Not Skipping Out=Me Blessed!

We had Stake Conference this weekend. And it was marvelous! I've never really enjoyed a conference more. (That's pretty sad...I should enjoy ALL of my meetings like this!)

The visiting General Authority was so fun and very educational. Elder William Walker was SO wonderful to be around. First off, he was very complimentary of our choir (of which I was a member!) then on Saturday night he excused us to sit in the congregation, so we didn't have to spend the meeting looking at the back of his head. Since most of the chapel was filled Steve and I ended up on the front row...squished in like sardines.

We really laughed at some of his comments, and thought hard at others. He told some amazing stories about where he came from, people he's met along the way, and some other special things. It was so nice!

Then the next day he gave the same sort of talk! The thing that I thought was funniest was he complimented our Stake President on his "prepared" talks. Then he challenged him to give an impromptu talk sometime. We all giggled at that!

During Sunday's conference, he had our choir sing our Saturday night song, Jesus Once of Humble Birth, again. I was crying so hard that I didn't really make it through the song. Our choir director is an amazing man! He'll mark up EVERYONE'S music...with where to breathe, how to say the words, how to sing diphthongs, EVERYTHING you could think of. Then he works us over and over on those songs, making us use mental imagery to make our tones better. He was having us sing the songs like velvet or chocolate. Can you imagine how beautiful velvet sounds?? It was nice!

Then we sang the other songs, Lead Kindly Light and Have I Done Any Good?, and they were just SO beautiful! Elder Walker kept saying (both Saturday and Sunday) that he's never heard a stake choir sing like we did.

He did more than just compliment us though. He told us to keep our pioneer heritage alive in our families, to have good music in our homes, to serve others, be an example of Jesus always, and he gave the husbands some Valentines' advice (I took the advice too): "Love your wives with all your hearts." He told us that there are only two places in the scriptures where the Lord tells us to love with "all our hearts." The first is to love God, the second is to love our wives (spouses.) All in all I was so spiritually fed and was grateful to have been there. There were times, years ago, when I would have just skipped out on Stake Conference, thinking that I don't really NEED to go. Now that I'm older, and maybe a bit wiser, I know that this meeting is just as important as our other meetings! So glad I didn't skip out!

That night as Steve and I were at home, just basking in the wonderful advice we had been given, we got a phone call from a member of our bishopric. Steve just got a new calling LAST month...so we knew it was for me. I have mixed feelings. I was (yes, notice the word "was") one of our ward's primary choristers. I had just put all of my papers together for the next YEAR. I was so organized, and SO excited for the songs for this year! But, as you can expect, I got released. I won't put up what my new calling is yet...I haven't been sustained yet. But if you want, we can play a guessing game (for the ONE person I actually told...you can't guess!) I'm nervous about this new calling, but excited too.

My Sunday was very filled and very wonderful. I don't get days like that very often, so when they come around I should enjoy them...right!? :)

My Life Monday: Who I Am

It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! And I've missed it!

This week's topic is to define ourselves. Thanks, Rachelle....for giving me something I can really ramble on about!

So, in no particular order:

A Mama: Yes, I prefer this term over "mom," "mother," "mommy," or any other term out there for people like us. Cam is the person I do EVERYTHING for. Without him I honestly don't know what I'd be doing or where I'd be in my life. (Probably going crazy somewhere!)

A Wife/Best Friend: Steve is the FIRST person that I do everything for. We've definitely had our ups and downs, but right now, I can't imagine my life with him any happier.

A Loyal Friend: Throughout my life I've had many friends. Yes, we've fought (some of the fights were even too stupid to remember, really), but we're still as good as we were then. If someone bad mouths my friend I'm there backing them up.

A WEIRD Person: Okay, so if you haven't realized by now, I'm extremely weird. I admit it! I feel that if you're too serious about something, you'll get too bogged down. My philosophy is to live it up, if people call you strange, poo on them!

A Goody-goody: If I do something bad, I will not like who I am. I've ALWAYS been known to be in with the really good kids. (My high school group of friends was SO good, that there were times hanging out that we would end up having a major testimony meeting or deep philosophical discussion!) We were even known to leave a movie if we didn't feel comfortable with what was being shown. Honestly, I haven't really changed that much!

An Infertile Woman: It's not my WHOLE life, but lately it sure seems to take up a major portion of my alone thinking time. When I finally got the diagnosis for PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) I felt relief. I thought for sure that within a few months of taking the medication I would be pregnant, now I know that infertility is a process, a hard one, but something that is with you forever!

