A New Toy, Birthday Fun, and Flat Visitors

Okay, so I'm pretty sure that up until this past Saturday we were the only family in the Western United States that didn't own a laptop. (No, make that the second family...Chip's parents don't have one!) I am happy to say that I am typing this blog entry on "our" (we all really know it's mine) new laptop and loving every minute of it.

As a couple, Chip and I are hopelessly behind the times in terms of technology. I attribute this to laziness on my part and frugality on Chip's. Anyway, we were the people who didn't have cable television until about 6 years ago. I remember Caitlin being so excited to tell everyone we had finally got cable and they'd look at her like she told them we'd just put in indoor plumbing. In fact, I was sure when I finally got around to social networking by getting a Facebook page that I would find out within a week or so that Facebook was passe and everyone was on to some newer, better way of socializing via the internet. So far, so good in that regard.

I am realizing quite quickly, however, that if I thought surfing the net while sitting at the desk in our office was a time eater, well....I ain't seen nothing' yet!

Last week was my 45th birthday and I have to say I had a wonderful 3 day long celebration. I am truly blessed to have so many friends and family with whom to celebrate special days with. My friend Mary took me to lunch on my birthday and after three hours we had eaten half of our delicious, healthy stir-fry, but had managed to polish off a bottle of wine and each eat an entire dessert. Well, Mary did leave some of her dessert, but I ate every rich, decadent chocolate morsel of mine because it's my birthday and I'll overindulge if I want to. Chip and I went to lunch at Zucca's on Friday where we had a wonderful time and some really good food. On Saturday night, my mom had us over, along with some friends, for some food and fun. I guess it's a good thing birthdays only come around once a year or I'd never get anything done and would gain a ton of weight.

Last week we had Chip's sister, Ann, stop through for the night on her way to see the folks in Montana. She's heading back this week, so we'll get another much anticipated visit from her. Caitlin and Sam just LOVE their Aunt Ann. She's such fun and when we're all together we laugh a lot and talk about all kinds of things. Maybe we can get a picture of them all together on her next visit.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention our other visitor who's staying with us. We received a "Flat Stanley" in the mail last week from our friend, Emma, who was a student at the preschool and the daughter of a good friend. Flat Stanley is a children's book about a little boy who gets caught up in a kite and goes on all kinds of adventures. (At least that's how I remember the story.) It is a very popular project among the early elementary crowd. After reading the book in class, the students get to color a Flat Stanley and mail it, along with a journal, to someone for a visit. I remember Sam did this project in 2nd Grade and his Flat Stanley went to the ranch and had all kinds of adventures with Chip's parents. Our Flat Stanley arrived looking as much like Emma as it could, despite the fact it's a boy. He has red hair like Emma and very pretty pink and purple clothing with little swirls drawn all over it. She wrote Flat Emma on the back, in case we were to mistake it for a boy :) So far, Flat Emma went with us to a rock n rollin' time at The Genesis Project on Friday night (I'll explain about that in another blog entry....), to my mom's on Saturday night, and will be going to both Jr. High and High School this week.

Well, time to do more Chemistry. Curiously, I always find myself blogging when I have Chemistry to do...hmmmm..wonder if there's anything to that? I do have to say that I'm feeling much better about my status in that class after the professor sent out an e-mail to all of us saying that the average on the last test was 70%. That was very good news for me and much needed boost as I'm well above that and comforted to know that I'm not the only one struggling!

Signs of Spring!

Today I experienced my first signs of Spring. I have beautiful, little, green (yes, you read it...GREEN!!) shoots coming up in the flower beds out front that are eagerly waiting to grow into beautiful purple and white crocus and yellow daffodils. I absolutely LOVE spring flowers. Planting bulbs in the fall is such a leap of faith and I kind of forget about those little bulbs in the ground, taking in their oxygen and getting ready to do their thing all winter long. But every year they come up again in all their glory and I'm always a little surprised and very happy to see them! I get starved for color by this time of year and am even happy to see my patchy yellow-green grass that has reappeared since the glaciers in the front yard have receded.

