Medical Monday

Another week is off to a great start. I just wanna know where the year has gone. Can you believe it... 3 Months till Christmas!?!?!?!

This weekend was good. Saturday was a normal busy errand day. Poor Brad didn't sleep from Thursday until Saturday night, so he was a tired little puppy that evening. Sunday we spoke at church. And YES the building is still standing and NO there was not lightning in the sky! I am glad that is over with. Whew!!

This morning I dropped Dad off at the AF Hospital for his little procedure. Then headed back to Mom to help her get ready and took her to her Oncologist. Poor Mom has been struggling just to stay awake lately, let alone get out of the house. When we got to the doctor I wanted to give the Doc a piece of my mind, but Mom wouldn't let me (dang it all). But the Dr. agreed that Mom was in no shape for another round of Chemo (smart choice or little miss Dr. would be hamburger!). Mom did have to go over into the Hospital and get 2 bags of blood. Mom had NO white blood cells, NO platelets, and a Red Cell count of 15 (critical level is 26!)!! So that explains Mom feeling so exhausted all of the time. So Mom will be going back in for another 2 bags of blood and platelets tomorrow. So keep her in your prayers and go donate some blood!!

When I got back from the Hospital I went out to lunch with Brad. We had just gotten our order and the School calls.... Yep, Myles got hurt again! This time while fooling around with a friend he got stabbed in the palm with a pencil. So we rush over to the school and check it out. He has an ugly little cut, but no permanent damage. We tell him to get his stuff and we will take him home and he says "No, I still have time to get back to class and finish today's assignment." So he may be a drama queen, but at least he gets his work done. :)

Myles went to the Mascot Bowl tonight. It was either that or a movie. So the movie got bumped to the weekend and football won out. So after the game he walked to Arctic Circle with a few friends for dessert. I pull into the parking lot to pick him up and he starts telling his friend good bye (all girls may I add). Then he starts getting hugs from all of them and then they all get a second round of hugs. I am about to puke at this point, but he finally makes an escape. I swear, that boy is going to be a little heart-breaker!

"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." ~Sophia Loren

Scouting is Serious Business... NOT

Myles finally found his camera (it was lost in the abyss that he affectionately calls his room). So yesterday when he went on another Scout camp out he took it along. Now all of us know that a Scout camp out is serious business. I picture a group of boys building fires, widdling wood, examining animal tracks, cataloging the local horticulture.... But instead these are the pictures he
comes home with.




But Myles is home safe now. He showered, did his chores, and ran out the door to play football. Man what I wouldn't give for just 1/4 of his energy!!!

**Note to Self-- Do NOT take a dose of NyQuil at midnight and then get up and go to a morning Step-Aerobics class!! I was feeling the effects of a head cold last night and the sinus pressure was keeping me from sleeping. So I took NyQuil and I totally felt better. But at step class I was in a fog. I was totally dizzy and am sure I looked like a klutz.

"I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby." ~Nancie J. Carmody

School Update

Tonight was Myles' Parent/Teacher conferences at school. Man having to go talk to 8 teachers takes a freaking long time!! But Myles is doing Killer in school this year. He has great teachers who all handle him really well. They all love his enthusiasm even if they do wish he would keep it to himself every now and then. :) So keep up the good work buddy! We are proud of you!!

After the endless run of conferences we hit Wendy's for a quick bite to eat. Myles came up with a new 5K format. He wants to call it the "All You Can Eat 5K". The entire drive home from Wendy's he is miming like he is jogging and stuffing his face. He kept crinkling the bag like he was about to drop it and shaking his drink all over trying to slurp some down. OK, now that I have typed this out is sounds pretty lame, but it was stinking funny at the time!

I am feeling burnt out on my tunes selection lately. I am jonesing for some new tunage, but have no clue what I want. So help me out peeps!! Give me a list of whats new and hot on your play list.

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." ~Berthold Auerbach

Maxxed Out

Do you ever wish you could just call a Time-Out on life in general. That is exactly what I am wishing for tonight. I am in the middle of an awesome book, but don't have a block of time longer then 5 minute increments to read it!! (I know, boo whoo, poor little me.) But I totally feel maxxed out, schedule wise, right now. It feels like there is always something pressing to do or take care of. If I could just learn to function on no sleep I would be sittin' pretty!

