Change

Yesterday was election day so today I woke up with a new president who will spend the next four years in the White House. Barrack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States running on the A Time for Change slogan (gee that's something new). I must admit that I didn’t vote for him. There is just something about him that I don’t trust, but he is the new president and so it is my hope that he will try and do what is best for the country.

In 1963 Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in which he stated “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. Even though we now have a black president, I’m not sure we have made much gain since that famous speech 45 years ago; because a lot of people voted for Obama because he was black and not because of his “content of character”.

My case in point goes to the fact that during the campaign, people in Harlem, New York were interviewed. They were asked who they were voting for and most said Barack Obama. They were then asked if they were voting for Obama because he was Pro-Choice or because he supported the war in Iraq (both of these are McCain's campaign policies). The person would then agree with one of these policies. Then the person was asked if they were okay with a woman being vice-president even though Obama's VP choice is male...the person then said they were okay with a woman being VP. This just proves that people didn't even know what Barrack Obama stood for; aka his content of character.

One newscaster after the win said, "The best thing that Barrack Obama had going for him was President George W. Bush". I guess people were so disenfranchised with President Bush that if the Democrats had a monkey as their candidate he probably would have been elected president....now how sad is that!

It's too bad that people were voting AGAINST something and not FOR something.

Since hearing about the election results a lot of sayings have been going through my head. "This too shall pass", "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger", "Endure to the end" and "If you don't stand for something you'll fall for everything". And so I will endure the next four years and hope that the nation is not the worse for wear when it is over. I will get up every day and go about my daily routine putting my trust in God for I know that he is the same today, tomorrow and forever.

So Many Projects....So Little Time!

My husband would probably call me the biggest procrastinator ever, but in my own defense I must plead that I married someone just like me! :)

Once again I had bitten off more than I really could chew and by mid-October I was starting to feel like I was choking. I was in charge of the ward Halloween party, I needed to finish my costume for a party we were going to up at Snowbasin and we also had the family Halloween party to hold at our house plus I had committed myself to sewing (hold on this gets complicated) my daughter-in-law Tiffany's sister Whitney's wedding dress. She is getting married December 5th. Whitney is trying to save money and so she is going to use Tiffany's wedding dress. That would be nice, but Tiffany's dress had spaghetti straps and Whitney is getting married in the temple so spaghetti straps won't look to good with garments. Still, I thought "no big deal, we'll use the skirt and just change the top"....how wrong I was.

Making the top part wasn't that big of a deal, but then I was taking the appliques and beading off of Tiffany's dress and putting it on Whitney's. When I unpicked the lower band the applique and beading all came off in one piece and so I thought this would be no big deal. Then on Saturday I started unpicking the other stuff and the beads starting falling off landing in my lap...needless to say I was almost in tears by the end of the night. Then on Sunday I finished unpicking and sewing the applique on to the dress which just left beading, sleeves and some last minute hand work. No big deal, Whitney's bridal pictures weren't until Thursday, I have plenty of time...so I thought until Tif called me on Monday to tell me that Whitney had moved her bridal's to Wednesday.

So I stayed up until midnight on Monday sewing on beads then up at 5am to finish. Eight a.m. and I still wasn't finished so I loaded the dress into the car along with scissors, thread and needle then off to work! Luckily Dr. Bentley had a meeting and was done with patients early so I went out to the car and got out the dress to finish the hand work. Then Tif and Braedon showed up at the same time so there we all sat in the car while I finished sewing the dress. I'm sure it looked funny to anyone passing by. The dress is now done and Tif called later to say that Whitney loves the dress but.....the sleeves are a little tight.

So, I guess I'm not done after all! It's a good thing I didn't put away my unpicker. Besides, what would I do if I didn't have a project!

Family Halloween Party

Last night we had our annual Halloween Party. I was trying to remember how many years we have held this now but I'm not exactly sure but I think it has been five or six now. This year we had thirteen here which is making for quite the house full.
We started out carving pumpkins and thank goodness the weather this year was nice instead of freezing cold so we could carve them outside. This was the first year that Kayson was really old enough to help carve pumpkins. Once his dad had the top off they rolled up Kayson's sleeves and asked him if he wanted to help. Kayson said "No, don't wanna" as he started pulling down his sleeves. I don't know what they expected since he is just like his dad was at that age and hates getting hands dirty.
As you can see, the pumpkins turned out great! Then it was on to dinner. I made dinner in a pumpkin which I had made last year for a Sunday dinner and it turned out really good, but wouldn't you know it because we had alot of people over it wasn't done at six (even though it had been in the oven for over three hours). I think it was slow cooking because I had guests. When it was finally done it was really good and I think everyone got plenty to eat.
The last thing we always do at the party is make and decorate Halloween sugar cookies. This year we were actually prepared and made the sugar cookies before hand so Tiffany and I weren't busy cutting out and baking cookies while everything else was going on. I had bought M&M's and candy corns to decorate the pumpkin faces on the cookies and we still had sprinkles which Tiffany limited Nicole to one shake per cookie since Nicole has the habit of over doing it to the point that no one wants to eat them. Kayson spent more time undecorating the cookies so he could eat the M&M's and candy corns. I'm sure he was on a sugar high!
Hopefully this tradition will continue on for years and years to come. It's so much fun to see the kids get together and I hope they had as much fun as I did.