A Bubble: This can be many different ways: I've got a bubbly personality...drawing others to me, and I'm shaped a lot like a bubble! There was a General Conference not too long ago where a General Authority talked about accepting the shape you are, whether you're skinny, tall, short, or round. Once he said "round" I stuck my hand up in the air and claimed that shape! I am round! (You could call it fat, but I like "round!")

A Fighter: When I was younger this would have had a totally different meaning. I was the bully in my family. My younger brother and I would CONSTANTLY get into fist fights. Eventually, he got stronger than me...so I stopped! But now I feel that I'm a fighter when it comes to Cam. He's got a lot going on in his life, and I'm the only person who is truly looking out for his needs. I won't accept ANYTHING the school says he needs without letting them know what I think!

Bossy: Okay, so I'm extremely bossy!! It must come from being an oldest child. Sadly, my husband and son are also oldest children....imagine the fun we have in OUR house!

A Chatter-box: Sometimes this label is not such a good thing. I know that there are times when I'll say something without REALLY thinking about what I'm saying. But I've slowly learned over the years to slow down a bit and think before I speak. This is something that I'm working on!

A Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: This is the thing that I hold most precious in my life. All that I have I owe to being a member of my church. It defines what I do with my life on a daily basis. I am who I am because of the morals and beliefs that I've grown up with.

A Sarcastic Person: I wish you could use tones of voice when you type...I am SO sarcastic that sometimes when I type something, people will take me seriously...please NEVER do that...I'm mostly being highly sarcastic! I used to be TOO sarcastic, but as I get older I'm learning when to be serious and when to be sarcastic.

There really is SO much more to me, but if you know these few things, you have a general idea of who I am, what I stand for and why I say what I do.

If you want to play along, go ahead...but I'm warning you....it's very hard!

My First Real Life ER Experience

No, nothing serious, but just annoying enough to send us to the hospital instead of a regular doctor's office. I'll just say it was an icky night!

It all started when Cameron started throwing up yesterday. He hadn't been sick since one little puky episode on Tuesday night (just once). So I thought he was okay. He'd been going to school and seemed fine, except for a lingering cough. But yesterday the kid couldn't keep ANYTHING down! I was at my mom's house for the majority of the day, and after picking up my husband from work and heading home (with a grocery bag in Cam's hands just in case) we heard Cam whine that all he wanted was to sleep. Once we got home, his whining got worse. He never really "cried," but just kind of whimpered. He complained that his stomach hurt.

Now, when we had gone to see the geneticist in Salt Lake the last time, he told us to take Cam in to a doctor immediately if he complained of abdominal pain that keeps him awake.

He had also had a slight fever earlier, and when I went to treat THAT with some Tylenol, it instantly came back up. (I hope I'm not making anyone sick with this story...) Anyway, I had thought that maybe he was having something worse happen to him, (mostly I was worried it was appendicitis) so Steve and I took him to the emergency room, just in case.

We got to the emergency room, and the place was packed!! I'd never really been to the emergency room before (other than when my younger brother burned himself many, many years ago) and didn't really know what to expect. They got us checked in quickly, and moved us up on the list since we told them about Cam's NF1. When the geneticist told us to take Cam to the doctor with this kind of pain, he also told us that most doctors and nurses were familiar with the term...not in my town!! At every turn we had to explain what it was, and why we were REALLY there. While we were there Cam still was throwing up, and getting paler, and more listless as we sat.

Finally we went back to a room where we had to take off Cam's shirt and put him into one of those fancy hospital gowns. (Why do those gowns only have one arm hole!?) Anyway, we got him settled on the bed, covered with the warm blanket, and he kept moaning and grabbing his side in pain. I felt so helpless. He was hurting and I couldn't do anything for him! The nurse came and checked him out...asking more questions, and set off to find a doctor. After a while the PA came in and checked him out...poking his tummy, checking his throat, taking swabs and making tears come to Cam's eyes. He told us that he'd like to get some blood work done and start a saline IV on the boy (he was getting very dehydrated) and give him some anti-nausea medicine. We thought that sounded good and sat back to wait.

Since Steve had JUST gotten off work, he was starving, so once they started the IV and meds he left to get some dinner before the fast food places closed (it was about 11:30 at this time!) Cam cried just a little when they initially poked him, he cried a little for his daddy, but after that he was fine, maybe whining about the tape on his hand. The nurse was very nice to him, and told him that the IV was a "mosquito," and since the "mean mosquito" had bit him, she would get the "mosquito" back...poking it in the butt! She was very nice and very sweet! Eventually we convinced Cam to fall back to sleep, and once he did, we just sat and waited.

