Good News / Bad News

Update on the last doctor's visit:

Dr. F* told me that he'd know more about my prognosis if they could get a picture of my joint at a bent angle. Sure, that's gonna feel real good.

Dr. F: I'm not really sure if you need surgery. The x-rays you brought to me don't tell me enough about your injury.
Me: (relieved & clarifying) You mean you think I might not need surgery?
Dr. F: Yup.
Me: Wow, I thought it was a ridiculous idea to as a surgeon whether or not I would need surgery. Aren't you guys always itchin' to cut someone open?
Dr. F: Yes, actually. I just said that to make you feel better.

Totally funny! I love it when people can be sarcastic with me.
I obliged and got my x-ray.

Dr. F: Well there's good news and bad news.
picture me cringing
Me: And what might that be?
Dr. F: I don't think you need surgery. I'm 80% sure. We'll splint it differently and know completely for sure next week. But I'm very optimistic, though slightly disappointed. wink, wink.
Me: Oh is that "the bad news"?
Dr. F: No, the bad news is that you actually have two broken fingers.

The bass of my middle finger has a hair-line fracture. No wonder it hurt so bad!

A Mom's Song

This woman is genius.

Thanks for sending this to me, Kimmy.

"Oh Crap."

These were the words out of my mouth yesterday to a very kind and civilized man doing his best to help me.

I went back to my orthopedist yesterday.

We took new x-rays from different angles.

This was our conversation:

Me: I was so good this week. I kept it bandaged the whole time!
Dr. O: That's not going to matter at all.
Me: Why? What do you mean?
Dr. O: Mindy, I'm so sorry, but your injury is much more severe and traumatic than I thought. I'm really sorry I didn't realize this sooner.
Me: Okay. What does that mean? Because I've resolved the fact that my knuckle might be permanently "swollen" and my finger may be slightly crooked the rest of my life. Will I be able to play the piano?
Dr. O: Well, your injury is VERY uncommon. Your prognosis will be a very painful joint the rest of your life.
Me: You mean, like when it rains I'll have a little arthritis?
Dr. O: No, more like when your sitting around, on any given day, doing no activity whatsoever, it will be aching. You need to see a hand surgeon.
Me: Oh crap.

I go today, wish me luck. Maybe Dr. F will think Dr. O's crazy and I'll get to go home with a lollipop and a new prognosis of: Don't use your hand for a week or two and it will be fine.

Ya think?

Me neither.

Shopping Theories

A couple of years ago I was trying to explain to Steven that when something for sale is a really good deal, you just buy it! If you happen to need it - all the better, if not - maybe you can find a way to need it, or better yet, sell it and profit.
He disagrees.
If you happen to need the item (and by need the item that means you cannot talk yourself into needing the item), then great. If not: WALK AWAY.
This theory of mine came back into discussion when I learned that Pier 1 Import Kids is going out of business and everything is on sale for 75% off. I got a little excited because

we didn't necessarily need this

or this

(just the beds in both pictures)

but for some reason, I did that thing where I talk myself into thinking - no, knowing - that I need them. Well, instead of paying $1148, I spent $287, and now I have a bunch of new beds in my house. And with new bunk beds, the kids have an automatic fort built into their room. What a bonus!

Buyer's remorse? Not today.

Just don't ask Steven the same question.

Top 10

Every year in or close to October, our church has the children put on the entire sacrament meeting program. Everyone looks forward to it. The children prepare songs and usually a short part to say into a microphone and teachers and leaders get to show off what they've been teaching the children since January.

Here are my top 10 reasons that one would know today was the day of the program.

1. The parking lot is full by 8:50am - a rarity. NO, an absolute wonder.
   
2. The congregation is twice its normal number (requiring the back of the chapel to be opened up to a gymnasium).
   
3. It took me 4 trips to load up my car with stuff to aid in leading the music.
   
4. Teachers look weary with a distorted smile plastered to their face.
5. Parents proudly look on tearfully as their child recites 5 memorized words.
6. The 11-year old boys look about as mortified if their mother dropped them off at the mall in her curlers and robe.
7. The Primary presidency looks like they're on the 22nd mile of a marathon.
8. The noise that usually comes from these kids during sacrament meeting is organized and beautiful.
9. Hearing aids need replaced after the 4-year old class nearly swallows the microphone while yelling their part.

And the top 10 reason
for knowing your primary
had it's annual program today is:

10. The children are all sleeping and it's 2 in the afternoon.

Sigh.

