Yuck!

Everyone around me has been getting sick and I thought I had dodged the worst of it....until it hit me hard this week.  I had fever, aches and pains last week, but now I have the horrible congestion, coughing, sneezing, and sore throat.  This is no run of the mill cold. I wake up barely able to swallow or breathe.  Staying home from work was okay at first, but I also ended up missing the documentary filmed about Heritage's performing arts program.  It's hard to miss something you've really been looking forward to.  The documentary debuted at the LDS Film Festival and was very well-received.  It helped people to see the miracle of the performing arts, the reality of treatment center kids, and what a little courage and faith will do.

Dexter has been battling computer issues at work.  The system hasn't allowed him to log in for weeks and I guess there are huge obstacles to starting a new account for him.  In the mean time, he shows up at work and gets sent home two hours later.  He went from working full time to working hardly at all and he's frustrated.

I managed to undecorate the Christmas tree, but the tree is still up and the box of ornaments is still in the living room.  Part of the obstacle is that the snow and ice has melted enough in the backyard to make it all muddy and mushy and I don't want to trudge through it to store everything.

New Ride

After a couple of weeks of trying to figure out how to manage everything with just one car, I'm so happy we have a second vehicle again.  Emerson's job is in Highland and mine is in Provo.  Our work hours don't match up and there's just no way to share the car.  Illness has hit so many of my friends and coworkers that catching rides with other people was becoming impossible.  I rode the bus a few times, but walking on the ice to the bus stop and then paying $2.00 for the "privilege" of taking a one hour bus ride to get home was ridiculous.  It only takes me 15 minutes to drive to work, but the bus goes all over Provo before it gets where I need to go.

The insurance finally gave us a settlement for our truck this week and the search for a new vehicle was on.  We still wanted a truck so we could haul things when needed, so that's what we focused our search on.  Emerson looked at a few trucks and SUVs and found that some of the ones we liked in the pictures needed work done immediately.  We were so excited when we found this 1999 Isuzu Trooper that turned out to be in really great shape.  The mileage was low and the owner had maintained it well. The price was a little higher than what we had hoped for, but there were several other people interested in it and no chance of talking the price down. Thanks to some help from our family, we were able to come up with enough to buy the Trooper.  After a couple of very depressing weeks, it was nice to see the smile on Emerson's face.  Now that he has a vehicle, his stitches are out, his cold/flu is gone, and he can focus on training the puppy, he's finding some happiness again.

Still Here

We're managing to do okay.  Unfortunately, Emerson caught a cold or flu and had a miserable end to this week.  I think I'm coming down with it now, too.  Storm is getting used to us and she is turning out to be quick to train.  She and Gambit wrestle a lot and she usually wins.  Gambit's only 11 months old and doesn't have the maturity to walk away yet.  It makes us miss Scout even more since she was always so good and patient with the puppies.

Emerson's healing well and most of the claims processing is taken care of.  We hope to have a check next week and will need to start looking for a new vehicle.  The used car market isn't the greatest because of the economy, but we're hoping to get another truck if we can.  Work is still keeping me plenty busy.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to earn money with tutoring and Emerson even did some tutoring yesterday for the Provo School District.  Dwayne is busy working full time doing tech support and getting some extra hours cooking at Heritage. 

Worst Day Ever and How Much We Love Our Family

 On Wednesday morning, Emerson had an accident on his way to work.  I was already on my way to meet him since he had forgotten his ID badge for work and I got a phone call along the way telling me that he was being taken to the hospital.  He was turning left at an intersection and when the light turned yellow, he started easing forward after the last car went through.  What he didn't anticipate was that another car would accelerate and try to beat the red light.  As he saw the collision coming, he tried to turn even more left so it wouldn't be a head on or t-bone type crash.  The car hit Emerson's truck on the passenger side, with most of the impact going into the front wheel and breaking it.  Emerson got some cuts on his forehead and some bruises, but was otherwise okay.  As a precaution, they took him to the hospital. 
That's where I first saw him, a little nervous because he was covered with blood since head wounds just seem to bleed the worst. They stitched him up and sent him home and he's been dealing with been stiff and sore since.  Gene helped bring him home from the hospital and Dexter was nice enough to help me clear everything out of the truck. 
Because Emerson was the one turning left, he got the ticket. We found out from different people, including the police officer and the insurance company, that the person turning left will always get the blame, even if the other person was speeding (and this one was) or runs the red light.  It sucks, but that's how the law works.