My second sign of spring was hearing my "Amber bird" this morning during my run. Amber is a little girl who was a student at the preschool the first two years it was in business. Amber had a condition known as Carpenter's Syndrome, which among other things resulted in her being born with webbed feet and hands, and that's one of the minor aspects of this syndrome. She had undergone countless surgeries at her tender age and had the scars to prove it. One of the characteristics of this syndrome is a sing-song quality to the voice. Amber's voice was so sweet to listen to. She'd never call us "Miss Laura" or "Miss Jenny;" rather, she would say "Tea-cher" in this melodic, lilting voice. There is a bird I hear about this time every year that sounds exactly like Amber. I hear it in droves all spring and summer long during my morning runs and it brings me such joy. I have no idea what happened to Amber. Her family moved from the area after she graduated, but I'll always remember her because she taught me so much about courage, tenacity and compassion. I'm glad my Amber Bird is back.

New Shoes.....Ahhhhh

I broke out my new running shoes today and felt like I was running on air this morning. There's nothing better than the feel of new shoes....the cushion, the support, the pretty white color....ah it's great. It's one of those simple joys of life, I suppose. Chip and I go through a pair about every 3 months. I, however, seem to start to feel the effects of shoe breakdown at about 2-1/2 months. My knee and low back start to bother me and my IT band flares up. These symptoms go away almost automatically after retiring my old pair and putting on a new pair.

Leo REALLY seems to be doing better. I am attributing this to the Rimadyl. He is actually lifting his leg to go to the bathroom, which I haven't seen him do for a while, and he seems better able to accomplish the task at hand now than he was a week ago. I told a friend recently that I haven't been this focused on anyone's urinary and bowel habits since my kids were little. We haven't heard from Dr. Penrod about the neuro consult as of yet, so Chip is calling her today.

We have been dealing with flooding issues in our basement....again. Tuesday afternoon I was standing by the stairs and heard the dreaded sound of water running in the basement. After tearing down the stairs my worst fears were confirmed and there was about 2-3 ft. of water in one of the window wells and of course it was coming into the house in a nice, steady stream. Actually, it was pouring into the basement. The kids rallied around and helped as I bailed out who knows how much water out of the window well and got the sump pump set up. Cloe and Leo thought it was a big adventure and were ever so happy to have us all out in the backyard with them. They were splashing through the water I was dumping, slurping it up as I poured it out, and pretty much having a grand old time. Cloe has a deflated soccer ball she plays with, which she promptly dropped into the window well with me. Of course, I threw it out to get it out of the way....you can guess the rest of the story. She thought we were having a fabulous game of fetch as I was trying to bail the water out, and kept dropping the ball back in for me to play, sometimes with it landing on my head. I finally got smart (I guess that's the word for it...maybe common sense is the more appropriate word) and just left the ball down in the window well with me. Ah, kids and pets make everything more interesting, don't they? Even dealing with a flooded basement can become an adventure :)

Well, I really should be studying for my Chemistry exam that's scheduled for Saturday. I'm avoiding it by blogging instead. I took my Biomed exam yesterday and was happy with the results, especially considering it was supposedly the most challenging unit this semester. I will say that learning about the urinary system was challenging and I have a new appreciation for my kidneys. Well...off to study the dreaded Chemistry beast.

Update on Leo and Life

After two visits to who is now known as our "old vet," we got a second opinion from who we now refer to as our "new vet." (Yes, someone lost a customer.) Dr. Penrod did a very thorough exam of Leo last Saturday. She has definitely ruled out kidney stones or prostatitis. She is inclined to think it is something neurological or possibly a tumor as she found that Leo also isn't able to do "number 2" as well as he should, in addition to the problems he's having urinating. She also did some reflex tests on his hind legs and they don't react as they should. She took x-rays and is going to consult with a neurological vet in Salt Lake. Leo spent the day at the vet yesterday, where they emptied his bladder (which wasn't quite as full as on the previous visit...this is good news) and she attempted to consult with the neurologist, to no avail. I picked Leo up yesterday afternoon and she will call us as soon as she has done the consult. She also prescribed some Rimadyl, an anti-inflammatory, on Saturday. We think it's helping but can't be sure if it's just wishful thinking. Hopefully I'll know more by this afternoon or tomorrow.

On a different note, I started my Book Group last week and I think it's going to be a good group. It's small...only 5 people, which in my opinion is good. Some book groups I've been involved in in the past can be so big that it's a little overwhelming and usually one or two people dominate the entire discussion. The group chose "The Shack" as the first book to discuss, which I'm not convinced is a really good choice but we'll see. As a friend of mine commented, it would be hard to discuss that book in a book group without turning it into a Bible study. It will be interesting, however, just to see what others thought about it in general and their perspective on the story.

