I know, I know...

It's been a long time. I promised I would be better and look what happened...

I have been working and when I work, life goes on hold. I love my job, though. I work with some of the nicest people. When I first started, everyone was so kind to me. They would greet me by name, ask how I was getting along, if I liked it there. They were so concerned. I have never worked with such a nice bunch of people.

When I worked at Robert's, I loved my managers. They were super down to earth, they were funny and we would have a lot of laughs. I really missed the people when I went to work at Evans. That is probably my second most favorite place to work.

I have realized I like working with a large group of people rather than an office of just a hand full of people. At one time, we have about thirty people working in our clinic. There are 21 residents, 6 faculty doctors, 6 front office people and about 8 nurses. I love it there.

Probably the one thing that I do not like about my job is seeing the sad array of people that come into the clinic. We see some of the creepiest people who come seeking drugs. I could probably blog about that for hours, so I will be brief. It's very sad to see how they become so dependent that they will steal, lie and spend so much time going to various doctors and drug stores trying to get their pain meds. I hope I am never that dependent on something that I would go to those measures. I have seen child abuse and spousal abuse. I haven't seen elderly abuse, but I'm sure that will happen. I have heard stories about rapes that make me so angry, I could personally go out and find the rapist and do terrible things to him/her. I had no idea when I went into the medical field that I would see this kind of stuff. I just assumed that everyone would be a patient like me.

I love this time of year because it is cool in the evenings, and doesn't get too warm in the afternoons. The leaves are turning and the colors are gorgeous. This is the time of year when I met Robby and it always makes me a little nostalgic. We drove to Logan to see Rachelle's family yesterday and that is always fun.

I just adore D'Jayden and Zoe. I am excited that Rachelle is pregnant again and we can love another little grandchild. I love spoiling them, playing with them, chatting about things with them. I especially love chatting with D'Jayden. He is so funny. Yesterday we went and picked him up from school. He showed me his desk, where he sits at "circle time", where he hangs his coat, where he puts his papers, the name tag on his desk, and the papers in his desk and what he is currently working on. I miss that time with my kids. They were so precious at that age. D'Jayden told me about a black bear that was running through the school yard. They caught him in a cage and he came into the school. He went into D'Jayden's classroom, bounced a ball and then left. He told me that he had a picture of the bear. In my mind, I am picturing a wild, black bear running through the school yard, possibly during recess, and thinking it's a good thing they were able to put it in a cage. When he showed me the picture, I had to laugh because it was a picture of a mascot for some local team. It was a guy dressed up in a bear suit wearing a basketball outfit.

I have two cute programs on my iPad that I downloaded because I knew that Zoe would love them. One of them is the "Nighty Night" book that is absolutely adorable. The other is a picture book where you can dress up the Disney princesses. Of course, Zoe was all over the Disney princess book. We snuggled on the couch and played with my iPad for about an hour while Robby and Rachelle looked at my Scentsy catalog and smelled all the samples. They were so funny, speaking to each other in Dutch and sniffing each container very seriously and then comparing them. I just had to laugh. When we left, Zoe cried. She has never done that before. I was so flattered. I just adore those two little ones.

This time last year, I was so sad because I had no children with me. I think about that time and it was a very dark time for me. Probably the only thing that saved me was going back to school. I was distracted. I could pour my energies and thoughts into school work and I got all A's. I feel so fortunate to have Emeli and Brett with me. I love being a Mom and having their company. It was a very hard thing to have Emeli living so far away, knowing that she was unhappy and neglected. It tore me up inside and ate at me. I remember going to Dad's grave and just sobbing. I knew he understood and it felt good to know he was close to me, even though it was just his body. He always knew how I felt about being a mother. He knew they were everything to me. Robby was there for me, but he is the type who feels like you just put it behind you and move on. Not so easy for me. He has had a lot of practice doing that, but not me. I am just grateful that I have Emeli and Brett here right now. We have a lot of fun together. Brett makes dinner at night when I work late and it's really nice. Between him and Robby, there is always dinner on the table when I come home. Tonight, however, we are going to Wendy's.

Driving to Logan was so nice yesterday. It was just Robby and I. We held hands while he drove, we talked and had some alone time. We listened to my iPod and sang along to Johnny Cash. Robby has a deep bass voice and I love to hear him sing "I Walk the Line". I always laugh out loud and that eggs him on to sing even louder and more silly. I tell Robby that he is the only one I have ever been this close to in my life. He tells me I am the only one he has ever completely trusted.

I love Rachelle, too. She and I have a really good relationship. I do not try to take the place of her mom because she is very close to her mom. But I am a friend to her. She calls me when she needs to vent and knows I will always listen and take her side. She is a good girl and tries hard to do the right things. We laugh and joke a lot. I love being with her.

I am grateful for my life. Life is good and I have wonderful children and a wonderful husband. My job is satisfying and we live comfortably. I have everything I need. Yep, life is good.

July 13

So for the last two weeks I have been "unemployed" and not attending school or training. After a year of always having homework, it's a little weird to have nothing to do. Of course, that doesn't mean my house is any cleaner!! Who wants to do housework when there are art projects that have been waiting for me?!

We signed up for Netflix a couple of weeks ago, so every night Robby and I curl up on the couch and watch a movie or two. We don't get to bed before midnight and then we sleep in. I feel SO lazy!!! Unfortunately, most of the movies we are watching are pretty intense with quite a few F bombs. I told Robby that these movies are not helping me with my swearing problem. My favorite swear word of all time is A-hole with Dammit coming in a close second. It is not good for me to hear this stuff all the time because the words just rise right out of my mouth before I realize it. What if I am in the middle of church or something and the word comes out?! I will be in deep doo-doo.

My newest little hobby/craft project is embroidering dish towels and then putting a cute fabric border on them. They look so cute and retro. Robby even mentioned tonight how he likes having them in the kitchen so he can dry his hands. Score.

If I am not embroidering, I am cleaning up ferret poop. I think we are feeding the ferrets too much. They are pooping at a rate that boggles the mind. I clean up one little pile (off a puppy pad) only to turn around and find another little pile. Bandit, the baby, has the most nasty poop. It is always runny and has a real ferrety odor. Robby claims it makes him gag to pick up the poop. Thank goodness we never had a baby together. Something tells me he didn't change a lot of diapers...hahahaha!!! BRAT!!

Well, it is evening and time to watch another Netflix movie with Robby. I will enjoy this while I can and can sleep in.

June 25

I just realized that four years ago today my divorce from Fred was finalized. I recall literally doing a happy dance in front of the 10230 home in front of Fred. Probably not very nice, but I was relieved to be free of him, his drama and unfaithfulness. 'Nough said.

Thursday is my last day of externship. I am mixed about that. I am relieved that I can sleep in for a while until I find a job, but I will miss the excitement and the people I have gotten to know in the clinic. I love working in the medical field. I love helping people feel better. I love talking with each patient and getting to know them a little. I love drawing blood. I love the teamwork that happens when someone needs a lot of care.

Today a 78 year old woman was standing on a step ladder and fell. She banged the back of her head on a nearby table and she cut her head open pretty badly. She cut it clear to the bone. The laceration was about three inches long. The doctor told her that she had literally scalped herself. I was able to help the RN clean her up, reassure her, get the instruments ready for the doctor and watch the suturing. That was fascinating because they used a stapler. Not your average office stapler. When you get that kind of a laceration, they usually staple it shut. The doctor gave her nine staples to the back of the head. I cleaned all the blood out of her hair. The RN came back in and said, "Judi is MUCH better with hair than I am!" He had been trying to clean her hair and was doing an okay job of it. She's going to be sore for a while.

Yesterday a little four year old boy came in needing stitches on his face. The neighbor's dog had bitten him right below the eye. It wasn't bad. He just needed three little stitches. The funniest thing is when the RN asked him what was in his pockets because they were all full and lumpy. The little boy pulled out a cherry. His pockets were full of cherries he had picked. I laughed so hard. I thought that was so cute!!

I realized while working there that I love the adrenaline rush I get when there is a patient that needs serious stuff done. I love being in the middle of it all. I love knowing that I made their experience a little more comfortable. I have discovered my little niche.

We have been watching "Dexter" and I am hooked. I find myself thinking about it a lot and analyzing the whole thing.

Our little ferret, Bandit, is so funny. Every morning I let the two of my little ferrets out of the the cage and they run straightaway to the food dishes. Then they frolic for the rest of the morning while I am trying to get ready for work. It's so cute.

I am exhausted, but in a good way. That's another thing I love about my job. I come home completely fulfilled and feeling like I have done something of worth. It's awesome!

Last night Robby and I went to see "The Source Code". The movie was okay. We got there early because we like to get places early. We love to catch the previews, too. By the time the movie was starting, people were still streaming in...Mormon standard time at the dollar movie theater...grrr. These three guys came down our row and asked us to scoot over one seat so they could all sit together. We were kind of disgruntled. The previews were showing and we were irritated that they were late. Then, as the movie was starting, one of them was messing with his fart app on his iPhone. So annoying. You could hear them giggle like little girls and one would say, "Man, what did YOU eat?" I told Robby that if it happened one more time, I was going to go complain. Of course, it happened one more time. So I grabbed one of the theater workers and dragged her in. She gave them the evil eye and told me that if they did it again, she would kick them out. They were good after that. But I did hear a suspicious cough right after I sat down. I suspect they probably said, "Bitch" in their cough. Whatever. Typical BYU students. They come into the dollar movie theater and act all stupid and yell things during the movie. Very lame.

Saturday

This week was a pretty busy week. I worked Monday, took off Tuesday and then worked Wednesday through Saturday. I saw a ton of stuff. Sometimes it's heartbreaking and sometimes I have to laugh. I love the clinic. I love learning all the stuff there is to know. I love helping people. I love talking medicine with the nurses and doctors. It's so fascinating to me.