Scout and Slash with Kathy

Having Emerson get hurt and the truck totaled was bad enough, but then things got worse.  While I was home taking care of Emerson, I let the dogs out in the backyard for a few minutes.  I got distracted with other things and forgot to bring them back in until 30 minutes later.  Gambit came in, but Scout was nowhere to be seen.  She had jumped the shorter fence in the backyard.  I wasn't too worried since she isn't comfortable with strangers and doesn't wander.  I headed out front to go look for her expecting her to have either found her way home or be sniffing through someone's yard.  As I got to the corner, my visiting teacher came out of her house and asked me about my dog.  She pointed to Scout's body lying on the snow covered grass.  Scout had been hit by a car.  The driver had stopped and talked to my visiting teacher to see whose dog she was and then left.  I can only assume Scout died instantly.  Needless to say, I freaked out.  She had been our loyal dog for nearly four years and had helped potty train all our other puppies. She was incredibly loyal and attached to Emerson and there was never a closer bond between dog and master.  For all of us, it was a cruel addition to an already horrible day.

Emerson had every right to feel down.  The last two years have been very difficult and it's easy to start feeling like the universe is picking on him.  Fortunately, Emerson's family showed just how much they care.  The phone calls came in all day Wednesday and by Thursday night his mom, brothers, sister, and their families were all here.  His closest cousin and her two kids visited yesterday and he got phone calls from his uncle and his grandma (who turned 100 years old on Wednesday). It was really nice to be surrounded by family.  Emerson's youngest brother, Emery, even bought him a new puppy to help ease the pain. 

Here is the newest member of our family - Storm.  She is an 8 week old beagle with an amazing personality.  She looks a lot like Scout did as a puppy and has already learned to sit.  Gambit is happy to have someone to play with again even though Storm is already bossing him around.  Losing Scout still hurts, but having Storm is helping ease the pain. 

 We really want to thank everyone for their well wishes and offers of help.  The friends and neighbors who brought over dinners helped us to worry about one less thing.  Emerson's mom really helped us out this weekend with all those little things around the house and playing games with the brothers, sisters, and kids took our minds off of things for a bit.  We don't know what the future will bring, but we're happy to have so much support.

Ironing and Home Teachers

Yes, I'm still alive.  You know this if you watch me on Facebook.  Heritage's Christmas play and the rush of some Christmas orders plus making some Christmas presents had me pretty well exhausted.

One of my Christmas presents this year was a new iron.  Nothing spectacular about it other than replacing the iron I got in the first year or two of marriage.  It got a great workout tonight as I ironed Emerson's 12 dress shirts.  His current job as a part time teacher's assistant requires him to dress up more and the dress shirts, pants, and shoes are getting out of the closet finally.  The dress shoes have now fallen apart and we had to search for new ones.  The shirts are now nicely ironed and he should be good for the next couple of weeks.

Our home teacher is one of the coolest guys in our ward.  He is Emerson's age or a few years older, but he acts like a teenage boy sometimes.  Our boys have stories they're still afraid to tell us about some of his daredevil stunts.  We are happy to have him as a home teacher because he actually cares about us rather than seeing it as an assignment.  He brings his son, Adam, who is about to turn 13.  In October, they forgot to schedule an appointment with us and decided to drop by on the last Sunday of the month.  It happened to be Halloween.  For those who haven't lived in Utah, I have to explain that most holidays landing on Sundays end up being celebrated on the day before or the day after in Utah.  Christmas is an exception.  Since Halloween landed on a Sunday, trick-or-treating happened the day before.  Knowing that there might be some kids trick-or-treating on Sunday (especially with our large Hispanic community), I made sure we still had candy just in case.  We didn't have anyone show up in costume, but when the Sorensens showed up to visit us, they said "trick or treat" when I opened the door.  I gave them candy, of course, and it made me laugh.  When they dropped by in December, they also said "trick or treat" just for fun.  I love it!

Halloween 2010

This is my first Halloween with both of my children all grown up.  I found myself thinking back on all those years when I was scrambling to put together costumes and the changes from when I was a little girl to how Halloween is done now. Back then, we waited until it got dark and then collected candy door to door until we just couldn't walk anymore.  Homemade treats were very common until I was a teenager and the razor blade in the apples stories scared everyone.

