this is the song that never ends!

will has this talent of cleaning out his email inbox frequently and keeping things under control.  like, he never has multiple pages of emails sitting there.  i guess a big part of it is that he has so many filters and lots of things are automatically archived.

does it come as a big surprise to anyone that i only dream of having an inbox so tidy as his????  while i have a handful of labels that i use and feel like i delete and archive ALL. THE. TIME. i still have at this very moment 538 emails sitting in my inbox.  now, only 53 of those are listed as unread. (and that's after working on it for a little bit this morning!)  i buy one little thing from deseret book, and boom, they're my friend for life.  i sign up for joann's coupons, and boom, i'm getting the "in crowd" emails and coupons for life.  i know, i know, i've done it to myself when i sign up for every last birthday freebie i can find because somehow in late january/early february it all seems so worth it... ha!  there are certain ones i don't even open.  for instance, i don't care about del taco food except for twice a year (our birthday freebies) and we don't even live that close to one!  also, my last visit to kohl's, on which i did surrender my email for a discount, i was a little soured by the service and i guess i feel like i'm getting them back somehow by automatically deleting their emails without even giving them a chance.  ha!  i get teaching resource emails from 3-4 places (i only remember signing up for 2 of those!) which i do like to look at when i get the chance.  i also have not changed my email settings on pinterest, so i get an email every single time someone repins anything.  sometimes they come so fast they must be emailing me to let me know that someone MAY have THOUGHT about skimming past something that i didn't even pin myself in the first place.  my pinterest ways have not changed since the beginning!  i simply repin from others!

and the real problem is this:  i cannot just delete and walk away!  like i said, there are several things that get an automatic delete, but there are too many things that i feel like i have to look at or open first.  i have this bizarre need to at least open and look at just about any disney email that comes my way (besides, what if there's a new sweepstakes i could enter with all my disney movie reward points?  or even better, new free points to hoard!  i have never once entered a code to get points the real way.. hahaha : )  i always want to go through my teachers pay teachers weekly emails to scour the 10 free downloads for the week and see if i want any.  breaking news: i have never once paid for anything on teachers PAY teachers.  i just love me some freebies!  deseret book just about always gets an open, just in case there is something i might want!  just in case!  it's been at least since last christmas that i've ordered anything, though.. : )  joann's just about always gets an open - and a star... hahaha - depending on what the coupon is and if i think i just might be at joann's before it expires.  (which is next to never, really people... : )  maybe if we lived a little closer to one)  sometimes the groupons get an open, but especially groupon goods and usually the getaways almost always get an automatic delete.  this is all also affected by how behind i feel.  if i feel especially buried, more things get an automatic delete.  actually, if i'm finding things that most certainly would be expired by now, i actually just feel a wave of relief that i'm not going to deal with it and i just delete.  i need will to help me change my pinterest email settings.  and we must have done it long ago for facebook, because i almost never get anything from them - thank goodness!  oh, i also have a phone number that automatically goes to voicemail on googlevoice.  so if i need to go in and update my "unavailable" status for subfinder, they find me reallllly fast and my email blows up with computerized (inaccurate) transcriptions of the recorded voice on subfinder.   it's a mix of satisfaction and annoyance as i delete 20some voicemail emails at once.

sooo...... yeah.... i've obviously got a problem.  if it's a teaching day i almost never stay on top of it.  if it's not a teaching day, and i'm in the mood, i can come close to catching up.  but we haven't even covered the "real" emails that come in.  things from family sometimes get buried.  but my real problem is that i like to leave things in the inbox.  whether i've read it or not.  i think in my subconscious i would be paying some disrespect if i quickly discarded (though really just archived) an email from someone real!  and then there are all the things "real" or not that i save to show will - much like my open tabs.... : )  there are also all the things that i need to remember to take care of, so if i leave it there, of course it will stand out and i'll see it still..... right.....

i'd probably rather clean something real than clean out my email inbox.  it's that bad.  i'd rather tend to the emails than get a papercut, though.... puts it in perspective a little, huh? : )

sometimes will or i will lament to the other that we "really need to clean out our inbox!!!"  and the other will reply with something like, "i know!! me too!!!"  we usually leave numbers out of it and find a little bit of comfort as we commiserate.  (he'll have, like, 12 sitting there.) then when will does find out/realize how bad mine is he acts surprised.  i guess that's nice of him? : ) ha  i think that's another big mystery that he just can't understand - how on earth can i let it get so bad???  though, i think the other day he did look back and see that at one point i had been doing pretty well before a huge pileup and gave me some sort of a compliment on that.

well now that i've hid from the cleaning that i haven't even done in place of the email cleaning AND from the turkey that needs me to find all the meat to pull off to save for later, i guess it's time...

i cannot be the only one with this problem... right???  but did payless really  need to send me a merry christmas email??

thanksgiving and giving and giving

winco's good turkey price will go through thanksgiving, as far as we know.  we want a turkey for christmas, so we were thinking it would be a good idea to save a few dollars and get it now.  now, we just want a small one, so we really mean a few dollars, but they all count!  so on saturday we realized it just might be possible to fit it into our freezer and we made it happen.

probably like everyone else in the world we have many things in our freezer that have been there who knows how long and your guess is as good as mine as to what's in that recycled "tupperware" container.  (sour cream, cottage cheese, margarine, and even winco peanut butter and honey containers all are 99% interchangeable on the cups and lids.  if you can pair at least one see through one (from the peanut butter or honey) - lid or cup - then it makes it a little easier to remember what it is.  i like to do the same in the fridge, too.)  if we've used a "real" tupperware container the chances are higher.. : )

anyway, we found a couple of things that could come out, and a couple of things we thought would need to come out.  i ended up being able to fit some frozen fruit in a "real" tupperware (even real tupperware brand!) bowl back in, which was great news because i really wasn't too excited about the smoothie idea in our frigid winter state.  and it wasn't even that hard : )  but what did come out was put to use for our meals yesterday.  we had the sloppy joe leftovers we found for lunch yesterday, then used the turkey we found to make turkey noodle soup for dinner.  we didn't even use a recipe.. : )  our 12.something pound turkey (cute little thing) fit easily into the freezer and will block my view and get in the way for the next month, but it will be well worth it : )

as i was chopping up the vegetables and will was putting the turkey into the pot with the broth, etc, he commented something like, "who else can say they made their thanksgiving turkey last all the way until the next thanksgiving???"  hehehe  should we be embarrassed??  this is, indeed, the turkey we cooked on the sunday after thanksgiving last year after we got home from our san diego trip.  we've used the turkey and broth from it throughout the year for various things, and not really thought about "needing to eat it up."  that turkey just kept giving and giving and giving! : )  so now, yes, the turkey is gone (well, there are soup leftovers now : ), but there is still some of the broth in the freezer.  i just forget it's there and it's so much easier to open a can!

thanksgiving food is on my favorite foods list!  i've determined it's probably because i like salt.... ha  i have always really loved stuffing and that might be what i'm most excited to eat this week!!!!  but i really do love it all : )  let the leftovers keep on giving and giving and giving!!!

and let us keep giving and giving and giving!  our stake patriarch talked a week or two ago about being thankful, and giving and how they go hand in hand.  here is a quote from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf i found in an article in the church news section of lds.org.  He was speaking at a rotary club luncheon:

“Where there is gratitude, there is humility as opposed pride; there is generosity as opposed to selfishness.”

The article says he has been a Rotarian for almost 40 years and he spoke of the seasonally appropriate (and always) motto:

 ”'Service above Self'—a worthy motto for all of us.“

 President Uchtdorf also said:

”With all the busyness and business going on during this time of year, it is easy to focus on the feasting and not so much on prayer and praise!“

what a good example, and good things for us to think about, especially this week.  as much as i love the food and am excited for it, let us remember to be thankful to our Heavenly Father who has provided us with all of our many, many blessings.

"the worst"

When I think of paper cuts I think "the worst.". And when I think of "the worst" I think of paper cuts.  Don't they make you want to squint your eyes shut and protect every tender vulnerable inch of your fingers and hands???  (I don't know if i've had one on any other body part... have you?)  I got one yesterday.  It was the worst!!  I usually immediately grab hold of the poor unsuspecting spot and hold it tight until I can bear to look and see the damage that's been done.  There are certain tasks that I take great care and caution in because I fear the dreaded paper cut (the worst!!) so much, but yesterday I guess I had my guard down in my great rush.

Someone once (elementary school?) talked about paper cut torture between your fingers - that super tender and sensitive valley!! Oh the inhumanity!!! It could give one nightmares to think of that!!

