Just For Carrie...The Ice Cube

Well, I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to put up the story of the ice cube. (Mostly to stop Carrie from whining about it! And also to remind myself of it for YEARS before my brain forgets all of the details!)

While we were eating lunch in Logan last week, at a completely different table than the rest of the people we were with, my brother, Daren, and I got into a bit of an ice cube fight. He'd been teasing me mercilessly about drinking out of the pitcher, and I grabbed a few ice cubes and lobbed them at his head while he was attempting to nap at the table. Unfortunately for me, they bounced right off of his beautiful curls! (He's only recently let his curls grow out...) He looked at me with that look I've come to be afraid of. I knew retribution would come, but waiting is ALWAYS the problem!

After a few minutes an ice cube came and bounced off of my chest. He laughed, I laughed and we went on with the conversation. Hey, I thought to myself, that wasn't so bad.

After a few more seconds another one bounced closer to my cleavage. He laughed harder. He then told us that he was AIMING for my cleavage. Hmmm...WHY!?
Well, I figured that the ice storm was over, I'd only thrown 2 pieces of ice, so he was done, right? Uh...wrong!

The final ice cube came flying through the air. (Now imagine all of this in SLOW MOTION) The ice landed right in my cleavage falling to the bottom of my bra...making it's way around my boob to the underside. Slowly melting underneath my boob...making a lovely puddle for me to deal with later. I made a squealing noise, and just sat there while the COLD ice melted under my boob. I was FREAKIN' cold! My brother's laughter was uncontrollable at this time, but it got worse once we left the building and went outside. My chants that I were cold put him over the top. My mom, after witnessing the whole thing, said, "Why didn't you just reach down and pull the ice out?"

UH...did you really want me shoving my hand DOWN my shirt to fish out a little ice cube?! That would have REALLY drawn attention to us...no, I'll just deal with it!

And there you go, the story of the ice cube.

Yesterday it took me FOREVER to post...I was so annoyed! But all is good, I have a winner in Carrie who correctly identified God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. And the fact that she was first is not such a BIG deal...she commented at midnight! Go to bed girlie!

Here's the next song:

Natal celebration devoid of color, rather albino, as a hallucinatory phenomenon for me

Good luck!

Graduation for Jeremy and Embarrassments for Me

Why did I do this to myself?? I'm now a beta-zoid! Blogger has been hounding me each time I publish a post that they have my "NEW" version ALL set up...so I jump into it...BLINDLY! What a headache! I'm hoping that now that it's over I won't have any more issues!

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We did a round trip drive from my house to Logan and back under 12 hours! I'm just glad I didn't have to do the driving! That would have been ANNOYING! :)

Graduation was BORING, but isn't that what graduation is for?

We arrived at the stadium and tramped up and down stairs to find a seat, finally finding one that was directly in front of 2 adorable, wiggly little girls. I was kicked in the back of my head more times than I wish to count! Not only that, but as the program went on, one even sat on me. Yes, she sat on my back, even resting her head against my head a few times (I was hoping she didn't have head lice!) Anyway, since they were wiggling, I was wiggling too! After their daddy's part in the graduation was done the little girl who had been sitting on me announced to her mommy, "I peed!" Uh, SHE WAS JUST SITTING ON ME!! I was completely grossed out, but managed to get a happy smile once they packed up and left. (This picture shows the face I made when telling the wonderful story of "The Little Girl Who Peed!")

My sister was beaming with pride when her husband walked and got his diploma (well, just the empty case...) and we were all glad to have it over with. We were told that there were over 1500 graduates, but it only took them 2 hours for the entire ceremony, reading everyone's name! I was impressed...if not bored out of my skull!
We then took pictures and were off to Angie's to eat lunch. My sister had called earlier this week to make reservations, but they were swamped when we got there. So we had a group of 16 people spread over two tables in different parts of the room. My sister and brother were thoroughly upset, but it was all good.

I was so thirsty when I sat down at the table that I grabbed the nearest thing with water and took a long sip, not noticing that I was drinking out of the water pitcher. I would have gotten away with doing that if my younger brother hadn't noticed and asked if I had just drunk out of it. I sheepishly confirmed the truth, and he laughed SO hard....I was humiliated. For the rest of the meal he'd offer me my "cup," remarking how HUGE the cup was. I tried to laugh it off, but was really not feeling pleased with myself.

Anyway, it was a day full of laughs and boredom, but I'm home and surviving!