Finally about 1:00 (yes, this was in the AM!) they came with the results. The swab came back negative for strep (phew), and the blood work looked normal. He most likely had caught a bug that's going around. I was relieved! The stomach pain was probably from bowel problems or from coughing too hard. He was fine! We thanked the doctors and asked if we should worry about his pain coming back. They said that if it did, bring him back. Thankfully, he's been fine all day!

We had left home for the hospital around 9:30, with Cam worried that the "hop-sital" would break him. We came back home at 1:30 with a much happier Cameron...who was very ready for bed!

I hope to NEVER see him that miserable again. That's a hope that I'm sure won't come true, but here's to hoping!

Combating My Addictions and Habits

What is it about chocolate that just turns me into a happy person? Lately, like for the past 2 or 3 weeks, I've been not just wanting a taste here and there...I'm wanting to eat nothing BUT chocolate. The craving is just BAD! My herbologist (when I went to see her the FIRST time) told me that cravings for chocolate is your body's way of telling you that you need certain vitamins or minerals. Whatever chocolate has...I'm seriously deficient. I NEED to eat chocolate, but I should cut back...."should" being the word there!

To help me out with this chocolate addiction, I've got a new tool. No, nothing I can eat, but something that encourages me to exercise: a treadmill. My Grandma was saying that she had a treadmill in the back of her truck. She was going to give it to her daughter, but her son-in-law vetoed putting it into their house. I mentioned that I was looking for something to get me moving, and maybe I could take it for her. She was thrilled to find someone who wanted it, but I told her that I'd have to talk to Steve about it before giving the go ahead. I called Steve and he asked me, "Is this already decided, or do I really have a say?" I tried to make it sound like it was all dependent upon his approval, but he was smarter than that! He said it was okay, and a few nights ago we brought it home. At first I knew that I needed to rearrange my living room, just to make room, so I did some moving, rearranging, putting away, and now we have a little spot for the new machine.

While talking with my grandma and mom, they said something about how they'd heard that it's better for you to walk backwards on a treadmill. I don't know if they were joking, but I've been walking backwards on it, and it really works my buns! (I also walk forwards...that works too!) I'm slowly working my way up from being a complete couch-potato to being more active. I've set a small goal, that one day, maybe not this month...maybe not this year, but someday, I'll be fit enough to run on my own...maybe doing a mini-marathon. It's going to take a lot of work, but it's something I'm excited to try for!

Broken Toilets

A few months ago, my mom was having some pretty serious flooding problems with a few of her toilets (yeah, she has 5...SO jealous!) Anyway, when she had a plumber come and look at it, he told her that the valve (or something) was too small, and she needed to replace ALL of her toilets. Not liking the flooding, she had all of them replaced...costing her and my dad BIG bucks! So, now these new toilets work fine, until you flush too hard, and pull the chain off of the valve thingy in the tank. (I'm not a plumber...I don't know the technical terms...) and it seems that EVERY TIME someone breaks the chain off, it's Cameron. Yes, my small six-year-old son is breaking my mom's toilets. When this thing happens to him, he immediately comes to me and says something to the effect that the toilet won't flush, mama, will you come fix it. I'll get up and go to fix the problem, not cursing, but not thrilled that I have to take the back off of the toilet and plunge my hand into that cold water to fix the problem. Yesterday, alone, I had to fix the two main toilets. UGH!

Today I was over at her house again, Steve dropped me off on his way to work, and I was goofing off on her computer when Cameron, smelling like a whole canister of sprayed Febreeze air effects, came to me saying, "Mama, I broke the flusher, again."
I kinda giggled and said, "Again?" exaggerating, making a funny face at the boy.

He turned to me and said, "Yeah, the toilets don't like me!"

Random Acts of Kindness

I was blessed today by a sweet, anonymous letter I received today. I won't give all of the details, but the basic idea was that someone was thinking of me. I was touched. My husband was in shock and just stared at me. Neither one of us knew exactly what to do. I have no idea WHO sent it, but I am so humbled that someone took the time to send such a show of love to me and to my little family. Whoever you are, THANK YOU! I don't know if this small show of appreciation will even get to the person, but I hope it does.