Maybe this tablet keyboard could get second place for being "the worst" since it doesn't know how to do a front end quote mark... Or maybe it's just me... : )

Sometimes BYU football losing to Notre dame is the worst, too... Ask will... : )

Also: if you are somewhere where everyone else is quiet and would appreciate your silence as well, don't talk! Don't even whisper!! I can still hear you and every word you're saying, as quiet as you think you're being...  As hard as I try to tune you out, I can't!  You're just making me crazy!!  You're also starting to compete with that paper cut!


The opposite of "the worst" I guess, would be "the best."  And while not for us, today we became secret keepers for the exciting, joyous news of "the best" for a friend!!!!! : )

This may be far too much for you, : ), but I do like to tell will he's "the best." Like 5 minutes ago when he finished his picture organizing project on the computer for all our pictures!

Welp, here's to hoping for more "the best" for all of us, and nary a paper cut!

tuity fruity - like the broken candy sticks at chuck e cheese for 5 tickets

I know that it's supposed to be "fru-i-shun", but I always want it to be "fru-tay-shun.". I keep hearing it lately and I can't help but think of fruit.

I like fruit.  But sometimes you just need mint chocolate cookies and pumpkin squares.  And an episode of too cute.

But we can't always have what we want. So then we resort to nova.

One more day, then thanksgiving break!!

halloween 2013

did you notice that the title rhymes without even trying??

anyway, after requesting my family share their halloween dinners, etc from this year, it's about time that i get things together and share about ours.  i guess sometimes it just seems so hard to upload pictures?  maybe that's why the current pictures on the camera go back to girls' camp in july.... oops?  time to upload/save on the computer so we can move on to the next set of fun!

i guess we didn't take pictures of all our decorations like in some years past, but i didn't feel like anything was that earth shattering.  i did, however, take a picture of my new favorite decorations.  i got a fall vinyl table cloth that is too big, but we decided to keep it.  then, weeks, after originally seeing them in a different target, i found the napkin holders that i should have bought the first time around!  it was early september, though, and i was making myself "just look" and go back later.  i decided i didn't want things to sell out, so i went back to our own target where they didn't even have them... wah.  but when they showed up weeks later, i made it happen, and it looks so good on the table cloth : )  i didn't do the skeleton fabric on the table this year, i just couldn't figure out where to put it....  i found the spiderweb bandanna at hobby lobby a few years ago.

three saturdays before halloween we went to a friend's halloween party.  i didn't even think about taking our own camera, but she took some pictures and shared them on facebook.  we wore our costumes from last year - thank goodness they still fit! : )

two saturdays before halloween we went to a carpool party where there wasn't anything halloweeny, i don't think... just food, kids, and watching the new star trek movie since parts of it were filmed in the NIF at the lab that will and another of the guys does work for.  and no one took any pictures... i don't think : )  the kids who wanted to watched brave.  we still haven't seen brave, but it was much more fun, i'm sure, to hear the guys call out things like "there it is!", "can you believe they let them ____!", etc as we could see parts of the facility in the movie.  even i've seen the facility in real life at last year's lab family days!  so that was cool to recognize some things.

one saturday before halloween was the ward halloween party.  they had soups, chilis, desserts, rolls, cornbread(!), potatoes, carnival games "for the kids", and a trunk or treat complete with a trunk contest.  we had a good time eating, talking with people, and handing out candy.  those kids go around and around until you pretend you're out of candy!  well, most of the ones going around without parents.  i didn't think it was necessary to keep handing out all 285 lolipops... call us the scrooges of halloween!  we handed out several seconds, thirds, etc, then let our cauldron run low.  i mean, what if we actually got a trick or treater??? we'd need something!  and now we have lolipops for school and cub scouts!  (we weren't even close to stingy, really.)  notice our efforts on decorating the trunk!

i guess it was the friday before halloween we made jack-o-lantern cheeseburgers!  team effort - will is the man of the grill, but he likes me to do just about anything that involves the cutting board.  not bad for a first time effort, especially considering i carved with a regular big knife.  we'll try again next year!

i put way too much time, energy, and grief into a costume idea.  while many teachers were going to be minions from despicable me, i just didn't feel like it.  i also didn't have good ideas to execute it.  well, that didn't involve buying something that i'd likely never wear again, like overalls?  come halloween i saw several different good ideas that i could have done, but oh well.  instead i bought a cheap tshirt at michaels and pieces of felt.  i cut strips and fringed them, then used a hot glue gun to glue them to the shirt.  i was a pinata!  i also glued them to two cones and those to a headband - i was lucky i could salvage my cheap melting headband from winco.  i guess the hot glue pushed it to its limit!  it was a well insulated costume for the morning, and i was impressed with myself that i wore the headband all day!  well, until after school at least.  it was "easy" in the sense that i knew exactly what to buy, exactly what steps to take, and i understood it.  i wasn't trying to piece something else together which sounded so much harder to me.  i guess we never took a picture of me in it, but i do have a hard copy print that a parent gave me.  (if i still know where it is?)  don't worry, it's now in the fall/halloween box for years to come!  eventually we'll have a costume box, but for now all the decorations, costumes, etc fit into one big plastic tub.  we probably should aim to keep it that way as long as possible!

if you're having trouble sleeping, let me suggest halloween with first graders!  i will admit that that day took it out of me!  i was so drained by the end of the day!  after the morning parade, getting through the day, and party with parents/grandparents/siblings in the afternoon, by pick-up after school it took all i had to stand there and wait for all of the rest of them to get picked up.  all i wanted was to curl up in a little ball under the desk.  when i got back to the room i didn't even know where to start and didn't want to!  i honestly cannot remember halloween at amelia three years ago.  when i saw some old pictures i could remember the morning parade, but i really can't remember anything else about the day.  have i pushed it from my memory?  or was this year somehow that much harder?? : )  it was nice to hear this last week that a parent who was there, and is in the classroom fairly frequently thought that halloween went well.  what a relief!  it felt like crazytown to me!  anyway, by the time we got home that evening, i knew that i just couldn't make the halloween dinner.  while i talked nonstop for a while about my day will made a frozen pizza.  we watched the charlie brown great pumpkin special and vegged while not minding that we didn't have to get up and answer the door for a single trick or treater.  no more lolipops down for the count!  believe it or not, the kids seemed great the day before and the day after halloween.  so... file that away for later! : )

two days later, november 2 we had a marathon day organizing and going through boxes.  we finally have all the stuff in the file cabinet, got rid of lots of stuff, and have a room that looks like we could get it ready for a child!  all of this was to make us feel better about how things looked/were organized before our home visit... if that ever happensssssssss!  that evening i made our halloween dinner!!!  i didn't want to not do it, but at that point i was done with halloween.  i'm glad we did!  i learned how to make a pot pie (yay!!) and now we have some good sized ramekins for all sorts of yummy things later.  when i went shopping for things for the dinner i was planning to just get the small disposable tins winco has.  but they were out!!!  clean out!!!!  i was so disappointed!  i didn't want to make one big one, i wanted personal ones!  a friend offered ramekins, but i decided it was just a good excuse to get some.  i got lucky at raley's when i did find a second one behind some smaller ramekins, even though it was dusty!  anyway, now the unveiling you've all been waiting for! : )

it was fun!  it was so much food!  i only ate half my pot pie.  the clot was a maraschino cherry.  and yes, apparently we were matching... : )


i didn't buy the cherries special.  i just happened to see the jar back there as i was getting other things out, and it wasn't a problem because i had to rush and type up/alter last year's menu moments before we ate.  i thought will had seen me put a cherry in each glass before filling them.  so it was fun when he asked if there really were clots in there... hehe : )  several of the things i already had names for, but there were some i just had to think of on the spot...  i had known "yummy mummy" for a days, though : )  and now that i have the jack-o-lantern  face cutters, next year's jack-o-lantern cheeseburgers will be easier!  it will also be much easier cutting through cheese with them... it gave me a red mark/bruise on the base of my palm that's finally almost all gone now to cut through the sweet potatoes/yams(???) with them.

we were full and it was getting late, so we saved dessert for the next day.  we made the spiders in the graveyard, and even though will consented to let his spider have legs for the picture, he let me eat them as he doesn't like pretzels...  we still need to make the pumpkin smoothie!!  maybe i was less excited because while i do want to try the recipe, it clearly has the lamest name on the whole menu.... i was trying to hurry at the time, but i wish i had included some half-clever something with it... oh well.  it's still pumpkin season.

and there you have it.  the bulk of how we celebrated halloween all the way through november 3! : )  AND pictures for the first time in months!

