there in a while and is looking forward to it. YEAH!

flippin' for you baby

E loves to do flips, G loves to copy him. Here they are having a lot of flipping fun!

Went to the doctor today. We changed PCP and I like our new guy a lot. A) his office is really close to our house! and B) he was a nice guy. Our pediatrician moved and we've been hunting for new one. I think I'm going to switch everyone to Dr. Godfrey. Anyway, he looked at my CT scan results and is sending me to a orthopedic surgeon, not that he thinks I will necessarily need surgery but he doesn't want to say walk on it, or leave it in the boot, or no we need to cast it, or whatever without another consultation, which I am fine with.
I don't know why but things always sound worse in medical jargon. Apparently I have "an acute nondisplaced fracture of the medial aspect of the talus with a likely associated ligamentous injury. " Doesn't that sound worse than a fractured ankle?

Meanwhile the good news is it feels better. I still can't put any weight on it but I am getting better at the crutches, it still has a dull ache but not too bad.

We have had a lot of really nice helpers. The girls are getting rides where they need and E has been invited to play at friends and last night we had a delish dinner brought in by Julianna. Mom and Dad have been coming over to help. I'm going to get used to this life of leisure! (ha)

On a more serious note: Although I don't love to be served, I prefer to serve; I am grateful for the help and the love these sweet women bring. I know the joy I feel when I serve others and I know the joy of being served. What a blessing this is.

“Who can measure the joy that has come into the lives of … women as they have mingled together? …
“Who … can fathom the uncountable acts of charity that have been performed, the food that has been put on barren tables, the faith that has been nurtured in desperate hours of illness, the wounds that have been bound up, the pains that have been ameliorated by loving hands and quiet and reassuring words, the comfort that has been extended in times of death and consequent loneliness?
“Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet, in speaking to the sisters in Nauvoo, said, ‘We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.’ … Women of the Church have not had to wait to sit together in heaven to taste the sweet fruit of the kind of activities she described. They have experienced much of heaven on earth as in life they have cherished one another, comforted one another, and instructed one another” President Gordon B Hinckley in this months visiting teaching message.

The boys are back

from their trip for essentials at Wal-mart.

Star Wars guys are essentials right? And this boy is spoiled (and the big one too)

FHE ~ a picture story

Lucy kneels to pray. She's been doing this for about a month and it's so cute.
Yes her pajamas are on backwards and we had to cut the feet off them...why? Because she gets undressed otherwise all the way down to her n*cked little bum and then pees in her bed, which we do not encourage so she gets to be a fashion plate when she goes to bed.

Papa and little Pickle hang out after the lesson.













H took a picture of me and brother and DH on the couch listening to the lesson. Obviously the most interesting part of that was the boot.


Lesson time. Okay, it's not a great shot but it's real life :)

Day one of the 30 day journey back to being ambulatory

Day one is done. That's a good thing.

J begged to stay home and help. I relented even though I usually frown on frivolously missing school (not really but we do have to meet the requirements for attendance and they are strict). She was a huge help. She cleaned and helped with the kids and fixed lunch and did everything cheerfully. S and H and E have all be very helpful too. E holds my shirt to help me walk and brings stuff to me and always knows where the crutches are (mainly because he is using them as a super cool machine gun or a hockey stick). Everyone has been great and helpful.

Mom and Dad came over and fixed dinner and stayed for FHE. H prepared the lesson. Now R and E are at Wal-mart getting things we can't live without i.e. diapers, soy milk, dish soap. Marcia was there this morning and asked if I needed anything~ I totally forgot that we did. Duh.

We watched "Miracle" today. It was great. E LOVED it! He's thinking of changing his future profession from scuba diver to hockey player. He ran around for 2 hours say "he shoots, he scores" "USA scores!!" "Soviets miss" It was very entertaining. Since we live by neither an ocean nor any ice I think either one of these choices is equally feasible.

I have found one good thing about using crutches, if there is something on the floor you can use them like giant chopsticks to pick the thing up. Not really all that great. Also, I suspect I will end up with stronger hands and shoulders and forearms since they are all sore and have possibly never been used so much before. I would crawl around but the tile is really hard and I don't have knee pads.

29 days to go :) ...but who's counting?

