CutestFamilyEver

Another One Bites the Dust...

2012-01-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

One Mitsubishi Outlander driver side door munched - check
One South Jordan street sign flattened - check
One Rocky Mountain electrical transformer box obliterated and pushed half way off of its foundation - check
One 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan totaled - check
One driver of said Caravan shaken and totally pissed because of all this drama caused by someone NOT PAYING ATTENTION - check

Moral to story, if you are going to do something, go all out and do it well folks!

P.S. There were no injuries to either party involved and the two of us gals ended up getting along rather well. She felt horrible about the whole thing, and that pretty much caused my anger to instantly evaporate. Her insurance was extremely quick to amend things...Progressive...consider me impressed! The only downside is trying to find a replacement van by Monday, that's when we lose the rental...

15 years

2012-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

I meant to do this post closer to the actual date...but life happens..so it didn't happen!Rob and I.....the story.....We met in a Young Single Adult Ward in Northern California after he had returned home from serving a mission in the Houston, Texas area in July of 1994. I noticed him right away, thought he was cute, but all the other girls seemed to be after him, and I wasn't interested in the 'stake a claim' competition that happened every time a RM came home.....ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND...I was dating someone else.We continued running into one another at various ward activities, then the stars finally aligned in late January/early February of 1995, and we actually started dating. It lasted an impressive 2.5 months, and we (I) broke up. A few months later, we tried again before he went out to Utah for school, and we broke up again right before he left. He came home for Thanksgiving break, we got together.....only to have me break his heart AGAIN before he returned to school...(heartless, aren't I?) Same thing at Christmas, AND when he came home for President's Day weekend, only that one didn't end so tragically! We actually kept the relationship going when he returned to school, and a rather large phone bill to boot! When he returned in late March, and we were still together, our bishop called us into his office and told us how happy he was to see us together, but then told us that we had better make this attempt stick, because if it didn't work out, and we broke up, he was going to get restraining orders for us that would not allow us within 500 yards of one another. We continued dating through that summer, and on September 7, 1996, he took me down into the coldest, most treacherous pool of water I have ever been in and asked me what I would be doing for the next 50 or so years, asked me if he could take me to the Lord's Holy House and make me his wife. I, of course, said yes, when I could finally unclench my chattering jaw long enough to operate it! We were married December 27, 1996 in the Oakland, California temple. The above picture is us on that eventful day, 15 YEARS AGO.....And on the same day, different temple (Sacramento, California). Our friend, Beth Caudle, tried to recreate the picture taken all those years ago.

Happy Anniversary Rob! Fifteen years and five kids later...the adventure continues...

Brenna's guitar final - Blackbird

2012-01-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

http://youtu.be/6YMZjcoKw0k

Sorry! You'll have to copy and paste the link in your browser to see it...

I have been trying all afternoon to upload this video to facebook, but I haven't been successful. Apparently 720p HD is too much for their server and apparently the file was just to big for Blogger as well, so I finally uploaded it to You Tube. I will have to remember to tone down the settings on my camera so that I am not pulling out so much hair the next time!

I am so incredibly proud of this young woman. She is incredibly talented and at such a young age! It is an honor to be her mother, even when she is an ornery teenager! Love you sweet girl!

The Good Times Keep On Rollin'....

2011-12-02T09:08:00.000-08:00

Things have been mildly frustrating lately, that's the best I can describe life lately...mildly frustrating.....

My last post started with me applying for the nursing program...so let's start there, shall we? Long story short, I didn't get in. There were 276 applicants for 40 spots. Everyone was getting notified about program acceptance except for me, it seemed. I didn't hear anything for 10 days after the initial offers were sent out. 10 very long, hellish days. Everyone kept telling me that 'no news was good news' because it meant I was still in the running. Well, I was still in the running, but just not strong enough to finish. I finally got someone on the other end of the phone that I had been incessantly calling for the last week on a Wednesday morning, and by noon of the same day, I had a nice little lump of coal email waiting for me in my inbox..."Sorry, but you aren't the applicant we were looking for..." niiiiiiiiiiice. I sobbed in a most heart broken manner for about 4 hours. I really, really wanted this! Why couldn't this one thing just go my way for once? Huh? So, I allowed myself to mope and whine for the rest of the day. Self pity is good in small doses once in awhile. My sweet husband came home in the middle of my melodrama and gave me a good, long hug and said, "Sorry...I know how bad you wanted this..but what have you wanted longer? To get into nursing school, or for me to get a teaching job?" I answered to the latter...more on that development later...
So, I didn't get in, I moped for a few hours, and moved on. Then I got a call from the IHC nursing program, making sure I had been 'contacted'. Yeah...I got the contact..thanks a billion! But the sadist in me couldn't stop there, oh no, if you could, pretty pretty please, tell me why I didn't get in? She did...it was brutal. I was in the very final group and in the end, my employee evaluation scores were just not quite high enough. They offered to 40 students and 4 alternates...that's 44...and me....I was number 45. Sigh So, it's not meant to be right now, and I will just have to wait until Spring of 2015 until I start nursing school, because that is where I fall on SLCC's wait list. SLCC has changed their admission requirements as well, and I am one of the last on their wait list, as they are doing away with it. So I could possibly get in sooner under the new requirements, but if I get rejected there, I will still have that spot. So it will eventually happen, just not on the time frame I had hoped for.

So, Rob got a teaching job! So freaking awesome! He is a History and Social Studies teacher for a very small private school here in the Salt Lake Valley, and it all seemed very exciting until he got into it. He has been there for a month and they have already had to move locations. It wasn't the school's fault they had to move...the church basement they were in didn't meet fire code for schooling purposes, and the church congregation decided at the last minute that they didn't want a free remodel of their basement...weirdos...so the school had to find new digs. They have successfully done so, and are at a much nicer and closer location. Hopefully they can stay there for the long term. The kids are a rough bunch, and that is putting it nicely. Most have been kicked out of the traditional public school system, and some have served time. They are very learning challenged and the parental support is minimal at best. Rob's biggest frustration is the fact that these kids don't want to do any work, at all. The pay isn't all that stellar either, but it is pay and we are grateful for it! Well, there are issues with that too, but we have at least gotten ONE paycheck....

I finally took my kids to the dentist last month...I figured that since I was paying for benefits, that I should probably use them before the end of the year! Jaron and Quentin had clean oral bills of health, Brenna and Cade weren't so lucky. Brenna ended up with a cavity that was so severe, that one of her molars had been steadily falling out in chunks. I had known about this for months, but had been waiting for a little extra money, so I could take them in...because I knew that Brenna's situation was going to cost. It probably wouldn't have cost so much if I had just gotten her in sooner. As it turns out, when I took her back to take care of the bad tooth, they had to drill so deep, that some of her nerve was exposed. I suspect that when they did that, they also pushed some of the infection up into the nerve space and it turned into an abscess. Two weeks after this neato keen appointment, Brenna started complaining of horrible mouth pain and headache. I called the office back and they told me that it sounded like she needed a root canal....WHAT? Oh, and they didn't do those there and I would have to find a general dentist to do it. After much calling back and forth, they finally referred me to one..right down the hall from them. I took her in, sure enough, there was a large abscess and they had to open the tooth, drain the abscess, and pack the nerve root with antibiotics. This was only the start of the root canal. The soonest appointment they had to be able to finish the job, was February 1st. Yeah, they are kind of busy there. Then they will finish the job and then she will need a crown. This will all be to the tune of around $700. At least my insurance will cover 50% of it...but still! Yike! One other blessing is that the new dentist will allow us to make payments on the amount until it is paid off...so we can make that work. Rob has voiced concern that the original dentist had some responsibility in creating this very expensive mess and should be held responsible in some part. I really like this pediatric dental practice, but I really don't know how to broach this issue. 'Hey, uh, you kind of caused a huge mess in my daughter's mouth, and I shouldn't have to pay you for it..?' I don't think they will take too kindly to that. But if I never ask, I'll never know...so I need to figure it out. Any diplomatic suggestions?

I switched health plans this year during Open Enrollment from my $200 a month premium plan, that I couldn't afford to pay the co-pays on, to a no premium, high deductible plan with a Health Savings account attached to it. With my first payroll deduction of the amount of my choosing, Intermountain will deposit $750 right off the bat into said account. Bonus! So when I took Jaron in for his yearly visit with the pediatrician in May and he told me that Jaron had scoliosis and needed a back x-ray to confirm how severe it was, I didn't know how I was going to be able to work that one. Now I have a way, I will just have to wait until January to do it. It will all work out eventually, right?

The Unknown

2011-08-25T05:16:00.000-07:00

I applied for my company's nursing program on August 1st....I am waiting, with absolutely no idea if I will even be notified whether or not I am even in the running. My local community college is no longer accepting applications for the Nursing, Radiologic Tech, and Dental Hygiene programs. I was accepted onto the wait list this past December, and am promised that their program suspension will not affect the start date they have given me. They say they are revamping their admissions process, either way, I will start this new career path...someday.

The kids have started school and are pretty happy so far. Quentin got sent to the office for misbehavior, and it was only the 2nd day! He said he was just feeling really tired and didn't want to work. He has been grounded - he is NOT happy about that and asked me endless questions about why such a punishment existed. I explained to him (numerous times) that we institute punishments so that the next time he feels like doing something naughty, he will remember how much he didn't like the consequence and NOT to repeat the action that got him there the last time. I don't think the answer suited him, because he was back 5 minutes later with the same question....He likes to do that. If an answer or situation is not to his liking, he starts this intense, badgering question session. I guess he figures he can wear us down with it, it hasn't worked yet!
We made a quick trip out to California this past weekend for Rob's 20 year High School reunion. It was nice to see some people that I knew, but the reunion itself was kind of a disappointment. At least we ended up winning a $40 GC to The Cheesecake Factory for having the most children out of anyone else in the room! That kind of made up for the $120 we had to pay to go to this thing for everyone else's alcohol consumption and getting no dinner. The impromptu reunion that my husband put together the night before was much better, and much more fun!
I had the wondrous opportunity to go on a FABULOUS cruise to Alaska this past July. It was the ultimate vacation, and I will have to post pictures at a later date! It was a week with my husband and his family and NO KIDS! It took me awhile to figure out how to function!
It has been an awesome summer, but now the waiting for a possible big change in my life begins...

So Much.....

2011-05-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Pathophysiology, and I pulled a B+ out of it - I was quite satisfied with that. The class was wonderful and even the instructor said it was one of the best classes she had had in a long time. We had the best class jokes going and it made lecture really entertaining! Like with end stage renal disease....there is a condition called uremia, which basically causes uric acid crystals to be excreted through the pores of the skin, making the victim sparkle....we then proceeded to diagnose the Cullen family with end stage renal disease....get it??? Well, it was hilarious to us....

I am still working at Riverton Labor and Delivery and still very much loving it. It has been one of the most fun jobs I have ever had the privilege of having. I have met some truly wonderful women here, that I am honored to call friends. I lost one of those friends on Saturday, April 30th. My friend and co-worker, Wendy Mack, passed away due to a coarctation repair failure. She was 32 years old, and 33 weeks pregnant. I found out a few days after the event, that the ambulance crew was actually headed to us, because she was scheduled to deliver here. But, there was a massive accident on I-15 that night, so they diverted to American Fork hospital instead. I feel bad for my colleagues at that hospital that had to do such heart rending work, but I am eternally grateful to them. You see, I was the scrub tech that night and had they ended up coming here as planned, I would have been down there in the middle of that horrible section. Looking back on it, I probably would have done it, it was my job, but I don't know how well I would have dealt with it afterwards. And like I said before, I am eternally grateful that I won't have to know. As it was, by the time I got home Sunday morning, I was an emotional wreck. I could hardly stop sobbing long enough to get out the news to my husband, I think I scared him a little.... I will miss her, she definitely was a shining example of the best of womanhood, and I would hope to someday be a fraction of the good person that she was.

I got some good news the night before Wendy's funeral....IHC is opening up their nursing program again for a January 2012 start, they take applications starting August 1st....I have an alert set up on my phone and everything. I actually have a chance this time, and I am pretty excited about it. I'm not getting my hopes up too high though. They are only taking 40 students and it is very competitive. I have all A's and B's and one C+, so I don't know what my chances actually are, but I have some hope that I might have a fighting chance of getting in!

Brenna made the National Junior Honor Society and they had a big induction ceremony and everything, such a proud day...

Jaron turned 11 last month and went on his first overnight campout a couple weeks ago, he was sooooo excited!

Cade's 10th birthday is today and his friend party is this weekend, he is really looking forward to it.

Quentin's last day of pre-school is today, and as of last week, he is sporting the toothless look. He has lost his two front teeth on top, and he is pretty cute!

Haedyn is saying more and more every day and is extremely busy. She has started a nasty nipping habit that she thinks is hilarious..we are nipping that one in the bud early...she loves to bring you things....from all over the house. If something can't be found, the blame usually falls on her!

I finally finished the last picture of my family wall collage that hangs in my kitchen and I updated the kids pictures in the collage. I guess I'll have to post a picture, I was pretty impressed, if I do say so myself....

Okay.....