"You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by." ~James Matthew Barrie

Lagoon Monsoon

Ok, so we didn't really have a monsoon while we were at Lagoon this past Saturday, but we got plenty of rain. The weather didn't stop the kids at all though (Myles & Clay and Shakierra & Michelle). They went on rides non-stop from when we got there around 11:30 am until we dragged them out the gate, kicking and screaming, about 6:30pm. We did good, Clay only threw-up once! 4 Kids and only one throw-up incident must be some kind of World Record!!

We went to Spaghetti Factory at Trolley Square for dinner on the way home from Lagoon. The boys found "the saddle" at BrookStone (it was kinda like a padded-swirling bucking bronco). It was a hoot to watch the too of them riding those things. If someone actually spends money on a contraption like that they need their head examined!! I tried to get a picture, but the little worker man wouldn't let me (dude, you work in a Mall, don't take everything so seriously!!)

Tonight we chowed-down on Cheese-Dip while watching MNF. Neither team is really on our radar, so after eating we ran to Kohl's for new pants for Myles. We hadn't bought him any new pants yet (since he seems to outgrown things overnight) seeing as it hasn't been cool enough to need pants. But this morning it was stinking cold and rainy so Myles tried to wear a pair of jeans from last year (Major Floods). So tonight we remedied that problem with 4 new pairs of jeans!! He was hilarious while trying the pants on. He came out of the dressing room with WAY too small girls jeans on!! They were skin tight and he could even pull them up all the way. He definitely knows how to make his momma bust a gut!

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." ~Judy Garland

Radio Call-in

I did something today that I haven't done in well over a decade.....I called into a radio station. I felt like I was back in Junior High again!!! On my drive home tonight (I was way late) KSOP was playing their "Pick It or Stick It" where they play a new song and you call and vote on if you like it or not. I was driving along and really liked the song and thought "What the heck, I am going to call in!" So I called in and told them to Pick It. It was some new song by Darrell Whirly (no clue how his name is really spelled) I think it was called Tequila on Ice, or something like that. So that was my blast from the past for today!! :)

When we were dating Brad called in and dedicated a song by George Strait to me on the radio. That was totally cute!! When he told me about calling in, after I had heard it, he was so funny. I guess the DJ just kept talking his ear off, poor lonely dude in a sound booth!

Note to Self: Never Never Never Never take Evie jogging. I got home just as the sun was setting. Myles was at church and Brad was sleeping. So I figured I would take the opprotuity for a nice jog. Well after jogging (or shall we say lurching) behind Evie my upper body is more sore than my lower! I would try to run faster so her leash wasn't pulled so tight, but then she would just run faster!!! She is gasping and choking the entire time, but is she smart enough to just give the leash some slack... NO WAY she has to continue to prove she is completely brain dead! So next time I try this jogging thing I think Lucy will be my road buddy. Hell, with Lucy we could walk to the mailbox and back and she would give me a look like "I think that is good, let's not over do it and risk an injury." My good old chubby Lucy totally understands me :)

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." ~Kahlil Gibran

Dexter

Brad and I got hooked on the Showtime show Dexter sometime last year. When the big writers strike took place in Hollywood one of the stations bought the rights to air the show on regular TV. But since we don't get Showtime we have been totally behind the times as to what is happening on it now. So when I saw the second season for sale at Target I scooped it up!! So tonight we watched the first two episodes of season two. There are only 12 episodes in the season, so we will be totally unsocial for about the next week until we get thru them all :) So if you enjoy psychopathic killers with a guy-next-door side then you will for sure like this show. Of course it is a cable show, so be forewarned, it is not family friendly.

Myles has started training for his first adult length Triathlon. He is hoping to enter a race in Nov. in Orem. I am tempted to enter as well, but we shall see how I feel closer to the actual date. The race is a 400 meter swim, 10 mile Bike ride, and a 3 mile run. The run part is what kills me. This is a reverse triathlon, so it will go run, bike, swim. Anybody else want to join this raging good time?!?!? Come on you know you wanna!!

Well I am off to bed to read my book. I just started Outlander and it is getting really good.

"It's unnatural for people to run around the city streets unless they are thieves or victims. It makes people nervous to see someone running. I know that when I see someone running on my street, my instincts tell me to let the dog go after him." ~Mike Royko

A Home-Body

It seems that we are always on the GO around here. So this weekend has been a much needed reprieve from all the action. We got out and took care of basic errands, but we have totally enjoyed staying home. I even took of Yesterday and Today from work, so I got a few bonus days of being a Home-Body. I have gotten lots of sewing done, my poor dining room looks like my sewing basket exploded in there!!