dilemma

i am two thirds (?) of the way through my second of three bottles of medication that i'm supposed to take twice a day.  i feel like we're starting to make (at least some) headway, so i'm motivated to keep taking it, but it's a big fat pain!  the directions on the prescription say that i can't have eaten two hours before, or an hour after taking it.  in the beginning i took my morning one right when i woke up, then got ready, and just made sure it was an hour before i had breakfast.  this proved disastrous as these cute little blue pills make me feel very sick about 20-30 minutes later if i don't have food in me.  it took me a while to realize the correlation and i spent many mornings feeling like i was dying, needing to lay down, crying, feeling like i was going to throw up, dizzy, etc.  in short, it was not fun at all.  once i figured that out, i decided on school days i'd just have to take it at recess (if i can remember!), and on non school days i eat breakfast, then figure out the timing after that.  i must burn more calories at school, or it's just barely been long enough by recess, that some days i do still start to feel sick.  it goes away after a little bit, or after i've eaten something.  at night, though, it's a great way to eliminate snacking after dinner/before bed.  i've gotten more used to it all after 2-3 months, but they're still a hassle.

now, the real dilemma!!

once upon a time we moved into this cute little house almost 6 months ago (what????!).  we moved in in the lovely temperate month of may when we could dress almost any way we wanted and were always comfy at night.  then along came summer and it got hot.  then it got hotter and hotter.  we had days over 100 and felt it as we were too cheap to run the AC all the time : )  i'm not saying we never ran it, because we're not that dumb.  we noticed that unlike the apartment there weren't others to shield our ground level apartment or big trees to give shade.  we got by opening windows at night and running fans constantly.  then it started to cool off and it was delightful as we turned off the fans, opened the windows less and less, and got pretty comfortable again.

then it happened!!

it started to get cold!!!  we're still cheap and it's easy to put on more layers, so so far we've run the heater less than the AC (days between now).  yes, i know that november just started, and i know that it's snowing in utah, but for a few weeks now we've been feeling sorry for ourselves as it's dipped down into the 60s, and even the 50s over night!!  we discovered we weren't sleeping very well at night because we kept getting cold, so we've been adding blankets and comforters over the weeks to achieve optimal cozy temperatures at night.  we've also been piecing together the realization over the last several weeks that our cute little house's insulation is not very good at all.

now, back to the pill.  the prescription label also instructs to take with "plenty of water".... that's helpful.  i've always told myself that a full glass of water could be considered plenty.

here's the real real dilemma!!

we drink well water that is very hard and has quite a taste to it.  almost six months in i can tolerate it, but i don't like it.  the first night i could hardly stand to wet my toothbrush with it.  now i still make a face when i drink it and usually have to force myself to drink much.  we try to keep a good supply in the fridge, because the chill takes the edge off the taste.  and when you're really thirsty, it's fine enough.

the last thing i want when i'm already in slippers, a sweatshirt, and wrapped in blanket wondering if i should go dig out gloves is to have to drink a full glass of water from the fridge to feel like i've done my "plenty of water" duty for each single pill!!!

i guess the good news is the school pays for a little filtered water machine (whatever you'd call that) that i think tastes good that i can fill my water bottle up at so i can drink "plenty of water" at school.

maybe i should plug my nose???  send hand warmers to the (cheap) wimps in california!! : )

haircut day

sometimes life just isn't fair.

like the time i closed my explorer browser (which i had been using to override the "chrome nanny" site blocker that blocks us out of facebook, pinterest, etc after 30 minutes each day which is good for us so long as we don't override with explorer or other devices... : ) and somehow ACCIDENTALLY closed my chrome browser as well!!!!!!!!!  all who-knows-how-many-or-which tabs!!!  i'm sure when will finds out he'll tell me (or think : ) serves me right, because it always bothers him that i have so many tabs open at once.  but, really, i need them!!!  please tell me there's someone else out there that really feels the need to keep tabs open!  it's so i am reminded of things - ideas for school, recipes, things to show will, etc.  it doesn't matter that i have pinterest to save and organize, or many files of downloaded documents of school ideas, or can print recipes and put them in the binder, or email myself links, or goodness sakes: MAKE A BOOKMARK!!!!!!!!!!!  will is always reminding me that i can make bookmarks.  he gave me tutorial once, and to my credit, i did bookmark something and put it in the category of "to show will", but i think that only happened once.  he comes home from work and asks me if he can close all my tabs.... haha.  well, seriously, there's a reason i left it open!  so i am forced to quickly prioritize so i can tell him some he can close.  that in itself is a fantastic exercise for the girl whose indecisiveness is borderline handicapping.  so that's that.  to be honest i had already gone through and closed ones i really didn't need anymore.  the ones still up were there for a reason!  this time it was school... but i think i remember how to get back to those things.  but the thing i have to be ok with is that i'm not going to remember the others and my life is still going to go on.  i hope.

anyway.  happy belated christopher columbus day to all you bigtime fans of the nina, pinta, and the santa maria!  by now you've probably all hummed a few bars of my chris columbus song to yourselves.  right? : )  we celebrated yesterday by both having a day off.  it was one of my typical mondays off.  will was forced to use his day-after-Easter holiday yesterday because of the government shutdown. : /  the lab contracts for the government, and the lab (like the rest of us) doesn't have endless funds, so they've dipped into just about all they can until the budget is resolved for the next fiscal year.  today he went to do "training" stuff, and can again tomorrow, but he can't do any real work because of the account the money is from.  if it goes beyond that he'll be forced to take a couple more holidays.  so as lame and unfair as that is, we really enjoyed having a day off together!  our celebrations included sleeping in, and BOTH of us getting haircuts!!  do we get some kind of award for that?  i mean really, when was the last time 100% of your family got haircuts on the same day?  i cut will's out on the back porch.  it was perfect timing for our neighbors to walk by on the crest/side of the irrigation ditch.  he didn't want to cut mine, so i went to a place.  ok, i didn't ask this time, but he hasn't wanted to in the past.  i just got a trim.  i was delighted that she understood my hopes, dreams, and aspirations for my hair and really gave me a good trim.  if you're one that is having a hard time understanding how a hair trim can result in such happy feelings, just know that you win some and you lose some, and yesterday i won!!!  other highlights, in case you need ideas for yourself for next year, were making crockpot lasagna and putting out halloween decorations (finally!).  oh!  and we made ganache because we needed to use up some cream... : )  what was the ganache for?  our fingers.  and graham crackers.  and whatever else we want.  because we can.

well my friends, i guess this has been another exciting look into our lives!  what's that?  you want the real dish?  ok, fine, i'll tell you.  today was the second day i didn't wash my hair, and i'm thinking of going a third tomorrow!  i proceeded with my plan today thinking i wasn't going anywhere or seeing anyone.  well then i played taxi for some kids in the ward after school... oh well : )  (i know some of you have done the math to determine i went with "dirty" hair for my trim yesterday... i know who you are : )

stay cool. H.A.N.S. (have a nice summer!! xoxo heart heart heart!! english with you was the best!!!!!)

ok, obviously it's time to go fold laundry : )

the best things in life are free

that, or food.... : )  (i like free and i like food!)

like the time almost two months ago that we got free food at ikea and we're still happy about it : ) ha

we went to ikea with a few specific purchases to make, so we knew we'd be spending a medium piggy bank's worth.  we had to pinch ourselves to make sure we weren't dreaming (and honestly we had to read the sign a few times including out loud) when we saw the sign saying that if you spent at least x dollars then you could eat in the restaurant for free!  what joy!  what rapture!  free lunch!!!  we had just spent the morning in a first aid/cpr class and this was better than surprise-donuts-in-seminary kind of good!!

all you had to do was save your receipt from the restaurant, then they'd deduct that amount from your total purchase downstairs (so long as you spent x).  so we went happily through the line: i'll take one of those, and one of those, i guess i'll try that, one of those?  sure!  why not?!  it would have been easy to get carried away, but we kept decently under control.  it was good : )  and free : )  and then we were able to walk some of it off as we trekked through the whole store.

i had just gotten into the walking boot a few days before, and did still need the crutches for a few days, but i felt free, full of good food, and we were in ikea!!  life was good : )

we went with a plan, but not exactly a plan to get it home... ha.  luckily for us we could lift the boxes together (even with my lame foot), and even luckier, we were able to fit it all in the car......... with the back seat down and a box sticking out a back passenger window.... go to ikea with a plan, people : )  or a truck!  we made it home ok and deposited our boxes on the floor until further notice.  

we put together the smaller shelves 3ish weeks ago.  then we just put together the bigger shelves this last saturday.  (life has been a little busy, that's all)  how nice to have a reminder of our free lunch now standing in our home : )

may you all have your own delightful free food experiences!

mayzilla

well well well.... if we thought that march was a beast (which we did : ), then it really just proved to be a training ground for may... of sorts.  things weren't exactly the same, but we could sum may up with "crazy" or "wow".... those surprises spice things up a bit, too!

may 1-5 i traveled to utah for a fun trip to byu women's conference.  while i was there we found out that "some things" (just easier for now) were approved in the adoption realm.  this meant that we could move forward with our move to a house - i guess that crazy idea really began in april.  though they were hoping we could move in may 1, our lease began may 15.  this gave us some time to pack some things up and get a little organized.  we couldn't finagle our way out of giving a full 30 day notice to the apartments, so technically we had that up to last saturday...  but we wanted out, so of course we were coming over here starting the 15th!  we moved most of our stuff with the truck and all the big furniture on saturday the 18th.