2011-02-14T02:20:00.000-08:00

Yup, slacking again. But with Facebook and all, it's kind of hard to remember to come back to this blog. So, here I am...blogging in the wee hours of early a.m.
Brenna, straight A's...is anyone surprised? She is taking Art this time around and I thought she would be happier about it but I guess she isn't so happy about the teacher, so that has taken any excitement about the class away. She excels at everything except the mile run. She LOATHES it and she is unable to get anything higher than an A- in P.E. because she can't seem to get her time under the required 10 minutes. We all have to have our challenges, eh? She came home just last week with her 8th grade schedule request. She has an option to take beginning guitar next year and ceramics and because she is so advanced in reading, she will test out of that and be able to take a foreign language. She has signed up for Spanish, Daddy is thrilled!
Jaron, he is very active in Scouts and will soon be moving on to Boy Scouts and campouts and such. He is excited! He is wrestling for Herriman High's Jr. League. He has started taking piano lessons and so far, he seems to love it and is really taking to it. He has really taken off in reading and will actually read for pleasure once in awhile.
Cade is also in wrestling and it seems to have really clicked with him. He really buckles down and focuses during his matches and channels his aggression appropriately and has won a couple of matches. He has bulked up a bit and is actually bigger than his older brother at this point. He is still a video game fanatic, and homework is still his nemesis. He will still come up to me and give me random hugs, almost as if to say'"You're still alright mom....you haven't screwed up too bad.." he's such a random kid, I never know what he will do next! He says the funniest and oddest things for a 9 year old. You can't stay mad at a kid like him...
Quentin is in preschool this year and absolutely loves it. It's almost like an episode of Cheers. Every morning when Quentin shows up on the classroom scene, 15 preschoolers chorus "Quentin!" He is immensely popular, apparently. He is a very cheerful and loving little guy for the most part, until you tell him he can't do something that he really wants to do, then he becomes this whiny little stinky monster and boy can he ever pull of the puppy dog eye pout!! He is also in wrestling with his brothers, but he hates practice. He likes to run around but doesn't like to do the drills or exercises, so practices are a chore. It's definitely an introduction to the sport at this point.
Haedyn is still a little thing and I am milking it for all it is worth! I can hardly believe she will be 2 next month! She has a mouth full of teeth and has started nipping family members on the shoulder or the legs..whatever she happens to be closest to when she is in the biting mood. Hopefully she doesn't expand her biting menu...She is obsessed with dogs and Blue's Clues is her favorite show at the moment. She is showing the potential for having quite the little temper when things aren't going as she thinks they should. She has mastered the ultimate crusty and will promptly tell you off in Haedynese if you are displeasing her in any way. She sleeps through the night and is still fairly easy to soothe. She is our only child that likes to tote around a stuffed animal or two or three...and the softer the better! She likes to rub them against her cheek when she is tired, it's pretty dang adorable! She is in nursery and is doing well and thus far goes in willingly.
I am back in school after thinking that I would have the semester off this time round...that's what I get for thinking! I had already been turned down for Pathophysiology before the end of last semester and then I get a call a week before Spring semester starts telling me that they have room and would I like to fill the spot? NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNnnnnnnnnYES....I don't when I will get such an opportunity again, so of course, I take it!! I am fortunate to have a buddy in the class, my friend and co worker, Laura. We are pretty much in the same stage of life and near to the same age. She is one of the most genuine, kind hearted, and hard working individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, so I count myself fortunate. The subject matter thus far is fascinating and horribly difficult all at once. I have scored an 88% on my first test, so I am cautiously optimistic that I might have a chance of doing okay in this class. I am on the Salt Lake Community College Nursing program wait list, and I just got my acceptance letter Saturday afternoon stating that I am slated to start in Fall of 2015....WOOT!! They say that my wait time is actually more like 2.5 years and that if I have a CNA licsense, then my wait time might be even less. Here's hoping.... I have also started dieting and exercising. I now consume a high protein high fiber low fat low carb diet and Rob got an Xbox Kinect, so that I can exercise without getting tripped up by controllers and wires and the like. I have been doing this for over a month and all I have noticed so far is that my clothes are only slightly looser, and I have an inordinate amount of rumble in the Bronx going on and so I feel like a bit of a balloon tire. I don't know about this. I keep hoping that my body will adjust at some point. Rob has been really supportive and encouraging...I think he's just plain pleased that I am making some sort of effort to lose my baby weight now that my babies are teens, tweens, and toddlers...it needs to come off, plus, I am tired of it- so it MUST go!
So anywho, that the most recent scoop from this neck of the woods...ta ta for now!

Isn't She Lovely?

2010-10-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe I have a 12 year old child! Where did all the time go? Look how grown up she is! When her Dad saw these pictures, he sighed and shook his head. I thought he didn't like them and voiced my concern. He replied..."The pictures are fine, she's just too pretty..." Yes, she is quite a lovely specimen, isn't she?

In A Holding Pattern...

2010-09-08T03:22:00.000-07:00

Yup...it's the slacker back for an update! I finished Summer semester and did much, much better than I expected I would. An A in Chemistry and a B in Physiology!!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect I would do so well in a subject I loathe so intensely! Like they say, third times the charm! The key concepts finally sunk in at the right time, I dunno, but hey, it finally clicked, and I will take it!

So now I am retaking College Biology and am very happy with my teacher so far. Finally, a biology teacher that thinks that testing you on what she lectured about AND in the order she presented it, makes sense! I have much higher expectations from this class this go-round. The only downside at this point is the postponement of the nursing program I was hoping to get into. IHC has postponed their next possible enrollment until Fall of 2011 and they have released the next two cohorts from their 2 year contracts. Their are just no jobs available in our region for the new grads. My options are pretty slim right now for school. I can't really stomach the idea of paying for a degree through these private schools, and my grades aren't quite there for the university route. I have been told that my one C+ will exclude me from most, if not all, of those programs. The school I am currently attending has a nursing program, with a wait list...........of five years..........but is it my best option right now. I will probably get in within 2 to 3 years, and it won't be too bad. It will be time I get to spend with my family after all the time I've missed with them over the past couple of years stressing about getting 'done' with school.

Meanwhile...

I have a middle schooler! When did that happen? My oldest child has gone from little girl to young woman seemingly overnight! Brenna is greatly enjoying this new stage in her life and all the educational opportunities that she has to choose from. She chose Choir and Art this year for her electives. Her writing has been noticed by several teachers and she has signed up to accompany in Choir. She continues with piano lessons, somewhat grudgingly, but still moving ahead and progressing.

Jaron and Cade are doing well in school so far and both like their teachers. They are currently on their first off track period and are happy for the break. Jaron has started piano lessons and is very diligent about practicing. Cade is, well, Cade. He is rambunctious and cute and active and curious and hates to be made to do anything that wasn't his idea in the first place.

Quentin will be starting school next week Monday and he wakes up every morning asking if today is the day and if his school is open yet. We got him into a local pre school, and it is all he can talk about! On the information form there was a question that stated "What do you like most about your child?" I replied, "His sweet, sunny, and loving nature. He gives the best hugs!" I sure hope he has a great time in school!

Haedyn jabbers up a storm these days and runs everywhere. True, she occasionally trips over her own feet and face plants, but she is something to try and keep up with! She has sprouted 4 teeth on top and 4 teeth on bottom, and she knows how to use them! (Keep your fingers clear, folks!) She enters nursery next month, and Rob and I are pretty excited about it. We've been taking her in for trial runs, and she does pretty well. She may be one of the smallest in there, but she can definitely hold her own, or at least she hollers until the other kid backs off to save their hearing...Really, she is quite adorable, parental bias aside. I love it when she snuggles up to me and pats me on the back, that's one of her newer 'things'.

And for now....that's all folks!

So Glad That Is Over....whatever....

2010-05-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

So, I am finally done with this semester....PHEW!!! I took two very difficult classes, and guess what? I only have to repeat one! Yay me! The counselor who advised me that combining Biology with any class was a bad idea, was right. That class was entirely miserable, and so much harder than it really needed to be. I was in this class with some fairly young people, and they were struggling horribly as well. I scored D's on every single test I took. Such a horrible blow to my self confidence, I tell you. I have not EVER done so poorly in a class that I have put so much effort into. I was so frustrated by this course that I burst into tears in the middle of the final, I just knew I was going to fail. I had spent 3 days solid studying for this final, and very little of the covered material was anywhere to be found on that test paper. I was devastated and completely demoralized. My grade was posted by Friday, I got a C, 74.7%, to be exact. I contacted the instructor to see if there was any possible way that I could do some extra research or a paper or anything along those lines to bump me up another 2%, but alas, no, there was nothing to be done. So now instead of getting to apply for the nursing program in August, I will have to wait until December. So, what's another year, eh? I have a goal in sight and I guess I will just keep jumping through hoops until I reach the end. I just hope they don't change book editions between now and Fall semester. I have to have a C+ or better to even get on the waiting list, or to apply for any of the programs available. I managed to pull a C+ out of Anatomy, so I won't have to retake that one, but if I continue with the C's, I won't be able to get in anywhere because there are plenty of people with A's and B's that will get in over me with my bare minimum. So that is my academic life in a nutshell right now....in a holding pattern. I am signed up for Chemistry and Physiology for Summer semester, hopefully this semester goes better than my last...

yup...I'm a slacker.....

2010-02-03T00:58:00.000-08:00

I check everyone's blogs on a regular basis and have really enjoyed reading everyone's updates, but I have neglected my own blog here....so sad....
I started at Riverton Labor and Delivery about 6 weeks ago, and I still absolutely love it! I work with a great bunch of ladies and I am learning a ton. I have also gone and enrolled myself in school again. Here I was, thinking that I was almost done with all this undergrad garbage and had some sort of chance of getting into a nursing program - at least a waiting list or two - well, that's what I get for thinking....HA!
I made an appointment to speak with the the nursing program academic advisor, all jazzed because I was finally going to be able to get on the waiting list. He looked over all of my transcripts and gave me the most apologetic expression I have ever seen, and told me, "sorry, no". I was crushed...I started to bawl...he looked extremely uncomfortable, I didn't care. I was informed that to even get on the FIVE year (yes, YEAR) wait list, that I had to have all prerequisites done with a C+ or better. I had three classes that were at a C. Then I got told that my College Biology was the wrong type and that I would have to re-do that one as well..(bunch of money hungry grubbers...grrr), oh yeah....AND I got a C...BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! So, I moped...I was ticked....and then I enrolled in Biology and Anatomy, both of which have their own separate labs. So....now I am in class Monday through Saturday and working 3 nights a week at the hospital...and I am still doing puppet shows..yup...pretty busy. Though, the shows are kind of dwindling due to the super duper economy, most places can't 'afford' me any longer...yet some of these places can afford nice, big brand new signs....uh-huh..I was breaking them alright!
Oh, and more on the school front...I will be taking Chemistry and Physiology this summer...I just want to be done with it. The adviser mentioned in above paragraph said that my load was an unreasonable one and that I ought to reconsider. I told him I was done waiting to be eligible and done jumping through their hoops and that those C's were earned with little to no effort on my part...so just imagine what might occur if I actually put some effort into the academic foray....could be interesting! OH, and one final burn in the academic dept.......I was also informed that the FCS 1500 (Human Growth and Development) that I took about 14 years ago was now acceptable - GREAT! Except.....I just retook it last semester because I was told that they wouldn't accept it because it wasn't named Psychology 1110, even though it was THE EXACT SAME STUPID COURSE!!!! Oh, but just kidding...we changed our minds at the beginning of last semester, and just forgot to inform you...so sorry! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I could have taken something else that might have actually gotten me closer to my goal....imagine that.....needless to say that I am more than just a little put out with the administration at this institution. Is anyone surprised?
Brenna is still her generally brilliant self. She continues to diligently practice piano, is an avid reader, participates in student council, and is currently trying out the drama scene by participating in her first play/musical with the South Jordan Community Theatre. She is a townsperson in Aladdin. She is almost as tall as I am and growing up entirely too fast. She will be twelve in June....where did all the time go?
Jaron and Cade are still plugging away at school and scouts and just being boys. Quentin is his usually jolly and entertaining self. And Haedyn is getting bigger, not by much, but definitely bigger. She has mastered crawling and is now trying to move on to standing, and she also loves to climb stairs! She may be little, but she is definitely busy!
So, that's all for now folks, and I might not post anything new until the end of the semester....just sayin'.....

I can't believe it finally happened....

2009-12-05T00:56:00.000-08:00

I was able to actually speak with the nursing supervisor of the Labor and Delivery unit for Riverton hospital last week Friday. She assured me that she had received all my messages, and that things had just really been crazy. She told me that she wanted me on her team, she just didn't have a place for me at the time. She told me to please keep checking in with her on a regular basis, and that I would be hired as soon as there was a place for me. So I figured the earliest there might be an opening would be this coming Spring, as that is when that unit tends to be the busiest. So, I was planning on a rather lengthy wait. After this conversation, I promptly emailed the nursing supervisor of the med/surg unit at Riverton to inquire about needs there. She sent me a reply the next day stating that she wouldn't be able to do any more hiring until possibly January, and that she would gladly snap me up when she got approval to hire...either way, I was going to end up at that hospital!

I continued to call in for my scheduled shifts, and my extra ones. On Tuesday night I started feeling funny, scratchy throat and burning lungs, no head congestion though...so i thought maybe it was some air pollution irritation...until the fever started and the coughing began. By Wednesday I was totally miserable, and I was scheduled for a 12 hour shift that night, which I worked - it was seriously the longest night of my life. I had a puppet show the next morning which I dragged myself to and through. By the time I got home I was a total wreck. I shoved something down my throat and dragged myself up to my bed. This was about 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, I didn't wake up until 7a.m. Friday morning. I have never slept that long in my entire life, and I felt much better for it. I still feel kind of crappy, now it's in my head...headache, stuffy/runny nose....maybe that means it's on its way out....