Thanks For Visiting

I got on this blog today to write something new and possibly earth shattering, but instead I started reading all of my old posts.

After reading them, I am more glad than ever that I started this blog. It has been a place for me to record my thoughts and feelings for others to read. I even thought to myself that when I die that others can come here and remember me (I know, that's a morbid thought...sorry!).

I also added pictures to old posts because a picture is worth a thousand words.

SOoooo if it's been awhile since you've visited my blog or are new to the site, I hope you will take the opportunity to review my past blogs and that you will get as much joy from them as I did.

No More Living in an Hourglass

Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive on the newly opened Legacy Parkway. This is a project which has been in the works for about eight years now. For years it was tied up in court thanks to Rocky Anderson (boo!) and the Sierra Club who were worried about the affects to the wet lands. The concession was only two lanes both ways, no trucks and a 55 MPH speed limit.

Until Saturday the only access that people in Davis county had for driving into Salt Lake was the I-15 corridor. The Legacy Parkway starts by Lagoon and basically follows I-15 along the west side and connects onto I-215 headed towards the airport by Redwood Road.

I probably won't take it going into work since I miss the worse commute and it only takes me about 30-35 minutes to get to work.

Hopefully now my commute home won't be an hour long any more. And there was nothing worse than when there was a wreck to be on the freeway for two hours.

First Day of School

Wow, it's hard to believe that the summer is now over and the kids are back in school. I can't believe that I have been sending kids off to their first day of school for 20 years now and each year has been bitter-sweet.

I think both Braedon and Nicole were really excited to go back. Braedon was up at 5:00am since he will be a Junior going to East Hollywood High this year which is in Salt Lake. To go there he has to ride public transportation and so has to catch the train to Salt Lake at 6:30am. East Hollywood High is a charter school with emphasis on film and acting. Braedon loves these areas and so we are hoping that this school will give him the love of learning again, plus the class size is about a 1/3 of his old high school.

Nicole headed off to third grade this year. Her teacher is Mrs. Parmer and she has alot of friends in this class. Nicole loves school so we aren't worried to much about her. You can see her picture for the first day of school. I keep telling her dad that I wish she weren't such a tomboy and he says try saying that in about 6-8 years when she discovers boys and she isn't such a tomboy.

Changes

I was looking at my blog profile and realized that it still said I was forty-two years old. And as good as that looked on paper (so to speak) I decided in order to be truthful I'd best change it to reflect the two birthdays I've had since I started this blog...hard to believe it has been that long. I don't feel like I'm forty-four. I remember as a kid I used to always think when you were forty you were OLD, but I really don't feel OLD. I have found that time seems to go by faster though the older I get....funny how that is.

And since I was changing things up I thought I might as well change the template to something new and add a rare picture of me in front of the camera instead of behind it taking the pictures all the time. Believe me, I always feel more comfortable behind the camera instead. I feel like my kids are always much more photogenic than me.

The picture I added was taken by Nicole when we were down in San Diego at the Christmas Festival at Balboa Park with my sister Kim. Hey Kim, we had lots of fun!

Dear Miss Manners

What is the proper etiquette for when you are in the bathroom at work and someone knocks on the door?

First of all, why are they knocking on the door? Shouldn't the first clue that someone is in there is that the door is locked? And what exactly do they want me to say? Come back later, I'm busy!?!?

I must say that there have been a couple of times that I have almost busted into the Fats Domino song "I hear you knocking but you can't come in".

Designing Woman

Well, I just finished another wedding dress. I didn't realize that making Cassie's wedding dress would put me back in the business.

I used to sew professionally when I lived in California and I liked it but it could be very stressful. I was glad to get my degree in nursing and start a real job, but I realize now that I have missed the creativity that comes from designing wedding dresses. This one turned out well and I think that Tarah (the neighor) is happy with it.

I've now decided to throw together an album of the dresses I've sewn so that others can see them, especially since another gal at work asked me yesterday if I could sew her wedding dress. And so the other half of the business is born.

Taking a Step Back

Who ever it was who said "You can't see the forest for the trees" had to have been a very wise person. For I have found in my life that it usually takes someone looking from the outside in who helps me understand my life better.