Yesterday we sent a lady to the ER because she had gotten her index finger stuck in a machine and tore off the pad of her finger. She was holding it above her head and crying. I didn't blame her one bit. It looked pretty awful. Today we sent a teenage boy to the ER because he got his finger stuck between the handle and the hammer of the gun he was shooting. It was really bad looking. He was literally shaking with shock. His mother wouldn't even look at it. That's where she differs from me. I would have looked at it to assess the damage. The nurse wrapped it up and told him they needed to go to the ER. I hung around to chat with him and make sure he was okay while she went to get more bandages and some ice. I told him that his finger was still intact, he had just lost the thumbnail. He would be okay, but he needed to calm down or he would suffer the effects of shock. He visibly relaxed and took deep breaths. I told him to hold his hand above his head to keep from bleeding so much.

I gave a hip shot to one lady today who told me that I did such a good job, she hardly felt it. That made me feel really good. Another lady came into the clinic because she thought she might have a blood clot on her leg. I asked her if she would let me look at it and feel it. They are usually hard, swollen, hot to the touch and very painful. I told her I was a student and had never seen or felt a blood clot before and would love to see what one might look like. She was very happy to let me look at it and feel it. She also told me she had no idea I was a student because she thought I was so professional. She thought I had been doing this for years. That made me feel really good.

I love my job. I love the people I work with. Everyone is friendly and helpful to me. They always thank me for my help when I leave and I always tell them I love to be there and love the work.

I miss Emeli and every time I go somewhere or buy something, I think about how much she would love what we are doing or what we are getting. I know she will love our new little ferret, Bandit. He is a biter, but we are taming the savage little beast.

Bandit

I had to put Ollie down yesterday and it was very hard! We took him to the vet and she told me that he had lymphosarcoma. That is a common cancer for ferrets. His was spread throughout his cells. She told us that the kindest thing for him would be to put him down. I had suspected that and was not surprised. Robby was not prepared for that. He was hoping that he could be saved. He was crying. I told them I would stay with Ollie and be with him when they put him down. That was harder than I thought. They had a little gas mask on him and he was completely out and then they inject his heart with something that makes his heart stop beating. The vet had a stethoscope and listened to his heart. Just before he told me that Ollie was gone, I felt Ollie's presence to the left of me. It was the most bizarre thing. I just felt he was standing there looking up at me like he has done thousands of times as I fed him or stood in the kitchen with him beside me. It was comforting. Robby could not bear to be there, so he waited in the car. When I came out, I was bawling. He asked me if I was okay. I told him I needed ice cream. Robby took me to DQ.

So today at work, toward the end of my shift, Robby came in with a smirk on his face. I knew he was up to something. He asked me if I had a minute, so I followed him out to the car. He told me to look on the driver's seat and there was a box. I turned and said, "Did you get me a kitten?" He grinned and said, "No, look..." On the outside of the box, he had written, "Hi Mom...my name is Bandit." I opened the box and there was a little ferret. He was tiny and had the raccoon face that is so cute! I had half an hour of work left and it seemed to last forever. I asked him why he had bought me the ferret. He said, "Yesterday you were so sad about Ollie. I didn't like to see you like that." I love Robby!

When I got home, I went to pick up Bandit and he gave me a nasty little bit on my pointer finger...little beast. I know he is adjusting, so I forgive him. But the biting will not continue. For biting, you scruff ferrets like you do puppies and that's what we are going to have to do. Little Teddy is very excited to have him. He showed Bandit all around the house and little Bandit followed him.

I wish Emeli was here so she could see him. I know she is going to love him.

Today at work was super busy. At one time, both doctors were using our two procedure rooms and stitching up patients. It was crazy! We had a possible pulmonary embolism, a 2 year old with severe bronchitis, another 2 year old who had put a pony bead up her nose, a couple of possible broken bones, lots of strep tests, a few UTI's and lots of sinus and abdominal problems. I LOVE this!!! I also love the people who work there. It is a lot of fun there. We work well together and I love it.

June 9

So tomorrow is June 10. A year ago tomorrow I walked out on Novacoast and was "Laid off". At the time, I knew it was the right thing to do to accept being laid off and receiving unemployment. I also knew I was going to try to go to school. I had such a good feeling about it. Robby was very nervous, but told me that he was going to trust my feelings. I am SO grateful that a year ago Rick was such a jerk that I finally walked.

I am loving my externship. I love the ladies who work there. The doctors are starting to trust me more and know that I want to help and will do anything to learn. Occasionally, I see heart breaking things. Occasionally, I see things that really bother me. Today an 86 year old lady came in who had been to visit her husband at the home where he is staying. She was getting into her car and fell. The people at the home saw her fall, came and brought her back in and cleaned her up. She came to us right after that. She really tore up her elbow and hand. Her skin was like parchment and the doctor had to use three different threads to stitch her up. It took him a long time. My heart just broke seeing her like that. Sometimes we get these sassy old guys who think they are funny and pretend to be these ornery old guys. One guy today had a cap that said "World War II veteran" so I knew he was Dad's generation. He was wearing a t-shirt that someone had written "The Italian Stallion" on the back. He was there for a dressing change. I started putting on gloves and he immediately yelled, "Why are you doing that, putting gloves on? Well, maybe it's a good thing because I probably have HIV" I turned to him and said, "I'm putting these gloves on to protect you from ME!" That shocked him and he gave out a shout of laughter. The doctor must have heard us because he came in and told me that the guy had fallen off a bar stool. He paused for a moment and then said, "At an ice cream parlor!" Another old guy comes in to get his blood checked to see how it clots. If they get blood thinners for strokes, clots or high blood pressure, they need to be monitored to make sure the blood doesn't get too thin. He is notorious around the clinic. I went out to get him and he barked, "What are ya smiling like that for? Are you looking forward to poking me?!" I replied that that is precisely why I went into this line of business and that is why I was smiling. Once again, he took a double take and then laughed. They remind me of Dad.

I love the ladies that work there. When it's slow, we sit around and chat and I get along with them really well. Carolyn was telling me that she is going to put in a glowing review for me. She would love for me to work there. I actually look forward to going to work, unlike my last job. I dreaded every moment going there, hated being there and was thrilled to go home.

Now onto more depressing news. Ollie. We are going to have to put him down. We found out from the vet yesterday that he probably has a tumor in his pancreas. It is causing him to have hyperglycemia. It is a very common thing among ferrets. We could pay for the surgery to have the tumor removed, but there is no guarantee that he won't grow another one. Plus, if we don't have the surgery, he will waste away until he goes into shock. I know this is going to really upset Emeli. I am just grateful that we still have the cat and Teddy. She has been bonding with Teddy and I think that will help a little. Robby and I were talking about all the cute things about Ollie today. It is killing us to watch him literally wasting away. There is no life left in his eyes. He literally lies in a heap in a little blanket. Today he went potty and collapsed in his potty. I can't believe how much this little ferret has wormed his way into our hearts. He is just so darn cute. I will really miss him. I'm just glad we have had an opportunity to have him in our home. He has brought us so much laughter.

One week of externship

So I started my externship on Monday and it has been awesome! I am learning a ton of stuff and I'm sure I will soon know as much as any doctor--just kidding. Monday was pretty busy because everyone had been sick for weeks and finally decided that Memorial Day would be a good day to spend in a clinic. I met Linda who is probably in her mid 50's. She is the LPN I was supposed to follow that day. She was very sweet to me and very good about telling me how to do things. I met the other ladies there and they were at first a little shy around me. Once they got to know me a little and realized that I was friendly and willing to do anything, they were very open and friendly with me as well. I would LOVE to work at this clinic. I really enjoy the doctors there. There is a real cooperative spirit between everyone and I would love to be a part of it.

I have done a lot of blood draws. The first two were very unsuccessful. I almost made one guy pass out because I poked him twice (without any success) and then Katie (an MA) ended up poking him and getting blood. He had to lie down to keep from throwing up and passing out. I felt so awful!!!! I wanted to go home right then, but I also knew that I couldn't give up yet...jeez. But since then, I have done a quite a few successful blood draws and so I don't feel so bad. Plus, there have been some times where the ladies there have missed, too. One guy on Friday got poked 8 times and they were still unable to get blood from him. I wasn't even involved in that one.

I have seen a lot of strep, UTI's, a few badly scraped knees from bike accidents, broken arms, the corner of a fingertip cut off, naked bums because I had to give hip shots and vaginal itching. It has been fascinating. I come home exhausted, but totally fulfilled and loving every minute of it. I know I am in the right field. I just hope I can find a job.

On Tuesday afternoon, I took Ollie to the vet. We hadn't realized how much weight he was losing until we compared him to Teddy, our new little ferret. Ollie is completely scrawny. On Monday night his poop was literally liquid, he was shivering and totally lethargic. For Ollie, that is NOT normal. He is usually a pain in the butt getting into mischief. They loved him at the animal hospital because most of them had never held a ferret before. They kept him overnight and fed him liquids and antibiotics. It cost $200, but it was worth it. Emeli was distraught. She was crying. She asked me if he was dying. I told her he was very sick, but the vet said his heart and lungs sounded good. That was a good sign for me as long as we could get him hydrated and back to his usual weight. He is still not his usual self. He sleeps a lot, but I figure he is trying to heal. He has gained a little weight. They gave us this tube of stuff to give him. That is impossible. When I tried to give it to him, he made all kinds of ferrety noises and wouldn't eat it. Ferret noises are little grunts that sound like squeaks. It's absolutely adorable when two ferrets are making that noise together when they are playing. When they are avoiding medicine, it sounds like little shrieks and you feel like a jerk. They had to shave his little neck to draw blood. He has about four little red dots where they poked him. Poor guy. When he saw me when it was time to come home, he just lay in my arms with his little head against my shoulder. In fact, whenever I pick him up, he lays his little head on my shoulder and lets me pet him...very unusual for Ollie. It's so sweet. The thought of losing Ollie made me really scared. I have really grown attached to this little guy, even though there are times I would gladly skin him for the mischief he gets into!!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

This last week has been a L O N G week!! I went to school on Monday, received 8 shots in order to pass off all my shots. Then I helped out at the Murdock's. Working at the Murdock's is THE most monotonous job. You open the door to the plastic machine, pull the plastic thingee out, spray the machine, cut off the plastic parts that don't belong and then do it all over again! I did it for a few hours on Monday, several hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Because it is a repetitious movement, my right arm throbs when I am done. The last time I worked there, I got Tennis Elbow. Now when I work there, it flairs up again and I have to wear my brace. I listen to my iPod or else I would go insane!