Anyway...on with the story....I was getting ready to head out to a puppet show for my son's entire 4th grade, when my cell started to ring. I, of course, didn't reach it on time, so I immediately redialed the number and Nina Griffin from Human Resources answered. She asked me if I remembered applying for a position in Riverton's Labor and Delivery unit and I replied that I most definitely did, and then she asked me if I was still interested and I said, "Yes, of course!" And then she uttered some of the most beautiful words one can hear from any one in a position to hire..." We would like to extend and offer of employment to you..." I was just giddy with excitement, I couldn't believe it, FINALLY!!! So, my start date is December 27th, I am so excited - I can hardly wait!

Life Goes On.....and on......and on

2009-11-28T03:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's been a couple of weeks, so I figure I better update! A few weeks ago, I received a couple of missed calls on my cell while I was at work. They were from Rob because the night had been particularly rough. Quentin kept waking up every hour crying and in pain because he could not breathe. His crying would wake up Haedyn, and she would start crying. Rob would get Quentin re-settled and then Haedyn, and then Quentin would wake up again, and the cycle would start all over - poor Rob. I finished my shift at the hospital, took a nap in the back of my van, went to perform a puppet show, and came home. I could hear Quentin before I saw him, he sounded horrible, and I knew he would require a trip to the doctor's office...ugh...I was so tired, I just wanted to go to bed! But I knew I would just get woken up by a sad and tired little boy, so I called the doctor, and they were able to get him right in. By the time I got him there, he was in pretty bad shape. They gave him a breathing treatment, but he didn't improve much. It was then decided that he needed an epinephrine nebulizer treatment. Normally, this would require a trip to the ER, but we were in luck, it could now be done in the doctor's office - it only required a 4 hour observation......WHAT? I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours or so, and I was exhausted, but he wasn't improving, and I wanted to avoid a hospitalization, so I agreed. Poor little man slept through most of the treatment and was just an irritable little creature through most of our stay. I wasn't able to sleep either, as there was really no place to lay down in a pediatrician's exam room, so it was pretty miserable all the way around. Eventually we were able to go home, but the doctor really thought we were going to be back in the ER again that night because Quentin really wasn't showing much improvement after 5 and a half hours of treatment. I took him home and put him to bed and put the cool mist humidifier in his room on full blast, it wasn't long before he was sleeping comfortably. I went down to fix dinner and then Rob had to leave for class. The night didn't end there either...oh no...I had gone and signed up for a Zumba class for a relief society girl's night out. Glutton for punishment that I am, I went. It was a lot of fun even if I was beyond the point of exhaustion. I guess it was good that I was so tired, because I could see that I was the fattest woman in the room, but I didn't really care. I worked really hard during that class and I figured that I would not be able to move the next day. Amazingly enough, I wasn't the least bit sore the next morning!

I have been working a lot of hours lately as well. December is traditionally a slow month in the health care business. No one wants to be in a hospital during the holidays, and so I get cancelled a lot. So I have been putting in 40 hour weeks to hopefully lessen the blow when the shift famine starts. I actually got to put in a shift at the new Riverton hospital this last Wednesday, and I really enjoyed it. I was talking to the night nursing supervisor while I was there, he was someone that I knew from the 8th floor at Intermountain Medical Center, I told him about my dilemma with the Labor and Delivery floor there, and he suggested that I just show up on the floor in the next few days and reconnect with the nurse manager, and see if she will give me an answer. He then mentioned that if they didn't want me, that their unit could definitely use me. The charge nurse was also in on this conversation, and told me that she had already emailed her boss about hiring me out of the float pool. Just a side note, her boss used to be our Education Director in the float pool, and she knows me quite well. So, there might be an opportunity there - we'll see...

My adventure doesn't end there however, as I had to return to Riverton this morning with Haedyn. It seems that croup has visited us again. Haedyn wasn't in as bad of shape as Quentin had been, but I wasn't going to wait for it to get to that point. I had put the cool mist humidifier on her for the past two nights, and she was starting to get worse. When I got to the ER, I was the only one there and was immediately taken back. Treatment was started immediately with a cool mist nebulizer which was followed by a decadron syrup dose which we hid in apple juice. By the end of two hours time, she was hardly wheezing and had stopped coughing. The doctor warned me that she might get worse tonight and that we should bring her back if that did happen. I am working a 12 hour shift right now, and my phone has been quiet, so I think she is probably fine for now. At this point, I am just hoping to remain awake for the next hour or so, so that I can return home, crawl into my bed, and sleep for a few hours. There is a plan that includes my mother in law, sister in law, my daughter, and myself going to see New Moon later on today. I saw Twilight with Brenna when it first came out, and was really disappointed along with a lot of other book fans. I have been promised that this movie is a much better representation of the book....we shall see.....

Yep...I'm bragging...

2009-11-09T00:58:00.001-08:00

I just finished with yet another round of parent-teacher conferences. The boys did okay. Jaron got told that he just needed to relax and not stress so much, that he was doing fine. He has made huge strides in his reading levels. Cade is his usual rambunctious self, he has a need to touch everything, it's harmless, but people outside of his everyday life just freak out. His classmates like to use it to set him off. They tattle on him everytime he starts checking something out and then he gets in trouble, and then he gets mad. He hates being singled out, always has. I think if everyone concerned would just quit freaking out over nothing, then he would be just fine. He has also greatly improved in his reading levels and mathematics just seems to come naturally to him, but he hates to write. He seems to be struggling a bit this year, but I am sure that once we straighten things out, things should get better for him.
Brenna, on the other hand, is a whole different story. This child has gone and gotten A's in just about every academic area, especially in language arts. She got B's in Math and Science. She says that since she has gotten her glasses, math has been a lot easier - since she can now see the numbers and problems up on the board! She went and entered into the yearly Reflections contest this year. She created 4 separate entries for this contest, one in 3-d art, one in photography, one in music composition, and one in general fine arts. She ended up placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and received a participation award. She basically placed for every entry, it was amazing! None of the projects have been returned to her, so we are guessing that they go on to the state level competition. She did every last project on her own, granted, she waited until the day before they were due for a couple of them (can you say stressed out mommy?) but she got them all done and turned in! During her parent teacher conference,her teacher showed me her results from last years state end of year tests....she beat the STATE'S top score by a clean 20 points, I was - once again - completely amazed! Yeah...I was proud too...just a little...

I Can't Believe He's Four!

2009-11-06T00:13:00.000-08:00

Quentin Joel Fox turned four today! When did that happen? It's almost as if he went from baby to big boy overnight, kind of sobering.

We started the day with the traditional birthday pancake. Quentin wasn't all too thrilled with this at first. He covered up his face when we started to sing to him and wanted us to stop. But after he blew out his candle, he was just fine, and happily plowed his way through two of them. After breakfast, his older siblings went off to school, and Quentin was ready to go to the toy store - NOW. He slapped on a pair of sandals and headed outside to get in the car. We were able to lure him back in the house, where Rob read him a Seuss Birthday Book, then he took a bath, and then we were ready to go! I had a puppet show to go do, so he came with me, and he actually watched it! After that, we hit Toys r Us, and he was in heaven. He of course wanted just about everything in the store that was transportation related. He found the battery powered ride on toys and decided that the kiddie Cadillac Escalade was the ride for him. He kept telling me, "but I wuv it mommy, I wuv it!" I then told him he already had something similar at home, to which he replied, "I pwomise, but I pwomise!" Not sure exactly what he was promising, but we eventually left with a nice wooden train set. He fell asleep on the way home, and I woke him up trying to get him into the house (that kid is heavy!) He wasn't ready to wake up and was pretty ornery for about 15 minutes, until we opened his new train set. Then he was once again his jolly little self. We then took him out for a late lunch at
Wendy's, where he downed an entire kids meal, then we went to the local library where he checked out an entire pile of Bob the Builder DVD's. Then we returned home again, where he continued to play with his train set for hours, and was still going strong when I left for work. We will be having a party for him this Saturday, where we will do the cake and ice cream thing - the kids were rather disappointed about the no cake thing tonight stating that it was his birthday today, and he just HAD to have a cake! But there was no cake tonight, and Quentin really didn't seem to mind. He knows he is having a birthday party in a couple of days and he is excited for all his friends to come and celebrate with him.
Love you birthday boy! Thanks for choosing our family! I hope you had fun today!

Still waiting....

2009-11-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

and waiting, and waiting. Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I HATE waiting! IHC Riverton is opening in just a few short hours and I am still, as of yet, not on their payroll. Labor and Delivery called me back for a third interview, it has all been kind of strange. I got a call from the recruiter stating that the nurse manager had some additional questions for me and how soon could I meet with them. I of course said whenever, name the time, I'm there! She told me to go to the hospital that Thursday at noon. Thursday came, noon arrived, and I was at the hospital, in the brand spanking new Labor and Delivery unit. I wandered around a bit, there were tons of people there, all staff doing training modules and pass-offs (lucky ducks!) I was finally able to locate the nurse manager, and she looked slightly confused to see me standing in front of her. I told her who had sent me and why as well as who I was. She told me that she remembered who I was and was happy to see me, but that she had not been told I was coming for another interview. My heart started hammering at this point and I was starting to feel kind of stupid. But she countered all that with an "I wanted to talk to you again anyway, so there is no better time than now!" Thank you! Panic attack averted.....
She took me to her office and we sat down and started to chat. She relayed to me that the recruiter had told her that I had additional questions for her. Ummmmm, welllllll, not really, the recruiter had told me that the nurse manager had additional questions for me. Things were really starting to not add up, but I refused to be swayed. We continued talking and she asked me if I had any Scrub Tech experience to which I replied that I did not. She asked me if I had any HUC experience to which I replied that I had plenty of administrative assistant experience, just not in a Health Unit Coordinator position. She asked if I could use the company computer system, to which I answered yes, and I also added that I had helped HUC's on other units assemble patient charts. That was a plus that pleased. She of course asked about my puppet shows and I told her that these were entirely negotiable - they could be rescheduled, cancelled, or performed by someone else...not an obstacle at all. She then started ruminating about how soon she could work me into a scrub tech class, and told me that of course I knew that I would start out in the HUC position and then once I was done with the scrub class that I would move into Scrub Tech (this means I would be assisting with cesarean sections) very interesting work, and a decent pay scale bump as well. Then she asked if I had any questions for her. I asked about the class and how long it would take, she never really answered me. She was thinking out loud at this point, trying to figure how she was going to fit me in for all this, and then I asked her when I might be contacted for start dates and such. Then the bombshell dropped....she looked at me with a rather pained expression and said,"I interviewed someone yesterday and offered her the position." I remained cool, calm, and collected, although I wanted nothing more than to run out of her office, screaming like a banshee, "NOT AGAIN!" then she said, "but....." my ears perked up, hope started to bubble from the depths...."the other candidate has another job on the weekends and doesn't want to work them. She has until Monday to accept or decline the offer." My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. She offered this person a job when they flat out said they would not work weekends.....WHAT THE.....and I got turned down after the first round because they 'thought' I might not be as available as I claimed to be???? HUH????? So, as all this contradiction is swirling in my brain, I look at her and ask her to clarify the position, after all, she did say 'techs'. She then informs me that that is the ONLY position she has available at this time and that if I don't make it in this time, that I will be at the top for next time in December/January. Oh heaven help me, does it never end???????? I feel like the proverbial horse with a carrot dangling in front of my nose. I feel seriously toyed with.
All of this occurred on the 22nd of October. I have still heard absolutely nothing. I am quite positive that if the other candidate had declined the offer, that I would have been offered the job already. So I really have no other choice than to accept the inevitable rejection. I have called the recruiter, I have called the interviewing nurse manager, and I have spoken with my current nurse manager. The first and latter of the above mentioned group know nothing and have heard nothing. The nurse manager I spoke with hasn't returned any of my calls. I don't feel I can continue to call her without making a complete pest of myself. So now I pull back, and wait...and wait..and wait.......and wait some more. Serious Frustration Inflicted....need I say more?

IHC Maternity Hates Me

2009-10-02T23:28:00.000-07:00

Pass me the short straw, find me some worms, here we go again.....I interviewed with Riverton hospital for a position in their maternity unit about 3 weeks ago. I even got called back for an individual interview. My nurse manager gave me the green light and a glowing recommendation when she was called as a reference. I got a strange email Wednesday morning about attending another interview at the hospital for the same position and that I needed to call to set it up. I called and played a bit of phone tag with the recruiter. When we finally caught up with one another, she began rapidly giving directions on where I needed to go and what I needed to bring and that I needed to be prepared to answer a question during the interview, which she would email me within a couple of hours. When she paused to draw breath I jumped in with, "Would the question, by chance, be this..?" and I proceeded to give her the question verbatim. She sounded very surprised that I knew the question and asked me how it was that I came by this knowledge. I informed her that I had just interviewed a little over two weeks ago and had even been through the individual portion and answered said question. "oh....ummmmmm.......let me get back to you after I find out what it is the nurse managers want." "okay" I said.."If they are doing another round of interviews to narrow down the field, I am game." We hung up. She called me back a couple hours later and informed me that they had given her the wrong list and that I was not needed at the interviews on Friday. Tonight, right before I called in for my shift, an email appeared in my inbox from Human Resources....