It's fractured

this morning I woke up and my foot was swollen all over, and black and blue. I stayed home from church, I don't know who taught for me. I called people last night to give a heads up, hoping that I would make it.

My mom came over during church and said I had to go to get an x-ray. I didn't think it was broken but finally said I would. She stayed with the kids and S drove me. She only has her permit and couldn't park in the small ER parking spaces so we had to park across the street in a garage. I sent her to get a wheelchair, I didn't think I could hop that far. She came back in a police car and we got a ride across the street. I had never been in the back of a police car before. I hope not to be again. It was actually a little embarrassing. We were at the hospital for about 6 hours. I had an x-ray which was inconclusive then a CT scan which showed a fracture on the tarsus. I had an old break as well that had healed but left a fragment. I didn't know I broke it before. Because of this the doctor is worried about how this will heal and if it's not doing well in a couple weeks I need to see an orthopedic surgeon. Too bad for us our favorite surgeon moved to Ohio a few weeks ago( and we miss them horribly.) S and I laughed a lot so that was fun. We played the connect the dots and make boxes game and tic-tack-toe and name that tune and any other game we could think of. S said she thought the nurses and doctors thought we were weird because whenever they came in we were cracking up.

So I will wear a boot for 4 weeks and have to keep off my feet (ROFLOL) and I have crutches. This is going to be fun.
Hopefully in a day or two I will be able to walk in the boot and can get back to pretty much "normal".

update: I just talked with my brother and my favorite doctor and have been advised to see an orthopedist sooner. Specifically Alec said it should be a none weight baring injury and I should be in a short cast for a month. I guess I'll call my doctor in a day or two and get a referral.

ouch!

I was taking out the trash and talking to S about the poor job she had done earlier taking out the trash and I stepped off the deck into a hole. Now look!

I'm supposed to teach Sunday School and Relief society tomorrow and I am crawling around my house counting down theminutes until bedtime .

DH is in a hanger somewhere doing testing so I am alone. Wah! (unless you count the kids of course)

Soccer

The Stingrays had their first game today. It went well. We won 3-1. E loves to play, he loves all ball sports. Probably all non ball sports too.

DH had to work so he missed it. Which is a bummer. That also changed our plans for today. We were both sad not to go to temple day, however OT is always nice, and engine testing is important.

Last nights birthday party went well. H had a lot of fun. J had two friends over and they hung out and then they all ended up spending the night at Siera and Sophia's house.


I got to go to Ruth's shower, which I was glad about. When I got home Tori was here with Emma and then all the girls decided to swim so we sat out by the pool, in the dark, and the girls swam and we visited. It was nice. I think we have a cold spell coming and we're expecting a cool wet winter so our nights of swimming are drawing to a close.






Papa kept Lucy occupied during the last half of the game. It was our snack day, we brought capri suns, raisins and pretzels.

waiting for the bus

Most afternoons we sit out on the porch and wait for H's bus to bring her home.

Today we were rewarded with the reading of some "really cool" mad libs she did at school. She was too excited to wait and read them inside, the littles were thrilled to hear the funny stories.

Now it's the weekend!! I'm so excited. Tonight H is going to a party, J is having some friends over. Tomorrow is E's first soccer game and in the afternoon DH and I are going on the ward Temple trip.

Sunday I have two lessons to teach. One for my Sunday School class and one for RS. I better prepare something!

I also have plans to try a new recipe, and am excited about that. And I plan on sleeping in past 5:40, yeah!

Thursday stuff

My sister Anna went to our Aunt's 80th birthday party. I was jealous, it would have been fun to go. She just posted some photos and it was so cute to see Papa and his brother and sisters! The family is here (in the US~not in TX) visiting from France. We've only seen them a few times through the years but love them and Anna had such a fun time seeing them.

Thursday is my helping in H's classroom day. I went this morning and cut out leaves for some project they have coming up and watched the kids play math games. I like her teacher this year a lot. She's really nice and the kids are happy. H comes home every day excited about her day, which is a nice change from last year. Grandma comes over to watch G and G loves it.

E learned about space this week at preschool. They made balloon rockets today. After school Kyle came over to play. The boys ate "torpedoes" for lunch. Some people call them taquitos. So cute the things he says. Yesterday he told me we need to move to Australia because he wants to go scuba diving with sharks.

