Gambit

Gambit, our four month old beagle puppy, had an accident this morning.  We have our two dog kennels stacked one on top of each other inside the back room.  Gambit jumped out of the top kennel this morning, catching his leg on the door of the bottom kennel.  The resulting wound was technically "superficial," but quite long and gaping.

A trip to the vet's office first thing this morning introduced us to the reality of how expensive pet repair can be.  It wasn't like we could just glue his skin back together (although I was contemplating every possible solution)...

We left him in the doctor's capable hands and picked him up a few hours later after he'd been stitched up properly.  The big challenge now is trying to keep this very active puppy from being active and ripping his stitches during the next 14 days.  We have been advised that we may need to purchase a "cone of shame" to keep him from licking the wound or biting at the stitches.  I'm still feeling bad that this happened to him while he was in my care.  Puppies and kids......

AdultTeens

Emerson and I have often looked forward to the day when our kids would be all grown up.  After years of being focused on our children, their needs, and their activities, it's nice to be a couple again.  We've had glimpses of this over the years when the boys were at Scout camp or other places.  The last little bit has been tough as we have encouraged the boys to look for work and get frustrated when they sleep all day and then wake up just to watch TV and play on the computer.  They did make some job search efforts, but it wasn't quite what we expected.  Dexter turned 18 and graduated and that led to some interesting discussions of which rules still applied to him now that he was all grown up.

The challenge of dealing with your children once they turn into adults is well known by those who have raised their children.  Additional challenges we have faced have been about culture.  We did the best we could to raise the boys to appreciate their Navajo culture and respect their elders appropriately, but it doesn't sink in when they grow up away from the culture and surrounded by kids raised differently. 

Our latest adventure has begun. Dexter has now moved out of our house.  It's hard not to take it personally even though I have watched my friends go through this before.  When Dwayne went to Chicago last summer we had some of the same feelings, but we knew in advance that he was leaving.  Dexter didn't even give us 24 hour notice.  We're still trying to get used to him not being here and we hope he'll discover some appreciation for family during this adventure.

Happy Independence Day (even though the celebration is tomorrow)

Having July 4th land on a Sunday is always a weird thing in Utah.  Pretty much nothing was going on today and even the places that would normally be open on a Sunday were closed for the holiday.  Some of the Independence Day festivities were held yesterday and the rest will be tomorrow.  I'm not saying that I mind, it's just that it can take some getting used to. 

Emery, Brenda, and kids came up for the holiday.  Dwayne decided to do a backyard cookout tonight and we invited Emery and his family as well as Gene and his family to join us. Dwayne enlisted Dexter's help in cooking and they made gigantic hamburger patty, topped with cheese slices, and then wrapped in bacon strips woven together into a sheet.  Guaranteed to stop your heart, these real life Baconators were the hit of the dinner.  Dwayne made sure I took a picture of him with his creation before cooking it. 

Dexter was pretty pleased with the results, too.  In fact, I felt it was necessary to take a picture of him taking a picture of the resulting bacon burger.  He had a pretty busy weekend already and this was his only day off.  Dexter has started selling Cutco knives and he has been doing product demonstrations with friends and family in order to practice.  It doesn't hurt to make some sales to sympathetic people along the way either.  He's actually a really natural salesman (which I credit to his acting abilities) and has made some sales in his first two days.  None of this would be possible without the lovely Emily who has been his main mode of transportation as well as his beautiful assistant.

Internet Go Bye Bye

We're having serious Internet difficulties.  I wrote about it in my other blog, so I won't go into it here.  
The Internet problems are still hampering us, but I did have some great news Yesterday.  One of my necklace and earring sets sold.  This is the first item to sell from my shop that wasn't a graphic design order.  Yippee!!  My favorite customer, elladean, ordered another graphic needing revision and I won an Alchemy bid to create an alphabet with a double outline.  It sure is nice having things move along like this.  Things even went well on a personal level.  We had some great visitors from our neighborhood and enjoyed discussing what all our kids are up to and how we can help each other out.  I happen to live in probably the best neighborhood anywhere for being social. This is one of those little areas where everyone watches out for each other and cares how people are doing.   They also welcome everyone in.  Having a great home life sure makes things easier!

Today's Internet update was that we're not the only ones in the area having problems and that they will get back to us when they have an update.....basically, we're screwed!