this is where i need to pause and pay tribute to the elders' quorum and Aaronic Priesthood moving service.  we asked for help starting at 8:30 am.  we were nervous about who/how many would actually show up.  the week before or so i tried to publicize and verbally commit/guilt trip people into coming.  the day before i sent out an email reminder giving one last plea - but of course a very fun sounding plea!  the missionaries showed up right at 8:30, and others soon arrived after.  there were 10 "grown up" men, 8 "young men", and 4 primary boys (movers in training) in addition to will and i.  and you can probably guess how helpful i really was heaving things into the truck : )  this little army showed up, packed the truck full, offered their vehicles for the remaining things that wouldn't quite fit in the truck, drove over and unloaded things into the new house (where we directed them to) INCLUDING THE PIANO all by 10:30.  2 hours and we were DONE!!!

tender mercies for sure.

did i mention we woke up a little nervous?  i feel like i hardly did anything!  i pointed out to the youth where the treats, snacks, and water were, and i directed traffic, and i really did carry some things... : )

but i can't express how thankful we were that so many took the time to come help us.  it would have taken will and i all day long and then some.  and there are things that, honestly, i CANNOT lift.  the piano is it's own category entirely! : )

i will say, however, that it was really important to us that no one do any packing or cleaning.  we're big kids and we can do that ourselves.  if someone wanted to offer to come help with that part, that's their own grave to dig... but in my opinion, the worst "moves" are where you show up and half the house isn't packed yet.... so if you only get one thing out of reading this monster-long post, know that NO ONE wants to show up to help you pack or clean unless they tell you that specifically.  have it all packed, then the muscles and packing brains can work quickly, efficiently, and they'll still be your friends when it's all over.  (which was important to us : )

good thing the move went so fast.  as we walked down the ramp from the porch when we were done (and ready to return the truck then go get started on cleaning the apartment) my cramps started... tmi, sorry : )  we had to go buy more ibuprofen, then it was time to let the cleaning games begin!  we had no family in the area to pressure into helping us clean this time (pressuring family is a little different : ), though we considered flying jeanette out when we remembered how well she did in utah... (shout out! : )  we wore ourselves out cleaning all day saturday, and were especially excited for our day of rest on sunday.  there were, of course the other fun details like our fridge that was supposed to be delivered that day and wasn't and the landlord came to fix the dishwasher.

we ate discount (old) sandwiches we found at winco laaaate that night for dinner sitting on the floor in the apartment.  the next day for breakfast we had leftover fruit and granola bars.  some new neighbors invited us over for lunch.  and we were so smart to get everything we needed to make dinner sunday.... nevermind we have no idea where the can opener is.... : )  hahaha  luckily after so many different customer service reps, waiting on hold, etc, etc, will was able to get them to say they'd deliver the fridge the next day.  so monday we were able to get all the fridge stuff out of the apartment plus some other things.

will took the afternoon off on monday (i already had it off) and we went up for our next appointment with the adoption agency.  that was exciting, but we were going to need the internet for the next steps and the internet wasn't scheduled to come until friday...  so we lived for a week with just our phones and 3g (i know, poor us.. : ) and couldn't move forward with any adoption stuff...  we had plenty of other stuff to keep us busy, though!

monday evening we cleaned more and took more odds and ends to the house.  tuesday evening we cleaned more (and will went on visits) and took the rest of the odds and ends to the house.  we felt like we had done a pretty good job cleaning and were all done.

wednesday was will's birthday!!!!  before he was home from work i went to have our "initial" check out check.  she was happy with and impressed with our cleaning job!!  though, we forgot to clean out (wipe out?) the dishwasher.... who knew? : ) ha  she said she wouldn't charge us, but it was going to bother me if i didn't go back and take care of it.

starting sunday we noticed our shower didn't drain properly... that meant a lot of back and forth with our landlord neighbors.  that led to the "clogged" toilet too... we're on a well.  and a septic tank (oops? : )  goooooood toooooo knooooooow.  and we don't have a garbage disposal...

anyway, wednesday was one thing to another and i had to squeeze in making a birthday cake.  good thing i'd already shopped and wrapped!!  well at this point we're still living out of boxes because we haven't had a chance to unpack things yet.  so.... good luck finding a cake pan!  a 9x13 had to do....  and since the kitchenaid sounded too overwhelming i mixed up that chocolate frosting by hand, baby!  it only took a little while... : )  hehe.... i also had no plan for decorating or making it look like a birthday cake.  luckily i knew where some m&ms were (keep track of the essentials, you know?) and i thought it was smart to spell out "happy birthday will" with a 28 on it in m&ms.  yeah, maybe if i had all afternoon!!  ha  so by the time that was done it was pretty late - we'd already been to red robin (where they brought me the wrong burger, and i guess it was important enough to have them fix it, AND will was gypped out of his free birthday sundae... that i've gotten twice now at that location... : )  anyway, the cake said happy birthday, but anyone's guess was as good as mine as to where those darn candles might be!  so i still sang, of course, and made will pretend he was blowing out candles for a picture (with boxes in the background, naturally : )  all in all, a good birthday!  or as good as you can get in the midst of a move!



OBVIOUSLY WE'RE 3 MONTHS PAST WHERE THIS POST LAST LEFT OFF.... I WILL "FINISH" IT WITH WHAT ELSE WE CRAMMED INTO MAY, BUT DON'T EXPECT AS MANY DETAILS (OR AS MUCH WIT... WAH : )  ok, i guess i remembered more than i thought i would.


is it still august?????  though, i will say it does feel like it was JUST barely august 1.  ok, so will had a fantastic birthday, i like to think : ).  i mean, when we eat burgers, fries, cake, there are presents, and i make an even bigger deal about will than usual : ) what can go wrong???

so the next day i worked at monticello and preschool.  i went straight from preschool out to have a job interview at a different district.  it sounded easier to just be dressed up all day.  yeah, until i discover that there's a painting kids' hands at preschool project and somehow i'm the chosen one to do it!!  so i'm painting hands, kneeling on the hard floor in my skirt, trying to get the kids to twist their arms around because our class had to be the one on the top of the paper (and having them dive over right side up (i know what i mean : ) just wasn't going to work - we did try! : ).  so it's stressful and i'm sweating!!!  not a good combo preceding a job interview!  somehow i lived through it all.  the job interview was fine enough, but i knew i left feeling like either way and probably not.  then i go straight to the train station, get will, then we go home to change.  we had to put on our spirit gear and head to stockton for the byu baseball game!!  byu comes to the area, we go.  too fun not to!  and we love byu : )  it would have been too easy to just sit and watch the game.  we played phone tag back and forth with our landlord during it about the shower/toilet/septic line clog (wooo! : )  we'll admit, we aren't really baseball lovers, but it was still plenty fun for us!

finally it was friday.  i only worked half day (no preschool).  that was perfect to schedule comcast's "installation" and sears' delivery.  i also was expecting two different presurgery phone call appointments that afternoon.  (it was tuesday afternoon in the midst of moving, birthdays, end of school year, etc that i got a call about the option to move up my surgery to the very next thursday - the 30th.)  soooo..... i had myself set up for quite the afternoon.  now my track record for "people" who give you a delivery, etc window is that they may arrive in it, but usually they'll arrive in the last 5 minutes or so... so, naturally, i was pretty impressed when comcast showed up right about 2!  long story short, it's a good thing they did because he was there at least the next two hours!!  right away i was nervous and unsure if he knew what he was really doing... eventually some of his buddies came over to help him (thank goodness!)  so he's out there on a ladder hooking something up, wants to run something around the outside of the house (which one of his pals was able to snake through something under the house), testing this or that.

not too long after comcast arrived, sears showed up.  the nice thing was they were very nice, respectful, and seemed to know exactly what they were doing.  i probably was happier to see them anyway since they were bringing our washer and dryer!!!

let me back up, we were already skeptical of what comcast was doing because we had been given misinformation already (mabye?).  they were going to send someone to drive by to see if we could have whatever hooked up.  whatever it was, we clarified that they weren't going to need permission from the landlord.  they said no.  imagine our surprise and horror when the landlord called to say someone from comcast was out, dug a line, AND hit into something while digging..... that's a really nice way to move in next door to your landlord and make fast friends : )  luckily nothing was really damaged, but definite evidence of being dug into.

so i'm watching him either on the porch or out the window the whole time (when i'm not with sears).  then i get my first surgery call.  went fine (start taking vitamin d3, among other instructions).  then the other guy calls.  he's mostly friendly.  takes a while because he's having computer issues, but it's fine, really.  except for at this point somehow my phone battery is low enough that i have to plug it in while talking... still trying to watch out the window... ha.  that's when we have the whole d3 question narrated in some other post earlier this summer...