Thursday Thirteen

thirteen things I have never done (and don't necessarily want to; but some of them maybe)

1. had a massage
2. been to a black tie dinner
3. eaten snails
4. been to South America
5. or anywhere in Asia
6. been on a bobsled
7. done my own taxes
8. went scuba diving
9. or sky diving
10. taken a cooking class
11. learned how to crochet
12. seen Gone with the Wind
13. waited tables

Mall Fun

The kids need socks. It's that dreaded time of year when tennis shoes are required for PE and the weather is getting a bit colder and little toes get chilly (I realize that to most of the country the high 70's and the 80's don't seem cold but we are in TX and that is down right chilly here:) ) Socks are a real challenge for me. Any two are called a pair in our house but my real goal, the real sign of a wonderfully organized house in my opinion, is a sock drawer with folded, matching socks.

So I called mom and asked her if she wanted to go to the mall with me. After all why go to Wal-mart around the corner when you can drive 20 minutes and enjoy a morning at the mall. Besides it turned out that JCP was having a sale so it was well worth it!

We walked around a little, looked at shops, tried on lotion and then we played on the play set. Aiden from Sunbeams was there. He recently moved into our ward (with his family of course) and the two boys had a great time playing. Mom and I sat and talked with Kara and enjoyed watching people. On the way out I bought a pkg of socks for G and we called the morning good.

What we're reading

We like to read. I just finished "The Memory Keeper's Daughter". It was good. The story is about a doctor and his young wife. She is pregnant and goes into labor during a snow storm. They drive to his office where his nurse meets him and they decide they can't make it to the hospital. He delivers a healthy baby boy and then realizes there is a second baby. His wife is given gas during the birth so she is out of it. He delivers a second baby, a daughter with Down's Syndrome. He instructs his nurse to take the baby to a home to live out what he assumes will be a short life and a sad limited life. Then he tells his wife that the baby has died. The nurse takes the baby and when she arrives at the home decides she can't leave her there. She keeps her and raises her as her own. The story follows both families; the doctor, his wife and son and the nurse and her "adopted" daughter. It's about secrets and trust and love and the potential of the human spirit. As usual it has a part or two to skip over but mostly it's a good read.
Now I am reading "Fire of the Covenant". DH got it this spring and read it. I've been holding off, knowing it's not going to be a happy story. I've been reading a little bit at a time for a few days and am, of course, sucked in. I feel like shouting "don't go, wait for next year" I know it won't go well. Yet I read. It's the story of the ill-fated Willie-Martin handcart company. I don't understand why they went with so many things stacked agaisnt them. They wanted to be obedient. That I understand, it's just so hard to read and think about. ARGH! It's not going to be a happy reading week:(

Brother is reading (being read to) Peter Pan. He's enjoying it very much. He calls chapters 'epsodes' which is so cute. We're on epsode 5 now he'll tell me. Still no Capt. Hook but we know he's coming!

DH is reading emotional intelligence and something about becoming a millionaire which actual title I have forgotten.

J is reading something nestled in her text book, sneaking pages between homework. A story delish and forbidden because of time constraints. I remember that!

Last night H was sitting up in bed reading by the dim filtered light that floods in her bedroom window from an outside security light. She was reading "Little Witch". She always has a stack by her bed. G likes books, likes to eat them, look at them, whatever. She sits nicely for story time so that's good :)

the end of a long day

All is well in my home. The littles are tucked safely in their beds, sleeping, having had stories read, a bath given and a yucky dinner served.
Lucy usually stays up a few minutes later than the rest. She plays quietly when she thinks the alternative is bed:)
Big girls are working on homework.
DH and I are watching the 9-11 special and Presidents speech.



Tired family!

I remember

I was driving down the road a couple weeks ago. The girls had the radio on, the kids were chattering in the back seat. The sun was shining. We were hurrying somewhere. Normal stuff. The radio hosts started talking about 9-11 and the fact that we were coming up on the 5th anniversary of that horrible day.