With my own children, there were more limits with Halloween.  Most schools restricted dressing up to a costume parade held during or after lunch, so I had to make sure my boys could put their own costumes on since I was at work and couldn't help them.  Masks weren't allowed at school or at the party for our church, so we rarely used those.  We never went more than a few blocks when taking our kids trick or treating.  It was more fun going to the houses of people we knew and they still got plenty of candy.

The most complicated costumes I made were the year my boys wanted Lord of the Rings costumes.  One wanted to be Gandalf the White and I studied tons of photos so I could create the right kinds of layers of runics, robes, and capes for him to wear.  The other son wanted to be an elf (not Legolas since no blonde hair) and I made a shirt, tunic, pants, belt, cape, and a bow.  I also braided his long hair (both my sons had waist length hair like their dad) the same way the elves had theirs in the movie.  A local costume shop had the pin to wear with an elven cape and we were set.  It was awesome!  Alas, never again!
Because my youngest has a flair for the dramatic, he put together a wonderful Phantom of the Opera costume a few years later.  He wore his choir tuxedo and a great cape he had someone make for him.  He purchased the phantom mask and had his drama teacher apply appropriately gruesome facial scars.  It looked amazing. One of his friends commissioned a Christine costume and the two of them went door to door serenading people.

Where we live (Utah), a lot of people bring their children by before it gets dark. That was hard for me to get used to when I first moved here.  When Halloween falls on a Sunday, trick or treating happens on Saturday.  I'm pretty sure that happens in places outside of Utah as well, but we didn't do it that way when I was a kid.  My Halloween costume for this year is one I made last year, but didn't get to wear (long story - involves a car accident and a broken foot).  I'm an IKEA bag lady.  The corset and skirt are made from Ikea shopping bags. At 50 cents per bag, it was a cheap costume (even though it took a "few" bags to fit me).  I put in some hair extensions to look different, too.  The noise of walking in the plastic bag skirt eventually drove me crazy, but I was excited that I finally got to wear it.

The highlight for me this Halloween was my dear friend (who is the Chaplain at the treatment center we both work for) dressing up as a "Gangsta."  The baggy clothes, sideways hat, fake gauges in her ears, long socks....so great!  The hubcap hanging from the chain around her neck was everyone's favorite.  Our Halloween tradition at work is to dress up in costume and have chili for lunch.  Employees bring two cans of chili earlier in the week.  One can is for the lunch and the other can is donated to the local food bank.

Welcome Home, Titan!

Billy waiting to see his dad

Waiting for Bill to come in

Having Bill return from Afghanistan was truly the bright spot of my week.  I was so happy when my boss let me have the time off to greet Bill at the airport.  The timing of Bill's return couldn't have been better.  Tina's parents, Ralph and Abby, happened to be in town to help with Eliza's birthday party and to be there for the birth of their latest grandchild (due Wednesday).  Eliza's party was Saturday and her actual birthday was Sunday, so Bill didn't miss a thing.
We had a pretty good little group waiting for Bill at the airport.  Emerson and I were there (the boys had to work).  Tina, Billy, and Eliza were there (of course).  Tina's parents, her brother and his wife and kids showed up soon after we did.  Then some of the other Air Force wives showed up with homemade signs to help welcome him home.  Their husbands just left for Afghanistan a few weeks ago and it will be about five more months before they get their happy reunions.

Our first glimpse of him

Bill and Tina reunited

We were all so anxious waiting for Bill to arrive.  Tina got a text from him when the plane landed, but it seemed to take forever before he made his way to where we were.  Billy and Eliza ran to greet him.  It was so cute to seem him scoop up Eliza (in her best Halloween colors).  Tears definitely flowed as the whole family was reunited.

The happy family!

Tina has lost weight and looks amazing!  Bill has slimmed down, too, but it's not nearly as obvious with all his gear on.  Billy and Eliza would hardly let go of their daddy for the rest of the time we were with them.  At lunch, both kids were pretty much leaning against him.  I know it will wear off, but it's so cute to see how devoted they are to him.
Bill was fortunate to have been in an assignment that didn't put him in as much danger as other areas of Afghanistan.  My boss is having a tough time right now because his son is a Marine and recently began his tour of duty in Afghanistan.  His unit from Camp Pendleton had six or seven deaths just this last week.  I'm so impressed with those who can put their lives on the line for us and I hope I never take it for granted.