So we got another ferret on Thursday night. He is a cute little guy. He looks just like Ollie except that he is much bigger. Ollie is full grown, but must have been the runt of the litter or else this little guy was the biggest in the litter. He has a little ruff around his head that makes him look like a bear, so we have named him Teddy. So we have Ollie and Teddy. The first night when they met, it was hilarious. They were leaping around like long-lost brothers. They were sniffing each other's bums and making this little grunting noise to each other. They snuggle at night, eat at the same time and play all the time. Because they play so hard together, they sleep really hard too. It is a huge advantage to have two ferrets instead of just one. They get into a lot less mischief that way. One gross thing: Ollie loves the sound of plastic wrappers. The other day, he was getting into my tampons in the bathroom. He found one of the used dispensers left in the wrapper in my trash. When I went to get Teddy from under the couch, there was my tampon dispenser just sitting there with the wrapper on the other side under the couch. I felt a little violated...

We have had to find 12 living signs for this weekend and that is a HUGE pain in the butt. For one thing, most people who respond to living sign ads are not the highest functioning people on the planet. It seems they always like to bail on us late the night before the event or the morning of the event when it's really hard to find people last minute. That pisses us off more than anything. It especially pisses ME off because I usually have to hold a sign...I HATE holding signs. I would rather work at the Murdock's for 10 hours straight.

I start my externship tomorrow and I am pretty nervous. I will probably be shaking tomorrow when I pull up to the clinic. I hope they are nice.

Now Emeli and I are listening with baited breath to KEXP.org to hear Taylor propose to Emma. Taylor called me SO nervous last night. Every time there is a break in the band playing, I get all nervous for him, too. Emeli and I listening, Robby is in the other room and has said, "Call me the second Taylor starts to talk!" Emeli is a total spaz! She keeps saying, "Ten more minutes...", "Six more minutes..."

May!

Wow! It's May already! That means I only have a couple of weeks of school left...really only one now.

Today as I was walking out of class, I passed a stink bug. I haven't seen a stink bug in years. I remember irritating them as a kid and watching them lift up their bum at me. Suddenly, there was this kind of a coppery smell that is pretty nasty. Hence, the name stink bug. So this little stink bug, without provocation, lifted up his bum to me. I was too far from the ground to get a whiff of his noxious odor, but I felt the drift of what he was trying to say to me. I was wondering why I'm not blessed with that ability. Why can't I do that to people who piss me off? It is much better than flipping someone off and yelling at them. You just lift your bum up in the air and spray! Skunks have it, too. Why are they the lucky ones? There are a few choice people who would probably get a bum lift from me and it would sure feel good to let them know how I feel. Oh well.

Now Emeli is nagging at me to go swimming. She got a new bathing suit and is always whining for me to go with her. Blah.

May 4, 2011

Today "Born to Be Wild" was playing on my iPod. It brought back a memory that I wanted to share.

In 2007, times were hard and I wasn't making it financially. I knew I had to move to Utah. I cried for days before and after making that decision; however, I knew it was the right thing to do. My job was not a good fit, I had been seeing a man who hurt me, and the church was paying my rent, my utilities and giving me food. It was time to get out.

I had to leave Freddy and Taylor in WA. Taylor was going to try to go to school and get a job in Bellingham so he could be closer to Emma. Freddy was bound and determined to finish school and wouldn't move with us. Leaving two of my children behind was the hardest thing I have ever done. I wasn't as worried about Taylor because he had Emma and he seemed happy to move on with his life. I was really worried about Freddy because he was moving in with the Hodsons and I wasn't sure how that would work. Not only that, Freddy had always been a homebody and really liked being with family. I knew it was going to be very hard for him.

The day we left Redmond, it was raining, which seemed fitting. I was emotional and was hesitant to leave Freddy. As we drove away in the truck, it was just Emeli and I because Brett was in the car with Mom. I was driving down the street for the last time and Freddy was standing in the street waving to us. Emeli and I sobbed as we drove away. I knew I was doing the right thing, but it was excruciating. As Emeli and I were driving around Lake Sammamish, we were still bawling. I told Emeli we needed to stop crying and look on the bright side. This was an adventure we were embarking on and we needed to cheer up and see the excitement in that. I was speaking more to me than to Emeli, of course. I put "Born to Be Wild" on my iPod and we sang along at the top of our lungs.

All of that flashed through my mind as that song played on my iPod today. As I look back at that time, I still know that leaving WA was the best thing. It was hard, but it was right.

Easter

Yes, I know, I have not blogged for forever!!
Emeli went to her dad's a couple of weeks ago and came home last Sunday night. Whenever Emeli is gone to her dad's, she comes back very emotional with mixed feelings. It hurts for me to see her like this, but I know it is hard to go back and forth from one household to another.

While she was gone, and on my spring break, Robby and I worked at the Murdock's business. On Thursday, we worked for 9 hours and on Friday we worked for 6 hours. The whole time I was turning this knob and cutting the plastic extra pieces off. I did not enjoy the work and it gave me tennis elbow. So now I have this stupid brace on my arm and my arm is always sore. I can't lift things with my right arm and it throbs a lot at night when I am sleeping.

This last week was the last week of lectures in class. Now we are working on our Front Office packs, labs and trying to get internships. I am a little worried about all of that. In order to intern with IHC (Intermountain Healthcare), I need a background check and a drug test, all of which I have to pay for. Thank goodness it only costs about $50 total. But I have to go to the Spanish Fork prison to get fingerprinted. Kind of weird.

The other morning I knocked on the bathroom door so I could do my make-up. Emeli called out, "What?!" I told her I needed to do my make-up. She let me in and as I glanced at her to see what mood she was in (with Emeli, it's important to establish that first thing in the morning) and she said, "What?!" I ignored her because I knew she was not in the best of moods and it's safer that way. Then, as I was walking into the kitchen to eat, I looked at her once more and she said, "What?!" I said, "Do you realize that the only word you have said to me today is 'What?!'" She laughed when she realize I was right. Now it's our joke first thing in the mornings.

The other night we went for a long walk and it felt really good. As we were walking toward the walking trail, we spent a couple of minutes trying to kick each other's butts. We ended up laughing hysterically as we began our walk. Then, at the end, I almost tripped over a raised sidewalk and caught myself. I looked kind of stupid as I did that. We spent the next few minutes imitating me trying to catch myself from tripping. I enjoy Emeli!!

Last night Robby and I went out for dinner and to a movie. It is the first time we have had a formal date since Emeli came to stay. Emeli's friend, Brooklyn, came to hang out. We bought them alfredo from Pizza Hut and I got them miniature Ben and Jerry's ice creams and they were set. They went swimming and playing on Emeli's new iPod. We went and saw "Hanna". A weird, violent movie. It's funny when we go see movies like that. It's like Robby's past catches up with him. He will leave the theater all tensed up with adrenaline flowing. He has this kind of remote look in his eyes and I can tell he is in the "fight or flight" mode. It usually exhibits itself in his driving. Last night he went speeding through the parking lot.

Today we bought a plastic bin and filled it with some of the sand from Robby's storage. We put Ollie in it and he went crazy digging. He literally shoves his face in the sand up to his eyeballs and roots around and then he digs like he is digging to China. It's hilarious. We stood there watching and laughing at him. He is so funny!

Spring break

I have not been faithful with this blog thingee for the last couple of weeks. I have had a lot of things going on.

Brett came to visit last week and that was wonderful. We would sit at the kitchen table at the same time in the afternoons. Brett would be on WoW and I would be typing up my notes, coloring my anatomy sheets or putting music on my new iPod touch. We would talk about a lot of different things. On Monday he came to class with me while we discussed male anatomy. He asked a couple of questions in class and that surprised the teacher. On Friday, he came back to class with me so that he could be my guinea pig. I gave him 3 shots and drew blood. He was pretty brave. For payment, I bought him a nice dessert when we went out for dinner that night. I was very sad to see him go because I know that it will be a long time before I see him again. We worked on a blanket for him that is fur and minkie. He helped pick out the two fabrics and he loved it. He kept wrapping himself up in the blanket during the day. The ferret loved it, too. He would roll around in it.

Emeli is now out in WA visiting the Kesler's. She has called me many times telling me that she is so glad she lives with me and she is away from the drama. She also misses us a lot. I think she finally sees what she was living with. It took her leaving that situation, building a life out here and then going back to that for her to see how awful it was. Brett was telling me how peaceful it is here and he misses that a lot.

So it's just Robby and I this week. It's weird being back to just the two of us. It's not like Emeli eats a lot (because she doesn't), but it's weird to cook dinner for just the two of us. We have a lot more leftovers and since Emeli isn't here, they don't get eaten as fast. Emeli loves leftovers and likes them for breakfast or after school. I miss her a lot. I especially miss her in the mornings when I am getting ready for school. Usually she and I are bumping into each other the whole time and chatting. It is too quiet in the mornings.

I am nervous about leaving school and going out to the medical field. It's interesting that just as potential MA, people are already asking me medical questions. It makes me very nervous to answer. What if I am wrong?! I love this field and I love learning this stuff and I am excited to go out to work. I just hope I remember it all!!!!