Five years. I can't believe it. It seems like a short time ago and an eternity ago. When ever I hear about it I get that feeling in my stomach ~ the something is wrong, something big, sick to my stomach feeling. I feel tears in my eyes threatening to spill over, most of the time they don't but that gut visceral reaction is still there. Our world forever changed. I know many others feel the same. Shannon at Rocks in my dryer is hosting a memory board for 9-11 and as I have read a few of the posts there is a common theme. The shock. The fear. The wishing for things to be like they were before, the desire to scoop up your own child and keep them safe, to make the world safe for their future. Theirs and ours and all the world's children.

Like many mom's across the US I was making breakfast. The TV was on, although it was mostly background noise. I was in the kitchen and busy doing our morning stuff. My MIL called, are you watching the TV she asked. I told her it was on but I wasn't really watching. Watch she said. I looked over and saw the airplane in the tower. How weird I thought. How did the pilot make such a huge mistake? It looked small, that airplane sticking out of a building. So small but it had such a big impact. Then the next plane hit. What?!? I called my parents in CA and woke them up, told them to turn on the TV. All day I watched. The third plane hit the pentagon and I wondered if this atrocity would ever end. An attack on our soil, the promised land. A land where we will be protected if we are obedient. There was a feeling of numbness and disbelief. Feelings of fear, and shock and sadness.

I wanted to turn the TV off, to spare my children and myself those images. I couldn't though. I had to watch. I wanted to stop it. I got a tiny glimpse of what it was like for Moroni to watch the distruction of his people and there was nothing he could do.

Over the next weeks we heard many sad stories. Also many stories of courage and faith. Over the past years we have seen people rebuild, rebuild their lives, their hope. Are our borders safe now? I don't know, I think maybe not. I am grateful for those brave soldiers who are doing their best to try and make them safe.

Interestingly 9 months later, in June, I gave birth to a baby boy. A baby we had been trying to have for a long time. When we were in the hospital one of the nurses told me they were swamped, they had been SO busy for weeks now. She said it was a post 9-11 baby boom. People reached for each other, wanted to affirm life, wanted joy to continue.

This day I will think of the men and women who gave their lives that day and in the days since and feel gratitude for them, for their courage. I hope for a peaceful future for my boy; but if that's not the reality then I hope he will stand up and fight for freedom. I hope he will have the courage to do the right thing, to defend our constitution, our freedom and our families. I hope he will trust in God.

....Most of all I hope for peace. And I will remember.

Super-man-in-training

I have one son. I want him to grow up to be an awesome man. I realize that the training of that awesomeness rests squarely on the shoulders of DH and I.

Leaping over tall buildings in a single bound is not the measure of manhood (although he is a good leaper). Show me a man who's not afraid to clean the bathroom and I'll show you a Super Man.

Brother loves to help. He loves spraying things and scrubbing them. Very manly tasks. He likes to feed the dog, clear his dishes, weed the garden and fold clothes with me. He runs to the car to help unload groceries and helps Papa carry out that trash. He's s super boy.

Today I went to Super Saturday feeling not very happy about my craft. After I whined to my good friend for awhile she called her dear husband, Richard. Richard then drove 45minutes (each direction) out of his way to a craft store that stocked the item we needed to make a nice "Princess" with crisp sharp edges. He was our hero today. I was very grateful and I think everyone ended up happy with their projects. Actually a few need to finish but we'll do that next week and then everyone will be happy. I, however, was happy today.

Super Saturday

Today was super Saturday. I "taught" the princess craft. I think it turned out fine although there was a small amount of trauma on the way. I didn't start my sample until last night and things didn't go well. Lesson: do things ahead of time.

This is the other craft I did. It was quick and cute. I think I'll send them to D to decorate her college house with! They are a cheerful pair.

We had a pot luck lunch, which was good and there were probably half a dozen other classes people could chose from. Very fun.

A Woman after my own heart!

What's not better with a little chocolate?!

Do pickles count as a veggie?