How about them Cowboys!!! The MNF game last night was one of the best games ever. It was non-stop intense scoring action. If you missed it you should hang your head in shame. It was tense up to the last minute, but my Boys pulled off the the big W!!! (sorry Joe!)

"HoHoHo and a bottle of Rum, Santa's run off to the Caribbean." -- Jimmy Buffett (sorry, I have Christmas on the mind)

Out Little Walflower

Myles is anything but a Walflower!! Last night around 9pm Brad and I were out running a quick errand and we get a call from Myles. He noticed that our neighbor Becky was in her garage giving Derick a hair cut. So Myles calls me and puts me on speaker phone so that I can tell Becky it is ok for her to cut Myles' hair too! The child has no qualms about asking for what he wants. So Becky was a sport and gave Myles a great trim and even a new style (though Myles didn't appreciatte her parted-down-the-middle styling technics!!) :) Myles really likes to go over to their house and visit. Myles finds it ultra-cool that Derick is an adult and can still ride a skate board better then he can! So thanks for humoring our little Walflower when he drops by!

In remeberance of the Sept. 11th Terrorist attacks that happend 7 years ago:

"Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children?
Or working on some stage in LA?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight ofThat black smoke rising against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in angerIn fear for your neighbor?
Or did you just sit down and cry?
Did you weep for the childrenWho lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out with prideFor the red white and blue
And the heroes who died just doing what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, Hope and Love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is Love

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Teaching a class full of innocent children?
Or driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor?
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?
Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened?
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages?
Speak with some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow?
Go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent home movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers?
Stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family?
Thank God you had somebody to love

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?"

-- Alan Jackson

April Sue

Not much new going on around here so I thought I would go ahead and share a little bit about myself. Hopefully you will all find out something new. Of course that will probably be followed up by scratching your head and wondering why you associate with the likes of ME!! :)

I was born in Kingman, Arizona. Yes I claim to be a California Native, but for a brief stint I lived in AZ and FL before putting down roots for the next 17 years in Cali.

I love Ice Cream more then life itself! When my time is up I want to die from an Ice Cream OD!

I love to work! I know, very weird. If it weren't for such a great family that reminds me there is life outside of the office, I would quickly become a workaholic. (Brad may claim it is already too late for me!) I am blessed to do something I really enjoy.

I am comfortable in my own skin. Seldom do I worry about what others think of me. So what if I have a fro, funky colored nails, Red shoes, a boisterous child, a dog that jumps on people, a little mess around the house..... I am happy, so others can just deal with it :) (Brad loves this part of me but at the same time I think it kind of stresses him out)

I am a great Leg Wrestler. All growing up I could beat my brothers at it. So if you ever wanna be shown-up just let me know!

I have an office-supply addiction. I love going to Office Max and meandering the isles. I swear we have enough pens, paper, folders, calculators..... to supply an entire elementary school!

I am 5'5" tall. I have blond hair (and I pay good money to keep convincing it that it is really blond!). No tattoos. Only one piercing in each ear.

My Daddy thinks my shoes and nails are outrageous and my heart is two sizes too small (just like the Grinch). While my Mom thinks I walk on water (isn't it great how Mom's never stop thinking that)!

So that is April Suzanne in a nut-shell. If there are any other tidbits you would like to know (blood type, ss#, my secret Alias's) feel free to post a comment and ask :)

"You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith." ~Mary Manin Morrissey

Fences

This past weekend both Brad and Evie had their own little run-in's with a fence. Sunday afternoon we took the dogs over to Vet's ballpark to run free. We had barely let the dogs out of the car and Evie caught site of a bird. She takes off full throttle after the bird only to run smack-dab into and old rusty wire fence. It was too funny to watch. One second she is moving like a bullet and the next she is plastered against the fence at a dead stop. It was like a scene from a cartoon!! She did come out of this little experience with a few cuts, but nothing major. But her injuries didn't stop her from running (and chasing more birds) for the next 30 minutes. :)

While we were at the park I told Brad I would give him $20 if he could make it up and over the chain link fence in one piece. He was a little hesitant, but once I told him I didnt think he could do it there was no stopping him. So he gets to the top of the fence and is straddling it and his shorts snagg on the chain link!!! I was busting a gut laughing. He hung up there for a while before unhooking himself without losing his britches! But he did get to the other side in one piece, So I guess I better pony up that $20 :)

Tonight we had a yummy dinner at El Pollo Loco and now we are watching MNF (Monday Night Football). I am still reeling over the Bears beating the Colts in last nights game (I need therapy from B&R).