Sunday

This is the second Sunday I have not gone to church. I will not be going to church next Sunday or the Sunday after that. Next Sunday is General Conference and the Sunday after that, I will be running around with Robby like I did today. Last Sunday we went to Rachelle's house to celebrate Zoe's birthday a week early. We gave her a white princess nightie, which she loved and I scored with that gift...it's all about scoring with gifts :D. I'm feeling kind of blah and I know it's because I haven't been to church lately. I need a good dose of religion to pep me right up. I'm looking forward to listening to Conference next Saturday; however, Brett will be here and he will probably be a poop about listening to both sessions on Saturday. But I will at least catch the morning one.

Yesterday Emeli went to the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork with Brooklyn, so it was just Robby and I running around Central Utah looking at all the "living signs" (people who hold signs) and making sure they all showed up. We were missing 3 out of the 13 and Robby's boss was pissed. Robby got a scathing email from him, which prompted Robby to fire the supervisor he had who was supposed to be there supervising these living signs. Lots of drama. I hate drama. Today we had a new supervisor and although she kept getting lost, she did a great job. Robby kept saying, "I don't get how she can't read a map." I totally understand because I am directionally challenged. The only place where I am NOT directionally challenged is in a mall. Sad, huh? Emeli borrowed my white sneakers so she could see how dirty they would get at the Festival of Colors. Stupid me let her take them thinking I could clean them after. Nope. They are now a light pink color. Not too bad because I like the color pink, but I also like having white tennies, too.

Shari sent me a copy of the book she has been working on, so while Robby drove, I occasionally read her book. I was hooked from the first page and I love it. Now Emeli is reading it and SHE is hooked. She reads aloud when she reads, so I can hear her little voice in there reading Shari's book. She mentioned that Shari likes to swear sometimes. I told Shari that and Shari got a good laugh about that. I told Shari that I swear occasionally, too...like today. I had just filled up a 6 quart plastic jug of Hawaiian Punch and set it on the bar. I set it too far on the edge and the stupid thing spilled all over the carpet. I watched it in slow motion. Then when it hit the ground, it cracked and when I picked it up, it kept gushing punch. I said a word that starts with S really loud. Then I got down on my knees and started spraying. Of course, any time I engage in some kind of project like that, Ollie is very interested and curious. I was in no mood to indulge his curiosity, so I told Emeli to toss him back in his cage. He kept trying to roll in it. GRRRRR!!!

Just as I was getting off my knees from that, Robby told me that two living signs had bailed and that he needed ME to hold a sign and dance for four hours. I was NOT happy about that. I know the place I was going to stand and the wind out there is ferocious. I pulled out everything I would need: huge BYU sweatshirt, scarf, ear covers, gloves, and I sent Emeli to the clubhouse to buy me a couple of Diet Cokes. I figured that if I was going to hold a sign for four hours, I was not going to do it solo. Robby had to run to see his new supervisor and give her maps. Good thing because I was kind of pissy and I think he was only too happy to get out for a little bit. He called me on the way home to let me know that his supervisor had found someone to hold the sign instead. I was literally doing a happy dance through the house. We had to pick him up and take him to the place, but I didn't care. I handed him one of my Diet Cokes and gave him 5 bucks to buy himself some lunch. I would have given my first born baby, but he's not a baby anymore and he is a free agent now.

Lately, Emeli and I are swimming at nights. We have gone twice...I know, I know, not a lot, but I'm going to go more this week. I jog from one end of the pool to the other instead of swimming laps. I am not a strong swimmer, so jogging in the pool is much more effective. By the time I am done, I feel great. I go for 20 minutes, but this week I'm going to go for half an hour. I can feel it in my legs and my abs. I also found noodles at the dollar store and stocked up. We now have six noodles and I think that's enough. So Emeli and I go armed with noodles and we float with them, kicking our feet or we jog across the pool together. The other day there was a little 3 year old girl and she was running around the pool trying to get away from her mom. She is just lucky I was not her mom. I would have caught up with her and given her a nice, firm smack on the butt and sat her in time out. Then every time she got in the pool, she would shriek in delight, but not a cute shriek. It was a blood curdling shriek, the kind that pierces ear drums. That is my only complaint about our pool. It is indoors and it echoes terribly. If you get a screaming kid, you're done for.

I have noticed the appalling lack of control that parents have with their children lately. Now I KNOW I'm getting old because I sound just like my dad. I see these kids in Walmart and I shake my head because my kids would NEVER have done some of those things without a good beating back in the car later. The other day Robby and I were in Robert's and this little 4 year old boy got mad at his mom. He just walks right out of the store and stands right in the middle of the parking lot to sulk. The mom completely freaks out, runs out of the store and yanks him out of the parking lot. She brings him back into the store and loudly chastises him. If any of my children are reading this, they are probably saying, "Mom would NOT have done that." They are right. I would have walked out in that parking lot, taken that kid by the arm and brought him back to the store but chewed on him outside of the store without all the drama for everyone to see. I also would have given his bum a firm smack. Then I would have plopped his little body IN the cart and told him that if he gave me anymore grief, he would get another spanking in the car. This mother still allowed her child to walk around. He would walk about 20 feet away from her and sulk. She would loudly tell him to come back. He wouldn't budge. I watched this whole thing knowing what I would have done. I told Robby later that my child would have tried that only once and never again. Robby makes me look like Carol Brady. He would have yanked that kid hard by the arm and told him to "knock it off" and smacked him good and hard. He agreed that his child would do that only once. We are both old. hahaha.

I have crabbed long enough. I think I'm going to go read some scriptures about patience and listen to my iPod. :D

time flies...

Just this morning I realized I have not posted for a while. I'm sure people are clamoring for my posts, so I must post.

On Saturday, we lost our little Ruby. Emeli was making something with frozen berries and popped the lid on Ruby's cage to give her one and called out to me. We both looked in to see her drawing her last little breaths. I stroked her a little bit and then we covered her up so she could die in peace. Robby came home from work and was very sad. He took it kind of hard, which I knew he would. He adored her from the moment we brought her home as Emeli's hamster. He always loved petting her and holding her. She was his hamster. She would not bite him if he put his hand in the cage, but if I put my hand in, she would bite and bite hard! I was the one who fed her mostly, but she knew she was Robby's. Little stinker. Robby told me he would wait a while before getting another one because he didn't want to appear to replace her so quickly.

Today, as we were driving by Petsmart, I asked Robby if he wanted to get a new hamster. He said he would, so we went in. They had THE cutest little Russian dwarf hamster the color of honey. He is tiny and very young. He let Robby pick him up and Robby was sold. Emeli adores him, too. He is really cute. He has red eyes like Ruby, too. We gave him an almond as soon as he was settled in his cage and he went crazy. He is fearless and doesn't bite. He's a keeper.

Sunday we went up to Logan to visit Rachelle and her family. I love going there. We played two games, had a good lunch and got to see the kids. We gave Zoe a Cinderella princess nightie. Zoe loved it and kept taking it off and putting it on. Rachelle told me on Monday that Zoe wouldn't take it off when they had to run errands. She called us on Monday to tell us thank you. She is so cute.

Wednesday, but could be called Windsday

I got home from school, snacked on some grapes, chatted with Robby and then we had to get out the door to do errands for his work. Today he had to put up a "for sale" sign on one of the newest homes up in Herriman. Herriman is west of West Jordan and has a great view of Kennecott copper mines. My job, when Robby is putting up one of the signs, is to hold the sign and the level and make sure it's standing straight and not at some odd angle. As I was standing there, my hair was blowing like I was in a wind tunnel. It wasn't cold wind, which is nice, it was just super windy. So today is officially called Windsday.

On our way out of Springville, we stopped by Kranky Franks, a hot dog stand that has these obnoxious looking stuffed people sitting outside in lawn chairs. But the hot dogs are good, cheap and they have GREAT sweet potato fries. For $12 we had a very filling lunch. Not too shabby.

I was telling Robby all about the digestive system as we drove and all the drama we have in class and he listens and drives while I talk wildly with my hands flying. The coolest thing is that whatever I tell Robby, he remembers. I sometimes wonder if he is listening to me or just letting me gab on and on. But then he will repeat what I said a couple of days later and I will be blown away at how much he remembers.

Emeli is at the temple tonight (kind of unwillingly until she found out that they might treat them to something in the temple cafeteria---brat).

I have started back on my ADD meds and they give me these stupid headaches. I'm hoping they go away as soon as my body adjusts to the meds. I need these meds for a few reasons: 1. they help me stay focused and not be so scattered 2. they help me with weight management because they tend to take away your appetite. 3. I can remember details better. When I am working, that's very important because I won't get distracted so easily. But meanwhile, they give me this achy headache behind my eyes. I hate it. If I move my head too fast, I feel like my brain is loose and jiggling inside my skull. Last night, my head was throbbing. I took some hydrocodone for that. I have it left over from my stupid crown I just had done. I like having extras for times such as last night.

We have been studying the digestive tract and last week it was the urinary tract. It is fascinating to me how the human body performs so many tasks without us even realizing it. The human body is absolutely beautiful in its perfection. How can anyone deny that there is a God if they study the human body or even an animal's body? It's so organized and so perfect. It's no accident that the body works so perfectly. I sit in class in amazement at the way the body works together to support itself. I love studying medicine and anatomy. I just hope I can do well out in the field.

Sunday

I can't remember which day it was, but I kind of had a bad day. I just woke up feeling poopy. I hate that. It wasn't anything I could put my finger on, I just felt like growling. All day I was kind of emotional. When I am like that, I tend to pull inwards. Robby doesn't know how to handle it because I'm usually not like that. When he is "triggered", he usually pulls in as well. I know that I need to just give him some space, let him know I'm there and he will kind of pull out of it. The problem with PTSD is that you can get triggered all the time. You don't know why, you just know you feel edgy all of a sudden. I don't have PTSD, but I get PMS and that's about how I can understand "triggers" from PTSD. It's like someone has peeled the top layer of your skin back and all your nerves are exposed. Everything bugs you. So when I am feeling kind of poopy, Robby just gives me space and lets me know he is there. I finally snapped out of it at around bedtime, which sucks because your whole day is wasted.