2 Questions

#1. Have you ever been drowning?

You know that frustration -- then panic -- that your lungs aren't getting oxygen?
Thoughts like is this really how I'm going to die?
and
Why am I in such a stupid situation?
I know my body's many limits.
What will Steven do?
My kids will be those kids without a mom?
If Steven remarries, she won't be as good for any of them.
Where will they bury me?
What will they have me wear? (yes, as silly as this last one is, my subconscious would still worry about that stuff.)

but these thoughts all come in an instant flash. And though some/all sound crazy, those would be my thoughts.

This is what it was like without google this last week (for some reason I didn't have access to their website as well as any of my accounts with them - I couldn't even comment on other's blogs). I realized that without my blog(s), I don't get my therapy. I emailed Natalie to tell her my dilemma (she introduced me to my therapist), and it was then that I realized I was really missing it. There has been times when I go on vacation or get super busy and am unable to blog, but when I can't because of a technical difficulty, well, that's just plain annoying.

Here's question #2:
Have you ever had to come to the realization that your rather pathetic because a fraction of your happiness is based on your ability to blog/vent/release?

BTW, my ring finger is broken. Nice.

Karma

Steven and I left ALL THREE kids last night so we could go play co-ed volleyball. I know sounds fun. It was. For about 11 minutes.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to leave Olivia quite yet. Maybe I shouldn't ever accompany musical numbers on Sunday. Maybe I'm just not supposed to play team sports.

I'm guessing the latter.

Because I'm pretty sure my hand is sprained/jammed in three different places after landing on it when I was playing volleyball last night.

I feel super cool.
Not great lighting. It's really hard to take a good picture with your left hand. Especially when your right-handed. These might give you a better comparison between my left and right hand.



























If my ring finger and pinky finger look like their bent unnaturally towards each other that's because they are. The picture doesn't quite capture the discoloration and bruising that's beginning to form. It's quite lovely. It's taking me 7x longer to type this thing because I'm plunking out keys with my usually un-used left hand.

I was supposed to play the piano during sacrament meeting. I guess that won't be happening. Oh, and wouldn't you know it: Steven's on call this weekend.

Looks like I'm sticking to golf and snowboarding. Oh wait, it's too hot to golf and it doesn't snow here. I guess I'll just have to buy a boat and begin wakeboarding full-time - as soon as my hand heals.

Emmy's School Beginnings

My little Amelia is going to preschool.

A lady that lives in the area was inspired by Gordon B. Hinckley's "BE's". She wrote a preschool curriculum based on it called Busy Bee Preschool. I'm trying it for a little while. I don't always do very good at the whole co-op thing. Hopefully I'll last at least a little while. There are four other little munchkins in the group and we meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Teaching every 5 weeks shouldn't be too bad.

I'm so happy the side ponytail is back.

Wait, it's back, right?

Ste and I have a hot date tonight, sort of. It will be the first time we leave Olivia. We're trying to save money, so we're going to go play co-ed volleyball. I'm not always a fan of team sports when there's competitive people on the team. It brings out my clumsy 7th grade awkwardness. Wish me luck.

Bradley's 1st Day of Kindergarten

You knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. And after a severe scolding from Elizabeth (ya right, she doesn't know how to scold), here is the first of two 'first day of school' entries - Emmy's is coming up tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Bradley was supposed to bring a towel to lay on for "quiet time". Right. Who do they think they are? Quiet time? As in, lay down for 15 minutes or so and rest?

Anyway, they were so specific with the other things he had to buy (green folders, black composition book, Crayola products, Elmer's glue, etc.), I decided to go all out for his towel and surprised him the night before. He was ecstatic. I'm sure you can't tell from the look on his face.

We bought if from a lady in Great Britain. It makes it feel authentic.

Bradley with his cul-de-sac buddies.

They all began kindergarten this year. Three of the six houses have kindergartners in them! They look like they could be siblings: all that blond hair.

Goodbye, my baby.
I'll miss you.

Just not enough to homeschool you. :)

Stewie vs. Bradley

9/11 Memories

Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing 6 years ago.

Here are my memories.
I was working for an air medical transportation company. Actually, at the time, Rocky Mountain Helicopters was the largest air medical transport company in the nation. I just happened to be the receptionist at its headquarters as well as its switchboard operator. As you can imagine, it was a big deal.