This letter has me thinking about what kind of a person I am. Am I the kind of person who will follow a prompting when I get it, or do I feel like I'm being overly sensitive and ignore it? I'm ashamed to admit that for the most part, I'm the second...ignoring promptings and impressions I get because I think it's just me. Now that I've had this experience I've determined to turn it back around. I'm going to follow my impressions when I get them...no matter what I feel! This is my (late) resolution: to be a better example of Christ in all of my doings.

A Sisterly Reminder...

My sister is honestly, THE BEST SISTER IN THE WORLD!! She called me tonight (yeah, it's nearly midnight...what are you going to do about it!?) and we gabbed for a bit, then she told me to check my email.
Last week when I vented about Cam, the destructo boy, she wrote me an email that basically told me that while she felt bad, she was still busting a gut over his antics. Yeah, if I hadn't lived through all of it, I would be laughing too. So she told me that tonight's email was the "nice" sister message. I read what she wrote and bawled. Yeah, I've got the tear-stains on my glasses to prove it! She reminded me of all of the things I have to be grateful for, and what I've been promised. I just LOVE her so much!! She's so good to me, even after I was so mean to her!

She also sent me a sweet poem about family, and lately, it's me...every word. I'm so mean to those that matter the most. I thought I'd share it here, and please, don't judge me too harshly!

**************************

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;

I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,

God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger,

common courtesy you use,

but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself:

pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"

He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.

I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."

He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.

I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too,

and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow,

the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family,

an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

***********************

Thank you Michelle, for the reminder! I really needed it!

Gratitude in My Depression

I have SUCH great friends! I've been in a slump for a while, but reading all of your supportive words is just too much for my little heart to bear! Thank you.

I think this infertility problem is something that I'm just going to have to struggle with, and you'd THINK I'd be able to control it now, but no. If I get a bit too whiny I apologize, but this blog, along with being a place interact with many of you, is also my journal, and I feel that I should share the good times, bad times, and the bumps I come across.

With this depression that has come upon me, I think today is the PERFECT time for a gratitude list.

• I am grateful that my family is relatively healthy.
• I am grateful for those dumb little things Cam says that just make me laugh!
• I am grateful for a loving husband, who, even when I'm weepy, whiny, and not fun to be around, tries his hardest to make ME happy.
• I am grateful for a messy house that provides me a place to clean and think through my thoughts that seem to overwhelm.
• I am grateful that, even though I'm very overweight, I am healthy. It's amazing to me that I'm not lying dead somewhere from a heart attack or something else.
• I am grateful for good friends.
• I am grateful for fun family excursions, even if they're just small, and Cam whines the whole way, it's nice to get away, just the 3 of us!
• I am grateful for HEAT. With the cold temps we've been having lately I've been VERY happy that our thermostat is working and that I don't have to bundle up in blankets ALL the time.
• I'm grateful for fuzzy socks and slippers.

I'm feeling better now. I just hope that I can get over these depressing thoughts soon.

Hurting

I'm SO depressed! I had a whole post written out in my head, but it doesn't even seem worth it anymore. I'm just feeling like I'll NEVER be able to get pregnant again, and it isn't a very nice feeling. We're coming up on having tried (or not prevented) getting pregnant for 5 years. FIVE years! My son is spoiled rotten, I've got an ache in my heart, and I'm frustrated beyond words. It seems like everywhere I turn I see another pregnant lady, or hear of one, or see someone who complains that they just LOOK at their husband and they're pregnant. Can I just hurt them? They just don't understand the hurt I feel when I hear their complaints.

I just want to feel happy and complete.

I know I should be grateful for Cameron, but for some very personal reasons, I can't just be satisfied with him. I do love my son with all my heart, even when he's a big pain in the butt, and don't know where I'd be in my life without him to fill in those empty spots. BUT I'm aching inside. There are some who will understand, and there are those who won't, but I am hurting, and it's hard to get over that hurt.