Yesterday I was so tired. We had preschool and after Kyle came over to play. I have been doing laundry like crazy. I want to empty my baskets and then determine how many loads a day it would take to keep them empty. I am tired of my laundry room being a long term storage facility instead of a cheerful, inviting, smelling of soap and clean clothes place where dirty clothes go in and then come out clean in the same season . Also we are still getting used to our early morning seminary schedule. I have been walking during seminary with my friend Gretchen in the gym. I am trying to build a habit of exercising. You hear 21 days all the time but I don't believe it. I could exercise every day for 21 months and still want to skip the next day. And conversely a bad habit, I am convinced, takes only a couple times to really sink in. Why is that? Still I've made it three days and besides being a little sore (how sad is that?) I am glad about it. (I am thrilled tomorrow is Saturday, however!) The problem is getting to bed on time. I want to be in bed by 10 so I'll be ready for a 5:40 wake up, it's just hard to do that.

I also had to make flyers for the upcoming ward social: it's one of the official duties of "ward party princess." Work on my lesson for Sunday: official duty in my calling as sage on the stage, fountain of wisdom, discussion facilitator, treat bringer, Sunday school teacher . And we had orchestra and I am teaching a craft for Super Saturday tomorrow and that needed some attention as well.
Don' t know why I was tired! Anyway as a result this was dinner. Nutricious (ahem), appealing to all, and super easy. Pickles are a vegetable right? And ketchup too, at least according to the school district they are :) And the pie had both fruit and dairy. What more could I ask for?

Got a good phone call yesterday. It was the nurse from my doctor's office. Any time the nurse starts with "good news, it's benign" it's a good call. I wasn't really all that worried, especially since it was taking awhile to hear, bad news usually comes fast. We had spent all week not thinking about it, not worrying. Why borrow trouble from tomorrow, right?, today is trouble enough for the moment. But still I was very glad, I got off the phone, laughed out loud and felt myself let my breath out as if I had been holding it for a week and said a prayer of gratitude. I remembered another phone call, years ago, that didn't go so well. It was from another doctor's office. He said "Mrs _______, your test results are in you have Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. I don't have time to talk to you about it right now but if you want you can call Dr. Birsner and he can explain more about it." Talk about crummy bedside manner. Those words didn't mean much to me but I was nursing my 3 week old baby and thought I'd better call Dr. B (my OB) in case it was going to effect her. I called and talked to his nurse. I told her what Dr Reynolds had said and was met by a stunned silence. Just a minute she finally said. Dr. B got on the line. Are you sitting down he asked, yes. You have cancer he said, then he swore. He didn't think breaking this kind of news on the phone was the right way. We talked on the phone for quite a while, until I understood what was going on. I was concerned about weaning S, finally he said~ a living mom is more important than breastmilk.
Okay, gotcha.
He said he'd call me back later and I called and told my husband and parents. That was the worst part. That and weaning poor little S. My mom, who panics and thinks every cold is a gateway to leukemia (said with love), did her usual mom thing. Alerted all, worried, ect.

That evening Dr. B called back, he had arranged appointments with the surgeon and oncologist and everyone I would need. He wanted to know how I was. How was I? The day before I had been a young mom (22 years old) with two cute little girls, a full-time student (I was studying to be a nurse), a normal person. Now, then, (excuse the tenses) I was a person with the "C" word. I was calm. Two days before my husband and brother-in-law had given me a blessing. They said I would live to raise my children, and the ones I was yet to have. I didn't doubt, this was an inconvenient detour.

So I had surgery. Dr B came to assist. He waited with me while I was getting prepped. He was there when I woke up. He was a good guy, cared about his patients. The surgery went well. I was in the hospital a few days and then home. It felt weird to know I was missing a body part but I recovered quickly and got back to being a mom. A month later they found more . Another surgery. This time, while I was laying on the gurney waiting to go in Dr. B came up and introduced me to his brother, also a doctor. He was a neurologist. They said they were thinking of going into business together and calling their practice "heads and tails". I laughed, then cried. Funny the things you remember. He held my hand and said I'd be fine, then caught a nurse to "give me a little something". The surgery went well.