it was a busy enough afternoon... then i think we went to the temple that night.  so says my calendar...  yes, i do remember now (because once again we made a stop at the target in dublin on the way home!)

saturday morning, may 25.  our friend, annie (shout out : ) took some pictures of us that we can potentially use as part of our adoption profile.  we were looking for something a little nicer than our point and shoot selfies that we've been trying to perfect.  she wouldn't accept payment, as she said it was for a good cause (how nice! : ), but we paid her back by sneaking her a cold stone gift card at her graduation party that night with her other graduation gift : )  ha  we felt clever... haha : )  it was too convenient that we'd also get to go use will's birthday coupon to get ourselves ice cream on our shopping outing that afternoon!

thank goodness for our day of rest on sunday!  we felt good about working on adoption stuff that day since we'd been so busy, and it was important stuff for our family.  we were really looking forward to it that day.  and then our username/password didn't work... wah : (  so i had to wait until tuesday (because of the holiday) to call and get that figured out...

monday was memorial day (engagement anniversary! : ).  we went to the stake park clean up at a park that had had an event the day before.  we walked around picking up trash then got a donut!  we didn't mind : )  the rest of the day must have been when we unpacked the bulk of the kitchen stuff (because, honestly, it's so painful to try and live out of boxes, especially in the kitchen!).  and we barbecued something?  (grilled, excuse me : )  oh, and that must be the day we picked some cherries, i pitted them using the borrowed cherry pitter (no, i didn't crack it, that was already there, apparently.  thank goodness!!), and we spread them out on cookie sheets for freezing.  great news: the cookie sheets were too wide for the new freezer... after all that work!  we still had the apartment (and keys), so we went and put them into the apartment freezer for a day or two.  we were able to use those stacking cooling racks to make a few layers - genius!!  (thanks for those cool cooling racks for a wedding gift, one of will's cousins!)

tuesday i called LDSFS (hereafter ldsfs, because i'm lazy : ) to get the username/password figured out.  i also got a call telling me what time my surgery would be on thursday.  it was my last day of preschool - weird to think about not being with heather the next year.  (also knowing julie was moving and still having no idea what was going to happen was weird.)  after preschool i had to go have my presurgery pregnancy test (c'mon people, let's get serious here... as nice a surprise as it would have been : )  (and i will admit i did fantasize a little about the potential freak chance : )  then i had to race home because my wheelchair (for post surgery) was to be delivered.  well that was a time the "delivery people" were early!  luckily they just left the thing on the porch.  then i had a few minutes to breathe, but not many before my visiting teachers came.

wednesday was my last day at monticello.  i said goodbye to some people - because i was losing my job at the end of the year.  sat around doing nothing... and who knows what else to fill the 4 hours : )  that evening was preschool graduation.  they were cute.  it was fun.  i lamented once more that being my last working day with miss heather.  i feel like i should write and ode to miss heather, or something.  i learned so much from her and truly loved working every day with her.  she was a good example, fun to talk with, and made me feel good.  now, she tells me how much i taught her and how much good i did for her, which i do appreciate, but she's probably just being nice again. : )  she's awesome and so good at what she does.  really!  it was one of my favorite years of teaching to date, and so far she's been the best teaching match for me! **i do now refer all my preschool friends to her : )**  back to graduation.  it was also just that bittersweet feeling of sending another batch off to the next grade, in this case, kindergarten!

thursday, may 30 i drove myself for the last time for weeks.  we went to the hospital, got all checked in, and the fun of the next few weeks and months began.  (see other post).

it felt, in a way, like we went from going 100 miles per hour to a screeching halt.  but post-surgery there were all sorts of other things that made us feel busy.  and then throughout the summer we really did do quite a bit, but that's for another post.  seriously, though, may had a lot going on, then all of a sudden i was in bed or on the couch for two weeks straight doing a whole lot of not very much : )


so... may kept us on our toes.  don't you think for one moment that we sit around eating brownies and watching tv all the time.  that's just sometimes... : )  with just the two of us we run a pretty busy schedule.  it keeps us off the streets and out of trouble, i guess!

mooooo

it's absolutely true.

i used to get as many of those little plastic half 'n half cups at mcdonalds to sip down as i could!  i think it just depended on how many were out, how many i could get before grandma was embarrassed and discouraged it, how many my guilty conscience would let me get, etc.  it seemed like the best thing ever that they were just sitting there waiting for me to peel back the little plastic top and slurp up.  sorry if the rest of you missed out on that shameless childhood pleasure, but i thought they were SOOO GOOOOD!!!!!!!!! : )

i should have known that was an indicator that later on i'd be happy to get my hands on anything thicker than skim... oh wait, not too hard : )

thanks, linds, for reminding me of those good old days.  it was one detail of many of a truly delightful outing with grandma and grandpa - that or the finale to a great sleepover at grandma and grandpa's!  i feel like those things deserve their own post sometime.... the cow, the bedspreads (the jungle one was the best!), the tostadas, the breakfasts, the movies, the snacks (oreos or fig newtons - knew right where to find them!), the toys and games (sleeping beauty, uncle wiggly, skipbo with the hand-crank card shuffler, etc), the pinecones (i'm rich!!), the watering, the tree climbing, the fighting... : ), grandpa on the piano, grandpa showing us stuff in the garage, waking up at 6 because i was so excited to watch cartoons/tv : ), the stool dragged over to the cutting board as the perfect perch for eating and comfortably watching whatever, the little cups and bowls, etcccccccccccc........ : )  (oh the entitlement... : )

anyway.....  we thought there may have been a dairy allergy with one of the kids i was with at cub scout day camp, so soy milk was purchased just in case - for our pudding in bag... and possibly ice cream in a bag (would that have worked??)... turned out there was no dairy allergy (as far as i know : ), so it remained unopened.  it didn't really matter where the leftover fridge items went home to, so i said i wouldn't mind taking the milk home... : )  that included some 1%, some half and half, and the unopened soy milk.  joy!

last night we decided to open the soy milk to give it a whirl and see if it would do in case we ran out of milk this week - because somehow we're closer this week than in a long time....  and the man of the house likes his cereal for breakfast!  with milk... go figure! : )

well we determined the obvious... it's not real milk..... ha.  will thinks it's too sweet... how could that be???? i wondered : )  maybe it had something to do with i had just eaten some bites of peach cobbler, but i didn't think it was.  i like that it's thicker than skim, and to me, you just have to know and remember it's not real milk, then you're not expecting that... no problem!  something about it reminded me of horchata... so naturally we've got a winner!  obviously real milk with some fat is the preferred, but it's a fun change and fun thing to try.  so i'll be happy to work on that over the next few days : )

did you notice the detail that we've got some half and half just waiting for us in the fridge??  we'll have to see if there's time to make the ice cream we've been talking about for a few weeks.... if not i guess i'll just have to drink it!!  i'm definitely a savorer, though, so enjoying small sips would be the proper way to enjoy it - no big gulps allowed!!!!!

back to the paperwork and training!

edit:  HOW could i have forgotten the creme de la creme!!???  and i'm not talking about the brer rabbit molasses for the pancakes... : )  grandpa's bedtime stories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  what a treasure : )

i'd like to thank the academy

well, fans, we made it to thursday!!!!!!!!!!!

the last several nights sleeping has gotten better and i've only woken up once each night.  probably helps that it's been more temperate.  last night i don't know if i really was cold and ready for the blanket - which i have to wake will up for (what a guy!), if i really had to go to the bathroom, or if i was just so excited that today had finally come!!!!  but luckily just once at 2:40 last night, then i was back out until around the time of my alarm: 6:20.

tell me it's natural that the last couple days i've started to get nervous that i'll go to my appointment and something will be wrong and i'll be back on elevation, ice, and rest....  that would make me pretty sad... i'm sure things will be fine, but at least i can still look forward to at least one guaranteed trip out of the house!!  yes, of course i've been inside the house this whole time.