Destructo Boy

My son is destroying EVERYTHING we have. I feel like saying one of my mom's favorite quotes, "We can't have ANYTHING nice!"
Here's just a few of the things that I've nearly throttled the boy for in the past few days:

• Coloring on the wall. Yes, the marker is STILL there. I just bought new Mr. Clean Erasers though, so they should be gone soon.
• Pulling his hair out of his head. He's been yanking big chunks of hair out of his head. I just want to show him a magic mirror of his future self: bald! He has a bald spot on his head in the same place he had one when he chopped his hair off.
• Messing with our computer. I was watching baby J the other day when Cam came SCREAMING down the stairs. He started saying, "Not my fault...not my fault..." over and over. I hurried upstairs, fearing he'd pulled the TV over, or something REALLY bad, but he'd just turned on my speakers for my computer: FULL BLAST! The noise scared him pretty bad, but not enough to stop messing with the computer. He's mixed up our desktop and moved all sorts of stuff around.
• Microwaving tubes of Gogurt. YES! It exploded! I was going downstairs yesterday, Cam caught me at the top of the stairs, wrapped his arms around my legs, and asked me where I was going. This was my FIRST hint that something was wrong. I told him, "Downstairs, why?" He looked at me and said, "Don't look in the microwave."
• Breaking my universal remote for the downstairs television, and DVD/VCR. I LOVE this remote (okay, so I should LOVE my son too) and when I woke up this morning, Cam hands me the remote, broken open. I snapped it back together, but it STILL didn't work. I drove all over town today trying to find a replacement remote, but settled with another kind. Came home, and decided to check the batteries on the other remote. Ah, just dead batteries, but STILL! I asked Cam what happened to the remote, and he told me he threw it on the ground because, "it was throwing a fit." SURE! It was the REMOTE throwing the fit....

He's been on a rampage, and I've been torn over what to do with the kid. On one hand, he's been very HONEST when we ask him what he's done, on the other, he's destroying things! I guess this all goes back to that curse my mother put on me when I was younger! *sigh*

Friday...Summed Up

So much to say, so little time, really.

Yesterday I had to drive my husband to work. Now normally, this wouldn't be such a sad, or bad thing. Let me just say: "Five thirty in the MORNING, and negative 31 degrees outside." Not a fun thing...at all! The car was frosted over something fierce, and I had to scrape it with my messy bed-head and then sit in the car, waiting for it to warm up...with the freezing air blowing on my forehead.

After dropping Steve off at work, Cam and I came home...planning on sleeping for an hour and half or so. I set my husband's alarm clock (I don't have one...just him) and set it for the radio to play, so I could find out whether Cam had school or not. I fell asleep, with Cam snoring in my face, and woke up 15 minutes later than I had planned. The volume on the alarm clock had been turned down...to nothing. UGH! So I turned the radio on to hear the dj's say: "Kids in this area are going to be having a 4 day weekend, because most school districts have Monday off too." This was my sign...no school...not for snow, but for FREAKIN' cold weather. Needless to say, Cam was devastated! He whined to me that his teacher had told them that they would have school today, but I had to tell him that they cancelled it. He just didn't get it.

Now that I knew school was off, I had another problem...what to do with my son. See, I had a dentist appointment (the WHOLE reason I had to brave the cold to drive Steve to work in the first place) and I didn't think he'd behave for my appointment. So I called my mom. She's my hero. She said she'd take him, and we chatted a bit about the cold weather. Her new problem was trying to explain a cold-weather, no-school-day to two foreign exchange students. (Yes, she has two again, but only for a short amount of time...Matt is moving out.) Neither one understood this whole phenomena. Jay is from Thailand (cold weather??) and Matt is from Switzerland (cold weather, yes, but not THIS cold.) Either way, they were both seeming to enjoy their time off. Matt even asked if he could go snowboarding....UH, do you want a face when you go home?

Anyway, I hurried and cleaned myself up...actually having CUTE hair for the first time in like a month, and left to run around.

The dentist was not my idea of fun. I haven't had an actual check-up with one since I was eight years old...nearly 2o years now, and I have MAJOR problems. After the hygienist did my x-rays and initial check-up, she told me the damage, and said I'd have to come in ANOTHER day to get it all done. Gee, just what I wanted. So I set up the appointments, and hurried to get Cam.

Once I got to my mom's house, I didn't want to leave. I stayed there until it was time to pick Steve up from work. Once I did that we took a little side-trip. Since it was pay-day, and we've both been looking like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, we got our hair cut. It was SO nice! Mine turned out shorter than I thought I had wanted, and not quite as cute as it had been in the past, but it's just hair...it will grow...I hope!

Then we picked up Cam, did some shopping for dinner, and then I begged for something I've wanted for about a month now...NEW shoes. I found THE cutest shoes a few weeks ago, but couldn't get them because of money problems. SO I gave Steve those puppy-dog eyes, and he gave in. We went to the store where I had found them to begin with, and they weren't there any more. I was sad, but asked the sales lady if they had any more. She looked up the shoes in the surrounding area, and found them at another store. I was THRILLED! Not only did she hold them for me, but she gave me a discount...the shoes were on sale too! I was so happy. We went and picked up the shoes, and came home for a relaxing evening.

