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...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well, we made it. We made it to and through another Christmas. And what a Christmas it was! Everyone got more than they expected. Michael had given up on getting a flat screen monitor, but the smiles broke out when he opened it! What a rare treat, to see him smile.

This may be the last Christmas that we have any "children" at home. Hopefully, Michael will be on his mission next year and we are hoping that Tanya will be out on her own.

We are anxiously waiting for the rest of our family to come over this afternoon.

I am hoping that you all had a very joyous and Merry Christmas. May the light of our Savior, Jesus Christ be with you and yours. Until another day...

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

It's been a while since I last posted. I can't sleep tonight (too much pain), so I thought that maybe I could do a short post.

We have our outside pretty much finished up on the decorating. The tree is up and decorated inside. We went artificial this year. Too many allergies. The cat is wreaking havic on my tree skirt!

Sunday was our annual Smith family Gingerbread House/Christmas Party. It was fun. We did our white elephant gift exchange. This year, we went a little more serious on the gifts. They were not silly. No electric toilet paper. No Butt Paste. There were several gift cards and some games. The kids did their left right game with their exchange. They all enjoy it and it is fun to watch them get confused!

Tonight we did some Christmas baking. We made fudge, choc chip cookies, Rice Krispies treats, a Chex mix, and dipped pretzels. I think we are going to do some more tomorrow night. This is where my pain tonight is coming from. Too much fun!

I have all my Christmas shopping done and wrapped and under the tree. It feels good to be ahead of the game this year.

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

This 'N That

Don't faint! I decided to post again in less than one week! What is the world coming to?

We we to 2 missionary farewells yesterday. The first one was for my nephew Curtis Jarman. The second one was a young man in our Ward that Michael has grown up with, Jordan Shill. Curtis is going to Long Beach, CA, Spanish speaking and Jordan in going to Milan, Italy. Both of them leave Wednesday morning, November 19, 2008.

Both farewells were good. I had a very had time staying awake in the second one. Not because of the speakers, but because I was just plain tired. We went over to my brother Doug's house (which is really my parents house) for a lunch/dinner. They had really, really good Mexican food. I think I over indulged! When we got home, I went to bed. It was only 7 o'clock.

Michael spent this afternoon and evening with Curtis. They have been pretty close for all of their lives. I think Michael is sad about Curtis leaving. But maybe he will be next?

We got our Christmas money from the CU on Friday. Roger took it back to the CU today and cashed it. WooHoo! We can do some shopping now! I just wish I knew what to get for people. Any suggestions?

Today at work, I was observed by my "supervisor". I was pretty nervous, but she didn't rip me apart like I was afraid she would. She actually had more positive things to say about me than negative. Whew! Maybe I will still have a job?

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