My most recent experience with this was when my neighbor Jen called the other day to see how I was doing and said that she had seen Braedon get off the bus and was thinking to herself how handsome he looked. She then proceeded to ask how he was doing and if he had his drivers license yet. I told her that he still didn't have his license because his grades weren't good enough. Then she asked if he had a girlfriend and I told her no. She then said that other than the grades it sounded like he was a really good kid...and you know, she is right. I guess sometimes I just get so fixated on his poor grades that I forget how good of a kid he really is.

Last night Braedon did something that drove that point home even further. I heard him call his dad and ask if there was any way he could work this weekend to earn some money. I didn't hear any more of the conversation, but later on he asked to go online to check out tuxedo rentals. He then proceeded to tell me that he had asked a girl to prom that day. When I asked "when's prom?" he told me it's the 19th which is only 11 days away. I then chastised him for waiting 'til the last minute to ask a girl....didn't he know that she would need to get a dress. That is when he told me that she already had a dress because another boy had asked her but then backed-out.

What a great kid I have!!! Here he is trying to figure out how to make enough money at the last minute so that he can take this girl to a prom so she doesn't have to miss out. He was even going so far as to hunt down his vest and he said he found a black jacket in the downstair closet that fit except the sleeves were just a little short. Other words he was trying to figure out how to go without renting a tux.

There aren't very many boys out there his age who would go to all this trouble for a girl who wasn't their "girlfriend". He has a good heart! I just need to step back more often and see him as others do!

Heroes

Nicole's school this month is saluting heroes. We went to a night time assembly at the school where the principle spoke and said that they had done a survey with the students to ask who their heroes were and I was shocked to know that the general concesses was that the kids said their parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters were their heroes. I guess I thought that they might name sports figures or movie stars, but it did my heart good to hear that wasn't true.

On the same token I'm not sure I feel adequate to be my child's hero, that's a big bill to fill. But now that I know, it means that I will definitely have to think before acting. But aside from that I know that Nicole says her brothers and sister are her heroes and today she had her brother Derek come to school as her hero.

She asked Derek last week if he could come because it was her week to be highlighted, but he had to work. So since Derek was off today he came early and we walked over to Nicole's school together. He wore his military fatigues and you could tell Nicole was very proud to have her brother walking with her to school because she wanted to be right by him.

Derek told the kids he was active duty for 3 1/2 years during which time he spent 1 year in Iraq and is now in the reserves. He then showed them on the map where Iraq is so that kids could see it was about half way around the world. He had brought some pictures that he had taken over there (which his wife Ashley had put on to pages) so the kids could see what it was like over there.

He answered questions like, "What's your favorite weapon?" (I wondered how he would respond to this one) he said "Any weapon that helps keep me and my buddies safe." "What do you like best about the army?" he said "That they take care of their own and we are a close knit family." " What did you hate the most about being in Iraq?" Derek said, "Most of the soldiers didn't mind being over there but they wished they could freeze time while they were there so they weren't missing out on birthdays, holidays and other special events. It's also hard leaving family behind that worry about you and have no way of contacting you. You hate to have them worrying about you."

Derek talked about giving service back to the Iraqi people in the form of medical care, helping them dig wells, fix buildings and other things to improve their way of life. One thing I learned is that Derek said before the U.S. came to Iraq that girls weren't allowed to go to school but that since then they have been given the opportunity. He did try to impress upon the kids how great we have it here. And in closing he did tell them that no matter what they wanted to be when they grow up that they will need a good education and so it's very important for them to study hard and learn all that they can learn.

I do know that Derek is one of my heroes. That he would give years of his life for our country and risk his own life to keep this country free and possibly bring freedom to the Iraqi people to me is beyond comprehension. I am still grateful that he returned home safely and I'm grateful for the many men and women still giving their time and even lives for this cause.

God Bless America and all of it's Heroes!

Is your Healthcare System letting you down?

I've now been awake since 3:30am with lower abdominal pain, low back pain and painful urination (not good since I didn't get to bed until midnight because I was working on a power point presentation for work). This wouldn't be so bad, but I had these same symptoms three days ago. And being in the medical profession as a registered nurse for almost twelve years now, this is very annoying.

Monday morning I woke up with these symptoms so I went to work as usual and since my doctor works in the same building I went over and asked if they could do a U/A (urine alysis) to see if I had a UTI (urinary tract infection). By late morning the results had come back that I indeed did have a UTI and needed to be placed on antibiotics. I wasn't able to fill the prescription until after work so I started on Bactrim DS 800mg that night.

Now for the frustrating part... When I picked up the prescription, I noticed that she (my doctor) had only given me a three day supply of antibiotic, but by then she was gone for the night. So the next day I thought I would check my lab results and see what the culture on the urine showed (this is the lab result which differentiates which bacteria or microorganisms are causing all my grief). To my surprise there was no culture ordered.