It was decided that since it had spread and was acting aggressively I should have radio-active iodine treatment. This meant I had to go off synthetic thyroid for a month and then go into the hospital for a week for the treatment. I was worried about the month. No thyroid means you have severe hypothyroid symtoms (hair loss, memory loss, weight gain, fatigue, dry skin, constipation, basically your body slows down..Until it stops). I wanted to be able to take care of the girls. Each day I prayed for that. I was blessed. My blood work showed I was hypo way before I was laying on the couch dieing. Then I went to the hospital. I went in on my birthday. The treatment is easy. You go in a lead shielded room and sit there...For a long time. The nuclear medicine people came in in their white space suits and opened this huge silver canister, inside was a smaller canister, they opened that (all with long metal tongs) and inside that was a box which I was instructed to take out. Inside the box were several pills. Swallow they said. I held the box and looked up, are you sure? Yep. I swallowed and then waited. No one could visit. No trash, food, anything could leave the room once in with me. The nurses wore nuclear badges to make sure they weren't too exposed. They wore gloves. Since it was my birthday my husband brought up a Polaroid of him and the girls that said Happy Birthday. When I held it I left green finger prints on the back, the filmy part. It was a very boring week. The TV didn't work well. I listened to lots of CES tapes and looked out the window. Finally I was cleared to be amongst the general populous and called Mark to take me home. I couldn't get a hold of him so I called my best friend's mom who I called Mom2. Her daughter has the same name as me so I was L2 and she was M2. She came and took me home. The girls had to stay away a few more days, since their little thyroids were growing and we didn't want to risk exposure. I was very happy to have great doctors, to have technology that allowed me to be treated, to have so many people help with the girls and for the blessings of gospel. I felt like it was a miracle; that I was blessed with healing. No one can tell me that miracles are for the days of the Bible only. We have a living God, and he performs living miracles for His children right now. I was at peace the whole time, so much so that the doctors wanted me to see a professional to help me "come to terms with it". I knew I would be fine. Our earth life isn't supposed to be easy so I don't think it should come as a surprise when trials come. We need to trust the Lord in good and in bad, and actually it's the bad that's a little easier isn't it. That's when we know we need Him and acknowledge Him most. In fact less than I year later I was called to be the RS Pres. in my ward and that was as much of a trial as cancer. Not that I'm saying that was bad, it was just so far out of my comfort zone, so foreign to what I thought I could do, such a learning experience. Good and bad, back to back. Life lessons, taught and hopefully learned.

Okay, enough random rambling. I've had to edit this post somewhat, normally I try not to. I love blogging. It's a great way to journal but it's too public for the most sacred thoughts and experiences. I write this for my children, my posterity. I need to find a way to record the rest. Small plates if you will. Another puzzle for me to solve I guess :)

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen places I'd like to go:

1. Senegal
2. Disneyworld
3. NY City
4. Washington DC
5. UK
6. Iceland
7. Nauvoo
8. This is the Place Park in Salt Lake City Utah
9. Boston
10. Paris, France
11. So Africa
12. New Zealand
13. Alaska

and in other travel news: The Amazing Race starts a week from Sunday and I can't wait. It's virtual travel for me, geography in action, and so much fun!

Zoopendous day!

The weather has been cooler the last few days. Today we decided to go to the zoo. It was very nice. E and I have passes so we can go whenever we like. When the weather is nice, which in TX means not hot, we like to go a couple times a month. The animals were lively and we had such a fun time. My favorite was the baby lion cubs. Today was bone day and they were frolicking and enjoying those bones so much. They will be one tomorrow and are really frisky.

The rest of the day was normal-busy. E had soccer practice. J had violin lessons. Kids had homework. Talked to my friend Ruth about a class I am teaching for Super Saturday.

Our neighborhood water was out for a couple hours this evening. Very inconvenient. We need our own well I guess.

I made a very Berenstain Bears dinner: salmon, salad, and corn bread with honey butter. G loved it, so did J and I. S hates fish.

where to shop tip

This works for me Wednesday is kind of a "duh" one but it does work for me. Christmas is coming, in a few short months, and I am one of those weirdos that starts shopping and hiding gifts early. In fact I have already bought two. Part of the problem with this method is remembering where I have hidden things. Sadly that is not what this tip is about. This tip is stocking related.
We try not to go crazy at Christmas and to make it not a commercial blitz. We do a lot of different things to remember our Savior at that sacred time of year. We also enjoy Santa, and Christmas lights and all the holiday fun. Stockings at our house are from Santa. They are fun and filled with chocolates and small gifts. Usually by the time I get around to being the big guys shopping elf our funds are depleted. The dollar store, while and obvious choice for small trinkets, frankly sells a bunch of junk that falls apart quite quickly.