Ups and Downs, It All Comes Around

Emerson received his level 2 teaching license, but he's still waiting for his special education endorsement.  Dexter got a job....selling Cutco knives.  He promises he's still going to look for other jobs.  Dwayne worked for one day at a temp job and may have a few more days coming up. The number of job listings out there have decreased significantly in the last two weeks, but the boys are chasing down leads.  Heritage's participation in the Rotary Club's golf tournament went well despite the troubled economy.  I was surprised to receive a lot of praise from those I worked with on the tournament committee.  We're gearing up now for the Scholarship Gala that Heritage is having in October.  My cucumber starts got eaten by something, but other things are growing and I even have a raspberry that is turning redder by the day.  Emerson claims that Etsy is my new addiction, my "crack," because of the time I am spending on there.  I've been fortunate in getting a few design jobs here and there and I'm determined to get this business going.  I've tried to help other people on Etsy and it seems to come back one way or another.  See my Etsy Madness blog for more on that.  Some of the positive things have been small, but I'm just glad they're happening. I have some amazing friends who are there for me when I need them.

Just the Right Medicine

It's no secret that I love powwows.  There is no place I would rather be.  The drumming, the singing, the dancing - it brings me peace and makes me happy.  There is an amazing sense of community at powwows and people really take care of each other.  With everything we've been dealing with lately, I just knew I needed to go to the Heber Valley Powwow this weekend.  Emerson's paycheck hadn't come in yet, so we had to carefully consider our options.  Emerson and I decided to go today since we could get the most for our admission fee.  We sat with our friends, the Cranks, and caught up with other friends-Johnny and Carol, Tilda, Charlotte, Winston, and so many others.  Emerson spent most of his time hanging out with Johnny at his Navajo taco stand.  I hung out with Angela and her kids and then with Tilda and her kids.  We talked about how much we miss "the good old days" when the kids were little and we all camped out together at the powwows. The music, the dancing, and the friends had me in good spirits in no time. If only life could be one long powwow...

Have Faith?

I'm struggling a bit right now to keep believing things will work out. The job search is frustrating the heck out of us and I don't know how long it will take before things get better.  Dwayne tried to get rehired at Heritage, but there were so many applicants and he didn't get the job.  We keep checking job listings everywhere we can, but times are pretty bleak.  I don't remember having things this tough except during the very early years of our little family.  The check engine light came on tonight in the car. I've done some design projects on Etsy, but they don't pay well yet. At least I've made a little money.  I don't like to post "downer" messages, but right now it's all I can think of.

Mi Rungito

The absolutely wonderful Rick and Holly stopped by tonight.  We talked gardening, of course, and history, E3, Dexter's college plans, road construction, job prospects, interesting people on mass transit, and the life of delivery drivers.  We went out to eat at one of our favorite spots, Mi Ranchito.  It is a family owned Mexican restaurant with the most delicious food. Emily (Dexter's girlfriend) came along and seemed to have fun talking cuisine with Rick and Holly.  About five minutes after Rick and Holly left for Bountiful, I realized I should have taken pictures. Dang it!!  Instead of photos, you are being treated to a slightly altered drawing to represent our honorable guests.
(For those wondering about the title of this post, Rick often adopts the nickname "Rungo")

Bloginess

You may have noticed that I changed this blog a bit. I've been the only contributor, so I figured it should reflect that.  Dwayne and Dexter each have their own blogs.  I have also started a new blog focused on my experiences having a shop on Etsy.  I'm hoping it will get more people to view my shop and perhaps the experiences I share will help others starting out with this online craft fair. In addition, my job now includes managing a blog for Heritage and a Facebook fan page as well.  With the economy being so tight, it's nice to have these tools to promote our program in such a global way at no cost.  I've enjoyed all of this since I love to write and it gives me opportunities to connect to more people.

To Be A Teacher

If you're not familiar with the adventurous process of becoming a licensed teacher, you are truly missing out on what feels like a giant scavenger hunt.  When Emerson first became a teacher, he at least had the assistance of Utah Valley University in getting everything together to be submitted to Utah's State Office of Education.  For the special education endorsement, Weber State University submitted the information on the classes he completed.  Emerson had to get evaluations done on his student teaching and submit them and then pass the Praxis exam (which he did).  We finally got the last of his teacher's work sample/portfolio together and sent it in on Monday.  Since Emerson's level 1 teaching license expires this month, he's been working on upgrading to his level 2 license.  That involved another Praxis exam (passed!) and getting recommendations and other paperwork signed.  The paperwork was actually the toughest part since his former boss at Heritage was not very accommodating. We also had to get paperwork signed by his current employer. Everything's now on its way to the state and he should be all upgraded and ready to go soon.  Our hope is that having the special education endorsement completed will open a few more doors.  Job openings for teachers in Utah are pretty limited and they're much pickier.  The really great news is that UVU plans to have Emerson teach the same special populations PE class next year.