Now one of the first things I learned in nursing school was that when you send either blood or urine for analysis for possible infection, you always should do a C&S (culture and sensitivity) to find out what the bacteria is and what antibiotics will work best to kill it. So I discussed this with the doctor I work with and he was shocked first of all that I was place on an antibiotic for three days (rule of thumb and studies show that to be affective, you need to take the antibiotics for 7-10 days to make sure you have eliminated all the bacteria) and secondly that the urine wasn't sent for C&S.

So I wrote my doctor an email inquiring about these two things and she wrote back as quoted, "i don't see a culture either. sometimes, the lab does not reflexively do culture unless both nitrite and leuk esterase are positive. the typical treatment for uncomplicated UTI is only for 3 days. however, if you are a patient that has a more "complicated" history, then we usually extend it to 7 days. if you are concerned, i suggest we do repeat UA with culture if UA is positive after the 3 days. if it looks like the infection has not cleared, we can certainly extend the ABX to a full 7 days."

Now, I don't know about you, but the thought of having to pay for another U/A because my doctor failed to do her job by ordering a C&S the first time is a little upsetting to me! Especially with the cost of healthcare skyrocketing every day and insurance covering less and less, I'd rather use that money for other important things...like say "gasoline"!

Maybe if I were "just another patient" this wouldn't be so aggravating to me because I wouldn't know that my doctor had failed me. Maybe, for once, it would be nice to be "just another patient" and be totally in the dark. Maybe then I would still be asleep instead of ranting and raving on a blogsight at 4:00 in the morning!!!!

Cassie's Big Day

I don't feel old but I know I'm getting older because I look at my children and they are all growing up.

Cassie got married on Saturday (this makes three out of the five) and as I watched the kids dancing with each other I was kind of sad. It seemed as if the time flew by and I'm not sure I relished every possible moment with them that I could have.

As I was making Cassie's wedding dress I kept thinking back to her growing up and how I had made her blessing dress and her baptism dress and now her wedding dress. The three most important dresses in my daughter's life. And needless to say she looked stunning on her wedding day and not because of the dress, but because she is so happy she was glowing.

She met Dan and it wasn't long after she met him that Scott (my husband) and I knew that this was the one. He made her laugh, and smile and she was so happy. Dan gave me my lovely daughter back again. She had had her share of boyfriends who treated her like crap and Scott kept telling her that if the boys didn't treat her like gold she should kick them to the curb. Now she finally has one who treats her like a princess which is what every girl deserves...I should know, because I have one who does this for me.

I love you Scott!

What Doesn't Kill Us

Now that the day is over and I have survived it, it doesn't seem as bad as it did. I know that probably didn't make a whole lot of sense, but I had one of those "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day(s)".
It all started when I woke up to see more snow than the weatherman had predicted. Last night they said this storm would be smaller than the last; maybe one to two inches.....yeah! if you live in Salt Lake!!! I first got out there thinking I could push it with the plow on the four-wheeler but after getting stuck numberous times decided that it was too much to push. So, I got out the trusty shovel and started throwing. At first I thought there was about 6-8 inches of snow but when I measured it was actually about 12 inches....no wonder I couldn't push it. So I cleared enough snow that went from behind the two cars down to about one car length at the bottom of the driveway, I figured that should be enough...boy, was I wrong! Cassie went out before me and started down the driveway missing the plowed area and driving right into the deep snow on the unplowed pavement. So the neighbor and I pushed and dug her out just in time for her to get stuck on the road. After about 20 minutes we had her out and on her way so that I could go to work.
The drive to work was fine once I got on I-15 and I got there about 10:00am. I parked in the parking lot, grabbed my things, jumped out of the car, hit the lock button and shut the door just in time to realize that I didn't have my car keys in my purse. Great! Scott's in San Diego, Cassie is gone, Braedon is home sick and can't drive anyway so my only option is to call the locksmith.
The first locksmith I called quoted me $40 even though their place of business is only a couple of blocks away. The next one says $35-45 but settles for $35 if they can come in an hour....done! Now I have a receipt showing $35 worth of stupidity which I think I will hang from my rear-view mirror to help remind me to always take the keys out of the ignition before locking the doors!
The day wears on and I finally leave work at 6:50pm...what a day! Now home to fix dinner and make sure homework is done! Phone call from Nicole asking if I can pickup dinner on the way home solves the food problem...Wendy's here I come.
After we eat I go out and finish shoveling the 4 more inches of snow that fell during the day and the third driveway. By the time I finished I was almost in tears because I was so physically tired. This is the second time this week that I have REALLY MISSED Scott!
And now I'm lying here in bed writing this and thinking maybe today wasn't as bad as it seemed when I was experiencing it, and tomorrow will have challenges anew....Bring 'em on!