The FAA grounded all of our crews. I had two pilots call me and frantically ask me what they were supposed to do with the dying patient on their aircraft. Since I didn't know what to tell them, I called our flight operations officer, who was traveling, to tell him what had happened in NYC.

Me: Karl, what am I supposed to tell these pilots?
Karl: What are you talking about?
Me: Turn on a television, sir.
Karl: What do you mean? what channel?
Me: I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter.
Time passes while he finds his hotel remote control.
Karl: *#@%!

It was so surreal. I remember I was pregnant with Bradley. I even remember I was wearing my purple maternity shirt from Gap with my black slacks. I remember becoming robot-like as I answered the hundreds of phone calls and, without emotion, told them all they were grounded - no exceptions - that the flight medics would have to do their best.

I remember coming home to Steven watching - no glued to - the news (like everyone else). Our friends Brad and Brian were at our apartment watching, too. Day after day. Like we were waiting for something else to happen. The news became a little more important to us after that day. In fact, since then, Steven has read CNN headlines daily.

No one knew what to do. Classes were canceled, meetings postponed. No one knew what was appropriate behavior. I didn't necessarily "experience" it or "survive" it. I didn't know if it was appropriate to even laugh all day ... all week. I remember the solemness of everything. The flags flying low for weeks.

I remember the good that came. The lines of people waiting to donate blood. The heroic tales of people going back in. The over-crowded churches.

These are some of my memories. What are yours?

Sunday Moments

Some of the feelings I had yesterday during church:

Seeing the deacon pass the sacrament - reverence

Thinking of my blessings - humble

Singing with the nursery children - adorable

Listening to an 82-year old woman give a lesson on sex - hysterically funny


...so much for reverence.

Spender or Saver?

Splurges:
1. sushi - don't just buy crappy california rolls, yuck. Get the good stuff.
2. hair - totally necessary for me. I look all washed out if I don't do something with it.
3. pedicures - totally unnecessary, but a couple of times a year, it's great.
4. my media bundle (phone, internet, cable w/dvr) - once you have it, you can't live without it - well, not happily.
5. insurance - we have LOTS of insurances that most people our age and in our situation don't have. What can I say, I'm a boy scout: gotta be prepared.
6. rent - we could live in an apartment until we decide where to buy a house. I just couldn't do that to my kids anymore - so a house it is.
7. eating out - we do it way too often, even as students which leads me to #8...
8. loan repayment - not so much a splurge as a necessary EVIL!
9. vacations - we blew our savings this summer to see family.
10. preschool - the year before kindergarten, Bradley did private preschool. I'm pretty sure the rest of our kids will do the same.

Savings:
1. vehicles - 3 kids in a '96 Accord is definitely a sacrifice - then again, Ste drives a '93 Corolla with its AC on the fritz (in TX in September).
2. television - we're not into surround sound or watching movies 100x over; neither are we big screen people. We have movies for the kids and the same tv we've had since we were fist married.
3. shoes - $20 or less.
4. cell phone - pay-as-you-go, baby. My monthly bill ends up being about $7 a month or less.
5. accessories - $12 or less; I'm talking jewelry, bags, hair, belts, etc.
6. video game system - non-existent in our house.
7. make up - I'm a maybeline, covergirl, drugstore kind of gal.
8. children's clothes - thanks to Target, Old Navy, Kristen and consignment stores!
9. grocery food - MOST (there are exceptions) store brand food is just as good as the name brand.
10. stuff - my catch-all phrase for things I buy on websites like craigslist and ebay. Mostly books, toys, some furniture...

How do you save money? And what do you absolutely have to splurge on?

Shoe String

If you didn't see this entry, you missed seeing that my sister has, what some of us like to call, a shopping disorder.
I was organizing Olivia's closet and dresser (you have to do it often when they grow out of their clothes every 3 months). I soon realized she had an overwhelming number of shoes - and she won't even walk in these (they'll be too small by then). So you didn't think I was crazy or exaggerating, I took a picture.
I'll save you time; I counted 28 + the pair of sandals downstairs in the flip flop basket. Thirty would have been excessive - 29's not bad, right?
Thanks again, Kristen, for keeping my family dressed.

Phobias

Steven was reading cnn.com the other morning and read the following story to me. I think I've had the chills since then.

WILLS POINT, Texas (AP) -- Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park.
Steven was reading cnn.com this morning and read the following story to me. I think I'll have the chills all day.

Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it.

"At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland," said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. "Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs."

Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be the result of a mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from one another.