Sometimes it's memories of my divorce and all the crap that happened at that time of my life. It was a very dark time and I don't like to go back there in my mind. I know that the only thing that sustained me was my faith in Jesus Christ. I knew He understood what I was going through and I knew that I wasn't going through anything He had not endured Himself. But it was still a very dark time. I lost my faith in a lot of things that I had always believed in my whole life. I remember talking to the Stake President. He had asked me to come and talk to him in his office because he wanted to let me know that Fred had been disciplined by the church. I was still married to Fred, so that is why he could tell me about it. Plus, I think he wanted to make sure I knew that Fred was not getting away with all the things he had done. He asked me about my faith in Christ. There was a picture of Him on the wall and I looked at it. I remember feeling a warm sensation in my heart because I knew He has always been there for me. I knew I had strayed, but He was still there for me and still loved me, no matter what. I do not doubt Jesus Christ.

I had a dream about my dad last night. It felt very real. We were somewhere where he had all his videos. I was visiting him and he had no food in his house. I had a grocery list of things I needed to buy so I could cook for Dad. He always loved my cooking and loved it when I took care of him when he was sick. I spoiled him. I figured he deserved it for all the ways he took care of me as a child. As I was leaving, my dad yelled out, "Don't spend more than $25!" I looked at him and laughed because there was no food in his house and I had a long grocery list. That was the end of the dream. But as I was waking up, I knew he had a message for me. He was disappointed in how I have been treating my mother since her mission. She will call me and I will not answer because I know she wants to talk to me about her video business. I personally feel she needs to concentrate on her mission more and not be looking on her Amazon account and checking it. Robby and I are watching it and getting movies out for her. She needs to have faith in that. But my dad was letting me know that I need to be more patient with her. I lay there for about an hour feeling unsettled and guilty. Then I woke up later missing him.

I could talk to him about anything. I knew if I told him something, he wouldn't tell a soul, not even my mom. She would ask him what we had talked about and he would just say something like, "I don't know, just stuff..." and that would frustrate her. He always gave THE best advise. He was very wise. He understood people.

Emeli is telling me that she doesn't want to go to seminary. I'm going to have to be the "mean mom" and make her go. She needs it. Not only that, her brothers all went and she needs to give it a try for a while. She's lucky. Her brothers had to go to early morning seminary and so did I. That really sucks. I would get up at 5am every morning. I would come downstairs and catch my dad eating breakfast because he left the house at 6am. I would plop down in my seat with my cereal and just start chatting away. I don't know how many times he told me to be quiet and let him enjoy the silence of the morning. He was not a morning person and I am. Robby is not a morning person, either, and he is not always ready to chat in the morning. I wake up and I'm ready to jump out of bed and get moving and listen to music (loud) and chatter away. I've noticed that Emeli is not always in a great mood in the mornings, either.

On Thursday, she was especially snippy. She had misplaced her face cover-up and she was looking for it. I was just kind of standing there eating my cereal and she snapped, "I can see you're busy helping me find my make-up." I looked at her with a "be careful" kind of stare and she huffed. I picked up two things, looked under them, found nothing and went back to eating my cereal. After that rudeness, I wasn't going to break out in a sweat to help her. After about fifteen minutes, when I went into the hall bathroom to do my make-up, she apologized for being rude. She had several projects due this week and it was really getting to her.

On Tuesday night, she had a meltdown. She stood in the doorway of her room and stared Robby down. Don't stare Robby down. I don't take well to my kids staring me down, but I'm like Carol Brady compared to Robby if you stare him down and you are a kid. He said the exact thing Dad would have said to me if I had dared to stare him down (which I never would have dared to do!), "Don't stare me down, Young Lady, or I'll knock your head off." I knew he wasn't going to literally knock her head off. Emeli knows he would not literally knock her head off, either. But she quietly closed her door and ignored us for a while. She has also learned not to slam her door on us. In our last house, she lost her door for a week from slamming it. We had warned her several times not to slam her door. One night she slammed it good and hard and it was the straw that broke the camel's back and she lost her door. She was PISSED! But not as pissed as Robby and I. Robby immediately got his tools and surprised her by taking her door off the hinges.

Anyways, she came out of the bedroom a few minutes later when we sat down to dinner and apologized. I am impressed with how Robby accepts her apologies. He doesn't keep on and on about what she did. He just quietly accepts her apology and moves on as if nothing has happened. We had a very nice dinner and he ended up helping her with the project she was melting down about. All in all, it ended well.

Just another manic Monday...

So today we were talking about the urinary system...ew. I did not know that a person who needs to be on dialysis cannot pee. They literally cannot pee and they have to limit their intake of fluids. Most of us are always told to drink, drink, drink!! But people on dialysis are not allowed to eat foods that contain too much fluid: soup, watermelon (tragic!!), in fact most fruits, etc. I would be so depressed. Life without watermelon is not worth living.

On Friday, I was doing my workbook and it happened to have an illustration of a penis and all the internal urinary organs. Emeli walked by and saw it. She said, "Mom! What is that?"
I said, "What do you think it is?"
Emeli said, "Ew!" and then she quietly asked me, "Do all boys have those things?" She was referring to the testicles. I told her that they do. I know her mind was reeling as she was thinking about all the boys she has a crush on at school and picturing them with those, too. I had to laugh. Of course, I waited until she was out of the room.

On Saturday, we went all over half of Utah doing all the random things Robby has to do for his job. Emeli was patient because she knew we were going to go out for dinner and to Sam's Club. She also brings along her ipod and listens to her music. Every once in a while we have deep discussions and then she escapes back into her ipod world. I love having Emeli here. After not having her around, I appreciate the precious time I have with her. The summer when she was gone, I missed her so much and worried about her so much. I have come to realize we have to appreciate the precious time we have with our children because it is over way too fast.

I used to love being with my boys. I would love just chatting with them when we were driving in the car. But it wasn't until I was completely childless that I realized how much I miss their company, their thoughts and the laughter we shared.

Every once in a while I will hear a song that reminds me of the boys. Whenever I hear Smashing Pumpkins, I immediately remember Taylor sitting at the computer in the front room blasting his music. Music always makes me think of Taylor. When I hear "Fade into You", I think of Freddy because once he told me that when he misses me, he cranks that song. Another favorite of Freddy's is "Play Me" by Neil Diamond. There are songs that Brett used to play for me and I would complain about them, but now I love them because they remind me of him. It was kind of that way with Dad.

He used to blast his old-time country music from the 30's that was border line blue grass. He would have the windows wide open and you could hear his music from two houses away. I was completely mortified; however, now I listen to those songs on my ipod, cranked, and I smile as I sing along. Of course, I know all the words. There are certain songs that especially remind me of him. Anything by Sinatra will take me right back to my childhood, driving in the car on Sundays looking at open houses and being dragged along. Lori and I used to beg Dad to play Dean Martin singing, "Dream a Little Dream of Me". On Sundays, Dad would play Tennessee Ernie Ford singing old time gospel songs like, "Rock of Ages", "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". We played that album at his viewing for his funeral. That was surreal.

Lately I have been painting. It is the best therapy for me. I was feeling kind of blue last week. I guess I was a little burnt out. Painting releases all of that. Robby understands that. He totally supports it. I tell him that I need to create and he gives me space. He lets me buy supplies (when we have the money, of course) and he always tells me how beautiful my stuff is. He actually cares to look at it and admire it. He even gives creative feedback. I will get totally immersed in painting, the whole house will get messy, and I will just sit there with my music blaring while I paint. He will come and check on me, check what I'm making and then go back to what he was doing. I love how we can just hang out like that.

hahahaha!!!

So yesterday we had to run some errands for Robby's work and our little ferret was still out of the cage. He has taken to sleeping under our little couch in the lining. He likes that we can't reach him when it's time for him to go back to his cage. I finally had to flip the couch up and reach inside the lining and get him out. I laughed so hard when I saw what he was sleeping in. He had taken the scarf we had given him from his cage and dragged it all the way under the couch. The scarf was inside an orange plastic bag and so was he. I also saw the other stuff he has been "ferreting" away. He had a plastic purse sized lotion bottle all bitten through, with the lotion inside all dried up. Suddenly a light went on in my head. At Christmas time I had a lotion bottle in my school bag that had puncture marks in it. At the time I had thought it was from the pens in my bag, but my pens have never punctured my lotions before. Then I remembered how I have a lotion in my purse right now that has two little puncture marks in it. I lifted it out of my purse and realized that the two puncture marks are the exact width of Ollie's mouth. That little beast has gotten into my purse and chomped on my lotions!!!

Little Louie is actually singing again and I'm so glad. I was really missing his little warbling. He warbles all day long to his buddy in the mirror and it is so cute. I think he is on the road to recovery from his run-in with Ollie last week.

Our noisy neighbors upstairs are moving!!!! I am doing a happy dance as I type. They are THE noisiest neighbors I have ever had in all my years of apartment dwelling. I was telling Emeli the other day that I have lived in six different apartments and never have I had such rude and inconsiderate neighbors. The girl who is almost 12 years old literally runs from one end of the apartment to the other back and forth continuously! She stomps, jumps off beds, scrapes furniture, etc. The mother does her laundry at 10:30pm. You can hear her washer spinning at about 11:00pm and it drives Robby and I nuts. Soon after we moved in, the mom was vacuuming at 10:30pm. Brett and I called them the Elephant Family. We would start singing, "Pink Elephants on Parade" whenever we would hear them literally stomping across the floor. You would think from all that noise that these people weigh at least 300 pounds. No, the mom is anorexically thin. The daughter is smallish too. They just stomp like they weigh 300 pounds.