now for the tip: Shop at Target. They have their dollar spot in the front of the store and they have great stuff. It's often in themes even, which is ideal for stocking filling fun. Right now they have a pink diva theme going on~ nice lotions, nail stuff, girly stuff. A dance theme, a harvest theme, a Curious George theme. I grab some fun doo dads when we are there and save them in my secret hiding spot. Then when it's time to fill the stockings, or for a nice gift for my visiting teaching sisters or a last minute gift one of the kids needs I have an assortment of things, a bit nicer than the dollar store, that cost me $1.

answer (and who knew anyone would care? :) )

You remove the three points and rotate them. The diagram above shows their movement~ sort of football plays style.
The bottom is a shot of the coins that don't move. (just trying to be helpful!)

A Puzzler

Last night DH brought me some pennies arranged in an arrow shape. He asked me to move only three of them and make the arrow point the opposite direction.

I hate puzzles. I can never see what a flat shape folded into a 3 dimentional object will be. My spacial skills are next to nil. I was not excited. I stared at it for a while, moved some pennies around, signed loudly. I couldn't do it.

E, who likes to sleep in our room, wasn't asleep yet. He popped up to help and since I figured I wouldn't be allowed to go to sleep until I figured the dumb thing out and I since I was tired I agreed. I explained to him the task and then let him try it. He moved the pennies around for a few minutes while I counted "1,2,3, nope" and put them back. On about his 4th or 5th try he got it. I was so surprised! He was pleased. DH and I were proud. I got to go to bed :)

It's interesting to me how different peoples brains work. Brother is a bright boy but not really some kind of a genius. He is energetic and interested in lot of things. I worry about sending him to school next year because I don't think schools lean themselves to teaching boys who wiggle and are loud and learn by moving things around. He can figure out lots of stuff, but he likes to do it while doing flips on the couch or bouncing on the floor next to the bed. I wonder how he'll do at a desk. I hope that school won't kill his love of learning and trying things out. This year in preschool he is more willing to sit and write and cut. Maybe in another year he'll be even better at it.

moms for modesty

There is a lot of talk about the bad that can be found on the web, but there is also good. Fellow mommy blogger, Jules, has started a petiton for more modest clothing for girls. Retailers pay attention so please take a moment and go to her blog and sign up.

Basic idea:
As a Mom for Modesty I believe in common-sense modesty for girls and young women.
I believe in refraining from sexualizing our girls and young women.
I believe that it is unwise and unfair to taunt boys and young men by permitting my daughter(s) to dress in an immodest manner.
I believe that true beauty comes from within and I strive to teach my daughter(s) this truth.
I will loyally shop at retailers that provide girls' and young womens clothing that is modest, affordable and stylish.


http://www.everydaymommy.net/everyday-mommy/2006/9/5/moms-for-modesty.html

happy Labor Day morning

It's Raining!! A lot! Yeah, we have big cracks in our ground and a drought so we have prayed for this! I love rain. I love the way it smells. Maybe I should live in Seattle?
Lucy (seen here in all her scrappy hair/mismatched jammies glory) is our early bird. She wakes up no matter what the holiday, day of the week, weather. She and I have been the only ones up for over an hour. We've been sitting on the porch enjoying the quiet, the smell of rain and brother's big wheel.
Also, she said "cheese" when I took her picture. The other day I thought she said "thank you" but I wasn't sure. And S think she said "hi S_____". We are seeing language!

Weekend in review

Sunday night is here and happily we still have a holiday tomorrow. We don't have big plans but are looking forward to sleeping in a little and having a day off.

Last night we had our first dinner group. We went to the Blacks along with two other couples. The food was really good and the company was a lot of fun. Today I talked to several other people who went to different groups and it sounded like everyone enjoyed themselves. It was interesting to me at dinner someone asked Tori how she made the pork roast and while she was telling they commented that it was too complicated. I am often surprised when I bump into people through random conversations who don't enjoy cooking. I like to cook, I don't do anything fancy but I feel like I am not a bad cook, I can read a recipe and don't mind putting some time and effort into it. As an additional note I have had things this particular friend has made before and they have always been tasty so even though she perceives herself as not "a cook" she actually does cook and it's fine. With a large family I guess you have to cook even if you don't enjoy it.

