Good looks run in the family

In searching my family photo database for a picture of a doll that the girls made up at "This is the Place" village, I found a forgotten picture that is one of my favorites.  Here it is:

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Crazy talk

Brooklyn has tried out for and made an accelerated soccer team in the area.  She is so excited.  She has spent the last week splitting her time between soccer practices and a soccer camp.  Her first preseason game was last night.  Her team won 3 - 0.  She played right defenseman.

Leaking water and puddles in the cold storage led to a removal of the carpet scraps, the water barrels, the scout totes and anything else on the right side of the cold storage.  I mopped up the water, took out all of the water damaged items and set a fan to blow.  Meanwhile, I have made a mess of the the playroom until I can put everything back.  This may be a good time to reorganize the cold storage shelves and to reinventory the food storage to note any shortages to our year supply of food.

I completed my second psych clinical at the state hospital on Friday.  Much more calm and sedate (no pun intended) then I would have imagined.  We (as student nurses) are divided into groups of two and are sent to various units on the hospital campus.  I have been assigned the Adult North East. I have four more state hospital clinicals and two more clinicals on the psych floor at Utah Valley, where I work, this month.  I will then begin clinical rotations on Mom/Baby, Peds, and Labor/Delivery at Utah Valley during the month of July.

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Celebrate growth

Completed Med/Surge and Pharm finals yesterday - painful.  I get a week between semesters - wonderful.  I get to focus on our garden for a few minutes.  I love to garden.  My garden is just beginning to bloom.  I have just a few things in the ground so far.  I still have most of the veggies to plant.  Here are a few things. 

 

Sprouted seeds but didn't mark and can't remember

Pea plant

Thornless blackberry from a 4 inch start

New "2nd" raspberry plot!!!!

 

Both regular and garlic chives

Lettuce

Green grapevine's spring growth

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Congrats to Brayden!!!

Nominated and chosen as 10th grade Student of the Month for his High School!!!  Article with picture in the paper and a catered lunch at the school.  Good for you. It is reflective of your hard work.  Great Job.

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Truisms - I love these - I read them again today and laughed out loud!

Even when opportunity knocks, you still have to get up off your seat and
open the door. 

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I
was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm
pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how
the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at
work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive
for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I
don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it
asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper
that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this
- ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello?
 Hello!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine
times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer?
Drop the phone and run away? 

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste. 

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know
not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well. 

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger
and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I
first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand
than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in. 

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying
to finish a text. 

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and
hunger. 

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just
nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word  they
said? 

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team
up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong,
brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get
dirty, and you can wear them forever. 

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every
year? 

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate
drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate
cyclists. 

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating  their
car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the  Tail on
the Donkey - but I'd bet my all everyone can find and push the  snooze
button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed,  first time,
every time!

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Wonderfully Distracted

Mid terms are tomorrow.  Trying to focus, not very successful.  I enjoy my family too much.  I would rather be with them.  Studying makes me sleepy.  Heidi and Brook are sorting all of the kids saved mementos and pictures into separate totes from the mess that was in the top of the closet.  I would rather be doing that with them :-)
Best part of the night so far was reading books with Maddie and Ash before bed and spending a few minutes with Brayd in his room, listening to him play the electric bass.  He is great.

I found a great picture.  What a beautiful animal, ya think?

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My EAGLE Scouts!

Second all night clinical complete.  I spent the evening (5:30PM) to early morning (4:30AM) on the RHAB floor of Utah Valley Regional following a young nurse (Katelyn, age 22, experiencing the discomfort of morning sickness with her first pregnancy, 14 weeks along, hoping for a boy, father wants a girl) around to her four patients.  They were a joy to care for with no incidents of note for the evening.  The clinical includes a break from 11:30PM to 1:00AM where we meet in a Mother/Baby classroom and have a roundtable reporting/discussion meeting on the patients that we are assigned.

More importantly, last night, both of my sons met with their EAGLE board of reviews, passed, and were awarded/confirmed their status as EAGLE Scouts!!!!!!  I congratulate them both!  What a wonderful representation of commitment and resolve put forth by both (as well as their mother) to achieve this award.

The pride in my two sons and their wonderful accomplishment and commitment over the last few years tempers the bitter taste that permeates the mouth when I choke out the term scout.  That they battled through and overcame that self-righteous, arrogant and pretentious institution of scouting and its equally horrific regional leaders is the ultimate testament to their resolve.

I slept from about 5:30 AM to 10:30AM while my wonderful wife fiercely protected me from noises while she got four children off to school, worked on the computer for three hours, dressed and cared for the two year old tornado (a mischievous storm of hands, curiosity, determined destruction, and physical and mental faculties beyond her years), dressed and showered herself and checked the oldest daughter out of school to have more x-rays on her broken leg.  Meanwhile I got to sleep peacefully, slumming it in the bedroom, nice for me.

Today will be a mixture of homework and being with the kids (I hope) before going to a tedious dinner party where we have to mingle with the current bishop and his wife as well as two previous bishops and their wives.  Maybe I will (accidentally) slam my hand in the car door and have to have it amputated.  I would then have to miss the witty repartee that this little party promises, one could only hope.  Honestly, I hope that it is found to be an enjoyable experience.  I just don’t know two of the other couples very well and find the prospects of an intimate dinner party and playing strip Uno and Truth or Dare spin the bottle with them an uncomfortable assignment.  I go with a hopeful heart and four layers of clothing.  At least the Jell-O wrestling should be fun.