A Few More Pitfalls

We knew Emerson's job at Birdseye was going to end eventually as they decided to handle their academic program using the help of the local school district, but things ended in a more unexpected way.  The school district thing didn't ever really happen and they decided to have a tutor/residential employee instead of a teacher. That allowed them to offer much less pay and save some money. That was an unhappy development for us, but at least Emerson won't be making that long and dangerous drive during the winter months again.

So.....the job search takes on new urgency.  Emerson has been hired on as the tutor for the Indian Education program in the Provo School District.  It's extremely part time and he has to hope for Native American students to fail classes and need help so he can get some hours in.  The Utah Valley University Class he taught last year probably won't be offered this school year due to low demand.  We do have one lead on an upcoming teacher's assistant job that might give him some work for the remainder of the school year.  We're just waiting for the listing to show up on the school district's website.

My own job seems a little less certain right now.  I guess the state of California eliminated mental health funding and probably 90% of our clients are from California.  It doesn't affect the kids who are already at Heritage, but we won't be getting any more clients until they figure out a way to fund their care.  It's hard to say how long we have before the company has to start making more cutbacks and I don't want to be caught by surprise, so I'm keeping my eyes open for other jobs.

We've been hoping the truck will hold out until we can afford to repair it.  My precious puppy, Gambit, managed to really hurt himself again and I had to cash out vacation/sick time to pay his vet bill. There are times we feel like the universe is ganging up on us.  We are trying to keep our spirits up and hope for the best.  Your prayers are more than welcome as we brace for more.

Our Idea of Adventure

 I think Emerson and I are becoming an "old married couple" in some ways.  Since finances prevent us from going anywhere truly adventurous, we tend to go to pretty much every home show, outdoor show, and any other type of show that happens around here.  Emerson even tags along with me at the women's expos.  We've hit some good ones recently.  There was a Gem Faire that we got two for one tickets to and they had the best deals on stones, gems, and jewelry making supplies that we had ever found. It led to some great new creations for our Etsy shop.

As part of my membership in the Women's Business Network (part of our local Chamber of Commerce), I got free tickets to a women's expo and won a certificate for a free laser hair removal for my upper lip. Haven't used it yet, but I do like getting stuff for free.

The latest home show we attended had opportunities to try different massage devices (nice!) and we watched a really fun Halloween cupcake competition with local chefs.  Two of the judges were a couple who own Hatch Family Chocolates and were part of a reality show called "The Little Chocolatiers."  They did their own cooking segment after the cupcake competition and we got to experience their fun personalities.  The wife is the chocolate expert and is very focused on what she does while the husband helps and provides comic relief.

With the boys all grown up, we're getting more "us time" than ever before.  Going to events like these keeps us from driving each other crazy and helps us generate new ideas of things to create.  

More Doggy Injuries

Gambit is quite the spirited little puppy and managed to hurt himself again.  This time, it was his neck.  He managed to puncture it on something (still don't know what) and got his collar dug into his neck, slicing under the fur and skin.  He likes to roll around a lot and he has growth spurts that make his collar tighter.  Because he gets himself dirty and the collar covers some of the damage, we didn't catch it until a few days after he must have done the initial damage. Once I discovered it, I kept trying to clean him up.  It was obvious that he hurt a lot and that made it difficult to clean him properly.  Two baths later, he neck was still a mess and he kept scratching at the injuries, making them bleed.  So frustrating!  My anxiety level from this shot through the roof.

When I took him to the veterinarian, the sticker shock of having them sedate him, shave his neck, clean the wound, administer antibiotics, and send him home with appropriate medications was enough to make me throw up (my response to anxiety).  Gambit still kept scratching and Emerson came up with an interesting solution.  He cut the sleeve off a shirt and Gambit is now wearing it like a turtle neck (I call it a "beagle neck").  Twice daily medication and applying ointment to his neck is quite the workout (from trying to hold him still).  Fortunately, he looks like he is healing.  I never imagined we'd be going through this with our dogs, but I love them so much and it's worth all they give back to us.  I just wish they would wait until the economy recovers more...