"Thank you for your interest in the position of Patient Care Technician/CNA - Maternity - Riverton Hospital-65677 We appreciated the opportunity to discuss your experience and background related to this position.

We have narrowed the field of candidates to those whose training and experience most closely matches our needs. Unfortunately, you are not among the final group of candidates being considered."

Heart hits the floor, turn on the waterworks....my night is ruined. Rob gave me a sympathetic hug and said, "Don't give up" I just said, "whatever, this just keeps happening."

So, why is the one place I want to be most, the one place I'm not allowed to be for whatever unknown reason? What's the deal universe? Give this girl a break! I know all that good stuff about the Lord's timetable, and patience has not been one of my strong points and there is probably a very good reason as to why....but I am just too distraught/pissed/downhearted to see it and/or accept it with any sort of grace.

That's all folks.....

Time Flies When You are Insane(ly) busy......

2009-09-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

My four older children have been out in California having the time of their young lives, so what's my excuse?
I thought while the olders were gone, that I would finally get a handle on the mild chaos that is my house.....well, I thought about it! The only thing I got done was to get all of the clothes off the boys bedroom floor, really ambitious, eh?
Rob and I have been spending a lot of time with our adorable little baby, and both of us have been trying to keep on top of school work as well. I have been pulling extra shifts whenever the hospital will let me, which has been quite often lately. And I also got an interview for the maternity unit at the new Riverton hospital that is slated to open here in November. I interviewed last week Friday with a group of about 20 other women. They only held back a handful for individual interviews, of which I was one. I was told that they were looking to fill the positions within a week, I called today and was told that they were still checking references and that no offers had, as yet, been extended. I took that as a pretty good sign that I was still in the running. Because if they weren't even the slightest bit impressed by me in the individual interview, then I would've already gotten the rejection e-mail. It still might very well be in the works, but I will try to stay positive on this one.
So, that is the latest in this neck of the woods....

Meeting the Prophet

2009-08-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

We had a very spiritually fulfilling day today. My husband and I, along with our 3 oldest children, attended the final dedicatory session for the Oquirrh Mountain temple. It was a beautiful service, wonderful talks, lovely music. The kids got really squirmy during the session..the boys did..Brenna managed quite well. We did the Hosanna shout, sang "The Spirit of God" and headed out to the van to return home after the closing prayer was said. Rob suggested we go up to the temple to see if we could catch the prophet as he left. I said sure...Cade just wanted to go home, but Brenna and Jaron were game, so we went.
Rob had worked security detail for a dedicatory session on Friday evening and had been within 5 feet of the prophet as he left for the evening, and so Rob directed us to about the same spot he had been standing that night. They had temporary barriers set up from the front of the temple out to the parking lot, so we knew we were in the right place. All of the sudden there were a lot of security folks milling around and a couple of them approached those of us standing behind the barriers to give us the 'protocol' to follow when dealing with the church brethren. We were not to approach them, they would approach us. They also told us that it would be at least 50 minutes before we could expect the prophet to exit the temple. We were more than willing to wait so that the kids could have this experience! It turns out that that is one of church security's stall tactics that they use to 'thin' crowds. They hope that people will be put off by the possibility of a long wait and that they in turn will leave. No one there 'bought' the wait time, and no one left. Shortly thereafter, we noticed two nice Mercedes sedans pull up to the edge of the sidewalk where we were standing, and the security level increased ever so slightly. Suddenly, I heard the faint strains of "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet" coming from the group by the temple entrance. Rob looked to his right and spotted President Monson and President Eyring, he pointed them out to me and the kids, but we couldn't see anything just yet due to the crowd. Gradually they made their way down the sidewalk, greeting fellow members and shaking hands, until the procession stopped right in front of us. President Monson walked right up to my kids and shook each one of their hands, he shook my husbands' hand as well. I was a little too slow on the uptake, and missed out. I was just thrilled that my kids got to meet a prophet in person! As we were walking away, we passed by President Eyring's car as he was walking to it. He stopped, and approached my family and shook all of our hands and thanked us for coming. Brenna was quite impressed with all of it and decided that she was never going to wash her hands again...that lasted until she got home and played with her brothers' geckos..then I made her wash her hands. I told her she could write about it in her journal if she would like, but that a case of lizard caused salmonella poisoning was not an option if I could help it! Jaron was happy and excited about meeting the prophet, Cade...well...when that kid is done...he's done! He was happy to shake the prophet's hand, but it was immediately followed by, "Can we go now?" This kid pulls no punches...what a pill...before we even got out of the van, he wanted to go home! Seriously though, It was a wonderful moment, and I hope my kids remember it for the rest of their lives. I didn't get any pictures..didn't think to bring my camera and didn't have my phone with me..Oh well, this one will go in the heart vault....

General Updates...because it's been awhile....

2009-06-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

I keep telling myself that I need to keep track of all the unique things my 3 year old says. Some of the stuff is just so dang funny. So I will list a few here, and update as new ones are heard/remembered.

'Quentinisms'
chawbwy/chubby - strawberry
gwinch - wrench
benenenenana - banana
pedder - computer
Iseewus - I'm serious
banks/binks - thanks
num nums - M&M's
Donals - McDonald's
McDonals - donuts
dacter - tractor
bishop - spaceship
sicky cup - sippy cup
mook - milk
bee - fly
twain/twuck - train/truck
Weeam - Liam
myfeewex - Felix
budderjewwy - peanut butter and jelly sandwich
chicken - any and all meat
pweese - please
muster - hamster
mymakween - Lightning McQueen car

As is typical of any three year old, most everything he says is prefaced with 'my'. He is generally delightful, as far as three year olds go, he entertains himself, and is happy most of the time as long as he is getting his way! When he is on the flip side of happy, he can often be heard saying "FINE!" with his chubby little arms folded across his chest and running off in a huff to go be in his room. If you bump into him, he will tell you to "Watch you going!" If you reprimand him, he breaks into loud sobs and wails of "I sawwy, I so sawwy!" It's really quite difficult to stay mad at the little fellow for very long, especially when he turns his big brown puppy dog eyes on you. He knows all his letters and most of his numbers, and I won't be too entirely surprised if he is reading in the next year, as he is starting to sound out the letters he so loves to play with.

Cade was baptized last weekend, and it was a very special occasion indeed. Family came from out of town for the event. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, the Spirit was so strong! The love in the room was overpowering. His Aunt Shauna and myself sang "Beautiful Savior" while his sister Brenna accompanied. Uncle Jesse gave a wonderful talk on baptism, and one of his former primary teachers, Brother Radford, gave an awesome talk on the Holy Ghost that came with a little bag filled with physical reminders of the gift itself. One of the items that came in the bag was a little hand carved wooden heart. Cade walked around with that in his pocket for days. I have noticed that Cade has been trying really hard lately to be kinder and more loving, of course, he is also still the same rough and tumble, rambunctious boy we all know and love. But baptism seems to have really left an impression on him, and I appreciate the subtle change in him.

Jaron earned his Wolf badge in Scouts and has advanced to the Bear den. He really enjoys the scouting program and is looking forward to Scout Camp this year. He has really taken off with reading, and has discovered the Captain Underpants series. He has reached that fine old age where all humor bathroom related, armpit farts, and burps has become ever present. He loves to watch Cartoon Network on the computer, and hates doing his homework. When things don't go his way, you will hear his catchphrase of "Ugh!" ring throughout the house.

Brenna is progressing rapidly with her piano lessons. We got her a MIDI keyboard for her birthday. She doesn't quite appreciate exactly how cool it is, she wanted a digital piano. Brenna is also a voracious reader. She spends hours reading. We go to the library on a regular basis and she checks out a small mountain of books each time and she is generally done with them before the three week time limit is up. She had her 11th birthday on the 6th and invited a plethora of girls over for her party. We had 16 pre-teen girls in the house, it was just a small uproar for about 4 hours or so. They watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, ate Chinese food, had their faces painted and generally had a pretty good time. So we officially have a 'tweenager'....more adventures ahead, I am sure.

Haedyn is slowly getting bigger. I have really been appreciating this time that I have had to enjoy her while she is so small. All my other babies just got so big so fast, it is nice that this one is taking her time. Although I am getting a little tired of all her newborn clothes and am wishing that she would just get a little bit bigger so that I can put her in all the cute 3 to 6 month stuff that I have. I took her in about 2 weeks ago for a weight check, and she weighed in at 8 lbs 6 ozs. The MA there said that by her 2 month visit, she should double her birth weight..which means she should be about 13 pounds by now, they would like to see her between 10 and 12 pounds. I have an appointment for her today to get her first set of vaccinations and to re-evaluate her growth. Right now, I am supplementing her with formula per doctor's orders. If she has gained enough weight, then I can cut back on the formula. I am glad she is such an easy going baby. She doesn't care how she gets her food, just as long as she gets it. She sleeps a lot and well, is easy to soothe, and doesn't cry too much. It doesn't hurt that she is also incredibly cute! She has started to interact with others by smiling and cooing, and she tries really hard to control her head so that she can see what is going on around her - but she is still really wobbly at this point. We had her baby blessing done the same weekend as Cades baptism. It was lovely. Rob blessed her that she would be a kind, happy, and healthy child, and that she would look to serve and help others throughout her life. He blessed her that she would listen to her parents, and follow the example of her siblings. She was also blessed that she would enter the Lord's House with a choice son of God to be married for time and all eternity and that she would be able to raise a family of her own. Haedyn didn't make a peep during the blessing, and waited to fuss after everything was done. We had everyone over at our place afterwards, there was a lot of good food and good company. It was a nice weekend overall.

I will probably add pictures at a later date/time. But if you absolutely must see pictures, there are some on Facebook..you can find me under the username momof5foxes............tatafornow!

In Quentin's World...

2009-04-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

My son, Quentin, is at that age when just about everything that comes out of his cute little cherub mouth is belly - laugh worthy. Take, for example, this past Monday. Shauna, my sister-in-law, was over at my house visiting. She had a really snazzy looking top on (Shauna, if you ever want to 'donate' it...well, you know...) It had lots of randomly placed sequins on it, and Quentin was, well...intrigued. He innocently pointed at a group of sequins, and said in his cute little three year old voice, "Waas dat?" Shauna replied, "That's a sequin." "Is Quentin's?" queried my toddler. Shauna chuckled..."No...it's a sequin.." "SeaQuentin's?" came the reply. It was all over then...sides splitting, eyes watering... Quentin just stood there..he giggled a little because we were all laughing, he didn't understand what on earth was so funny, just that he had once again done something devastatingly cute. He gave an ever so charming, dimpled grin, and scampered downstairs to play with his ever growing horde of cars.
None of us will ever be able to say or hear the word 'sequin' without giggling...ever again.

And now we are Seven...

2009-04-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

I went in for a regular Midwife appointment on Tuesday morning, never expecting the events that followed.....

I had an appointment at 11:30 a.m., and had planned to be told the same.."Sorry, no change", run a couple of inconsequential errands afterwards, and then return home to continue the never-ending waiting game. Boy, was I wrong!

I was taken back to the exam room and all the routine stuff was done. My midwife for this visit was Teresa Demery, someone I had met with before and enjoyed visiting with. We chatted while she checked for the baby's heartbeat, but she couldn't find it after about 2 minutes of searching. Things got real quiet as she continued to search...she asked me if I had felt any movement that morning, I answered that I had not. I could feel the panic start in the pit of my stomach, she looked at me and told me to come with her to the ultrasound room. We moved quickly and quietly down the hall and started the scan. She looked for a good five minutes...nothing...I started to bawl and moan "NONONONONONO" over and over..this couldn't be happening! She tried to calm me down and assured me that she was not an ultrasound technician, and that she was probably just missing something. She personally walked me down yet another hall to Maternal Fetal Medicine where they performed another scan and after five minutes of nail-biting searching, found a heartbeat. She was just fine..just curled in a really tight ball.
The midwife and I returned to the office, the whole staff cheered when they got the news that everything was fine. We returned to the exam room to discuss options. She checked me and found me 80% and 1 cm dilated and asked me if I would consider induction. I was so rattled by what just happened that I said yes. She was rather shaken as well and told me that she just didn't have a good feeling about sending me home to wait this out and she also said that this just doesn't happen...finding a heart beat at 39 weeks right away is the norm, it shouldn't have to be searched for and wasn't a good sign. I was instructed to go get some lunch and to produce myself at Labor and Delivery at 1:30 p.m. to get started.
I called Rob and gave him the heads up, I was still crying and scared. Rob wasn't too happy with my emotional state, but was able to calm me down, and told me he would meet me there in a few hours.
I went down to L&D, got checked in and proceeded to wait. They hooked me up to monitors and watched the baby for awhile and actually tried to talk me out of the induction, but I wasn't budging. At 3 p.m. they hooked me up to Pitocin and there was no turning back. Rob came at 6 p.m. and the contractions were just starting to get painful and much closer together. We walked for a little bit in the halls, but that even got hard to do, as I felt like I was getting hit every 30 seconds. My main plan for pain control, besides movement, was to labor in water. Wouldn't you know it, Labor and Delivery was absolutely slammed, and the ONLY room they had available was a room with a shower! UGH! So, at about 7 p.m. I couldn't handle walking any more, and there was no tub to float mindlessly in, so they brought me a birthing ball and I sat on that and rocked while the hot water from the shower beat down on my back. I had the ball sitting right over the drain and ended up flooding the entire bathroom...most awesome... I hit transition in there, and I have to say...it hit hard! I couldn't handle the pain and became extremely uncooperative. As usual, Rob had his hands full trying to keep me focused, and he was doing a pretty good job assuring me that this pain was getting me closer to my goal and that I was almost done. I didn't feel almost done, but I knew that I was DONE feeling like this, so I asked for an epidural. I said I would forgo one if I was at a 9 (then it's too late!) Angel, the midwife, checked me again..I was a good stretchy 7 cms. But I wasn't a 9, so I was done! I returned to my bed to await the anesthesiologist...it was the worst 15 minutes of my life. I was out of my mind with the pain, but he finally came. It was about 9 p.m. at this point, and I was pretty sure that I still had a good 2 hours to go before I was finally finished. Dr. Kelly Meyer administered the epidural, and he let me remain lying down while he worked. I don't think it was the most optimal positioning for him, and I couldn't remain as still as he wanted me to, so he had to stick me at least 4 times before the catheter was finally placed. He pushed the first bolus of medication in and I felt instant relief, and I was also instantly quiet and that made everyone else in the room laugh....I only said one word...."warm". Dr. Meyer cleaned up all his goodies, and the nurses and midwife set about positioning me in the bed. I was useless at this point with my legs feeling like inflated blimps, but I tried to help with my arms...it kind of worked. Anyway, they got me positioned, and Angel took a peek down at the business end of things, she looked up at me and then at the nurses..."um...umm....weeeellll...she's right there!" She said "maybe two pushes, she's coming folks!" It was a flurry of equipment at this point..Angel was trying to get her gown on and gloved up, there wasn't any time to break the bed down, she just got covered and sat down on the end of the bed and caught the baby as she quite literally just dropped out! The only thing I was aware of was the extreme amount of activity in the room, then the next thing I knew, Rob was at my side telling me he could see the head, then the head was out, then Angel lifted the baby up and onto my belly and I closed my hands around the smallest most perfect little thing I had ever seen. She was warm, squirming and screaming for all she was worth. The next thing I felt was this warm little river flowing down my side as she peed on me, and some warm gooey stuff in my hand that was covering her bum. Well, at least I knew she wasn't broken! About 15 minutes later, the placenta delivered and it was discovered that I had two lobes, so there quiet possibly could have been twins in the beginning, and also my placenta was starting to deteriorate, which explained the scare we had in the morning. It was a good thing we brought her when we did! So, after 6.5 hours of labor, we got ourselves a fine healthy, albeit little, girl!