It was a fun, but busy day. I don't think I've done THAT much, in so short a time. (Okay, I have, but not lately!) It just feels good to have my hair cute, and something CUTE on my feet that holds back the snow! YAY!

We are Sisters

Just got off the phone with my sister. (Yeah...the one who, once upon a time was a floating piece of poo...) and found out that she has more in common with me that we thought.

She had called me earlier today to ask me what a gall bladder attack felt like. Let me back up here a little bit.

The week I was going to graduate from high school I began feeling very sick. And it wasn't just ANY sick either...it was like knife-in-the-gut pain, along with miserable nausea. I thought it was just in my head so I kept doing normal things: going on the Lagoon trip, doing the graduation practice stuff, hanging out with my friends, working... But on the day of graduation it was TOO much! My mom had me in the hospital for hours of tests!! They gave me an ulcer test (NASTY!), did an ultrasound on my gall bladder to see if I had stones, then they put me in a machine for an hour while they watched my gall bladder function. After all of these tests they came to the conclusion that I have a "misfiring gall bladder." Don't ask me exactly what that means, all I know, for my own sake, is that every once in a while I'll have an attack that will lay me up in bed for at least 12 hours. I'll moan, whine, and even cry while waiting for the pain to leave. I can't really eat, because I feel like I'm going to be sick...all I can eat is Popsicles. That's it. It's not a fun thing to go through.

ANYWAY, my sister called to see how pleasant these things can be. I told her how I normally feel, and where the pain is...how it can move, and that it's usually aggravated when I eat extremely fatty foods or go without eating for many hours. She said she felt the same way, and asked what she could do. I told her she should call a nurse, maybe see a doctor, because if she has stones they'd need to take care of it immediately. So she closed the call, and told me she'd call back later.

A few hours ago she called me with the news that she may have the SAME thing going on with her gall bladder. They did an ultrasound and found no stones, so they assumed that she has the same thing that I have. It's really weird too, no one else in our family has these problems. No one!! I always thought that I got these weird gall bladder things from taking Phen Fen when I was 17, but now we know!

We compared things we have in common, and the only other thing, really, is our uber-PMS symptoms. When we're going through that, NO ONE should be in our way. My sister is almost my complete opposite, she's skinny and gorgeous, I'm more round and not as pretty as she is. She's into the details, I'm all about keeping things simple! Now we KNOW, we ARE sisters...gall bladders and all!

Cameron: the Artist

My son is an artist! He has SO much talent. Especially with this beautiful blue Sharpie!

Now to get him to color his masterpieces on paper instead of the walls, doors, and bathroom counters!
(Just in case you were wondering why I've not rung the little monkey's neck....Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work MIRACLES! OH! And he's been grounded from ANY fun toys for a LONG time!)

Heat Wave

We're having a heat wave in my apartment. All last night I tossed and turned because I couldn't sleep underneath my blankets. SO annoying!

Anyway, once I got up for the day I turned the thermostat off. (Or so I thought.) Then I opened up my windows to get a breeze going through my house. It helped...a little.

Then after dinner I was extremely hot. So I came upstairs, opened up the windows and began to overheat.

Steve just came up to inform me that the resaon the house is so hot is because the thermostat was kicked up to over 90 degrees! We argued over what I thought I had done...because I could have SWORN I made sure it was turned below 50 (aka OFF.) Cam just sat quietly watching us. (Yes, we're bad parents...arguing in front of the child....) Cam admitted that HE was the one who turned the thermostat up. And he thought he was being SO helpful! Would you get mad at him?

Sunday Summary

Instead of going to two wards on Sunday, we skipped our own meetings and just went to sacrament meeting for my cousin's baby blessing. Several interesting things happened while we were there:

1. Our family, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings....filled up over half of the chapel. We were that ward's fillers. I've never been in a ward so small since I was in college! WHOA!
2. Saw a few familiar faces: my former visiting teaching partner, who was on the cover of a local magazine a few months ago, the son from family in our current ward, and one of my former Sunday school teachers. (Funny story about this particular teacher too...I'll share later!)
3. One of my good friends from high school, and a little afterward, was now in this ward. I haven't really seen or done something with her since before she got married. We stayed after talking for about 45 minutes. Found out that her husband is in Mexico trying to start up his business, and that she's working two jobs to keep things going. We made promises to keep in touch, exchanged phone numbers, emails, addresses....