"No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap." ~Carrie Snow

ER Update

We spent the afternoon at the American Fork Hospital. I got a call about 2:20 this afternoon on Myles' cell phone, but it was a teacher. He started the call with "Myles has had a little incident...". So the first thing I think of is "Oh No, What has he done!?!?"

But it seems that Myles was standing to answer a question and when he went to sit back down someone thought they were funny and pulled his chair away. So he ended up falling back and hitting the back of his neck on the edge of the chair. He must have hit it really hard because he was pretty out of it for quite some time. The school was scared to move him, due to some signs there might be damage. So Brad raced over to the school and after looking at Myles and talking with the Vice Principal (who used to be an EMT) we made the call to have an ambulance transport him to the hospital. Better safe then sorry when dealing with the spinal cord and possible nerve damage! When the EMT's were taking Myles out on the back-board school was just letting out. He said it was embarrassing having everyone staring at him while he was strapped to that board (we finally found a time that Myles didn't want to be stared at, go figure!!).

I got to the hospital shortly after Myles and Brad got there. Myles had Dr. Leblanc and he was great. They did a CT Scan, but everything looked ok. So Myles is on Ibuprofen and ice packs. We are supposed to watch him for a few days, but we should be in the clear. Myles was sure to get a doctors note to get out of his Weights class for tomorrow :)

So that was our drama for the day! When we got home Heather and the girls dropped by for a few minutes. Brad jumped at the chance to do some coloring with Gracie (he just bought a new Sesame Street coloring book for when she comes over). Janie enjoyed playing in the dogs water and repeatedly saying Hi to the dogs :)

"The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around.... Throughout history, "tender loving care" has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing." ~Larry Dossey

Jerry Reed

I was so bummed to hear that Jerry Reed past away this morning. He has some of the funniest songs. One of Myles' all time favorites is "Amos Moses". Who can resist quoting lines from his songs like "Just knock 'em in the head with a stump" or "When your Hot, your Hot" or "Why didn't I just learn how to cook?" I guess you have to be a fan to get the humor in those lines (but I am chuckling as I type them).
So while many of you only know of Jerry Reed as Burt Reynolds side kick in "Smokey and the Bandit" (he wrote and sang the theme song for that movie). Those of us who still love our old-time-hickish tunes will greatly miss Jerry Reed (does that just include Dad and I??)!

"Music is the most powerful thing on this earth, and it's hard to be angry when you are listening to music." -- Jerry Reed

2nd Anniversary

Two Years Later

Yepper, we have made it TWO years together! Hard to believe!! We had a great little getaway.

We drove up to the Monastery in Ogden Canyon. I have been to the Abbey in Austria where they filmed part of the Sound of Music. I knew not to expect anything of such grandeur, but I was still really excited to go and see this one. WOW!!! Totally NOT what I was expecting! I will stop there before I offend someone, but needless to say that stop took up about 3 minutes!!

So you know that storm that hit N. Utah and knocked out power, had Gail force winds and a down pour of rain... yep, that all started the instant we walked into the church!! Coincidence, I think Not!! I should steer clear of all houses of worship, jk!!

So like I just mentioned the ginormous storm we experienced. This is what we saw on our drive. While staring at the tree and wondering if this just happened or was old, another large chunk of tree fell to the ground!!

We went to dinner at The Gray Cliff Lodge. The power was out, so we had a romantic dinner by candlelight. The restaurant was in an old house. With the old house feel, the candle-light.... it felt like we were going to start acting out the game CLUE at anytime. :)

We didn't have power back at the Alaskan Inn the rest of the night. About 1am the lights and radio roared back to life (that really makes you jump out of bed in nothing flat)!

When we were driving out of Lehi on Sunday we saw an odd sight. The round thing that looks like a flower pot in the middle of the planter is really the base of the light post. Someone had to be going pretty freakin fast to take out the Lamp Pole and still cause this much damage!!!

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. "~Rita Rudner