Haedyn Janae Fox arrived March 31st, 2009 at 9:31 p.m. weighing 6 lbs. 13 ozs. and measuring 19 inches long. She is proving to be a quiet, mellow little thing who likes to sleep a lot so far. We are happy to have her and she is well loved!

The frustration sets in....

2009-03-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

At week 36 of this pregnancy, the midwife I saw that day put in my chart that I was to be induced at 39 weeks if conditions were 'favorable'. I've been jinxed.....I have had non-stop contractions since that point, but none of it is 'changing' me to a more 'favorable' state. I GIVE UP!
I lost five pounds, and the midwife today told me that I am 70% effaced..but shut tight as a drum. I now have the cast iron cervix and the incredible floating baby...she won't drop. And if she doesn't drop and apply some pressure to my 'girly parts', then heaven knows how long she will be in there! The midwife also informed me that fifth pregnancies often go this way...lots of useless uterine irritability and little to no progress....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay'....thanks!
In other news, I have officially taken leave of the hospital. My nurse manager and I agreed that it would be better for everyone if I started my maternity leave now, so I can come back that much stronger in about a month or so. She offered me a total of 14 weeks off....I don't think I need that much. I may take 8, tops. When I come back, there will be a high need in maternity, and I will finally get to cross-train, so that definitely has me looking forward to returning!
Even though I have been through the birth process a few times, I still find myself getting just a wee bit nervous as to how I'm going to handle it this time. If I am already in this much pain...how the heck am I going to deal with it when it's 'for real'? Will I even know? I am starting to get to the point where I can almost ignore the contractions, because I know they aren't doing anything to pay attention to. About the only thing that might get my attention is my water breaking...that I might have to do something about!
Sorry for the whine, folks....the wait is on.....for how long? Who knows?

OH MY HOLY FREAKIN' OUCH!

2009-03-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

I went in for my external version today...it was one of the most excruciatingly painful moments of my life! They turned her...it took a half an hour to do so, she was VERY stubborn about being moved! I about ripped Rob's hand off, it hurt that bad!

It turns out that she was in a frank breech position, meaning that if I went into spontaneous labor and she just happened to be born, her butt would make it's entrance first, with her legs folded in front of her face. She had her little head tucked up right underneath my heart...guess she liked the sound..maybe I will try a ticking clock once she arrives and see if she sleeps through the night...

I went in to see my midwife a couple of hours later. I thought she might have flipped right on back to her former position, and the midwife could not tell by palpation if the head was still down. So they popped me into an ultrasound really quick..and she was still head down. All I can say is...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay there!!! I will do almost anything to avoid a C-section...but if they have to do this again..then they are inducing me immediately afterwards!!! I swear I am going to have bruises on my belly for days!! Tonight is definitely a Lortab night!

Directionally Challenged Baby

2009-03-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

I went in yesterday for yet another ultrasound to check the baby's size. She is not quite 7 lbs, + or - 13 ounces......AND.......she's breech. I am scheduled to go in on Tuesday for an external version, which I am NOT looking forward to! You see, even the midwife doing the simple act of rolling the doppler over my belly causes me pain, and this procedure is going to be 100 times the pressure! The doctor told me that there was a good chance that my water would break during the procedure, as well as a risk of placental abruption (placenta tearing from uterine wall - VERY BAD!)

End result....if all the drama mentioned above actually does happen, then I am whisked downstairs for an emergency C-section. I am thinking that the worst that will happen is that I will have a VERY sore belly for a couple of days. Maybe, if I am lucky, this kid will just decide to flip on her own and I can just forgo all the aforementioned drama!

So, everyone....start sending your good vibes this way...turn...turn...turn...

'Baby Door update"

2009-03-04T12:30:00.001-08:00

I am now in the weekly check mode..I am almost done! The midwife checked me and I am 60% effaced, baby is still ballotable, and no dilation has happened. Upon palpation, baby is found to be between 5-6 lbs. Which is on the large side for this point. The midwife suggested that I might want to consider induction at 39 weeks to keep the weight manageable. I told her that there was absolutely NO way that I would consider a chemical induction! She told me that they would just break my water if I was 2-3 cm dilated and let things take their course. I agreed to that. So, whether I go on my own, or am induced, this kid is coming by the end of the month!

The Final Countdown

2009-02-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

I have 7 weeks left to this pregnancy...where did all the time go? Of course, at the same time I am asking myself how I can possibly hold out another month and a half, it is a wonderful conundrum.
I took my first futile trip to labor and delivery yesterday afternoon. I have at least one of these visits with every single pregnancy. I worked an eight hour shift at the hospital on Sunday evening, and arrived home around 12:30 a.m. I was feeling vaguely uncomfortable, but that is kind of normal at this point...comfortable just plain ceases to exist! I finally laid down to sleep at around 1:30 a.m. and immediately started experiencing contractions..I didn't pay too much attention to them..I figured they would go away eventually and I would be able to fall asleep. They didn't go away, and I didn't get any sleep. I even had a couple of incidences where I felt like I needed to push...which freaked me out.
I got out of bed in the morning feeling absolutely miserable and extremely irritable, and STILL contracting! It didn't matter what I did, these things would not get lost! I showered, ate breakfast, and fed the 3 year old. I then went upstairs and informed Rob that I thought there might be a small problem. He volunteered to come with me to help with my puppet show - I think I accepted with poor grace...something to the effect of "If you want to.." We proceeded to the show, he carried everything in and did most of the set up, helped me with the entre act, and even sat behind the stage and handed me puppets during the show. I managed to get through all of it without any major trouble, we cleaned up and left. As we were right down the street from the hospital I am delivering at, we went straight there.
They hooked me up to all the monitors, asked me the standard zillion questions, and did a bunch of tests. They even stuck an IV in my hand and dropped in a bag of saline for good measure. They found my contractions to be mild ones, but at the rate of about 3 to 5 minutes apart. It was kind of a weird pattern....I would have a cluster of about 10 to 15 with that time spacing increment, then nothing for about 10 to 20 minutes, then they would start over again. All the tests came back negative, and they checked the 'baby door' and found it shut nice and tight, they checked it again before they let me go, and again found no change. My midwife was a bit puzzled by everything, as was I. I absolutely hate it when things go haywire with no reason as to why! My midwife wanted to give me a shot of morphine so I could go home and sleep, but I really didn't want to be that far gone, so she compromised and sent me home with a prescription of hydrocodone and orders to take it easy.
I still had contractions last night, but none with any regularity or pattern to them, thank goodness! I was scheduled to work another 8 hour shift last night, but decided I had better take my caregiver's advice, so I called in sick, took a pill, and went to bed!
I slept quite well last night, woke up this morning, and went to do another puppet show.

All quite on the western front....for now!

A Face In the Making....

2009-01-05T22:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some shots of our baby girl that is due to arrive in April...

11 weeks and a sharp side profile...

The reason why face shots were SOOOOOO hard to get!

26 weeks...she had her arms OVER her face AND her legs folded in front of her face as well...

22 weeks....you can see some fluffy cheeks in the making...

17 weeks...still more alien than human at this point...

I went for my last ultrasound this past Friday, and she was pronounced perfect! They immediately started in on scanning her heart, she turned at just the right moment, and we got the most perfect view of her aortic tract that you could hope for! The doctor came in and scanned through all the shots, looked at me, and said, "The baby looks great! You don't need to come back anymore!" HOORAY! My prediction for this girl's appearance...well...from what I can see of her face at the 26 week shot...she looks an awful lot like her brother Cade...we shall see....

Christmas Happenings

2008-12-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

This year I pulled out the video camera instead of the still, so I got absolutely no pics of Christmas. I don't know how to edit and post video, so y'all will just have to use your imaginations...
It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself that I am NOT going to wait until Christmas Eve to take care of all the Santa duties, inevitably, EVERY year - Rob and I spend most of the night wrapping everything that 'Santa' brought. This year wasn't so bad though, we were only up til' 12:30 a.m. We cleaned up and headed for bed around 1 a.m. At 2 a.m. we are awoken to shouts from Cade..."Santa came, everyone! Santa came!" Rob ran down to stop him before he started tearing in to everything, but it was too late - all three olders were up, thankfully, Quentin was still snoring and unaware even with all the racket that Cade was making. Rob sent everyone back to their respective beds and told them to go back to sleep. Yeah, right! Cade tossed and turned and he and Jaron whispered and giggled about what Santa might have brought them, oh, and Brenna was sitting bolt upright in her bed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as well....
Finally Rob relented and let them go down to choose one present to take back to their beds. That appeased them for all of two minutes, then we were once again listening to Cade's restless tumblings and the occasional sneaking down the stairs. He peeked...EVERYWHERE. There were things in the garage..he ran up and reported to his siblings, there was a note from Santa by the cookies..he reported that in the loudest stage whisper possible. He checked out the stockings and gave report as well. That was the last straw - Daddy told him that he was ruining Christmas for everyone, and that he had better get to sleep in a hurry or risk Santa coming back to reclaim all the presents. He finally settled down and I think everyone finally fell asleep around 4 a.m.
Rob and I woke up again around 7:30 a.m. and decided that we would let Quentin have first crack at the presents...this is where I started filming...he didn't care that Santa had come..he was just ultra-tweaked that he had been woken up! He cried and cried, layed on the stairs and cried some more. He finally got over his upset, however and made it downstairs the rest of the way. He was more than happy when he saw all the presents and kept looking at me, saying,"Christmas? Santa?" Then Rob handed him one of his presents.."Mine?" "Yes, yours", we said - and the melee began!
The older kids came down shortly after, and I do believe that all of Santa's handiwork was completely undone in about 15 minutes flat. Everyone was pleased with what they got and Christmas was declared a success, once again!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and has a wonderful New Year!

I Guess I should Post SOMETHING...