We got a new Bishopric member today. It was exciting news for the ward. He's an awesome guy and will be a real asset.

I taught my Sunday School class for the first time. My lesson wasn't as wonderful as I would have liked but the kids were great and I am looking forward to preparing a nice lesson this week and going back next week.

Tonight H got invited to spend the night with her friend Emmaline.

Tonight we baked a cake and wanted to take it to share with a friend. We made one stop but they were busy. Then we had to discuss and decide where to go next. We settled on a family in the ward that has older children. Their daughter is the same age as D and just left for Utah a few weeks ago. They also have two teenage sons. Although we enjoy their company we don't normally socialize with them. It seems like we socialize most with people who's kids match up well with ours. They were surprised but happy to see us and we had a very fun visit. We've been trying to improve our Sabbath observance. DH, in particular, has been concerned about the quality of the time we spend after church. We don't do a lot of things that would be considered recreational or commercial in nature but we also don't fill our day with all uplifting, wonderful, family activities. Visiting seems to be in the category of things we should do more. So, cake in hand, we set off.

My parents are in CA this weekend for my Aunt's 81st birthday celebration. Anna and Amadeo also went. I would have liked to go, but it's so far. I need to remember to send her something, a card at least. (note to self). We are doggie sitting Fuzzbutt while they are gone. J likes him a lot. He's cute but pees in the house so we don't find that too endearing a trait. Hopefully he'll be trained by the time they leave on their mission!

Transportation dilemma solved

After some extensive searching, mostly by DH, we found a suburban that met all our criteria. We wanted an 04 or newer, low miles, leather seats, DVD player and around $20,000. I also didn't want a black one.

Today we drove to Addison and picked this one up. I think we'll be happy with it. We had 3 kids, two in carseats, sitting in the middle row on the way home and it was a good fit for them.

Now we can travel without flying someone. Of course we're planning our first trek already. Ohio for Thanksgiving! It'll be so fun.

more baby yellow lab photos~ just because

Dog days of summer

We had another birthday in our family. Our faithful canine companion, Millie Paige ______ turned three today. We got Millie when she was a just a puppy. We had moved to our new home that summer and for the first time I couldn't reach out and touch my neighbors house from my yard. That was kind of weird for me. We have a big yard and so decided that we wanted a dog, plus we had a boy now and what makes a more natural pair than a boy and a dog?

So we took a trip out to the Puppy Patch in Weatherford, TX and picked out a pet. I wanted a chocolate female. DH wanted a yellow male. We compromised on a yellow female. We spent some time looking at all the dogs and they were really cute and bouncy as you would expect a lab pup to be. Finally we spotted Millie. She wasn't nervous and came right out to play. Fortunately for us her litter was just recovering from ring worm and she had a blemish on her forehead. We got her for a $150, which is a great price for a papered lab.

We brought her home and began to enjoy our great bargain dog!

After a trip to the vet and to the pet store our start up cost went up to closer to $400-500.

Then we discovered that she didn't stay in the yard very well and we had to fence our 1.6 acres to the tune of $3000.

Then we got to live through her "teething" days: one new bed chewed, one couch cushion destroyed, the molding on the stairway, the blinds, anything left out or open, chewed, chewed, chewed. We bought bitter apple: $5. We kept her in a crate when we were gone, we bought her chew toys: $35ish. Then we sent her to man's vest friend: $1000.

Then we got her fixed: $150 and there were puppy shots and...

Our bargain dog was some bargain! I felt like I needed to spin a web above her crate that said "Some Dog" or "Radiant" so that DH wouldn't see dollar signs each time she came trotting by with her tail wagging and someone's shoe hanging out of her mouth!

Now three years later we can't imagine our lives without her. For one thing she has really helped to declutter our house. She and E play every day. She loves to swim and fetch and is so good natured. The kids climb on her, fall on her, take food from her, dress her up, whatever and she's just so happy to go along with them. She barks at strangers and licks our friends to death! We couldn't ask for a better dog.

Today E and I went to Wal-mart at the end of a long list of errands that took up our morning. He picked out a chocolate cake for Millie's birthday, which he informed me he'd have to eat for her since chocolate kills dogs. And we celebrate our four legged friend.

PRICELESS