Hell and It's Inhabitants Convention

I'm SO glad to be home! This trip was fun, informative, and MORE than I had expected! I'll attempt to summarize the fun parts of the trip:

We left town around 2:30 yesterday afternoon...hoping to make it to my sister's house in Logan (OOOOOHH!!! AAAAHHHH!!) before it got dark. We made it! Cam asking the whole way, "Are we in Logan yet?!" Realize, THIS is what parents are complaining about!
Along the way we pass a record number of dead skunks...yell out "STELLLLLLLAAAAAA!!!" Every time we pass a particularly rank one. (In honor of our new favorite movie, Over the Hedge.)
Drop our stuff off at my sister's house while I attempt to fill out and sign consent forms that had been emailed to me just an hour before we left town. (There was 70 pages worth of stuff that I had to print off...needless to say, my printer threw a tantrum a couple of times..."low black ink"..."out of paper"...) All the while trying to decide where to go for dinner.
My bil drives us to the Cabin Fever Cafe. Enjoy an evening filled with live entertainment, and excellent food!
Remember (after the sun has set, of course) that we had wanted to see the BRAND new Extreme Makeover Home Edition house that they built in Logan. (OOOOOHHHH!! AAAAAHHH! No, really...it's pretty cool!) Decide to go and see it anyway. Find that this street has become Logan's most popular within a short amount of time! Stop in front of the house to see little boys with HUGE grins on their faces peeking out of the garage door. (I think they were excited to get all of that attention!) Notice the small mess the people on the show left behind...extra sod on the street, street closed signs still in the middle of the road...But feel privileged to see it. (Thinking in my head, "Ty was here YESTERDAY!!")
Have a shopping spree at Walmart. See where my sister and bil work, take a few laps around the temple...admire the green glow...go back to their apartment and crash for the night.
Wake up at 2:30 in the morning when the baby UPSTAIRS cries. Stay awake fretting for an hour...finally collapsing around 3:30ish. Cam rolls over and in a sleepy voice says, "I can't see the Temple!!" Then giggles hysterically for no good reason. (What a dream!)
Alarm goes off at 5:30, and prepare for a VERY long day.
Leave town at 6:00, and drive thru CRAZY Utahn traffic! (UGH!)
Park in front of Lagoon...not a planned park! Hear Cam ask, "Why we stopped?" Answer him with, "Because everyone in front of us is parked too!"
Drive thru Salt Lake and see a sign off the side of the road reading: "Hell and it's Inhabitants Convention." Comment to my mom that I don't want to go to that one, THANKS!

Arrive at PCMC at 8:00, and go to see the opthamologist. Wait forever to see the doctor, since his son is about to go into surgery. Have the initial exam where Cam cries hysterically and refuses to cooperate. End up getting his eyes dilated, where he BAWLS his eyes out...nearly flushing out the eye drops...and finding out the kid has now developed near-sightedness along with his astigmatism (thanks to those genes from his mama!) Anytime anyone new comes into the room he asks, "Are you gonna take my blood?" (Can you tell the kid was paranoid?)

Get done with the eye-guy early, and check into the genetics clinic an HOUR early. Get in to see the doctor an HOUR early! (I LOVE this hospital!)

Get TONS of information about NF1 and get many a question answered! Find that Cam DOES have some benign tumors (on his bum and a cluster on the bottom of his foot...) and get some great advice.

After this appointment, trot over the cool linking bridge between hospitals to U of U Medical Center. Start his other tests. First one is the blood draw to which 5...count 'em...FIVE adults had to hold the kid down. (Sobbing hysterically the whole time!) Find out the forms I spent forever downloading and printing are NOT viable...the watermark didn't print! Sign the SAME forms again! UGH! After the blood draw, the lady (Heather) gives Cam his choice of gift cards...he picks Toys R Us.

Cam gets his urine samples taken care of! (YAY! I had been hauling them around with us the ENTIRE DAY!) Then he's off with Hillarie to get a bone density scan, full skeletal scan, and then finally an x-ray of his back. After the scan (where the kid who never stops moving had to lay still for 3 full minutes) they print off his skeleton, for him to take home and hang on his door. Everywhere he goes he tells the nurses, students, and secretaries that he has an owie on his arm... because they took his blood!

End up making a fast friend of Heather, the assistant in the research department, and hear her infertility story...WOW! I'm SO lucky! :) Then eat lunch and share stories over an ICKY salad and nasty water!