2008-12-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

I visited my 'required bed rest til' delivery' sister in law the other day and we were talking about internet and blogs and such and I mentioned that I had been neglecting mine......and she said "I KNOW!!!!!" Sorry...just haven't thought that there was much to say of late, I've been on Facebook quite a bit and most of the recent stuff is put in my status.
Everything is going fine..I am done with Chemistry, I got a C-, which apparently they don't like in the nursing program, but I am beyond caring. A C is a C as far as I am concerned...*sigh* but I will probably end up taking it again along with Anatomy and Physiology because I got a straight C in those two...I can see where A&P would come in handy with the nursing career, but Chemistry??? Seriously folks, I am quite certain that my knowledge of Chemistry will not determine whether or not I will make a good nurse! I can just see it now....patient: "It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that you know the molar weight of the sodium in the saline drip you are putting into me! At least the Lewis structure....." Me: "Uh...sure...draw that one right up for you..just a second..." Whatever..not gonna happen. EVER!
On the pregnancy side of things...well..I am definitely expanding. I had yet another ultrasound a week ago, and things look great - BUT - they want me to come back in another month..just to "make sure". This is all concerning her heart..yes..most definitely a 'she' - made them check again while they were looking around. They say that everything looks good as far as they can tell, but that the heart images are 'sub-optimal', so they want another look when she is 'bigger'. They actually made a deal with me..if I agreed to come back to them, then they wouldn't refer me to Primary Children's for a fetal echocardiogram, so I agreed. Why are they making such a big deal of this? Most of you know, that Rob had a wee heart defect when he was born, known as coarctation of the aorta. It was actually quite serious at the time and most likely could have taken his life, but some miraculous surgery was performed, blessings given, prayers said and everything turned out wonderfully. He is seriously one of the healthiest people I know, and I am grateful to Heavenly Father and all those who had a hand in keeping him here. Because without him..I wouldn't be experiencing all these wonderful 'blessings' that I have been priveleged to bring to this earth...
But I digress, back to the unborn one...
So, due to that hiccup in my husband's life, we have a higher chance of any sort of heart defect AND the fact that I am over 35, makes the doctors just a wee bit over-cautious. Nevermind that I have four perfectly healthy children, there is always a chance that THIS could be the one with problems. The end result is, they can see that she has four perfectly normal chambers, and that all the valves are functioning properly, but they cannot see the aortic outflow....because she clamps her hands down on her face whenever they try to 'take a peek', and won't budge, for anything. So her left arm obstructs their view, and they find that just a bit frustrating. The doctor did finally admit to me that most of these types of defects don't show up until after birth anyway, and that there is definitely no sign of catastrophic defect...but they want to be 'sure'. So, back I go on Jan. 2nd for another look, and hope that my insurance doesn't start hollering too loudly about it!
We are slowly but surely getting Christmas decorations out. The lights are on the house, the tree is up, maybe the decorations will get on it tomorrow night, we shall see.
I am doing this entry from my home computer, as I have been cancelled at the hospital yet again. A lot of the float pool personnel are beginning to grumble and I have heard a few other CNA's talking about getting another job to ride this out. I am not surprised at this turn of events...with the economy the way it is, everyone is going to feel the pinch. I am just grateful the gas prices have dropped to a reasonable level and that I have a back up to fall back on!
So, sorry, nothing much exciting happening here, but hey, I posted something new!

Bidding A Fond Farewell to My Toes

2008-11-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

I have officially hit the 20 week mark in this pregnancy, and it has been blessedly uneventful! I had moderate morning (all day and night)sickness that completely disappeared by week 15, which was promptly followed by intermittent heartburn. I have experienced some contractions already, but that is normal for me, so I don't pay too much attention to them. I have finally begun to feel the baby move on a regular basis, which was a huge relief for me! At my last appointment, my midwife informed me that I have gained a whole pound, and that they would take what they could get. I guess they wanted me to have gained more by this point...I was thrilled with that news! Afterall, I'm already carrying around quiet a bit of excess weight from all my 'other' babies, the less I gain, the better! I am enjoying this pregnancy so far, and am grateful that I can! Above is a shot of my belly, I can't see my toes when I stand up, and don't expect to for the next 5 months!
I attended parent teacher conferences this afternoon with my husband. The kids are all doing well. Brenna got all A's and one B, this is the first year that letter grades are assigned for her. She loves school, and it shows! The boys are doing well, right where they need to be at this point in the year. All three of them have some wonderful teachers that are just what they need, and I am happy with that!
Quentin just celebrated his third birthday this month. I can't believe how big he has gotten! I still see him as my baby, and I guess I will until the new one arrives.

Here's his latest escapade of the day, and he actually didn't make that much of a mess!

Here he is playing with some of his birthday presents from us and grandma...this boy LOVES trains and just about any type of vehicle...

Well, that's all I have for now! I'm tired, so I'm going to take a Zantac, and go to bed!

Proud Mom Moments

2008-10-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

A few things have happened in the last few weeks that make a mother proud. First, Jaron got his Bobcat award after working really hard for the last few weeks!

Quentin has decided that maybe potty training IS for him!

And last, it isn't really a proud moment, but just something that has made me really, really happy!

A Quick Announcement...

2008-10-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

IT'S A GIRL!! Will post more details when I have more time...A Chemistry midterm is calling my name!

Most of you already know....

2008-10-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

That I am pregnant with our fifth child. Fifth, and final. This is it, no more for me..no matter what the outcome. I used to have this thing about even numbers and that I didn't want a middle child, blah blah blah....and blah. Nope, five is just fine! We get to find out what the lil' stranger is come this Thursday...I, of course, am hoping for a girl, but am fairly certain that I will be adding yet another brother for my only daughter to enjoy. I will most happily be wrong, and she would be overjoyed to have a sister, and not another pesky little brother. Like I said, no matter the outcome, there will be no more!

I am still working for IHC, and still enjoying it for the most part. I have an opportunity coming up here in the next couple of weeks to cross-train over to maternity. I am very excited about this, as this is originally where I wanted to be. I might have had to go a round about way, but I am finally getting there!

I am still taking Chemistry and still wondering why. I guess I am just a glutton for punishment. I really want to get my nursing degree at some point, and this is required. But, ask any nurse if he/she EVER uses any of that miserable subject, and the answer is always a resounding 'NO!' followed by 'worst/hardest class I ever took' sigh....so I will continue to soldier through and hope that I pass, so that I can promptly do mass file delete in the cranial area as soon as I am done!

Halloween is around the corner, and the kiddos are excited! Brenna is a dressy devil, Jaron is a Whoopie Cushion, Cade is the grim reaper/scream guy, and Quentin is a train engineer. We had a test run on the costumes with our ward Halloween carnival, I took pictures, I guess I should post them...maybe I will, at some point.

My mother in law was here for almost two weeks and it was nice to see her again. Each one of the kids got their own 'day' with grandma and greatly enjoyed it. I even got to spend some time with her putting a little something special together for someone, which I enjoyed immensely! Of course, she helped out as well, which is always appreciated. I hope she had a quick and safe trip home, as I didn't get to say goodbye!

So, there, I have posted something for my public...is everyone happy now?

2008-10-26T01:53:00.001-07:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

So, I got Tagged

2008-09-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

My friend and neighbor Haley tagged me. And I thought that since I have taken nearly two days to think about it, I should attempt to post on it. The deal is, that I am supposed to list 6 of my quirks. I am sure I have way more than that, but some of them are a little hard to put into words. So, here goes....

1. I hate to plan parties!! I am NOT an event organizer, if I am put in charge of something, then it is almost a guarantee that it will flop! It is inevitable that everyone will either be out of town on that date, or will completely forget/have an emergency.

2. I don't like needles, and I can't stand to watch the first few cuts of a surgical procedure. Why is this quirky? Well, I am going to be a nurse..so this could be a problem..so let me clarify..I don't like needles coming at me, in me, etc. I have absolutely no problem administering them to others! The other issue, well, let's just say that the OR will NOT be my specialty! I am fine once everything is laid open, it just gives me the willies to watch someone being cut, don't ask me why...it just does.

3. I have never looked my age. I haven't starting enjoying this particular aspect of my genetic makeup just yet. All the middle aged women I have ever talked to keep telling me how much I'll enjoy it when the time comes. Right now it can just be downright annoying when other talk down to me, or I get passed over for certain things because I 'look' too young. Though it is fun to watch the jaws drop when they finally get around to finding out my actual age!!

4. I, along with my pal Haley, LOATHE making decisions! It seriously puts me under major stress, and it drives my poor husband crazy. Maybe subconciously it is a way to shift blame from myself. If I don't make the decision, and everything ends up in a big mess...hey - not my fault! I didn't make the decision!!!!!! I'm sure part of it also has to do with the fact that I am a people pleaser, and don't want anyone mad at me if my decision is a bad one. So, basic point, I try not to be the one making decisions...(Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..I'm such a good little ewe!)

5. I am an agressive driver. Anyone who has ever been in the car with me knows this. If you are having an oblivious day, or you are majorly distracted, or if you just LOVE going slow and/or have nothing better to do, PLEASE (and this is the nicest I will get in regards to this subject) STAY AWAY FROM ME!! I will buzz you, give you crusties, and shake my head at you as well as yell things that I know you will never hear because that is just how I move past it....and you. To my friends who have commented about my comments...yes, I KNOW they can't hear me, but I DON'T CARE!! Hee Hee...

6. I am not an organized person in the least bit, but if I have my own personal belongings set up a certain way, please be a decent human being and DON'T TOUCH!!! I can be very anal about the way I 'organize' things. My husband learned this while we were dating. I had some knick knacks on a desk, and he innocently switched them around in looking at them. I came in sometime later, saw them, made a disgruntled noise, and could not relax until I had them back in their proper places. Rob thought, and still does think, that this quirk is ridiculous and hilarious. My mother-in-law will come visit from time to time and re-organize my kitchen, and it doesn't bother me at all...to me, this is communal property, not my personal stuff. What really annoys me is when my clothes/toiletries/craft supplies/scrapping crap/stuff that is mine-and-mine-alone gets shuffled. It just really unsettles me, I know...stupid, but it does.

Okay..so there are six quirks that might be new to some and old hat to others. Now I am supposed to 'tag' six other people on their blogs...trouble is, I don't really know 6 people who blog....owell!

Life's Been Busy....

2008-08-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in so long....but as this post title states, it's been a little nutso around here! My new job is going well, I didn't run across one 'evil step-mother' floor like I feared. Everyone was really nice and made sure that I had plenty of opportunities to reinforce old skills and learn plenty of new ones! I have decided that I will stick it out for my 3 months, and at the EARLIEST opportunity, I will ask to be cross trained into Maternity and then transfer into the Women's Float Pool from there. I have worked a variety of different floors already, and none of them have really grabbed my interest as somewhere I would want to stay. I really like the float pool and can't really see any reason as to why I would ever want to be on a fixed unit.

I have gone and enrolled myself at SLCC and signed up for a Chemistry lecture and lab, and I am now wondering if I really want to get into this. My lecture is online, which is cool, because I don't have to be anywhere at any fixed time, but I am already a week behind and have not yet been able to get the book...this will not bode well for me. My lab is Weds. evenings...that's tomorrow..so we will see if I have a snowball's chance of making this work!

I cannot believe how expensive community colleges have gotten! I thought that maybe things were up around $50 a unit...guess I live in the stone age...try $100 a unit! Here I was, blithely signing up for my Chemistry class, absolutely thrilled that there were openings...5 units..no big deal..I can make this work...until I looked at my account and saw the total *faint* $649.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least they were nice enough to break it down for me....$25 lab fee, $135.50 Student fees (since I'll just be the life of the campus activities..NOT!), and 499.00 for the classes.....DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG! I immediately turned around and filled out the FAFSA, with some hope that I will get some financial something before the end of the semester, so far the process seems to be moving faster than I was told it would, but I am not getting my hopes up too high in that department!

My kiddos have returned to school! Brenna is in 5th grade, Jaron in 3rd, and Cade in 2nd. They have been in one full week already. Brenna has been placed in Advanced Spelling and Math, and is running for Student Council. I don't know where she gets it from. I was fairly bright in the language arts and was a basically good student, never the top of the class, but somewhere in the upper ranks. I most definitely was not EVER interested in school politics...in fact, I would run as hard and fast as I could (and I don't run) away from those types of opportunities. As far as I know, Rob was never involved with student leadership either. Now, she did mention something about treats, and I have a sneaking suspicion that that is a strong motivating factor, but she does seem really interested and excited - so I will let her have at it. It will really look good on her record if she is chosen and I am sure it will be an awesome learning opportunity for her. Jaron is plugging along and seems to be doing really well so far. He reads like a champ and is able to do most of his homework independently...YAY! I am assuming that Cade is having the same success...I haven't gotten any notes home to tell me otherwise. He is in a class that has no assigned homework..which has been the bane of his existence...I see all sorts of COMPLETED worksheets arriving home daily in his backpack with almost everything correct. He still doesn't like to read or tie his shoes...doesn't mean he can't..he just won't. "I'm just a seven year old! I can't know that yet!" or my all time favorite when I tell him he needs to make better choices and control himself..."Mom, I told you! I'm trying, but my brain won't let me!" Sometimes...I wish I could just pop the top off and do some re-wiring......he is the one kid that just isn't affected by anything...my little behavioral mystery, that one.

Quentin has been stepping up the antics lately. I had just finished a puppet show when my phone rang. It was Rob on the other end. I have told far too many stories that have started in this fashion...so y'all know it can't be good! Sure enough, Mr. Q had decided to make himself some chocolate milk with the brand new bottle of chocolate syrup I had just bought. I came home to a smallish pond of chocolate on my table, and a near lake of the stuff on my kitchen floor. Thank goodness he stuck to the kitchen and also that Rob came upon him within minutes of him starting this. He is an awfully quick little fellow, and within just a couple of minutes time, he made the said pools on the floor AND covered his entire front side with the stuff. He had a cup and everything all ready (it was covered too), he knew what he was doing, he just lacked the particular fine muscle control to have it work for him. He even recognized that he made a HUGE mess, and attempted to clean it up with one of my good kitchen towels, all the while saying, "Uh oh, MESS!" This time I didn't take pictures of it, I have enough of those..thank you very much (or little?) Plus, I just wanted to go to bed, I had just finished an 11p to 7 a.m shift followed by a puppet show at 9 a.m. - I was in no mood for nostalgic documentation.

So...that has been my life of late...busy, busy, busy. And goodness knows it's only going to get worse (or better????(seriously, folks)????) But, that's another post for another bat-time on another bat-channel...TTFN!!!

.Cade-isms

2008-07-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

My seven year old is sure one unique little boy. He says the oddest things sometimes, and most of the time they get him out of a lot of hot water because one is usually laughing too hard to be mad at him....