At school, we are doing blood draws. Amber did my blood draw yesterday and gave me quite a big bruise. Today it looks even worse. All the high school students would see my arm and get huge eyes and ask me what happened. We all expect bruises, but not like this. One girl even asked me who did it. I wouldn't tell her because she is a huge gossip and a little brat and I didn't want her to say anything to Amber or anyone else about it. Amber already felt bad enough. Amber had pulled the needle out before she had pulled the blood tube out and it caused me to bleed inside because of the pressure. No biggie, but it looks awful and blood squirted out at the time. Very messy. It doesn't hurt, so I'm okay. I have given three blood draws and I'm still a little nervous. Our teacher literally holds our hand and directs us as we poke. I appreciate that.

Today I walked outside and it was not too bad. It was cloudy kind of Seattle cloudy, but it was 53 degrees and I was really liking that. I walked to the Chevron and back. I haven't walked that far outside since the summer because it has been SO freaking cold!!!

Tomorrow we do more blood pokes, hear what is on the test and study like there's no tomorrow and then Friday is another big exam. I just hope I can remember all this stuff when I am actually working.

Louie

As I was driving home from school, I tried to call Robby, but he didn't answer. Normally he always answers and I let him know I'm on my way. Finally, he called me back as I was half way home to tell me that there was an accident at home. Ollie had gotten into Louie's cage. Robby had left the room for just a minute to change and that's when Ollie went in to say, "Hi!". Robby heard all this squawking and went running out to find Ollie with Louie in his mouth. He rescued Louie. Louie circled from the cage to his tree about six times and finally settled behind the TV. Robby was able to get him in the cage and then tossed Ollie in HIS cage. When I got home, I looked Louie over. He has a puncture wound on his underbelly right by his leg on the left side. He also has a puncture wound on his right wing. He has been silent all day long, sleeping and all puffed up. I covered his cage so he could sleep and keep warm. I have really missed hearing him chirping all day long. It's so nice to hear him. It's funny I was just thinking last night how much I love the background noise he makes. When I play music, he chirps even louder. It's cute. But today he is very quiet and sleeping with his little wings shaking. I know it freaked him out and he is in shock. I just hope the shock doesn't kill him. I called the vet and they told me to watch for infection. So I'm watching him closely. He has placed himself right next to his little mirror on the cage floor so he doesn't have to perch. I keep checking on him all day long.

As for Ollie, I can't be angry with him. He is just doing what ferrets do best, get into mischief and play. He was not purposely trying to hurt the bird. He was playing. I left him in his cage for most of the day, though. I was a little angry with him and didn't want to see him for a while. He was just happy to be in his little bed with my nightie in it. We moved my nightie into his cage. It's the one he always snuggles into when he climbs in my pajama drawer. He slept in his little bed all day. Now he is sleeping under the couch.

I was really worried about how Emeli would take this. She came home from school and I broke the news. She was very worried about Louie. She ran over to the cage to check on him, but she took the news well. She has lost so many cats and kittens over the years, she just doesn't do well when one of her little animals dies. She was out here visiting when her little hamster died. She lay in her bed just sobbing while I held her. I told her that I would buy her a little bird of her own on the condition that she had to name it after me. She laughed so hard at that, that it helped her turn around and cheer up. We laughed about that for a while. But it was still hard for her to lose the little hamster.

So I am just keeping an eye on little Louie. I think the fact that he is a stubborn little stinker shows what a little fighter he is and why he survived. I'm glad.

Today in class we gave shots to each other. On Monday, we have to do blood draws. I'm going to be partnering with Amber and that is a relief. Today Amber and I gave each other shots in the hip. We each had two shots in each arm, two shots on our forearms and the only place left (which we have to learn to do) is a shot on the hip/butt. Not a lot of fun to pull my pants down a little in the back and let the teacher and Amber see my lovely little restaurant hips in the back. But now I will understand the embarrassment that a patient will feel. You have to lean over the table, butt sticking out, knees together. Not a fun position. We have to do three of those. If you stick the patient in the wrong part of the hip, you can jab them in the sciatic nerve and cause sciatic nerve pain the rest of their life. No pressure or anything!

Tuesday

Today in class we drew blood from "alien arms". They are blocks of wood with a single "vein" underneath a latex "skin". Very hard to do. I did not enjoy it. I was partners with Ashley and I adore her. She is 17, olive skinned (her mother is Thai) so she has a gorgeous skin tone. On the first day of class I immediately knew she was a skater. She dressed just like the girls I grew up with in CA who were skater chicks. She is kind of tomboyish, but in a sporty way. She is an awesome snowboarder who is looking for a sponsor. She also has some kind of brain tumor. She is such a sweet girl, I hate to think that she won't get through it. She was saying that if she can wait until surgery this summer, her chances of survival are greater. She and I partner together a lot. She is a good student, cool under pressure and I know she likes to partner with me as well. We kind of laugh through the stupid things we do by accident.

Today, for Robby's work, we had to drive to North Salt Lake to pick up these signs that were mistakenly sent to the client instead of Robby. There is this pet store that we love to go to in Kaysville. Robby surprised me by taking me there. He always likes to do that. We'll be driving somewhere and I will ask him where we are going and he will say, "It's a surprise." and then he grins because he knows I will start trying to guess. They have this parrot habitat that is open so the parrots can just walk along the edge and "mingle" with the customers. They are completely hand trained and do not bite. I had two of them on my shoulders. They squawk really loudly just to get your attention. They will also wolf whistle and when I would whistle back to them, their eyes dilate and they bob their heads up and down. SO CUTE! There were these two little chihuahuas. They were play fighting the entire time. I put my finger in the cage and they transferred their aggression to me and started to play bite me and growl. It was hilarious. Then I asked them if they had a ferret. They had a baby ferret that was the brown sable coloring. It is only a few months old. Robby was in love. Now he is thinking that we need to get another ferret for Ollie to have as company. I can't imagine the mischief that TWO ferrets can get into. Holy cow!!

As we were driving home, I was playing my ipod. I played the German version of Major Tom. When I play that, Robby grins because he knows I am going to ask him to sing in German. He has this deep bass voice and it's so cute! When the chorus to the song came on, he broke out in German "4,3,2,1...Earth below us..." I always laugh because he pulls his chin down and sings so deeply and loudly in German. Because I'm laughing, he grins and sings even more. I love that!

So Emeli and I are painting rocks. As we walk outdoors, I look for rocks and collect them in a Walmart bag. By the time we get home, it's quite heavy. I usually ask Emeli to help carry it. We are painting rocks to put in my planter so that Ollie can't dig up my tree. I'm also going to sprinkle pepper in the dirt so that when he DOES dig, he will get a nose full of pepper. That should also discourage him...little beast. We are having a blast painting with the music cranked.

I just finished the best book called Water for Elephants. It is pretty graphic at times. Quite a bit of the F word, but it's the story of a young man who leaves college and joins the circus right after the Wall Street crash. It's fascinating to learn how the circus worked and the terrible treatment of the workers. I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it. Now I am starting The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Brett made me promise I would read it when I was done with my last book. So I checked it out from the library and will start it tonight.

Sunday

Rachelle and her family came to visit us on Friday evening, intending to stay the entire three day weekend; however, snow made them have to leave early. It was nice while they were here, but it wasn't the same as other visits. We were all sick and just kind of vegetables. Usually we have a huge craft orgy of scrap booking and art projects with the kids. I was just not my usual crafty self. I have been on Zombie mode for the last week and a half. Rachelle was a mess last night. She had chills, she felt warm, she couldn't breathe, so I drugged her with tea and a mighty decongestant. They left early this afternoon because Logan was getting dumped on with snow. Jason has contracts to plow snow, so they had to hurry back. Zoe was also feeling warm and was up last night with leg pains, tugging her ears and screaming. Rachelle always worries that it might keep us awake. It usually wakes me up for a little bit, but since I don't have to get up, I just roll over and go back to sleep. I don't worry about it waking up our neighbors because our upstairs neighbors are THE rudest neighbors I have ever had. The mom is up at 4:30 am watching TV cranked, running her washing machine at midnight, etc. So I hope she was woken up and couldn't get back to sleep.

Yesterday while we were doing Robby's rounds, he was putting a sticker on one of the permanent signs. The person who made the big sign had made one of the arrows pointing in the wrong direction to the model home...duh. So Robby had to put a sticker with an arrow pointing in the right direction. While doing that, I was sitting in the car on the side of the road on a busy street, with emergency lights flashing. A lady pulled up across the street from us and honked. She motioned for Robby to come over so she could talk to him. We both expected it to be some city official wanting to complain about the sign. That happens a lot. We will be pulled over fixing a sign and the Highway Patrol or some power hungry city official will tell us we are in violation. Whatever. So Robby goes across the street to talk to her, weaving through traffic. She said, "Nothing really important. I just wanted to let you know that the Lord loves you." She is lucky that wasn't me. I would have said, "What the hell?! I already know that, you dumb bitch." I know, I'm so mean. But to have her risk my husband's life so she can tell him something like that, is so stupid. Then she honked at me, gave me a thumbs up and drove off like she had just performed a great act of service. Psycho.

Emeli gave a talk in sacrament meeting today. She later told me that she was so nervous that she was shaking when she took the bread and water. I told her that was normal. Her topic was meekness. We worked on her talk last night. She was really cute when she gave it. After she spoke, instead of staying up on the stand, she walked down to where we were sitting. She plopped down next to me and I put my arm around her. Robby later told her he was very impressed. She loved hearing that.

The flu from Hell...