Chip and I were invited to join a "Small Group" from our church and gave it a try last week. We went to our first group last week and discussed what direction to go in terms of what to do. Neither of us are big Bible study people, so we were relieved to find that this group has more of a get together type of atmosphere rather than a Bible study. We'll actually be going out to dinner a couple times a month and possibly discuss various articles out of The Lutheran magazine the other weeks. We'll see how it goes. It's something new to both of us.

I get to go to my Women's Spirituality Group tonight at the Congregational United Church of Christ. This group is a wonderful group of open minded women of varying ages and faith backgrounds. It appeals to me because they explore lots of different ways that people use to grow spiritually, some traditional and some very untraditional. I take the shopping cart approach....I take what I find resonantes with me and that is of value and leave behind the stuff that doesn't feel like it fits me. It's been a breath of fresh air for me and has been a bright spot in what has been a rather bleak period in my spiritual life.

Chip was notified last week that they will be laying off at ATK (surprise! surprise!) The memo went out that same afternoon. This will be the first lay-off he's experienced as a Manager, which means he has to determine who stays and who goes. It has been difficult for him in some ways, as he's worked with some of these people for many years. However, it's also been very educational to go through the process of seeing how the ultimate choice is made. Of course, that hasn't been determined as of yet. I believe the lay-offs will happen the end of March. I know he'll be glad when it's all behind him.

I have two exams this week, so I'd better quit blogging and get back to studying about the urinary system, which is a very timely subject to be learning about at this time, don't ya think?

Doggie Downers

Anyone who knows our Golden Retriever, Leo, knows that he could benefit from a serious dose of doggie downers, even at the ripe old age of 10. Well, he's now officially been prescribed the downer of all downers....Valium. We've been noticing for a little while that Leo acts like a man with prostate issues; he is constantly standing around the backyard trying to go to the bathroom with little or no luck. We took him to the vet yesterday; they ruled out kidney stones, gave him a steroid shot to take down any inflammation, put him on some antibiotics, and told us to bring him in today if he wasn't any better. Well, he's not any better so we took him in today. The doctor sedated him, lifted him on a table with a drain and pushed on his bladder. I couldn't believe how much urine came out of that poor dog. I'm sure he's been incredibly uncomfortable, however, he hasn't really acted like he's in any pain and he never wants to go out in the middle of the night, if we try to get him to. The consensus is that he may have had a kidney stone that has now passed, however, his bladder may have become very stretched out in the process and needs to shrink back to size. Or, he may have some kind of tumor or neurological issue that is resulting in him having no muscle tone in his bladder. In the meantime, they have put him on Valium to relax those muscles plus we have to go out about every 2 hours and push on his bladder to get him to go to the bathroom. (Guess who's job that will be?!) It's amazing the things you do for a beloved pet.

Oh, and it's snowing......again. This time we have over a foot so far and it's still coming down like crazy. Where are you, Spring???????

Rambling....

This weekend brought a milestone for us: Caitlin went to her first High School dance. She asked a friend of hers to the Sweetheart Dance, which actually fell on Valentine's Day this year. There were four couples who all went together. They started the day by going to a movie, then everyone went home and got ready for dinner and the dance. As the above picture shows, Caitlin looked beautiful and she said she had a really good time. I really like the way kids approach dances these days. They are a group activity rather than a one on one date, and a lot of kids ask a friend to go, rather than feeling they can't go if they don't have a steady boyfriend/girlfriend. I think that's a much healthier, not to mention safer way of going to school dances.

Chip and I have signed up to run the Ogden Half-Marathon on May 18th. I got in a 10-miler this morning. I'll do a few more of those this month, then bump it up to 13-miles and then get in a few 15-milers before the race.

I haven't run a race in a really long time. There was a period of time when I was doing races on a regular basis. I really didn't enjoy racing, however. I found I got so competitive; not with other people but with myself. I would literally feel sick after each race because I had either pushed myself too hard or I had been so anxious about the race. So, I quit racing for a number of years and oddly enough developed a fear of racing. I have decided to run this half-marathon to confront this fear and overcome it.

I am trying to be very intentional about dealing with some of the baggage I've been carrying, both old and new. As a friend told me, "What you choose to resist, will persist." Both Chip and I have recognized some things in each of our lives that we feel are self-limiting; we are supporting one another in our efforts to overcome them. I also know from experience that there's no better place to process and reflect than during a long run, which I'll have plenty of opportunity to do in the upcoming months!