Take yesterday, for instance, he had been outside messing with my hose and squirting himself. He can be rather hard on things in general, and a lot of things get broken while in his hands. My poor spray nozzle was yet another victim...come to think of it, he broke last years nozzle and my wand the year before that! Anyway, I found my busted spray nozzle and questioned him as to why he had broken yet another one. "I don't know! It wasn't strong enough! I'm just one little 7 year old boy with a pink eye!" He replied. I couldn't stop giggling long enough to really be upset, and he does have a mild case of pink eye. Poor little 7 year old with a pink eye....

WAHOOOOO!!!

2008-07-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

I got the job I interviewed for last Friday!!! Part-time afternoons in the Acute Care Float Pool. I was jumping up and down and screeching like a loon afterwards...Rob said I was acting like a dork, but he was happy for me.

I start next Monday...I am so unbelievably excited!!

I also heard back from SLCC about my transcript evaluation. They said I had to be a registered student in order for them to evaluate any prior records. Whatever...so I applied and am now an official member of the SLCC student body. They said they would begin evaluating my transcripts immediately, as soon as they determined which one of the 6 Shannon Fox's that I was in their system. I had no idea my name was that popular.....

Back in the Saddle...

2008-07-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I refuse to give up. I guess I owe my extreme stubborn streak to my wonderful Norwegian/Irish/Scottish heritage! I got my first CNA job at Placerville Pines out of sheer persistance, I sat in that nursing home lobby every day for almost a week until the staff director finally approached me and said,"You aren't going to go away, are you? You must really want to work here..." "No, I won't, and Yes, I do!", I replied. She said, "Okay..be here at 8 a.m. tomorrow." The rest is history...

IHC has rejected me twice now, but has also called me up for two more interviews. I completed one interview yesterday for an Acute Care Float Pool position. I got my hopes up really high the last time, so I am trying not to be too preoccupied by all of it this time. The interview went well, everyone was really nice just like last time, but I really connected with the two nurses who were making the decisions..so I have a small flicker of hope that that will keep me in the running.

I have another interview at Primary Children's on Tuesday for the Rapid Care Clinic in the ER there...we'll see how that goes.

I figure that if it worked once, it will work again. I will continue to apply for every available CNA position until they a) hire me to stop me from bombarding them with my applications, or b) block me from their site!

My boys come home later this morning, and our family will once again be complete and hopping with activity! Mostly sibling rivalry stuff...I think I might miss the quiet, but I will be glad to have everyone in one place!

Goin' On a Mouster Hunt....

2008-07-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

My husband made a comment this evening about how we have suddenly become animal lovers because we suddenly have so many dang animals in our house. 1 temporary Gecko, a dog, and 5 hamsters....well we did have 5...

It is what every parent who allows a rodent into their home dreads. You go to check on said rodent (in our case rodentS) and it is missing, yes....MISSING!!!

Brenna had just returned home from her wonderful adventure in Virginia to find one of her furry friends absent from its home. We searched all over. These hamsters have escaped before, but that was because we thought a guinea pig cage made a good home. So....we looked, and looked, and looked some more...no 'mouster'.

The rest of the family had given up, I was still poking around. I was checking the caller ID in my husband's office when I heard some faint scratching coming from the air vent in the floor. I shined a flashlight down there, but couldn't see anything, so I went down to my craft room which is directly underneath. I was listening for more scratching and scurrying so that I could locate where the hamster was hidden. As I walked over to flip on the light, I saw a set of whiskers sticking out of our air intake/furnace setup....

Can you say "lucky"???? She still was having an incredibly hard time getting out of the hole, so we had to enlarge it a bit and pull back the sharp edges with a pair of needlenose pliers. I went up and grabbed her baby, some food, and of course...my camera! I was able to coax her out with her baby and the food bowl, which she gladly jumped into!

So....I have absolutely no idea how long she had been missing, or WHO helped her into her predicament. Noone in my house is 'fessing up. I am just grateful she was easy to find and that I didn't have to 'smell' her out if she ended up dying in our vents..................ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...that would have made scrapping extremely unpleasant!

You Can't Win Them All...

2008-07-10T20:21:00.001-07:00

Well folks, I guess it just isn't meant to be right now...The interview went awesome yesterday, everyone was really nice. But I guess it wasn't awesome enough because they sent me a rejection e-mail this morning. There were five positions open and six of us interviewing and what it came down to was that I hadn't worked in the medical field for 10 years and the other (very) young ladies had all just gotten their CNA's within the last year and were currently working in one facility or another. So....I've been sulking a bit, but I'll get over it! Someone in this town will see that just because I've been out of the field for 10 years doesn't mean I am out of the loop!!!

It's Finally Happening....

2008-07-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

I have an interview scheduled with the Murray Women's Center at the new IHC hospital at 1:30 p.m.!!!!! After weeks of waiting, a position finally became available in the Maternal/Newborn unit. It is full-time, and I am hoping they need mostly nights. I have been reassured by my good friend Kim..who is a nurse there..that the nurse managers are wonderful to work with, very kind, and flexible with scheduling and such. I am very excited and extremely nervous at the same time...so I am just going to concentrate on not being a total blithering idiot tomorrow! Wish me luck! I'm sure I'll need it!

The best part about this whole thing is (besides being immersed with new moms and newborns)that in January they are opening a new nursing program through the local community college here. All I really need to do is take Chemistry this Fall (ICK!) and all my pre-requisites should be covered.....

So.....new path opened up, tons of new opportunities - nervewracking? Somewhat...Exciting? You betcha!!!

From the Mouths of Babes

2008-06-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

I was bathing my 2 year old this evening, as I seem to be doing every night and sometimes during the day as well. He has just recently acquired an interest in all things dirt. He loves to play in his sandbox, and lay in it...sometimes facedown. He loves to play in our neighbors dirt side yard with his cars and trains..the kid just likes dirt, so he gets lots of baths, which he has decided he definitely does NOT like!

This evening he ended up in the tub because he decided that my compost bucket made a good hat...he might have thought that it made for a fun head covering..but it definitely did not make for a good smell! I guess we should be considering ourselves lucky that a. there wasn't much in there, and b. the scraps were relatively fresh.

So I put him in the tub while I was still trying to carry on a conversation with my sister in law, Shauna. It wasn't very easy because he was protesting loudly..Shauna could probably attest to that! I soon ended my telephone conversation and proceeded to bathe the boy. He got mad at me for soaping him up, and proceeded to throw all his very waterlogged toys on my bathroom floor, creating a small lake in the process. I quickly tossed them all back in and sternly told him "No! Stop that!" then from him.."No! Youstopat!" I then decided that a good rinsing was what he needed so I could get him out of the tub and end his water flinging rampage. So I dumped a huge cup of water over his head, and then I did it again (just trying to get the suds out of his hair) After a few seconds of spluttering, he looks up at me and says, "You Meeniead mommy!"

I was laughing so hard I was almost crying....

Let us hope that that is the worst insult he ever comes up with! It was so dang cute!

Such a proud moment...

2008-06-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

Mountain Top Wrestling Club

Last weekend we took the whole family down to Cedar City for the Utah Summer Games. We left early to take in the Manti Temple pageant and visit a friends cabin in Mt. Pleasant. The cabin was awesome, the temple pageant was decent, we were in good company, so it made for an enjoyable experience. We left our friends' cabin at 4:45 a.m. so that we could make it to Cedar City by 8 in the morning. We got outside the gated community only to discover we had a flat tire. Minor inconvenience, Rob and I got it changed in 20 minutes flat. We made it down to SUU where the games were being held, and then the van overheated, but at least we got to our destination first! Rob ran the boys in and got them registered and weighed in, I topped off the engine fluids and changed the baby.

Eventually, we all got to be in the same location. I was a little worried about the boys' ability to compete due to the fact that they hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, but they seemed fine. The first couple of matches the boys had were against one another. We were a bit frustrated by this, as we had not come all this way for the boys to do what they already do at practice. But not as many contestants showed up to the tournament this year, so it was only them and 1 other boy in their weight division, and that boy was in another weight class, so it was really only Jaron and Cade. Cade won all but one of his matches and ended up with a gold and a silver. Jaron lost one more than Cade and ended up with the silver and a bronze. He was not at all happy with that, Rob and I were immensely proud.

I must digress a bit and let you know that the tournament ran for two days and covered 3 different styles of wrestling: Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Folkstyle. So the boys had 3 different opportunities to medal, depending on how many boys were in their division for each style.

We finished with the first day of competition earlier than expected, due to the low turnout, and headed up to Beaver to our hotel. It was fifty miles away, but still the closest place we could find..Cedar City was booked out due to the games and the Shakespearean Festival. There was a pool and hot tub at the hotel, we enjoyed that immensely! We opted to go to bed rather early because we had to get up and out early again the next morning.

We got to the tourney on time and with no incident. The only problem I saw, was that there were A LOT more kids. Sure enough, there were two additional kids in the boys weight bracket, which meant that someone was going home without a medal. The boys did really well, they only had to wrestle each other once. Cade won his first match ever by pinning his opponent! This was the same kid he had lost to at the State Tourney. I tell ya', it was a thing of beauty! Rob was beaming, and I was so excited and happy for him, that I was almost in tears, the best part was, I got pictures of it!

Although Jaron didn't have any such victory, he did have some spectacular moves that I got pictures of as well. check out that bridge!! That's a thing of beauty!
This day ended with Cade getting another silver, and Jaron, a very disappointed Jaron, was the one who didn't place.

All in all, the trip was a very enjoyable one, and I am sure we will probably repeat it next year! At least next year the boys will be in different brackets and won't have to compete against each other!

Kids say the darndest things...

2008-06-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

Conversation in my house this afternoon...

Brenna: Is Tomb Raider a Sunday game?

Rob: uhhhh...not really...

Jaron (in the distant background): Yeah it is! Hello...Nature!!! DUH!!

Shannon: I don't think a 57 Magnum, or Glock..or whatever she's shooting, are exactly a part of nature....

We just had to laugh... I mean, you are running around outside through a jungle and all...killing people and other animals..but you are still outside...in nature...

Just Wondering........

2008-06-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Are they polite latinos that deliver and distribute, or do they deliver and distribute polite latinos? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.......

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner....SO NOT!!!

2008-06-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, in the merry month of May, a new Chick-Fil-A opened at The District here in South Jordan. It is the tradition of this particular restaurant chain to award the first 100 customers through the doors of the new store with a years worth of free combo meals. Rob had done this a couple years back at the Sandy location when they held some sort of anniversary bash, and we really like their food and it was FREE, for awhile anyway...
Back to the story....

This event was very well publicized, and we knew there would be a crowd, as hopeful first 100 participants could begin lining up 24 hours before the scheduled opening. The store opened at 6 a.m. on the morning of May the 22nd. I drove past on my way to a puppet show at 8:30 a.m. and there were already 3 to 4 good sized tents smack in the middle of the parking lot. As soon as I got home from my show at around noon, Rob headed out to stake out his spot. He called me after he got settled and told me just how serious this whole deal was. Once you showed up, you were required to unload your vehicle of everything you were going to need. They had an area roped off in the middle of the lot. Once you were registered and given a numbered wristband, you were restricted to that lot, and if you were caught crossing the line, you were kicked out. They were very strict with these rules, and would do random roll calls to make sure that no one left. I could not make it until much later in the afternoon, because I had another show, the kids were not yet out of school, and Brenna had piano lessons. The minute all that was done, I grabbed the kids and loaded in with all the gear I had loaded earlier in the day. It ended up that Rob was #10, and I was #30..oh, you had to be 18 or older to win the meal tickets, so our kids were just along for the ride.

It just so happened that the weather turned nasty for our little parking lot campout. It rained and was pretty cold for late May. They fed us well and had lots of fun activities for us. They had a DJ and decided to do a limbo contest for some free movie passes. I was a sucker and decided to participate. Now, for some unknown reason, my back was extremely sore. If I had at least, in some small way, used my brain-I would have listened to that red flag and just watched from the side. But no...I just had to try. I made it through the first round, and even made it under a second time. Upon attempting to stand up after passing under the bar, I lost my balance, and pitched face first towards the asphalt. My body, of course, did the best defensive maneuver it could think of and I threw my hands out in front of me to break my fall and save my face. I am a fairly stout (okay...FAT) woman, and I did not land lightly...oh no...all just under 200 pounds of me landed on my middle finger of my right hand. Yeah...it hurt...pretty darn bad! By the next morning it was really ugly and swollen and bruised. I got up at 6 a.m. and got my free chicken meal coupons and went home. My finger continued to bother me...for weeks. It felt like it was dislocated, so I would have Rob pull on it,(no gas jokes here) and I would pull on it trying to get it back into place. Believe me...that wasn't pleasant either! Finally my mother, who is a chiropractor, took a look at it and told me that I really should go to my doctor. I did just that................. 10 days later!!!!!

Dislocated? Sprained? Oh no...try BROKEN!!! They slapped a splint on me and told me I had to wear that for at least 2 to 3 weeks and that I couldn't do my puppet shows. I laughed at them and told them that wasn't a possibility. They told me to wear it as much as I could then and handed me an extra roll of stretch medical tape, and to come back in 2 weeks to see if it had healed.

So far I am doing well. It hurts more if I have the splint on, but I guess that's because it's holding my finger in the right position.

All this for free chicken? Was it worth it? You bet your tail feathers!! That's some dang good chicken....

