Buttons

On Friday we surprised Emeli with a hamster.

We went to a wedding of a co-worker of Roberto's. His name is Tony. He grew up in So Cal around Compton and had a pretty rough childhood. He spent a lot of time in youth detention centers and then served a four year prison term as an adult. He had married Kim, but when he went to prison, Kim divorced him. After his prison term, they got back together and were living together. They moved to Utah and met the missionaries. Now they are wanting to get married, because they can't be living together if they want to get baptized. So they got married and will get baptized on the 13th. Roberto gives him a ride to work sometimes.

After the wedding, we drove up to Orem to "run an errand" but didn't tell Emeli what it was. When we pulled into the Petsmart parking lot, she was delighted. She knew she was either going to get new fish or a hamster. We had kind of toyed with the idea of a hamster, but had told her they stink so we didn't really want one.

That afternoon, Roberto had bought the aquarium, shavings, food, dish, water bottle, etc. He didn't tell her, though. He kept all that in the car.

We got to Petsmart and looked around. Then we asked Emeli to pick out a hamster. They were all so darn cute. She chose one, they boxed it up for her and we were leaving and she asked us about a cage. Roberto just kind of brushed that off and said, "We'll go look for one tomorrow. Tonight he can just sleep in a big glass jar or something." Emeli believed that.

When we got home, Roberto asked her to help him unload some stuff out of the back of the car. She was surprised to see all the stuff. She turned around and gave Roberto a huge hug.

We got the hamster all set up and in his little habitat. Emeli decided to name him Buttons because that is the name of the little girl's hamster on "Making Fiends". Buttons is really cute.

Yesterday Roberto was lying on the bed and holding the hamster and letting it run all over his chest. Buttons pooped on him five different times, so Roberto decided it was time to put the hamster away...hahaha!!!

Buttons likes Emeli. He will let her reach in and stroke his back and stays there for it. When I reach in, he always runs...hm. So Emeli is delighted that Buttons likes her better.

She is so cute with her hamster and tells me all the time how much she loves him.

Scary dinner...

So I had the scariest thing last night at dinner. I was laughing and talking with Emeli about my co-worker, Bill. He had been farting all day in the office. They were the silent and deadly ones that would waft over to our corners of the office and we constantly had to spray room freshener all over the place. So I was relating that to Emeli and laughing. I took a deep breath and sucked in a piece of hamburger into my airway.

I stood up to catch my breath and sucked it even more into my airway. I was gasping and unable to get a breath and couldn't breathe through my nose, either. As I was literally wheezing and trying to get air past the piece of hamburger, Emeli started to freak out.

Her worst nightmare is that something will happen to me and I will die. So she ran through the house screaming Brett's name and crying at the same time. She ran upstairs and was running around on the landing upstairs screaming and crying. Meanwhile, Brett was down in the dungeon playing a video game, completely unaware. The dungeon is sound proof with cement walls so he heard nothing of what was going on.

I stood there trying to get air and knew that if I didn't do something quick, I was going to die. It was the most frightening thought. I still have a lot to do and I did not want to die right there in my kitchen with a piece of hamburger wedged in my airway.

I wrapped my hands into a fist and threw myself against my fist and the back of my chair. The hamburger piece went sailing out of my mouth and I could breathe. I stood there gasping air into my lungs and then went looking for Emeli. She was up on the landing just crying and screaming. She saw me at the bottom of the stairs and started crying in relief. I called her down to talk.

She was shaking and hysterical still. I held her and told her that it was okay. I was able to help myself. I said I'm a big girl and knew what to do. I explained the Heimlich maneuver and how I did it. I told her that from now on, she needs to stay and help rather than run screaming through the house. I showed her how to do the Heimlich.

Then I told her that it is obviously not my time to go yet. Heavenly Father spared me because I still have stuff I need to do, so she doesn't need to worry that I'm going to die anytime soon. If it were my time, Heavenly Father could have taken me right there, so she can stop worrying.

I sat back down to eat, but Emeli wouldn't let me eat. She told me to eat carefully and not talk while I was eating.

This morning she wrote me a note telling me to call her if anything happens to me and to always chew first and then I can talk. Funny girl. I reminded her that I have been around her for 11 years and nothing like that has ever happened and that I'm a big girl and I'll be okay. She worries so much.

So now I have a sore throat from wheezing and my stomach hurts right under my rib cage from where I hurled myself against the chair back. Emeli has a sore throat too. We figure it's from the screaming. A good reminder to always be careful when eating.

I looked up Heimlich after my experience and found out that lots of people die from that kind of thing because they panic and pass out and don't have the presence of mind or the time to give themselves the Heimlich. I am grateful that I was granted the presence of mind to stay calm and do what needed to be done to save myself.