Pack everything back up in the car (by this time it's 3:00 in the afternoon) and start the LONG drive home!

See the "Hell..." sign again and giggle over the way it sounds...Do they really expect a HUGE turn-out?

Get home around 6:30...stop by Albertsons for their marvelous chicken and salads, and go home!

It was a busy day, but so worth it! The initial results are that Cam is pretty healthy, getting the services that he needs, and will have to go back again for more "fun" NEXT year. The day was pretty much a blur of events, but we got a TON accomplished! Now, we just continue doing what we've ALWAYS done: love our son, and continue with all of the therapies and aides he's getting!

Blonde Moments

I had a blast on my short trip to Utah yesterday and today. I went, mainly, for my good friend's baby shower. It's her first baby and I am SOOOOOOO excited for her and her husband. I've known the girl since we were in middle school....feuding, most of the time. But after a very rocky year we've been buds since. Her shower was lots of fun. I got to meet a bunch of her new friends and I had a strange sense of deja vu. See, when I hung out with her in middle school I was the weird/funny one, she was the serious/thoughtful one, and another friend was the smart/quirky one. She has found herself the same group of friends in her town. I'm just so happy for her! She's doing well and seems ready to have her baby boy soon! (Her husband is excited too!)
I figured that if I was going to go to Utah that I would try to spend some time with my sister. So that's the whole reason that I left yesterday. I was hoping that Steve and I could both spend time there together, and maybe catch a session at the temple. But his work schedule got messed up, so he had to stay and work while I was stuck going all by myself.

Yesterday I was talking on the phone with my friend who's baby shower I was attending to see if I could spend some time with her before the shower,when Steve rushed into the house and annouced that the car was acting up. I was a bit worried since I was supposed to drive the thing to Utah, so we ran all over town yesterday trying to figure out what was going on. It turns out that our car, like most cars in the world, is wearing down. Our pistons aren't quite working the way they should, so we are in need of a full tune-up. The mechanic was telling me that it would cost us up to $400 for all of the repairs....OUCH! So I asked him if it would be okay to drive until we could get it fixed and he said it was fine. But all that worrying and trying to get it fixed took all of the time I thought I had yesterday, so I didn't get to my sister's house until after 10:00!! Not only was I late getting there, but once I did arrive I got lost trying to find her home! I could have sworn that I heard my sister tell me left instead of right....oh, well. (I also got lost going to my friend's house...I guess I'm just a bad direction follower!)

After the baby shower today I hurried to my sister's apartment and we got cleaned up and went to the temple. When I was driving into the valley last night it was the one landmark that I could tell what it was....it has a green light and it's just gorgeous! Anyway, we hurried over there and went through. That building is just amazing! I can't believe that it's one of the first ones that the pioneers built when they got settled in Utah. It's just beautiful!!

When we were done at the temple I said good-bye and told my sister and brother-in-law that I was off. I had hoped to fill the van with gas (just in case) and I'd talk to them next weekend. I found a fairly inexpensive gas station and pulled in to fill up. I went to my purse to see if I could find my debit card. I COULD NOT SEE IT ANYWHERE!! I figured that maybe I had left it in my pants the day before, so I checked my suitcase...no luck! So I looked through my purse again, making sure I checked all of the pockets and pouches...it wasn't there! So I thought that maybe I had left it at my sister's apartment by mistake. I quickly called them and asked them if they had seen it...they looked, but couldn't find it. My brother-in-law asked me where I had seen it last...I think he was trying to calm me down...I was getting a bit frustrated and upset thinking that maybe someone had stolen it. I said that the last time I had seen it was when I bought dinner for myself last night at home. So I called my husband to have him walk to the restaurant to see if I had left it there, but he didn't answer the phone. So my sister called me back and told me that she had the phone number for the place and gave it to me. I called them, and sure enough, I had left the darn thing there! I was relieved, but frustrated with myself at the same time. My sister and brother-in-law were nice enough to lend me some money to get me home and I was off. But a "quick" trip to get gas ended up lasting over a half hour! I felt so stupid! After the gas was filled I said good-bye to my sister and she went inside to get the receipt. I left as she was getting it. The cashier asked my sister if she knew that the vehicle she was paying for was leaving without her. She said she missed her chance to say, "Oh, no..." then run out of the building chasing after me, but instead she said that we had different vehicles.

The ride home was long and uneventful....thankfully! And now I'm ready to collapse into bed! I love visiting my sister and my friend, but there's just something about coming home!