allow me to be a whiner on a couple more things: my pinky toe and my raw heel.  now the raw heel discomfort comes and goes.  a nurse told me that it would come as my leg muscles shrank and i had more wiggle room in there.  most of the time it's not that bad, but sometimes it is kinda lame.  as for the pinky toe, about a week ago or so i started to notice that it felt like something was stuck between my pinky toe and the next one over.  and who likes the feeling of something stuck between their toes???  it's ok for me to wiggle my toes, and even with my wiggling it felt like it was still there... driving me crazy.  then i realized at some point that it was probably there on purpose..... so as much as i wanted will to pull it out, the fact that it's probably supposed to be there AND the fact that i'm not supposed to stick anything in the splint to scratch itches, etc kept us from making any effort to move or dislodge it... so i've been trying for days to ignore it.  sometimes that's harder than other times, but i figure it's just how it is - part of the fun and games : )

now, moving on from the whining.  it's true, last thursday will brought in the mail and i discovered the "love package" that had been sent to me from across the country!  i was delighted to find page after page of handmade activities and pictures to entertain me.  forgive my ingratitude for not mentioning it in my previous post!  my 4 year old niece made quite the fun package with word searches, mazes, coloring pages, etc.  we enjoyed looking through it all, and especially enjoyed the accompanying video (emailed once we said the package came) with her explaining each page she'd made.  i don't think i've even seen her in person since december 2010 (wow).  that's love : )

and now a word for the man who has served me extensively over the last two weeks: will : )  he's done all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, organizing, breakfast making, clothes fetching, and many other things.  he's made many, many trips back and forth across the house each morning and evening as he's transported my pillows, ice, phone/charger, books, etc.  he's taped towels and bags over my leg and turned the water on and off and on and off and adjusted the temperature every time i've asked so i could bathe.  he's got a little checklist of what needs done in the morning before he leaves and at bed time.  he changes out my ice.  he serves up my meals and brings them to me AND clears my dishes and puts away the leftovers.  he sits on a chair or lays on a cot pad on the floor if we're on the computer/tv out here since i take up pretty much the whole couch.  he's prepped food for me the night before to be left in the fridge for lunches - opened cans, washed grapes, etc.  he put up with my whining and helplessness.  he's done laundry.  he woke up in the night when i needed blankets, or in the beginning when i needed help going to the bathroom, or i thought my ice was leaking, etc.  all this has been on top of working and his calling stuff.  i know how much he wanted to just sit down and rest in the evenings, but it seemed he was always doing things for me.  that's love : )  he's the best : )  he's my best friend : )  and we're married for eternity!! : )

i also appreciate all the love, kindness, and service provided in a variety of ways over the last couple of weeks.  i've had visitors, meals, phone calls, people asking will about me, entertainment from afar, thoughtful suggestions of what to do with my time, treats, people who needed to meet with me making the effort to come here since i couldn't go to them, emails/messages/and texts, and probably more that i'm not remembering or don't even know about! so thank you : )

funionectomy

before you begin reading, know that credit for today's clever title goes to will : )

nine days ago i had a bunionectomy on my right foot.  there are tons of different ways to have a bunionectomy done, depending on what you really need and your doctor.  in my case the real issue has been my tailor's bunions - on the outsides of my feet.  bursae (fluid/tissue sacs) had formed (years ago, really) over/outside each of the bunions.  the bumps caused by the bursae could range anywhere from no pain to inflamed, irritated, etc - especially if kicked or bumped into.  the bunions also caused my pinky toes to have pain/discomfort and be shoved over onto the next toes in, also causing them some discomfort at times.  of course these things were all affected by different shoes, situations, etc.

i first noticed pain/discomfort my freshman year of college - i don't know if i was walking more or if it was just time....  a podiatrist in provo was able to make me custom orthotics which i have worn pretty faithfully (shoes allowing : ) since that time.  he told me then that the extra arch support would take pressure off the tailor's bunions reducing irritation and slow down the movement of the bone outward.  the orthotics couldn't fix the bunions, but they could slow them down.

fast forward over the years... we like to run and between that, trekking across campus, days at disneyland, long days on my feet teaching, etc i've had some pretty painful days, and days that it really didn't seem like that big of a deal.  i've had tender blood blisters form over the bursae.  and i've had a heck of a time finding shoes that fit onto my    w  i  d  e    feet.  (like around the widest part of the diamond shaped foot that i though everyone had... hehe : )

i had friends (freshman year) who nicknamed at least one of them "paul"..... as in "paul bunion".... hahahahaha : )

so anyway... it's been somewhat of an issue for a while.  even a year and a half ago before we'd started any fertility treatments we figured that the fertility stuff was a higher medical priority for our time, attention, etc than my feet.  so it got put off... and got put off... and got put off... it was always just something we talked about getting "fixed" in the future.  when we decided that it was the right time for us to stop fertility treatments for a while and pursue adoption we knew that we'd also move on in our little compartmentalized medical minds and give time, money, and attention to my feet.  i, of course, had to start with the "regular" doctor to get my referral, then the first podiatrist who was transferring to SF in a couple months and wouldn't really be able to help me (so why are you taking appointments like mine still???).  i had to kinda start over with the podiatry department, but that is how i got matched up with my current podiatrist - who is a byu grad and in our stake!  from the very beginning i felt like he listened, cared, and wanted to take the time to explain things and what he thought was best.

we decided to move ahead with the procedure.  not only did we want to solve the discomfort, but this is an ideal time in my life to have it done (no kids, and summer - no teaching).  originally it was scheduled for later in june.  i was really hoping to do it asap after the school year ended, but those surgery dates (limited) were already taken... sigh.... so i had to settle for june 20.  it was going to have to do - and certainly better than anything in july or later.  i did have the scheduler put me down on her "waiting list" in case someone cancelled earlier in the month, but i started planning that i'd have 3 weeks or so after school got out to get things done and prepare projects for myself for while i was recovering....

well, as part of our mayzilla (post still coming....) i got a call in the second to last week of school, must have been tuesday the 21st, saying someone had cancelled and if i wanted i could move up to may 30.  that's right: 9 days away and the very next thursday (the 30th).  preschool was scheduled to end wednesday evening with graduation, and my last day at the elementary was supposed to be friday the 31st.  well, i'm losing that job due to lack of funding, and had two sick days still anyway, so my last day at the elementary became wednesday the 29th : )  and it just worked out so nicely with preschool...

the only other things it kind of affected were this morning's church cleaning assignment (way to represent, will : ), some young women camp things (which worked out since everyone just came on over : ), and the upcoming cub scout day camp... now instead of missing the last day (the 20th) i can be at all the days... just casted and with crutches now... : )

sooooo throughout that week i had all sorts of calls to get me pre-registered and prepared.  they've got to ask all sorts of things.. just in case... you know?  i also had a call with the doctor going over what we'd be doing in which he instructed me to start taking some supplemental vitamin d3.  an hour or so later i got a call from the doctor who was to prepare me for the anesthesia.  after all his other questions, etc (and computer issues : ) he tells me to stop taking anything like ibuprofen and any vitamins.  ok, got it.  then i debrief will.  (know when you read the may post that this was all going on during the marathon comcast installation visit and right after the sears delivery.)  and will points out: all vitamins except for d3, right?  and i was like.... ohhhh.... i guess i forgot to say anything!!  sighhhhh.... well i didn't know how much my life was at stake at this point so i HAVE to call the anesthesia doctor back... i have to leave a message with some girl, but he did call back before too long.  and the once fairly nice (and so appreciative of teachers!!) doc suddenly seemed very annoyed that i needed clarification.  well.... hello... one doctor tells me take this, and the other tells me don't take that (in general terms).  so which is it?  i don't want to die over vitamin d3, people!!  so since it seemed so important that i not be taking anything in that week leading up to the surgery i wanted to know if i should be taking it or not!  i mean, right?? : )  the convo went something like this...... me: i know you said to stop taking all vitamins and supplements, but my husband pointed out to me that dr. L told me to start taking vitamin d3, and that seemed to go against what you said.... him: well did he tell you to take it?  me: well, yes. him: then do it.  me: oh..... ok..... well i just wanted to check and make sure it wouldn't mess anything up! (and i told him specifically what and how much daily) him: it should be fine (sounding like he really wanted to be off the phone). me: ok.... thanks..... ???  sighhhhh so i dutifully started taking the stuff, but naturally with a worry in the back of my mind... don't worry... i made it out!!

thursday came and we went over to the hospital it was at and got checked in (the bracelet part : ).  i went in for some pre-op stuff then ended up waiting a few hours just hanging out on my fancy rolly bed in my gown and lovely socks.  at some point the doctor came and marked on my foot.  every step of the way (and then some) they reviewed my name, medical record number, what i was there for, and which foot!!  that always caused some excitement with every nurse, etc because they all had to explain to each other that while the stuff said left foot (cause they made me pick one when i got my referral and i decided later to "fix" my right foot first for driving reasons) it REALLY was my right foot!!  that had been decided long ago, though... the doctor knew when he called the week before that we were doing the right foot... so i really wasn't worried about him slicing into the wrong foot.  even after he marked it they washed and prepped it and wrapped it up in special things so it was clear (though a couple people wanted to peek in to be sure... ha : )  the other foot just had the tan socks (both) with the white zigzag grippy stuff (for which i was really grateful later!).