I have had THE flu from Hell and I am a survivor. I'm not completely out of the woods yet, but I have survived. It started last week. By Friday, I knew it was going to get ugly. I went to school, took the test (aced it, BTW) and came home. On Saturday and Sunday I lay in bed all day. I did my homework, read a lot and just laid around. Emeli was really cute. She made sure I had a drink, gave me otter pops, and made sure I was okay. I went back to school on Monday and after school, I cut out a bunch of hearts and hung them on Emeli's walls. I put words on her door that said, "You've had a heart attack". I put some chocolate on the bed with a pink Webkinz elephant. She is totally into Webkinz. Robby and I went to Walmart and bought each other inexpensive gifts (candy) and came home and exchanged them. Robby bought me a ring and a bucket of red licorice. I bought him a bucket of peanut MnM's (his fave). We had a chicken dinner and it was really nice. For the rest of the week, I have come home from school and literally crashed. I just can't get my energy back and now I have this stupid hacking cough. I sound like a smoker when I cough. I have been running on low gear all week. I will be glad when it is gone.

Today Emeli and I walked outside because it's really pretty and warm. I got tired really quickly and knew I had to turn around or I was going to be wiped out. I do not want to push it.

During lecture on Wednesday, our teacher was talking about documenting patient records. She told us we are not allowed to write in opinions, only facts. If we suspect abuse, we tell the doctor and let the doctor deal with that. I shared an experience I had with the class:

When Taylor and Freddy were little, I used to occasionally watch this little girl. Lori knew her mom and the mom was single, working and kind of white trash. At the time, Lori lived in a really raunchy part of Orem. It was very sad to see the situation these people lived in and it was even more sad to see that they had children living in these conditions as well. This little girl just loved coming to my house. She loved to play with the boys, she loved that I was home and she ate decent meals, could watch TV and play with toys. Her life was VERY tough. She had a history of lice and before I was going to watch her for the day, I wanted to make sure the lice was gone. If it wasn't, I would treat her while she was with me that day. I took her to the Health Department. The nurse looked through her hair and could only find dead nits so she was good to go and didn't need further treatment. While we were going through her hair, we noticed a cigarette burn on her forehead right at the hairline, like it had been strategically done so no one would see it. The nurse and I exchanged looks above the little girl's head. We both asked her about it. She gave us some stupid, lame excuse for what it was. But we knew. When I told the story in class, all the kids in the class gasped out loud. My teacher just shook her head and frowned. One of the students asked her if she had seen abuse cases and she said she had seen many. She said you go home and cry a lot when you see that kind of thing. That is going to be hard. I will want to kick the parents if I see it.

I have raised 4 children and I have lost my cool. I will freely admit that. Each child could probably come up with a few examples of me and my temper. For the most part, though, I was patient and understood when kids will be kids. I also knew when to walk away and get a break. I would NEVER have taken a cigarette to my child or purposely beaten them. I have NO patience for the women in Walmart who scream at their kids or allow them to run out of control. I will have a hard time seeing abuse and not saying something. I will have to duct tape my mouth closed.

blah...

So yesterday I went visiting teaching with my wonderful little partner, Leath. Robby had the car, so I had to walk to her house so we could go. She can't drive, but she has a car, so I drove her car and took us to go visiting teaching. I have been assigned all older sisters. I don't know why, but I have, and I love it. We visit Cindy Wagstaff, who just had a mastectomy done on her right breast. She has gone through hell and back with that one breast. Right now she is going through the reconstruction phase where they put stretchers in so that she can have an implant in just a month from now. They stretch the intercostal muscles (muscles that just want to be left sitting against your ribs and NOT stretched!) and it is a lot of pain. We also visit Cindy Scott, the lady who let us use her timeshare at Christmas time. She is my mom's age. She is a hoot. She is a convert and before she joined the church, she was a wild thing. She is currently married to her fifth husband and sealed to him. She told me once that she stopped finding her husbands in bars and lived a much happier life. She has three Yorkies and they literally bark the ENTIRE time we are there. They are lucky I don't own them because they would find their voice boxes removed. They love sniffing me ever since we got Ollie because he smells so nasty and they love it. :D

I came home from that and went straight to bed. I felt so crappy. When I go to bed in the middle of the day, I know I'm not doing that great. I am not usually a napper unless I am totally wasted. Emeli came home from school and I was in my long, flannel nightie. I love that nightie. It is so warm! Not very sexy, but oh well. It's warm :D. She put me back in bed, got me a drink and tidied up the house. I could hear her with her music playing, puttering around in the kitchen and in her bathroom. It was nice to just snooze lightly, knowing she was taking care of things like that. She also made dinner. Robby told her that she made a better dinner that me...hahaha! BRAT. Of course, Emeli grinned and loved that.

I forgot to say how when we were looking at model houses on Saturday and talking to one of the sales agents...he asked how old Emeli was. We told him and he said, "I would have guessed 15 or 16." Emeli perked right up. I glared at him and said, "Do NOT tell her that!" and laughed. He laughed when he realized why I said that because he could see Emeli gloating. She said, "Really?!" I teased her about that as we looked through the house. I kept saying, "Really?!" in a squeaky voice and Emeli would say, "Stop it!" and laugh.

Our little ferret is completely spoiled. We have let him out of his cage so much and let him sleep in my pajama drawer so long that he doesn't want to go in his cage at night. We can hear him tearing things up in there because he can't settle down. In the mornings when I go out to the hall to wake Emeli up, he is standing in his cage looking at me like, "Good morning! Let's start a new day of mischief." I don't have the heart to leave him in there looking like that, so I take him out. By the time we are ready to leave, he has nestled himself into my pajama drawer and fallen asleep.

I am distracted from studying tonight. I have a huge test tomorrow and I'm about 60% ready for it. This block has been really challenging: the heart, the lymphatic system, anemia and ECG's. I am a little overwhelmed by all that I have to know. Plus, I still feel crappy. So that is why I'm blogging...because I don't want to study anymore.

Whew...

So I woke up with a headache and it has been following me all day. I think part of it is that I'm once again on the wagon with quitting Diet Coke. I binged on Diet Coke all weekend and now I'm back to water [sigh]. All good things must come to an end.

I forgot to post what Robby and Emeli gave me for my birthday on Saturday. Robby had been working with this couple in our ward. They own a business where they do laser engraving on wood. He had them laser my name with sunflowers on a box. On Wednesday, he went to pick it up and they had spelled my name wrong...Judy. They had to redo it. It was ready on Friday and Robby gave it to me on Saturday. I love it!!! Then, while I was on the phone with Freddy, Emeli and Robby went into University Mall while I sat in the car waiting for them. Robby was picking up the harmonica I had asked for for my birthday. I was so excited! It is not just one of those little Walmart types of harmonicas. It is a diatonic harmonica in the key of C, made in Germany and an authentic Marine Band harmonica. I was impressed. So Emeli and I blew it for about half an hour in the car while Robby muttered under his breath about being sorry he bought it...whatever. He was happy to see us enjoying it.

We are studying the heart, the lymphatic system and today we learned about anemia. I am in information overload. On Thursday, she will tell us what will be on the test and I will study from that. I have so much info, I don't know where to begin to study. I love learning all this stuff. My teacher is awesome and knows a lot. I am so grateful that I can learn all this and actually have a skill instead of just telling people that I can type 90 wpm. Impressive speed, but not much else.

Today Emeli and I walked. I was hoping that it might clear my head and my headache. It was COLD!! We came home with frozen noses, legs, ears, faces, but energized. My headache is now just kind of sitting on the back burner. Tomorrow it will be gone. I came home from school this morning and had a two hour nap. I love doing that occasionally. I just need to catch up with my sleep sometimes. I get up at 6:30 and it is killer (because I'm married to a night owl who can't settle down until around 11:00pm!).

Birthday

So yesterday was my birthday and it was a good day. We didn't get to bed until about 12:30am on Friday and of course, Robby made sure to say Happy Birthday BEFORE we went to bed..hahaha!

We spent Saturday doing Robby's rounds for his work. While doing his rounds, something usually comes up such as: a sign blows over and he has to fix it or someone didn't place enough signs or whatever. Yesterday's big drama was that we had placed signs along a spot where the HOA objected. So we had to take down about 10 signs. Robby has to dress up and usually his shoes are all muddy by the time he is done.

We stopped in one convenience store/gas station so Robby could clean the mud off his shoes and to get a snack. Emeli and I immediately went to the candy aisle; however, Emeli DID catch me looking at donuts. Okay, I admit it! I wanted to buy donuts!!! We saw this new type of drink that was called Neutrogasm. I immediately suspected what it was for, but was shocked that they would be that open. On the back it claims to help "circulation" and "enjoyment" "any time of the day". Emeli and I were reading it and saying, "Ew!!!" and laughing. Emeli noticed that there were quite a few missing from the refrigerated section...once again, EW! I dragged Robby over to see it after he had cleaned off his boots and he just shook his head and grinned. We bought a ton of candy (which Emeli sneaked into church and kept snacking on during sacrament meeting). Not so bad, except today is Fast Sunday...

We went to Zupa's for dinner: a yummy place for awesome soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts. Robby bought me a yummy piece of chocolate cake. I took a few bites and boxed it hoping to eat it on Sunday afternoon after three long hours of church. Not to happen!!! I woke up Sunday morning and was eating cereal, when Emeli came up and gave me a huge hug and said, "Mom, I loved your chocolate cake. I finished it off." I turned to her(good thing I didn't have scissors or a knife in my hand)and just stared. I said, "I only had like 3 bites of that cake and you finished it off?!!!" She said, "I saved you the chocolate covered strawberry..." I was not happy. Then she hugged me again and said, "Are you mad?!" "No," I said, "Just irritated..." I looked at the box that she had written my name on and there was just a dollop of chocolate from the top of the cake and the chocolate covered strawberry. I grabbed that strawberry and started eating it. I knew that if I left it around, she would eat that too!! As it is, she stood there watching me as if I was going to offer HER a bite. One little piece of chocolate fell into the sink and I told her she could have THAT! Then she said, "Mom, was that your birthday cake?" (and if it was, it was a little too late to do anything about it!) I replied, slowly,"No, but Robby bought it for me BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY!" She gave me another huge hug, literally draping herself on my back. I think she thought if she kept hugging me, it would make up for her EATING MY CAKE!! I'm kind of glad she did because it kept me from eating it and then I could really eat my chocolate birthday cake I made. Plus, someone in our ward gave Robby these huge brownie pieces completely smothered in chocolate frosting. I know it's because their son is a huge brat in scouts and they want to make up for his behavior. I found myself picking at that thing all evening.

