CREEPIN' CRUD!

It's official. I have the creepin' crud. It started with a slight cough last Thursday. It has escalated since. I left work early on Friday. Didn't go to church yesterday. And didn't go to work today. I feel like my head is going to explode! I feel weak, absolutely no energy. My nose is so stuffy and runny at the same time. How can that be? I probably should have gone to the doctor today, but I feel too sick! Does that make any sense? Who know what tomorrow will bring?

So, until I can feel better, bring me the tissues, the headache pills, the nose spray, and anything else you can think of.

Til then...

BIRTHDAYS!

Well, time has gone and done it again! Another year has gone by and my oldest son, Jeremy, is a year older. He is now 34. It's so hard to believe that so much time has passed since he was just a little tyke! As our firstborn, we got all (or most of) our OJT (on the job training) with him. I'm sure we made some mistakes, but overall, I think he turned out pretty good! If I could go back and do anything over, it would be to spend more quality time with him. He didn't have much time with just us. Only 19 months. He was a terrific big brother, though! And now, he is a good husband and father. I am so very proud of the things he accomplishes. He never gives up. Even when he is wasted from trying and can't see clearly, he keeps going. I guess that's the perfectionist in him. He has a bright mind and fun personality. So, Jeremy, I hope this day is a good one for you. I hope that this next year will bring you more of what you want and need. I love you. Mom.

P.S. I have a little something for you.

New Calling

A week ago this past Saturday, Bro. Martinsen (of our Bishopric) called me. We were in Cave Creek and when I got his message, I didn't think he would want me to call him back at 11:00 p.m. I thought I would just talk to him at church the next morning. He was sick and not there. So, I thought I would call him during the week or he would call me back. Neither happened. So, I thought I would speak to him yesterday. They were in Show Low for a baby blessing. I had already figured out that he was over YW and RS. YW scares the you know what out of me. RS is not a whole lot better. Anyway, so I am sitting in RS just minding my own business when the OTHER counselor calls me out. He presented me with the calling. I have been called to be a RS teacher (again). I don't know which lesson I will be giving yet. Last time I did the 4th Sunday lessons. While it takes me completely out of my "comfort zone", I really enjoy teaching RS. I learn so much because I have to do so much preparation. Hopefully I won't be teaching the 2nd Sunday lessons because I want more time to prepare. This Sunday is the 2nd Sunday!

Today was pretty stressful at work. We are doing the progress monitoring of the strategic kids. Ours rules changed with every class. If we had been able to do them the way we wanted, we could have had all of it done today. Unfortunately, we don't make the big bucks and therefore we don't get to make the decisions. Oh, well. Hopefully we will be done tomorrow.

Well, that's it for now. Until later....

Oh The Nerve?

Well, today I went to see the neurologist. He ran a bunch of test on both my hands and arms. He took great delight in torturing me. A friend of mine at work had surgery for carpel tunnel a few months ago. She told me a little of what to expect. She told me about the shocks I would get. She didn't tell me about the accupuncture like needle that was used. Maybe she didn't get it. The zaps from the little electrical thingy weren't too bad. I just felt rather spastic. But then, what's new? The needle was something else. Most of the time when he jabbed it into me, it didn't hurt. It was kind of fun watching the nerve waves on his computer. He bruised my arms and left me bleeding. He also said he was enjoying his job more today than he had in a long time. He said I was a mess. Not only do I have the nerve stuff in my hands causing me pain, I have major nerve problems in my neck, causing pain down my right arm. Electricity jolts are interesting things!

In other news, oh, there really isn't any. Till next time...

Birthday Greetings and Other Stuff

First of all, I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my baby boy. Michael is 19 years old today. It's so hard to believe. Hopefully, he will be choosing to go on a mission and be able to soon. We were going to take him out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (his favorite place), but he was involved in some thing on his WOW game. So, we will take him tomorrow night and then go get his B-day present.

I went to a hand specialist today. It turns out that I have carpel tunnel in both hands. The arthritis in my thumbs is so bad that there is no cartilage left to separate the joints. And, I have a trigger finger on my right hand. Because of all of this, I am in constant pain and my hands go numb and my middle finger gets locked down. So, I am opting to have surgery on my right hand. He said there is too much nerve, muscle and tissue damage to just do cortizone shots. My left hand isn't as bad, so we will do something with it later. I am thinking that I will have surgery the Thursday before spring break. That way I will have a full week to recover. The down side is this: I will have to wear a splint for 2 weeks after surgery and then a cast for 4 weeks after that. YUK!