i had to hang out with the iv in for at least an hour, too, but i guess that gave me time to get used to it.  but then the time came for me to miraculously (after all that had been done) go the the bathroom once more (iv hook and sock stretched over my coverings), kiss will, and start getting my drowsy/happy juice! : )  i do remember being wheeled into the OR and scooting myself off my rolly bed and onto the operating table.  and i do remember another name, #, foot, etc check.  then they put the mask thing on me and i breathed the oxygen for a little bit, but i'm thinking when it was time, it didn't take long for me to be out!  (sorry if this makes anyone woozy...)

the next thing i knew (kinda) i was waking up, back in "recovery."  i say "kinda" because it really was a super weird sensation to wake up there and try to figure out where i was and what was going on.  i wasn't in any pain, of course, just felt really dazed and sleepy. (oh, i guess i did feel pressure in my foot.)  i think i also felt a little like i wanted the mask off and i wanted to get up/out of there.  i don't know how long i slipped in and out of sleepiness (or whatever it really was : )  but at some point i started getting in "trouble" : ) if i wasn't breathing enough (? deep enough?  i can't remember)  but i had the mask on still and if i let myself start to slip back out and my breathing slowed then something would start to beep and the nurse would call something over about breathing... : )  i also remember some lady coming in with stuff to xray my foot as i laid there.  i heard them talking about will having gone to get the meds, and eventually he showed up.  they also informed me that someone in the OR (whatever her technical title would be) accidentally got stuck with a needle that had been used on me..... oops?  so they had to do a blood draw on me to test for things like HIV and to make sure i wasn't going to get her sick.... at that point i'd done enough stuff (and i've done enough blood tests for fertility stuff, including my most recent pregnancy test a couple days before so they'd let me in that day - though, really people, i could have told you that wasn't necessary.. : )  (though it was a nice fantasy, huh? : )  so it really wasn't that big of a deal... i just left the hospital bandaged up on both my right arm and my left hand (iv).  (good thing it worked out that way with the sides because they can find a vein way easier on my right arm... in case you ever need to know : )

at some point i think i realized that i felt like i had an anchor attached to my foot.  i was also having some occasional nausea... so when they asked if i wanted to go to the bathroom before i left i said no.  because that really was about last on my list... : )  i must have started having little shoots of pain somewhere in there, too.  but they equipped us with little blue plastic barf bag things (with a plastic circle at the top) and several additional ice bags.  somewhere in there will started to feel a little woozy, too and asked if he could sit down.  they hurried to get him a chair and an apple juice box : )  i really can't remember how i got into the wheelchair... maybe i used the crutches?  but she wheeled me out to the drive thru place and will brought the car over.  by some miracle i made it in and was able to get my foot somewhat up on something - i was in the backseat.  i was pretty nauseous and tired all the way home.  i think i fell asleep...

at our new house we park on gravel.  well, i made it out of the car and into the wheelchair, but we couldn't make it move across the gravel.  plus, we're amateurs.. : )  so somehow i had the strength to crutch over to the ramp and then i could sit in the wheelchair to go inside.  how convenient that our little home was originally for someone's parents and has a ramp up to the front porch : )  will helped me get all settled in bed with a stack of pillows under my foot and my ice.  can't remember the first night, but they recommended freezing water in a 2 liter bottle and putting that in the bend of my knee.  it works really well!  they didn't say to, but they iced the shin/ankle with ice at the hospital, so we've been doing that at home, too. will spoon fed me some applesauce (i hadn't eaten or drank all day and it was 8:30 by the time we got home) and i had some saltines.  i got a cup of water with a crazy straw : )  we called my parents (who had requested), i took some of the big guns meds, and slept the night away!!

while i could justify the strong pain meds i enjoyed the side effect of drowsiness and took naps throughout the day.  it helped pass the time and if i was asleep, nothing hurt.  i was supposed to be weaning myself off them when i could and onto tylenol (or the store brand with the same active ingredient : ).  i was happy that i could do that since it meant i wasn't hurting so much, but i did miss my naps going away.... that and my ability to sleep through the night!

sooooo my friends.... since that eventful thursday 9 days ago it's been a whirlwind of fun and excitement around here!!  not.

less naps and less sleep at night means more hours to entertain myself each day.... i can be lazy and enjoy associated activities... for a while.  but it gets old pretty fast when you HAVE to and have to keep your foot above your heart (they said better to aim for nose level..... wah).  that's just a lot of laying down...  and every time you get up you have pressure/throbbing/pain in your foot - though it's declined.  i can get myself to the bathroom and i can get a drink refill or food.  BUT using crutches (with your non-dominant foot, no less) wears a girl out!  at least this one... : )  however, i can appreciate that the extra time it takes me to do things does take time.  and the extra effort can help tire me out for the night.  but have you ever tried to use crutches and carry anything?  yeah... not gonna happen... : )  i've also learned about the aches and stiffness i'd get by being in weird positions night and day for so long...

so i'm not sure if it's my lower back pain (driving me crazy), or just not using up enough energy on the couch that's been waking me up at night, but i haven't slept through the night in dayssssss.  some nights have been worse than others.  and i've usually been able to fall back asleep for a little bit after will leaves and gets me situated.  but this morning, for example... i woke up at about 5:20 (the latest in days as well) and couldn't fall back asleep... one could argue that i didn't try hard enough, but i really was just awake - and that darn lower back pressure i get from having my foot up... : (  so i laid there for 3 hours entertaining myself until will woke up after snoozing his alarm a few times... : )

in all seriousness, it really has been tough.  i knew i wasn't nervous for the actual procedure.  i trusted the doctor and had confidence in him and i knew i'd be out : )  and the night before will and one of our home teachers gave me a blessing.  it was the recovery time that i was more unsure about and dreading the thought of.  honestly, i was right to be scared : )  it's been some of the longest 9 days of my life!  i know there are lots of ways to make 9 days or 9 hours or even 9 seconds feel long, but i'm dyin' here!  within the last day or two, though, i thought of the quote that president monson used in his talk given at the 2012 general young women meeting, "believe, obey, endure": "life by the yard is hard, by the inch it's a cinch."  keep that in mind : )

so to entertain myself i do things like write suuuuuuuuuuuper long blog posts that no one can get through without a snack and a bathroom break, i spend loooots of time checking up on facebook and being much more active than usual : ), i write emails that need written, i read (scriptures and harry potter, mostly), i watch/listen to conference talks, i watch movies, i eat and make my necessary trips around the house, and my favorite is talking to family members on the phone : )  i don't know if that's an all-inclusive list or not sometimes i just lay here and do nothing.... except think : ).  i've also had the "humanitarian hut" crew come over to work on stuff for young women's camp a couple of mornings in the last week which has been a nice way to break things up AND have human interaction! ha : )  i have been indoors for the last 9 days, but i've had some glimpses out the front door when i've answered it a few times.

my favorite pastime of all can have it's own paragraph: taking a shower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  they didn't give specific instructions, but due to the effort and energy it takes me and the effort and energy it takes for will to tape up my leg (because this splint goes up to my knee!) in a towel and then a plastic bag, i've only been showering every 3 days... gross, i know : )  as it's been getting hotter, i've been getting smellier... : )  lucky for us we've got those seat things in our shower AND a fancy shower head that can come off and has a hose so you can maneuver it!!!! (very much like the one at the blind school we used to fight over!! : )  so those two things REALLY help.  it's so satisfying : )  i really love shower day and am thrilled to report that TODAY is shower day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (good thing, too, because it's 100 degrees here right now.... : )

i guess i didn't explain what they ended up doing for me... warning, this may be a bit graphic for some of you and/or cause sympathy pains... : )  dr. L decided that it was worthwhile to "fix" my minor "regular" bunion at the same time.  my big toes also angle in - i thought everyone's did... : )  maybe one caused the other?  anyway... so while some people just have parts of bone shaved off for a bunionectomy, mine was a little more.... bold?  my first and fifth metatarsals got cut and then realigned. they're held in place by screws now.  additionally, to fix that crooked big toe, he was "possibly" planning to straighten that out, which i imagine would take another bone cut, or something like that.  and based on where i've had some pain, i think he must have cut up that far and done that.  so really, it's like i got my foot broken in a couple/few places... and now i need it to heal in the right places.... : )  AND he was able to take the bursa out!!!  the doctor told us that it all went well and the xrays looked great!  he also reported that my foot is a lot skinnier now... hallelujah : )

so yes, i'm in a splint for now.  my follow up appointment is thursday the 13th.  i'm really living for that day because i'm pretty sure i can have my foot down after that which will open the world back up to me!!!!!!!!!!!  i'll just need you all to drive me everywhere : )  at that appointment i think i've been told that i'll get put in a cast... we'll see.  it will probably be heavier.... but i like to dream that it will be a little lighter than this anchor i've been lugging around!

i've got big plans for after the 13th!  i'm in charge of the "tag-alongs" at cub scout day camp again this year (i'm listed as the director in the volunteer handbook : )  so i've been working on my fun plans for those kiddos and doing other prep for that...

and it's summer!!  i can't let this thing slow me down!  well, until after the 13th at least : )

until then.... entertain me!!!!!!!!!!! : )

got milk?