I downloaded some sheet music off the computer and printed it and sat down to play the piano. I haven't played the piano in ages. It needs tuning and the keys are kind of needing to be cleaned...very sticky. I asked Emeli to join me. We sang "Mad World" together and tried to sing "Hallelujah" and then screeched out "The Luckiest" and gave up after we realized we sounded like cats. We both laughed hysterically after we realized we were meowing rather than singing. We need to practice that one. But it was very fun.

Very good weekend, very good birthday and like I said, I live with two of my most favorite people in the world and I am "the Luckiest"...

TGIF

School is getting really intense, so I love Fridays. I remember on the first day of class our teacher told us we have a test every Friday and asked us if anyone could guess why. I raised my hand and said,"So we'll show up?" She said, "YEP!" I had been to college. I know what Fridays mean.

This morning as Emeli and I were bumping into each other in the bathroom, Emeli said, "Mom, there is a party tonight with these nerds I was telling you about. You know the ones we always see in the library at school? Well, I hope you won't be as troublesome as Brooklyn's mom and ask me all these questions about it." I turned and just stared at her. My first reaction was WTF?! I said, "Sorry, but I DO have some questions...When is the party? Who is going to be there? When is it over? How are you getting there? How many girls and how many boys?" Emeli said there was probably going to be a carpool. I asked who was driving. She said she didn't know and that it would probably be someone after school who just picked them up. I said, very loudly, "Who in the hell is driving?!" She kind of stared at me blankly and then got really snitty. I told her I wanted all those answers texted to me by noon or she would not go. Sure enough by 10:30 am, I had all the answers...little pill. Here's my big question...Emeli says that they are nerds and assumes that nothing bad could happen. I informed her that 13 year old nerd boys have just as much of a sex drive as any other 13 year old boy. She gave me that eye roll she has perfected and kind of flounced out of the bathroom.

I went to school and told my mom friends. They all burst out laughing when I told them how Emeli told me she didn't want me to be troublesome like Brooklyn's mom. I laughingly told them I should have said, "Okay, I just have two questions...is there drinking or drugs? If so, go have fun. You only have one life. Go live it." We all laughed at the complete absurdity of anything like that happening. We also laughed at the idea that a mom wouldn't ask a ton of questions about a party. Wow.

Yesterday was a crappy day. I started it off on the right foot immediately by slicing my thumb wide open trying to cut a roll at breakfast. It bled all over the place. It wasn't bad enough for stitches, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. I got to school and showed my teacher. She whisked me into our lab and bandaged me up. Everyone in my group bombarded me with questions when I came back to my seat. We had gone into the lab so quickly, they thought I was in trouble or something. Then we had to spend the entire class working on homework because there were people still working on ECG's in the lab with our teacher. Psycho lady took that opportunity to loudly brag about how hot her husband was. One of the girls said, "[Psycho Lady], your little husband is so cute." Psycho Lady responded, "There is nothing little about my husband in EVERY sense of the word..." I sat at my table barely containing myself from yelling, "STFU! No one cares about the size of your husband's penis!" Instead I just put my headphones in and cranked up Mozart so I could study. Ew.

It has been cold as hell for the last three days. Yesterday Robby and I had to tidy up his storage place in Lehi. Lehi has winds that are even cold in the middle of August. Imagine the temperature being only 6 degrees with a windchill. Stupidly I wore leggings and my converse shoes. I literally froze. I was really crabby by the time we were done.

Today my friends, Christine and Angel brought me candy for my birthday. That was so sweet! Angel remembered that I love jelly bellies, so she brought me a bag of them. I am happily munching on them as I type this blog.

Tonight for dinner I made this curry that looked so yummy, but looks aren't everything. This curry was the spiciest curry I have ever eaten. At first bite, it tastes really good and then the kick hits. It's not a pleasant kick either. It is a solid kick that doesn't let up. It takes out your tongue, the inside of your mouth AND your lips. We were all reaching for milk. No one could finish it. It was killer!!! I'm sure that most Indians would be yelling for more, but we faint-hearted Americans and one African with a sensitive stomach, had to push our plates away. Robby turned to me and said, "Your rice looks dry. You should put more curry sauce on it and finish it up." BRAT!!!

I have discovered Tamora Pierce and wow! I am reading Alanna right now and loving it. I love how strong her girl character is. I'm going to try and read all the books in this series.

Freakin' Freezin'

Today it reached -6 degrees, but it felt like -15 degrees. Robby had to go to a breakfast for Blue Stakes (the guys you call when you are going to dig so you don't hit a power or gas line). They were having a seminar so he went to learn about it. The breakfast started at 7:30am and so does my school. He dropped me off at school half an hour early and went to the breakfast. It was SO cold today that I took a blanket to class. Our class gets pretty chilly on a good day, but I knew today would not be a good day. After class, Robby came into the school to get me. He was standing in the entry of the school waiting for me. I walked out of class and towards the stairs. I looked down and saw him. I'm such a sap, but my heart still beats faster when I see him. On the way home from school, he told all the grisly stories they told so everyone takes calling blue stakes seriously. He told me that 66 people died last year on job related injuries from buried cables and gas lines. Scary stuff.

It is our third anniversary today. I won't go on and on about how wonderful it is to be married to Robby. Anyone who sees us can tell that we are happy. He makes me laugh like no one else can. He has a quick wit, which I LOVE! I will throw out a sarcastic comment and he always comes back with one in return that usually makes me shout with laughter. This morning as my alarm rang, he rolled over and said, "Happy anniversary, Sweetheart." He is very serious about remembering holidays and special days. He always makes sure he wishes me Merry Christmas, Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday or whatever the occasion is first thing in the morning when he wakes up. It's sweet.

Tonight we decided to buy steaks for dinner rather than go out for dinner...just doing our part to save money :D. Emeli was ecstatic. She loves steak. She hovered over Robby the whole time he fried them up. We had Caesar salad (another Emeli fave) and peach pie from last night. All in all a wonderful dinner. For an anniversary gift, I bought Robby a huge bag of Jelly Bellies (his fave) and he bought me a beautiful rose bouquet (my fave). He also told me that he was going to get me something else, but it didn't work out like he wanted, so I will have to wait until Saturday when it will be ready. And then he smiled this wicked smile and said, "And that is ALL I'm saying..." He knows darn well I am going to burn with curiosity until Saturday! GRRR. I will probably harass him tonight when we are in bed with questions, which he will NOT answer! hahaha!!

Emeli is at Young Women's tonight doing a Trek practice. They are working these kids to get them in shape for the Trek this summer. Our soft teenagers do not work in the fields and push heavy equipment all day like the pioneers did, so they need to practice for Trek. The pioneers would probably laugh their heads off if they knew that.

Happy Monday!!

Usually Monday is not that great of a day, but when you get 95% on a math test from Hell, you feel pretty good. That's where I am at. I expected maybe an 81%, but 95?! I got my test and went back to my desk feeling pretty high. That means I don't have to take the make-up test and the math is all behind me.

Poor Emeli is just beginning the whole math thing. She had a math worksheet tonight that looked all sweetness and light because it was pink and said things like, "lace and ribbons" on it. Plus it had a cute little word puzzle on the bottom. But don't be fooled! It was a worksheet from hell and it had Emeli in hysterical tears. Between Robby and I we figured that pig out. However, some of the answers we came up with were not in the little boxes of possible answers at the bottom of the sheet. That was very frustrating and that is where Emeli lost her cool. We called Brett and asked him to help us figure out the one problem that stumped us and he came up with the answer right away. Sometimes I do not like Brett. Where did he get his math smarts?!!

I went visiting teaching today. I love my VT companion. She is 86 years old. She was an Idaho farm-wife and she is a pistol. I adore her. She suffered a stroke last year and it has not kept her down. She hand quilts! And she donates those quilts to DI's humanitarian department. She says just what she thinks, which is a trait I have always enjoyed in older people. She also laughs at my jokes, which I have always enjoyed in people as well :D. Whenever we plan on the times we will visit our ladies for the month, she says, "Well, I will see you on [whatever day] unless something happens to me. You know, at my age, something COULD happen..." On Sunday I told her that something could happen to ME, too. She laughed. Today I told her that going to school is probably going to save me from Alzheimer's and she laughed about that too. She told me that maybe she needs to read more books. I adore her!

Today our little ferret almost became dinner...grrr! I got Ollie all hyper when I got home from school. Getting Ollie all hyper is hilarious. He will run backwards, his back hunched up. Then he will slide under the couch and poke his head out to see if I'm still running after him. I got him all hyper and then I went visiting teaching. Robby was back in the bedroom working on his computer. I came home and Robby informed me that he put "the long one" (Robby's nickname for him thanks to D'Jayden) back in his cage because he was naughty. I looked over at our house tree and found cups and cups of dirt all over the carpet. Ferrets love to dig and that's what Ollie did when I left. Robby found him digging, sprayed him with the spray bottle and tossed him back in his cage. I vacuumed up the mess, cursing the little beast the whole time. But I also blamed myself for getting him all riled up and then leaving him.

Tomorrow we are giving each other ECG's and that means I have to wear a sports bra and have these little electrodes pushed under my bra right against my boobs. At least our teacher lets us wear a sports bra and not be topless completely. I'm glad for that because I go to school with all these little teenagers. I'm a little embarrassed for them to see my wrinkly tummy full of stretch marks.