Today is President's Day so the whole family is home. Chip and I are going snowshoeing later this afternoon, if the weather permits. We always invite the kids to go, but it's just not their thing. I suppose when I was a teenager I probably didn't think that walking around in the snow and cold with a big pair of shoes strapped to my feet was a good time.

I'm happy to report that Chemistry is coming along nicely. If anyone actually ever saw me study it, they would laugh. I have to read it outloud to myself, several times over, and then tell myself in my own words what I just read. It's crazy, but it's the only way I can wrap my mind around this subject. Hey, whatever it takes! My Anatomy and Physiology class is just the opposite. I listen to the lecture, take some notes, and....voila, I get it.

Caitlin, mom and I went to the symphony a week ago. The program was "Cho's Anatomy." David Cho is the Asst. Conductor of the Utah Symphony. He "dissected" a symphony, Beethoven's 9th, and explained all the different parts of that particular symphony for the first half of the program. The second half they played the entire symphony which I have to say was so enjoyable after having some background and understanding more about the music forms in a symphony. We have tickets to Madame Butterly, the ballet, in two weeks. Caitlin is really excited for that program.

Well, I'd better get off the computer and accomplish something today besides blogging and catching up on Facebook!

Our Daughter, The Activist

Two years ago, when she was in 8th Grade, Caitlin was asked to serve on the Governing Youth Council for Weber and Morgan counties. This council is composed of High School students who meet once a month with supervisors from the Weber-Morgan Health Department and Weber County Human Services to become educated on such issues as teenage drinking, teenage driving, cigarette use, abstinance, and fetal alcohol syndrome, to name a few. There's probably about 20 council members total. The council members then take this information out to their schools and share what they've learned with their peers. This has been a wonderful experience for Caitlin and has given her so many opportunities to do things she might not have done otherwise. It would take a really long post to name them all, however, since the Legislature is in session, I'll mention that experience.

Last year she marched in a rally at the State Capitol in support of the bill that would prohibit the selling of "alcopop" beverages or malt beverages in grocery stores. Apparently these were getting in the hands of a lot of underage drinkers. The picture above was from last year's trip to the legislature where she was able to meet Miss Utah, Heather Anderson, which was the highlight of the trip for Caitlin.

Next week Caitlin goes to the State Capitol again, this time to march in protest of the proposed funding cuts to the programs that educate the public about the effects of cigarette use and second-hand smoke. She has been assigned a State Senator to single out and talk to. While she can't lobby for anything, she's been asked to take a picture of someone in her family who's been effected by cigarette smoke and share a personal story with them. She also has a list of questions to ask "her" senator.

Although I've not attended with her, I have seen pictures and videos of all these teenagers on the steps of the State Capitol, in the freezing cold of January and February, holding their signs and shouting out protests, and it just gives me chills. How amazing is it that we as Americans can do such a thing! Furthermore, that a group of teenagers would even feel it worth their time and energy to do so. In their short lives, they have already exercised more of their constitutional rights than some Americans ever will!

Another of Caitlin's duties is to organize a Parents Empowered booth to correlate with a school function. She has coordinated with a school counselor to do this at a basketball game and has been given a list of students who can help her. Parents Empowered is a program that gives parents ideas on how to talk to their kids about such subjects as tobacco and alcohol use, among other things. It's a huge program and there are very effective billboards all around the Wasatch Front that display these messages as well. Overall, we're just so proud of Caitlin and incredibly excited for her as we watch her have these experiences.

We have been sick at our house. Both Sam and Chip were sick last week with bronchitis. Our house sounded like a TB ward. Caitlin and I escaped this round...knock on wood.

The weather has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! We have had sunny days and warm temperatures. Okay, warm is a realtive term, but when it's been in the teens, the 30's and 40's feel awfully warm. Anyway, our snow is gradually melting away and I'm impatiently looking for the crocus to start emerging any day now. (Do 'ya think I have a little case of Spring Fever there?)

We spent Superbowl Sunday with some friends and had a great time. We really didn't have any ties or allegiance to either team. However, our hostess is from Pennsylvania so Steeler fans we were! I have to say it's nice when "your" team wins! It was an incredible game. It really must have been for a football novice like me to say so.

I have a Biomed lab staring me in the face, so I'd better sign off to go watch the surgery of a man who had the lower lobes of his lungs removed due to Emphysema. Should anyone be allowed to have that much fun in one day, I ask you?