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times....

depending on who you ask... : )

on saturday we had to run a number of errands in preparation for moving.  part of that required going to a walmart type store for a variety of items.  walmart was, indeed, the chosen one, and we decided since we weren't planning to buy too much in the way of groceries this week, there was no reason to not just buy our food there as well (since we've been upgraded to a super center and all!).  we found just about everything we were looking for there, and it was nice to have just one stop since every extra stop meant more time in the hot car.  (worst of times for both of us, for sure.... at this point we hadn't showered and hot and sticky is only magnified at that time.)

we buy two gallons of milk every week.  sometimes we go through a little faster, sometimes a little slower.  it just depends.  we must have had enough of the "old" milk from last week to get us through saturday still.  i'm not sure what will had on his cereal yesterday morning... but by the time we were adding splashes of milk to our dinner recipe we were for sure to the new walmart milk.  by the time we were sitting down to eat we were doubly for sure to the new walmart milk.

now, if you didn't know this little tidbit about us, let me let the cat out of the bag: we share a cup.  every meal that we eat together, we just share.  why not?  that's cutting our cup load in half!  it's just how we've done it for about as long as i can remember.  no silly germs ideas stop us.  we kiss... what's the difference?  we will, however, use separate cups when we're eating with other people - at our house or anywhere else.  it's just how it's done....

back to the new walmart milk.

will had poured some milk and had a drink of it before i had had any.  he said something like, "i don't know that that's really fat free milk....."

"really???!!!!!"

"yeah, it tastes more like 1% or 2.... maybe even whole?"

i hurried and took a drink.  he was right.  it was most definitely not fat free milk.

walmart does this cute little thing and labels their fat free milk as 0%.  well this certainly isn't 0%!  i don't really remember having whole milk before, so maybe it would be totally obvious to someone else.... i can't decide if i think it's 2% or whole.... last night i though 2... today i might be leaning towards whole...


well to will this is like the worst of times.  to me this is like the best of times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i always love going to things where they provide milk because no one ever provides skim milk.  it's at least 1% and that's like a treat to me!  i'm not picky, i'll take 1 or 2!  and if this stuff is whole, it's a nice treat too!! : )  i grew up on skim and i know it's healthier (and cheaper), so that's what we buy consistently.  but i absolutely love the taste of anything above that.  including cream... : )

will said last night that he was tempted to water it down.  i'm sure i had a look of panic when i asked if he meant the whole jug.  he said no, just in a cup for himself.  he didn't do it, but i had a hard time bearing the thought of someone adding water to milk that creamy white and beautiful! : )

we can't tell for sure if the other gallon is skim or something else, but we're thinking it looks awfully milky white... and pretty... : )  i asked will if he took them off the shelf from right next to each other.  he said he hoped not.  i said i hoped so!

he also said he felt like he needed to go brush it off his teeth... ha  i think he's ok with 1%, but whatever this is is taking it too far for him.

soooo..... whoever, whenever, however.... someone made a little bit of a mistake and packaged the wrong milk in the wrong jugs... or put the wrong sticker on it?  but i plan to savor and enjoy my milky treat all week long!!!

will will have to endure.... that or water his down when i'm not looking... : )  it might be a long week for him...

don't share it with me

she was back today... i hope she was truly over it... because i don't want it!


these sorts of things stick with you.  i'm sure the girl who threw up ON HER BOOK will never forget that... i never threw up in school, but i imagine that stays with you.  i would also assume that some of the classmates, including the adamant one won't forget it either... at least not for a while : )  i still remember the time a boy at my table (pod of 4) threw up in first grade... pretty sure i remember which one, too.

i think i'm gonna be sick

today i was asking some kids in the other third grade group if their classmate was there today - like 'should i be expecting her to come?'

"no, she threw up on her book."

"oh, she threw up?"

i was corrected:  "she threw up ON HER BOOK"

i guess that was an important detail... ha

needless to say, she wasn't there, and i didn't need to expect her to come.





an additional note:  as of today i have handed out "bench passes" for every grade i have groups for (1-4).  who knew it would be a triple whammy with 3 in 2nd grade today??  today that was 50%..... come on, summer!

20 or so minutes later one of them came back with an apology note:

I soory Mrs. _______ for inrupting in class.
I soory for talking in class so muck.
I know we cant learn when I talking.
I am going to do beter tomarow.
I will pay attention tomarow and not talk so muck.

my fingers are crossed... : )

we have a winner!!

will:  when it comes to face shapes, i have no idea.  i can look and either say 'puffy' or 'skinny'... but i really don't know.

me (hesitantly): what's my face shape?

will: ...pretty : )

good enough : )  i'll take it!

infertility: get informed

i was made aware (shout out! : ) that this is national infertility awareness week.  while it's not usually comfortable for me to point this sort of thing out to others, i guess it's good for people to be aware.  i'd rather have people just be friendly, sensitive, and aware on their own, but i think that's expecting too much of people in general.  so i guess that's why the awareness week exists... : )  and why i'll pass it on...

here's a link to the national infertility association's website:

http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/

this particular page is specifically for family and friends... like it says...

i haven't read everything on there, so i can't say i absolutely agree with everything on there or would back it up, but i can tell that there's good information.  and there are things that i would agree with and ring true with me.  i'm pretty sure for will too, but i won't speak for him here... : )

there's obviously plenty of other information on the site if you click around.  read up!  get informed!  don't say things that will make me crazy!  i think you can find lots of answers to questions you might have.  i think there's something for almost everyone to learn.


and if you're really passionate, here's a link to the national infertility awareness week homepage:

http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/home-page.html

march madness

march was a little crazy.  or a lot.  we've had a lot to do and a lot to think about.  at least it's died down a little lately.

so even though we'd like to crawl under the bed (or in) with a carton of ice cream, we know good things are on the horizon.  we don't know when.  we don't know how.  but we know they're coming.  for example, tomorrow really is saturday!  unlike today when i woke up to the alarm and thought it was saturday (!!!!).  it took a snooze button or two to convince myself that it really wasn't saturday yet and to explain that i hadn't lived through those friday things yet...

we're grateful for our tender mercies each day as well as our big blessings.  today will's coming home early and we'll eat the cookies i got us at the staff lunch today.  then we'll go to the byu men's volleyball game at UOP.  then we'll stay up too late sitting on the couch talking because it's friday night!  and because we're best friends and in love - big time : )

i think we consume more empty calories nowadays than we used to.... (like my poor kris p. pretzel bunny i finished off last night... ha : )  (which was sooooo gooood!!!)

when the junk food doesn't cut it, our faith in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the words of ancient and modern day prophets, personal revelation through the Holy Ghost, and every other blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ always pull us through. : )

not lucky

we watched a talk this evening from last october (2012)'s general conference.  it was President Thomas S. Monson's sunday morning talk, "Consider the Blessings."

one of the stories he shared was about the kansas city temple dedication cultural celebration (or whatever the official name was).  the plan was for all the youth from all over (who were participating) to convene at the municipal center the morning of the performance.  they had been practicing separately and all the small groups were going to learn and practice together the entrances, exits, where to stand, etc.  he said there were roughly 3,000 youth!  all the different numbers were introduced and connected together by video segments that would be shown on the jumbotron.  that morning, however, something was wrong and they couldn't get the jumbotron to work.  technicians worked for a while with no success.  they lost rehearsal time as the day went on.


"Just an hour before the audience would begin to enter the center, 3,000 youth knelt on the floor and prayed together. They prayed that those working on the Jumbotron would be inspired to know what to do to repair it; they asked their Heavenly Father to make up for what they themselves could not do because of the shortage of time.

Said one who wrote about it afterward, “It was a prayer the youth will never forget, not because the floor was hard, but because the Spirit melted their bones.”

It was not long before one of the technicians came to tell them that the problem had been discovered and corrected. He attributed the solution to luck, but all those youth knew better."


when he said the technician attributed it to luck, he made a funny face/expression that conveyed that it obviously wasn't "luck", but a blessing from their Father in Heaven.

we had lucky charms for breakfast, but i'm happy that we know that all the good things we have in life and every blessing we have comes from our loving Heavenly Father, and it's not just "luck".  we receive countless blessings and tender mercies every single day.

we enjoyed celebrating st. patrick's day in our own way, but we will always be blessed, not lucky : )

we had lucky charms for breakfast (special shamrock edition that ended up turning our milk green!)
shamrock cookies that we bought from a young woman in our ward for her camp fundraiser
corned beef and cabbage!!
homemade bread!
chocolate pie!
we wore green (like most other people at church : )  and we love green! : )
i realize that just about everything on this list is food... but we like food : )  and there were other good things that made this a great day as well!