"I've been hearing from entomologists from Ohio, Kansas, British Columbia -- all over the place," said Mike Quinn, an invertebrate biologistwith the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who first posted photos online.

Herbert A. "Joe" Pase, a Texas Forest Service entomologist, said the massive web is very unusual.

"From what I'm hearing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event," he said.

But John Jackman, a professor and extension entomologist for Texas A&M University, said he hears reports of similar webs every couple of years.

"There are a lot of folks that don't realize spiders do that," said Jackman, author of "A Field Guide to the Spiders and Scorpions of Texas."

"Until we get some samples sent to us, we really won't know what species of spider we're talking about," Jackman said.

Garde invited the entomologists out to the park to get a firsthand look at the giant web.

"Somebody needs to come out that's an expert. I would love to see some entomology intern come out and study this," she said.

Park rangers said they expect the web to last until fall, when the spiders will start dying off.

I am waiting for the fall so spiders will start dying off, too. I would rather hear about a forest full of snakes nearby than this.

Labor Day - Anything But

We had a fun water activity planned for about two weeks for yesterday's holiday, but when the weather guy "predicted" 80% chance of rain and lightening, we decided to change plans - much to my and Bradley's chagrin.
This is where our original plans took us.
Looks fun, huh? Bradley and I were super excited to go, plus my VT had found out our plans and had given us coupons that were going to save us about $30, which makes Steven much more willing to do an outing like this.

With the news of gloomy weather, we quickly decided to look at our indoor activity options. I was NOT about to sit around on a holiday AGAIN.

We have dollar theaters here, so we took the kids to the 12:15 showing of Shrek 3. We are cheaters in that we bring in our own munchies to the movies (shhhh, don't tell anyone that we don't like spending $32 at the concession stand on a large popcorn and a soda for the 4 of us to share). So after a quick trip to the grocery store, Ste and the kids returned with Jelly Bellys, chocolate, Starbursts, and beverages. To make me feel guilty, however, the theater was having a Monday special where all tickets were only 50 cents each.

Hmmm, I'm already over the guilt.

By the time we got home, it still hadn't rained. In fact it was slightly overcast - PERFECT weather for a waterpark. Bradley was begging for us to go back to the original plan. I compromised and took Emmy and him to our community pool across the street for a couple of hours.

We returned home at 4:30. Still no rain.

It happened to be Bradley's 1/2 birthday yesterday (we celebrate those at our house) and so he chose where we ate that night. Big surprise: McD's. For about 20 minutes while we were there, it rained. Grrr (we could've made the water park work).

Afterwards, we decided to go to our local AAA baseball game. We had SOOOO much fun there. Because it's not huge like the Astro's, it's low-key and people were so nice and accommodating. Like when we parked, the guy taking our money ($5) said, "Wow, gotch yerselves a car load, thar." So I, being my mother said, "Ya, does that mean we get economy rates?" To which he replied (while winking), "a course you do.... roll yer back windas dan." And he gave our kids the five dollars back in Ones and told them they had to spend it on treats and hot dogs. SO NICE.
I was waiting outside the ticket counter while Steven returned stuff to the car and some guys gave us these tickets.
I soon realized after all our activities of the day that I hadn't missed the water park too much. We were out a little too late for a school night, as was evident this morning as I woke Bradley up for school, but that all that fun was well worth it and a great farewell to summer days.

Parent's Anniversary

I'm not the type of blogger to honor all my family members' birthdays, anniversaries, births or deaths, commemorations, graduations, job or college acceptances, etc. This is partially due to being born into a Mormon family which begs the question: so how many cousins (or mothers if you're)do you have? which is awkwardly answered with: I honestly don't know.
A few months ago, our friends John and Elizabeth were visiting for the weekend and we forced them (not really, they're always very willing) to come to church with us. Elizabeth attended Primary with me while the John went with Steven to his meetings.
While in Primary, a young girl (oh, say 8 or 9-ish) approached my Eli and welcomed her. She was drawn to Elizabeth in part because she was holding Olivia (who was brand new). The young girl began to explain that she had just had a baby born into her extended family and she now had over 100 cousins (okay, my family's not that bad).
She then asked Elizabeth, "How many cousins do you have?"
Elizabeth replied, "I only have four cousins."
To which the girl responded, "What is wrong with your family?"

Oh boy. Anyway, I digress.

I do make exceptions for special times. Such as my FIL's 70th Birthday and this one:

Happy 35th Anniversary to my Mother and Father.
May you have 35 more.