We had a good time. The baby was adorable...and looked like she was worried when her dad held her up for the congregation to see. My cousin bore her testimony, and we all cried, and then we listened to some stories that people are spreading that AREN'T true. But it was a good day.

Okay, now, as promised, the funny story from my Sunday school teacher. This teacher invited our whole class to her house to watch the Super Bowl (recorded version, of course) and we'd snack, watch the game, and have a good time. Well, I got a little too crazy! We started a small food fight, but I made it HORRIBLE! (I'm STILL embarrassed about this!) I took a 2 liter bottle of grape soda, bright purple, and shook it up...causing it to spray all over the living room carpet. That stopped the party instantly. We all cleaned and I was just horrified for the rest of the year. Seeing her now causes me to hope...to the bottom of my heart...that she doesn't recognize me. And I haven't talked to her since then!

The Sunday That Brings Changes

I just realized that tomorrow (well, in a few hours anyway) it will be the first Sunday of the year. That means lots of changes for my little family in regards to church.

• New church time! We move from the 9 am block to 1 pm. I wish we could go to 11 am, but our building is so small that they have to stick the small single's branch in between the two HUGE wards...just to have enough classrooms and parking.
• Steve got a new calling last week. He's been the first councilor in the Sunday school for about a year now. His calling consisted of ringing the bell to let the classes know when they had five minutes left, and then again when it was time to dismiss. He's sad to leave that calling, but has the fire again for his new one: Priesthood chorister. He's so musically talented and is rearing to turn the men in our ward into a beautiful choir!
• We start the new theme for the year in Primary. This year's theme is "I'll Follow Him in Faith." The first song is one that I taught to the last ward I was in, and we learned a few years ago in THIS ward. It's so pretty. Last week we just reviewed the melody...singing "loo loo" or "humming" the melody over and over. It worked pretty well. Tomorrow we're going to show the pictures that came in the Primary Partner's Singing Time book. I LOVE this book! It has the pictures for every song the kids are supposed to learn this year. SUCH a HUGE help! (I'm artistically challenged!) We used props the last times I taught this song, and I may use them again, but we'll see how the kids respond to the pictures first.
• Cam is moving up in Primary. He's going to be in the CTR 7 class. I told him tonight that he'll get a new teacher tomorrow. He began dancing around the kitchen chanting that he's getting bigger. (I began giggling!) He's excited, and that's all that matters!
• My cousin is having her baby blessed. At first she was going to have a luncheon afterward, but they couldn't afford it, so they cancelled it. I had already told the Primary people I wasn't going to be to church on Sunday, found a substitute, and was prepared to hang out with my fam. Now we don't have that excuse, so I think I'll be going to my own ward TOO. Cam was asking me, "Why we go to 2 churches?" All I could tell him was that we were going to see Baby Alexis blessed. He looked at me like I had 3 eyes. Once I told him who baby Alexis was he was okay, but I'm not so sure I want to be me tomorrow during the second sacrament meeting.

All these changes, and the BEST is that we can NOW sleep in! I'm so excited! YAY! More sleep time for me!

Dream Weaver

When I was growing up, my little sister, Michelle, and I shared a bedroom. From the time she was big enough to be away from mom and dad at night, she was in my room. I'm 6 years older than her, so we didn't always get along.

My best memories are of her dreaming and me, being the MEAN older sister, I changed her dreams. She was very pliable...just like putty! *Mwhahahaha*

There was one time she was sleeping peacefully, kinda moaning, but still fairly quiet, and I had a brilliant idea. Let's see if I can make her believe she's a piece of poo...floating in a toilet. WORKED LIKE A CHARM! The best part was when I told her that I was going to flush the toilet, I made a swooshing noise and she threw her arms backward and jerked like she was being pulled down the drain.

Another time she woke up while I was in bed reading. I was a complete night-owl growing up. Anyway, she looked at me, then looked down to the comforter on her bed. My mom had made us matching blankets, and they were purple with flowers all over it. She began gently petting the flowers. I was highly amused, like always, and I told her if she "picked" the flowers she could fall back to sleep. She "picked" the flowers off her blankets and laid back and fell asleep.

Another time she woke up and began talking gibberish to me. I had NO idea what the girl was saying, so I said good night. I think she was talking in a foreign language! I wrote down some of the things she said. The next day even she didn't know what the words meant.