And if you have a headache from reading all this rambling...I apologize...but I'll get you one of their lemonades if that will make you feel better!

Other Sites

2008-06-12T11:10:00.001-07:00

View my page on Natural Mommy

A Weight Off My Shoulders....

2008-06-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well folks, you are viewing the blog of Utah's newest CNA!!! I PASSED! I PASSED!! I PASSED!!!!!!! You should have seen the jumping happy dance I was performing this afternoon in my kitchen...Cade's comment, "Wow Mom! You can jump? I didn't know you could jump!" I guess that is a sorry commentary on my activity level, when one of my children registers excitement over my feet leaving the ground, however momentary!

Also on the venue today was Brenna's birthday. She has achieved her very first decade in life! I am ooooooooooolllllllllllllllldddddd! It really doesn't seem like it was that long ago when I gazed into those big, dark newborn eyes of hers for the first time, and watched Rob proudly feed his firstborn Oreo cream. Sniff....sniff...where did all the time go? Her party today was certainly an event. I had 8 ten year olds in my house simultaneously, two of which were boys! We had a karaoke party, thanks to the assistance of Jesse and Shauna, and it was a screaming success (emphasis on the screaming)! Really, there were a fair amount of kids who could perform reasonably well and only a couple that you just had to pin a smile on your face and sit on your hands. Jaron really got a kick out of the system and put on quite the show pre and post-party!

Brenna got lots of lovely presents and all in all seemed to have a pretty awesome day!

The Wii Fit that Rob got me for my birthday has also been quite the hit in this house. I have been on it everyday, and I wince everytime I have to climb the stairs. Boy am I sore!!! I think this is seriously the most fun I have ever had exercising! I never seem to get on the thing at the same time every day, so my stats are wildly fluctuating, which the computer never ceases to point out. Maybe in a couple of months it will quit telling me what a weak and unbalanced body I have...one can hope, right?

Til' next time...

hippo birdy screw me.....

2008-06-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

You must sing the above words to the tune of "Happy Birthday"....I dunno, it made me giggle...REALLY hard!

Sooooooooo....it was my birthday today. I am officially another year older... It was a very nice day. I had a puppet show in the morning which Rob accompanied me on and afterwards we went to lunch at Chick Fil-A...yummy. Even yummier because it was free, because we camped in their parking lot overnight, in the rain...that's another story. From there we went to our brand new Super Wal Mart and did a little shopping. We had just pulled in to the parking lot when I spied a Great Clips sandwich board stating 'haircut special - $6.99' I mused about this out loud and Rob says "You want to get your hair cut?" Didn't have to ask me twice! We pull up to the store front and Rob asks me,"So..do you want to get a perm, or a style?" My eyes bugged for a second, and I stammered a bit....You see, my hair is REALLY long, and that means much money for a mass of lovely curls. In the end I decided on a haircut and style. Long layers with a long sweeping side bang. I lost about 4 inches+ of nasty damaged hair..(note to self: DO NOT wait 3 1/2 years between haircuts!) It felt really nice to be pampered for a bit, and I was highly flattered when the stylist registered extreme shock upon learning my age. I got to feel glamourous for a little while as well, with my hair all curly and shiny and bouncy....until the blasted wind got a hold of it! We had some humidity today as well..so after a couple of hours it was a far cry from what it started out as. But oh well, it was really fun while it lasted, and I am grateful to my husband for insisting that I do something nice/extravagant for myself, because I really enjoyed it...if you haven't already guessed by my excessive rambling!

Of course, it didn't end there....oh no!!! Rob also got me New Moon by Stephanie Meyer. If you have not read the Twilight series, you are seriously missing out!! Guys..these are chick type vampire/romance novels...VERY AWESOME...so pardon my raving if you think such things are cheesy. I also got a new 12x12 scrapbook album to feed my scrapping addiction, potting soil to darken my slightly green thumb, and a blonde highlighting kit to spur on the new found interest in my hair. Hopefully I don't end up making myself look like Frankensteins' bride.

When we got home, I rested for a little bit and then headed out for another puppet show. When I got home, Rob was making dinner. Wow...am I spoiled or what? After dinner my friend Mindy showed up with a plate of homemade cookies and some balloons, and stayed to watch me open a present which Rob had wrapped for me. Rob got me something great yet again! He got me Wii Fit! Mindy saw that and said that just because I got that didn't mean that I got to stop exercising with her! Yeah..I think I'll take that. This system is one mean video game...it took no time at all for it to tell me I was a morbidly obese fatty with the fitness level of a 49 year old...tell me something I don't know! My kids had a blast setting up their own profiles, and then the game tells them..."It's Mom's birthday! Make sure you do something nice for her!!" HA!!! How 'bout you take back what you called me you..you...you...uh yeah..it's just a video game that is going to help me acheive my fitness goals. Actually, even with the computer jibes, I am looking forward to seeing if I can do an overhaul on this sagging mothership! Then my excellent friend, Karen Fragassi, called me to wish me a happy birthday and get all the afore mentioned details. When she was signing off, she gave me the wondrous title for this post. Love that woman..she has the most awesome witticisms! They make me think, and almost always make me laugh...usually really hard!

So, anywho...that was my day...if you have stuck it out this far..wow..you really must like me..or you are really bored...either way...thanks!

I saw this on a friends blog...

2008-06-01T14:05:00.001-07:00

Movie Reviews

This is what they say it takes to read my blog....

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks....

The Test....

2008-05-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the 16th of May, I went to take my written test for my CNA relicensure. I had studied up on all the terminology and went back through my catalog of memories in nursing homes (pretty self-entertaining..I tell ya')
I had a puppet show in downtown Salt Lake in the late morning, and after the show I decided that it would probably be really smart if I went to find the testing site, as it was also in the South Salt Lake vicinity, and....I am directionally challenged. I finally found the place after driving in just a couple of circles. It was about 11:30 and I was debating on going home and coming back for my 1:30 test. I called Rob to get his opinion..we both concluded that it would be smarter, and cheaper (dang expensive gas!) if I just stayed put. I did happen to have a couple of errands to run that were extremely close, so I went to take care of those. On my way back to the testing center..I decided that I needed some lunch, so I stopped at Wendy's, mmmmmmmm yummy! Now, I have been known to be just slightly lactose intolerant..so I should have known better than to do what I did. I ordered a strawberry shake with my meal. Usually, if there is going to be a problem, I know within 15 minutes and I figured (with my fuzzy logic) that I would be fine time wise. Fifteen minutes came and went with no symptoms, so I marched my happy self into the testing center.
I can talk to just about anyone, and as luck would have it, there was a small crowd waiting outside the testing center doors, and we were all taking the same test. So I chatted with everyone for a bit, and then we were called in to register. I verified that I was who I said I was and showed my picture ID, signed the paperwork and my life away. Then they went over some last minute details and told us from this point on, we could not leave. That's about when my belly started protesting....dun da dun dun. We had two hours to complete the test. Fortunately it was all multiple choice. About 10 minutes into it, I was in some pretty considerable discomfort, and by 20 minutes my belly was emitting such loud roars of disapproval that my test neighbors were beginning to give me side long glances of concern. I zipped through 100 questions in 29 minutes! I ran (quickly hobbled) out the door to get signed out. An administrator came back to log me out, looked at me and the time on the screen and asked if I wanted to review anything. I said a strangled "no!" and managed to make it out to the waiting area. I thought they would give me my results immediately, but no...they changed policy and said I would receive them by mail in 5 to 10 days...whatever! "Um, where is your closest bathroom?" Don't worry, I made it......

Yay Me!

2008-05-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I have always wanted to be a nurse. Specifically, a maternity nurse. Pregnancy facinates me, childbirth even more so. Many of you poor folk have had to listen (tune out) as I rambled on incessantly about the subject...thanks for your support, even if it has been torture...
I became a CNA out in California back in '92 or '93...too long ago for me to remember...I have wanted to be a maternity nurse since I was 10...so it all tends to kind of blur...Anyway...I wanted to see if I had what it takes to be a nurse, so I decided I had better start on the bottom most rung. I worked in a couple of nursing homes...it was tough, but I made it! From this experience I learned that I can handle any bodily fluid except vomit (sorry..tmi) I spent several years working in home health care and gained many invaluable experiences there. However..due to a couple of back injuries that occurred while working in nursing homes, I had to quit doing that and can honestly never go back to that environment. I can't do the lifting and am no longer interested in caring for the elderly...and.....I let my liscense lapse....
Fast forward to now....
I sat for my written CNA exam two weeks ago...that is a separate post all of its own....anyhow, I passed! I passed with flying colors as they said...93%.
There is still a second portion...the skills test. I am a bit nervous about this one...as it has been about 10 years since I have used any of it. There is no margin of error with this test and I have to pass with 100%. I spoke to the head proctor yesterday about a refresher course. I left several messages with her hoping to get in on one...she, of course, never called me back. But she did spend quite a bit of time on the phone with me, after my fourth panic striken call, and gave me all sorts of helpful details and assured me that I would do just fine. All the same, I would appreciate any prayers/good thoughts when I go in for this...June 2nd @ 7:30 a.m.
I am almost assured a job at the new Murray IHC maternity center if I pass everything...I am so excited by the possibility, I can't even begin to describe it...
I am so motivated at this point to FINALLY get going on achieving my dream, that I even called the Salt Lake Community College advisement center. I am going in at noon today to speak with a counselor about getting into the nursing program! 'Bout dang time...I've certainly done enough talking about it to last a lifetime!
Another bonus about this whole situation, is that by working for IHC, they will pay for my nursing school. I work for them 24 hours a week and sign a contract that I will work for them for awhile after I graduate, and I am covered!! What a win - win!!!

Worms....only with legs...

2008-05-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

When I brought these adorable furballs home for my daughter to enjoy, I was promised that they were sexed..."so you don't end up with more!" I'm such a sucker!!! We ended up with two males and two females, and by the time I figured it out..one of the girls was pregnant!

Brenna is now the proud hamster grandma of three lil' wriggling red worm things..but with legs. That was her description....she is so proud, and I am looking for hamster homes...

Anyone want one??? They are known as Dwarf Campbells.....

Sigh....thought I would throw that one out there just in case anyone was interested....

Peese Muster??

2008-05-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

cBrenna is hamster obsessed. She has been begging for months for us to let her get a hamster. Never mind that her mother is violently allergic to most rodents, she wanted one! After listening to her finageling and various promises, we finally caved. Rob did his shopping homework and found a lady doing pet rescue who was giving away some 'adorable dwarf hamsters'....and they were sexed so that you would not end up with more. What a deal!

So, on a lovely spring day in April, I went to go pick up a hamster. When I got to the house, the lady answered the door, and she was in tears, she had just had to put a cat to sleep and was profusely apologizing about her emotional state. I have been accused a time or two of being too soft hearted, and I couldn't resist giving her a hug and telling her it would be alright. She was a very lovely person and an avid animal lover, her house was full of pets of all kinds. After talking with her awhile, she went down to get the hamsters. She came back up with a cage containing 4 hamsters. They were very small, fluffy, and adorable. I couldn't pick just one. I think the pet lady capitalized on my indecision and told me if I took all 4, I could have the cage as a long term loaner. I was sold and toted the furballs home.

Naturally, the kiddos were obsessed and the hamsters got way overindulged. Quentin was the most intrigued and was into them nonstop. Quentin is way adorable for a 2 1/2 year old and he is gaining quite the vocabulary and his own unique way of pronouncing things. Now, he is my fourth child, and you would think that after going through three other toddlers that I would have the 'toddler speak' thing down.......ummmmmmmmm.....nope.

For three solid days, Quentin would come to me and grab my hand..."peese musters mommy? Musters?" What? You want mustard? How odd..... It wasn't until I was toting a load of folded clothes upstairs to the boys room, that I got it. Quentin was in his sisters room, holding a hamster under her supervision, and laughing gleefully. He saw me, held up the hamster and said,"Wook mommy, muster!!!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! That's what you meant!!

Wow...It's bright.....

2008-05-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

The Rob Fox family has finally come out of the dark ages of internet-dom and has obtained high speed internet!!! Until 1:30 p.m. MST we were on Juno's dial-up. Don't get me wrong, we knew about high-speed and all, we just couldn't swallow the astronomical charges.
About a month ago, Rob's laptop took one last feeble gasp and gave up the ghost, it was very sad and might have almost bordered on tragic if not for the wondrous talents of BIL Jesse Harris and his nifty flash drive. We were able to save all our photos, documents and such, but we now had nowhere to put them......so Rob went shopping. Generally in the relationship, the woman is the shopper...not so here! Unless it is a scrapbook store, I hate shopping! I have in mind what I want, I go in the store, get it, and get out! Not Rob, he loves to look for deals and he takes the time to research if it is a major purchase. Me, I'm just too impatient. So for us, it is more economically sound to let Rob do the purchasing. Back to Rob's laptop search......
Rob decided on a MacBook Pro and it was quite the steal, so it was ordered and arrived 2 days later. It is a very nice looking machine, if I do say so myself, and we had some enjoyable moments checking it out. Rob comments..."There is no phone jack..." "What?" I say, "How could that be?" It was at that moment that it hit me....dial up is obsolete! How did we get away with it for this long? Sigh....
A couple of weeks later Rob found another killer deal on a desktop and brought that home...once again, no phone jack...alas....what to do??
Bring on the sunglasses folks and welcome to the future!!!