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Loose shorts on the trampoline

Cam's young men's activity.  His shorts get away from him.

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Loss for words

I am at a loss for words to describe and explain a post that I certainly need to write.  Monday night was spent at Mom and Dad's house, enjoying the evening with much of the family at the annual Christmas family home evening.

On that night, Clarke quietly gave me a gift that has, to this very moment, still taken words from me.  There are moments, glimpses of Clarke, opportunities to see past the veneer of confidence, to a beautiful core, a thoughtful, generous spirit, that goes far beyond anything of which I am capable.  A desire to create large things for the benefit of other people, to use his abilities and influence to give and to touch.  I was awarded the opportunity to again see this guarded side of a generous brother on Monday evening and it brought me to tears.

Clarke, in his goodness and generosity, took my Christmas story "The First Tree of Christmas" and, spending many late nights, after hours, in the studio, produced and engineered a complete two hour, two disk audio book from it.  He arranged for a professional vocal actor to read the story with full and unique voices for each character.  I am overwhelmed and deeply grateful.  Words cannot express the thrill to have my words and thoughts come to life.  I was so touched at the thoughtfulness, the generosity, the planning and the time that it took to create this incredible memory for me.  I am very grateful for him and his kindness.  It will be a treasured gift for the rest of my life.  Thank you Clarke!

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Finals?

Up at the kitchen counter studying for finals today with clinicals tonight.  I am enjoying every minute, watching my youngest play with her new dollies.  I can't help but laugh at her expressions, her personality and her attitudes.  She is a source of joy for me.  Heidi is working so diligently in her newly allocated  office (Maddie's old bedroom)  I HATE the fact that she has to work.  It kills me.  I can't wait for her to be able to quit. 

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Continue....

I like Deborah's idea of a 50 lbs weight loss between now and April.  I will take the challenge too.  Unfortunately, if I lost 50 lbs, I would still be 30 lbs from my goal weight, but that is better than 80lbs.  I'm in!!

Today was school, school and more school.  Microbio lab was in the morning, experiments on how effective cleaners are on various bacteria.

Nursing class was over lunch,from 11 to 1.  We are preparing for yet another test on Thursday.  We went over cultural diversity and nursing.

Microbio lecture was 3 to 4:30.  Viruses..... structure, types...blah blah blah.

I have this weeks schedule for training at work in the hospital, one day shift and two graves.  Unfortunately the graves come right after a day of school and right before a day of clinicals.  It will be a marathon of 51 hours of work or school over a period of 60 hours.

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Transitions

I was offered and accepted the job at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.  It is a Psych tech in the "Inpatient Psych Department."  I went over to the hospital and filled out the employment paperwork and deposited urine for the drug test.  I have all-day employment orientation on the 31st of October and clinical orientation on the 1st of November.
I didn't quit Parkway yet.  I gave them a two week notice that I would be going back to prn or "on-call"status starting the 31st.

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Job interview

Had a home health appointment this morning, he cracked and then gave me plum seeds so that I can grow plum trees. He gave me more hollyhock seeds, of various colors, to plant along the fence line.  He is also getting me three small bush cherry plants, normal cherries that grow up to six feet high in a bush form.  These will also go along the fence line somewhere.  These will all contribute to the growing privacy screen and most are edible.

Then class, microbiology lab, completely overwhelming, boring and incomprehensible.  Yuck.  Then off to change clothes and compete in a big group employment interview for a Psych Tech position at Utah Valley Regional Hospital.  We each had to stand up in front of the group of applicants and the six staff members and give a five minute presentation on a "How to do...." anything, my choice.  I taught the group five simple signs (sign language) candy, cookie, water, love,and thank you.  We then entered silly questions.  We find out this week who is chosen.

Then back to school for Microbiology lecture until 4:30and then home for dinner of Texas Platter with the family and two neighbor children that Heidi is babysitting through the end of the week.  Then to the bedroom to work on homework until I fall off to sleep.  I need to be up at 4:15AM so that I can shower and be off for work by 4:45AM.

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Wednesday

I am back on the rehab side of the facility as they have moved back to 12 hour shifts.  I have started class and am feeling panic about passing the classes, Microbiology and Nursing Fundamentals.  My clinical starts in about a week.

Cam tried out for the junior high golf team and made it!  Practices start tomorrow.
Brook won her primaries in class elections for class president.  Now for fliers and posters with a final election against the other finalist at the end of the week.

Heidi has taken on the dual parent role again for the fall, sending into the bedroom to study.  I feel extremely guilty about all the additional work and stress that I have inflicted on her.  She certainly deserves better than to be put through this.

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Open up and say ahhhh

I didn't have work today so I slept in and got up at 5:50 AM, walking gingerly down the stairs to wake up #1 for early morning Seminary.  I am getting old - I can hardly walk first thing in the morning. I creep and cringe and buckle and whimper.  It takes some warming up.  Heidi got up and started working while I got back in bed for a few minutes before I was to take #1 to school.  I woke up again at 7:23.  Both boys were already off to school.  Heidi drove #1 and #2 later went to the bus stop.  I am such a slacker.  I then showered (really well)  every nook and cranny - I had a physical exam scheduled this morning.  I went and completed a home health appointment and made it to the doctor in time to sing Moon River for the doctor.  I am in the process of getting 8 different shots (or series of shots) for school.  I start this next Tuesday with an intro to nursing class and a microbiology class and lab.  I happy to get it started.  I have been talking about this and contemplating this for years now.  Here goes!

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