I am so glad that I finally bit the bullet and saw a hand doctor. At least now I can get something done. My regular doctor just said it was arthritis and to take Aleve. Didn't work. The rheumatologist didn't do anything for me either.

Work will be a challenge since I am right handed. I will figure something out.

We had a wonderful "special" stake conference on Sunday. Elder David A. Bednar spoke to us. He is such a down to earth person. I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting. I think the topic for the whole meeting was the Atonement and repentance. Wilford Anderson, an Area Seventy accompanied him. Great speakers, both of them!

They had the Presidential Inauguation on at work today. I avoided it as much as possible. I am tired of hearing about the history being made by having an African American become president. Why can't we all just be "AMERICANS"? I hope that he can do what he claims he can. I'm afraid he'll find out that he doesn't make the rules as much as he would like.

Well, I've bent your eyes long enough for one night. Until later...

Number 14

Well, it has finally been publicly announced that grandbaby number 14 is on it's way. I found out (unofficially) last Saturday (Jan. 3). Now that they have gone public, I can tell everyone. Christopher and Jill are the parents to be. This will make their 5th child. They already have 3 girls, so we are hoping for a boy. Number wise, I would rather it be a girl. Then our count would be even and you know how I am about even numbers. But, for Sam's sake, I hope it's a boy.

We have a special stake conference next Sunday. They announced at Church today that Elder Bednar will be the speaker. They also told us to get there early if we want a good seat! I hope we can get there early enough!

This past week was a long difficult one for me. I went back to work which in and of itself was terrible! But, the father of the person I carpool with passed away and she didn't go to work all week (mostly because she was also very sick!). So, I had to arrange other transportation. With Roger, Tanya and Michael all working, it wasn't easy. Tanya took me most mornings even after she had worked a 12 hour shift. I was only late one morning since Michael had a root canal on Wednesday and his mouth hurt too much for him to go to work on Thursday. Roger has Fridays off now so that wasn't a problem. Michael picked me up most days.

I will be glad to be back to normal this week. Although, normal isn't the correct term since it is parent teacher conferences this week, so I will be getting off early all week. Maybe I can get some things done here at home?

Well, I better go. 3:30 comes early for me. Till later...

OUT WITH THE OLD...IN WITH THE NEW!

Hard to believe, but here it is. The last day of 2008. What a year it has been! I remember last New Years Day saying I felt like 2008 was going to be a great year. Well, it definately was a year!

The biggest "bad" thing that I can think of happening, was that my sweet mother passed away in June. Not unexpected, but still hard. I still miss her and think of her every day in some way. I find myself whistling more now than I used to. She used to whistle all the time. Maybe she is influencing me from the other side?

We had other realitives who passed away this year. A sister-in-law (ex, but we still claimed her), Cyd in April. Aunt Carol (Roger's aunt, actually and ex also, but again, we still claimed her), a Mortensen cousin of Roger's and my Uncle Glenn.

We didn't have any babies born or announced. We are still at 13 grandchildren.

We did have 2 graduations. Michael from high school and Tanya from nursing school. Tanya passed her AZ boards and is an RN working for Scottsdale Healthcare at Scottsdale Shea. Michael has been taking a welding class at MCC and hopes to continue this next semester.

We've seen 2 nephews leave for the mission field. Curtis going to Disney Land (oops that's Long Beach Spanish speaking) and Parker going to Donesk Ukraine.

Michael has a job working for our bishop. He is cleaning concrete forms and doing some welding. He hates the cleaning part and enjoys the welding.

We had one granddaughter baptized in May. That makes 3 for us.

We had 2 grandchildren turn 1 this year.

Michael got his Eagle Scout award in January.

I have had many long visits with my dad. Especially since Mom died. It feels like he is starting to be doing better. Still misses her, though.

I visit the cemetary often. Never used to do this, but since I live so close, and Mom is almost on the first row, it's easy to go visit her. She has the greenest plot there.

As we wind up this year, we have many things to be grateful for and that have helped to make it a good year. We both still have our jobs. Our cars are generally functional. Our health is reasonable. We have an unleaky roof over our heads. We still have lots of family around us (some we miss like Mary and Linda). We are still hoping that Michael will make the right decision and go on a mission this year.

We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to help us in our journey through life. I have felt the spirit so many times this year. He is truly a comforter. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the gospel and for the light it brings into my life. I pray that this next year we will be able to feel the Spirit more and be able to do better in all that we attempt. I know that we were not sent here to fail. I just have to remember who to rely on.

May you all have a wonderful New Year! And so, until next year...