The funniest time was when she woke up and accused me of taking her friend, Jenny. Now, Jenny hadn't been there AT all! She was at home, sleeping peacefully in her bed, for all I knew. I told Michelle that Jenny wasn't there, but she refused to believe me...she got furious and yelled at me. After she calmed down and back to sleep I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the entire conversation. The next morning I showed her the paper, but she didn't believe me.

I think there are days NOW that she doesn't believe I did these things to her, but I did.

There is one other memory I'll share, just so this isn't a "Michelle bashing" post. One night I was sleeping and I heard Michelle snoring loudly. Like you could hear it coming on like a freight train. I whined to her, "Michelle, stop snoring." The snoring stopped for a while, but soon *SNORT.*

"Michelle, stop snoring!" Silence for a few more minutes, then *SNORT*

I sat up, looked at her bed and began screaming, "MICHELLE, STOP..."

She wasn't there. I was all alone! It had been me the whole time. Once I shared this story with her, she felt better about the dream thing, but it still doesn't live up to the floating poo! I WIN!

Sewing Monster

The reason I've been so tired is clear now! It must have been the lack of sunlight! (No, unfortunately I'm NOT pregnant...yet!) Today was fairly bright and sunny (don't ask about the temperature though!) and I felt awake and happy...well, except for the fact that I had a screaming baby to watch.

About an hour before he was to go home I finally figured out what was going on...Baby J's teething. DUH! I should have medicated the poor baby! Oh, well. Live, learn, and try again next time he freaks out on me!

I pulled out my new toy today: a sewing machine my mom gave me for Christmas. I loved the feeling I had mending my husband's pants. (Yes, I'm weird!) When I had it all done I asked him if there was anything else he needed fixed...I had the machine all set up and the bobbins loaded, but he didn't have anything else. I may become a sewing monster now...Hunched back, quick threading fingers, and the aversion to natural light, but I'll be happily busy! I may even finish that quilt I started 3 or 5 years ago! Who knows what possibilities await the sewing monster.

Exhaustion

I seriously apologize for my absence! I don't know what has come over me, but I am now completely exhausted...ALL THE TIME! It started last week, and hasn't gone away yet. I don't know what to blame...maybe I'm anemic (hope not), or maybe it's the blah weather we've been having lately...all clouds, no sun. I wake up in the mornings more tired than I did when I went to bed. I yearn for a mid-day nap, and often leave Cam on his own to accomplish this.

So here I am, apologizing to you, and hoping that I find the cure for this affliction sometime soon!

And the Peas are Down for the Count...

I don't know where the tradition came from, but every New Years' Day for the past few years I've been shoveling black-eyed peas down my throat. WHY!? Well, the answer is clear, my dears, for good luck.

My Grandma Sue added this fine tradition to the family once she married into it. The first year I have to admit...the peas were gross! I only ate them out of courtesy to my Grandma. The next year, the word was out on how bad the peas were, and my step-uncle made them. They were better, but still not my absolute FAVORITE food! This year I purposefully filled my bowl with the minimum amount required.

Grandma Sue is sure to tell everyone to eat their black-eyed peas for luck, and we do.

This new year is off to a pretty good start. Steve had to work the graveyard shift, so I was without kissing-partner at midnight. (Kinda stinky, but I dealt with it.)

Then I slept in this morning. When I finally woke up for the day, I passed Steve on the stairway, smooched the man, then proceeded to undecorate my house. It took me several hours, but I did have a little help...little, as in Cameron. He was so pleased with himself...commenting regularly that he was a "big boy!"

I cleaned and cleaned until the house was back to it's pre-decorated glory. I've actually been pretty OCD over the whole thing: if things didn't look just right, I'd have to REDO it all! The house is now in a state that is satisfying to my mind. Hopefully it will stay satisfying to me for SEVERAL months. I'm one of those people who has to change the furniture around every so often, or I go crazy! Luckily I've found the PERFECT spot to put our enormous entertainment center...so that won't change, but the couches....that's another story!

Now as my black-eyed peas digest I'm pondering actually coming up with some resolutions...and now that I've had time to think about it...I'm NOT going to! Why set myself up for disappointment? I firmly believe that if you want to set goals, then DO it! If you don't plan on sticking with them...then don't set unrealistic expectations for yourself!
There, I've said it...now you can say what you want, but I'm not changing my mind. (My stubborn-side showing through!)