Randomness

Still feeling queasy. Have been for days. No....it's not that.

Molly is addicted to Daupee (Dr Pepper). She even does a little dance we call The Daupee Dance. She waves her hands, shakes her bootie and chants, "daupee, daupee, daupee".

I am totally unprepared for Easter.

My house is a disaster. I cannot seem to find the energy to unpack.

I have a social life again. I haven't had one in years. In fact, the only place I ever have one is Duncan.

I have Sharing Time next week. I am prepared already. That's a first.

Daisy turned 12 on Friday. She is now a Beehive. Emily is not amused. Fortunately, she will be gone to MIA Maids in 2 months.

Willy is home sick with a cold.

I have been having hot flashes and my chest hurts. BRING IT ON menopause. Lets party!

And my arthritis is bad right now. When did I get this old?

Ok, Flapjack is starting to appeal to me. So is Chowder.

Homer is living with us again.

I just found out I am listed here. How did that happen? I had no idea. But it is totally awesome and KEWL!

I think I will scrap today. Forget the dishes and the mess. I am feeling the mojo. Let's see if it translates into art!

Me Too!

I, like Janna, am on a little break. I am not quitting blogging or facebook or scrapping or anything. I am just physically, mentally, and emotionally drained from the move. We are also completing the move from Mesa. Next week is Spring Break and I will be in Mesa packing and organizing. When things calm down later in the month, I will be more active again.

Don't forget about me :)

Groundbreaking

I didn't go. I wish I had, but with Molly and the hour drive, it just didn't seem like a good idea. I am thrilled though that the Gila Valley is finally getting a Temple. It will open in about a year. I am soooooo looking forward to attending.

Kindness

Becky has worked at the school for as long as I can remember. She is so nice, and such a sweet lady. I remember when I was in school and she was in the office. Well, she did me a great kindness today. Her granddaughter is a little older than Molly, and they had a BIG bag of outgrown clothes. So, they gave it to Molly. Along with the clothes was a bag of shoes and some baby linens.

Whenever I am feeling grumpy, out of sorts, or just plain pissy, I need to remember how the kindness of others has blessed me. I have actually had a truly blessed life.

You Just Never Know

Today, I got a call requesting that I relieve a coworker whose back was in bad shape. No prob! Daisy was home sick anyway so she could watch Molly. I said I would be in after a quick shower.

30 minutes later, I got to the store....only to find that my coworker was in grim shape. She had taken a Vicodin and had a reaction to it. She was going into shock and fading fast.

Some 20+ years ago, I received a little medical training. Just enough to render aid until the EMT's show up. I never thought to use that training again, but you just never know when you will have to step up to the plate. We (me, her husband and another person with basic training) got her stablized and by the time the ambulance arrived, she was ok. (Thank goodness!)

The moral of this post? Take a first aid course if you can. You may never need to use it. But, if you are put in a position to need the information, you will be glad you did. And so will the person you help.

How to Eat Catsup According to Molly

In the background you can hear Em and her friend having a conversation about rashes. Yum! Great mealtime conversation LOL!

The Wait is Over.

We are finally done waiting to see if Barry was laid off. He wasn't. Unfortunately, he is the only one in my immediate family who isn't. My BIL, my niece's fiancee, my mother....all jobless. This really sucks. And, the amazing thing is that other than the fiancee, all had been working for longer than my husband. My mother worked in the mill which is being closed and my BIL was a driller. He had transferred from trucks (where Barry is), and in spite of his flawless record and 5 years with the company, he just didn't have seniority in drilling. Well, that and he got royally screwed, but that's a given at the mine.

So, my sister is now moving back to Mesa, and we are moving into her house. It's official now. And I need to start packing.

I am remarkably grateful that Barry is still working and thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts.

Amorous Drunks

Why do I do it? I know better. I pay for it every time.

NEVER smile at a drunk.

Last night, a man came in the store. He didn't seem drunk when he first came in. So, I sold him a 40 of Cobra. And then, it began.

He was sitting on my counter and WOULD NOT leave. He wanted me to talk to him, sing to him, preach to him. I wanted him to get the Hell of my counter and get out. All I did? I smiled at him and was courteous. At no time did I encourage Mr Drunk at all. I never came on to him. I never encouraged him.

By the end of the HOUR that he stayed at the store, he went from, "You are so nice!" to, "You are the most beautifullest person who ever walked on this planet", and we ended with. "Nice tits!". At this point, I was ready to slap him. But slapping a drunk when you are alone with him is a little dangerous, so I settled for telling him to stop. Repeatedly.

My sister and boss had both told me that the best way to get rid of them when they are like that is to start cleaning. This man stayed put. He did manage to lift his feet out of the way when I vacuumed. Finally, I just kept telling him he HAD to go. I begged, ordered, demanded....anything to get this guy to leave! After 15 minutes of that, and me starting to think I was going to have to call the Sheriff's office (which would have been humiliating), he agreed to leave.

I shouldn't be so nice to people. I need to practice my crabby routine.

And the kicker. Barry was in the store when this began. HE LEFT! He said he thought I knew this guy and could handle it. I let my dh know, for future reference, DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH AMOROUS DRUNKS IN THE STORE!!!!!

sheesh!

My Tummy Hurts, and a LO

I am so tired of this pain. Whenever I have a child, my endometriosis goes into remission. After Molly, the remission didn't last for very long. I am back where I was years ago, lying on the floor in pain. Unable to move because the adhesion's have attached to my tailbone and only lying on my side is pain free. The adhesion's are also attached to other organs causing a variety of pains that mimic other conditions (UTI's and IBS are the most bothersome one's), so I get all of the pain from other conditions as well.

I think it's time to consider a hysterectomy again. I'm not having any more children. I will find a specialist who will also remove the adhesion's from my other organs while he is in there to hopefully stop this condition.

I have suffered with this since I was 13 years old. Most women don't start getting the symptoms until they are in their 30's according to my last Dr. I got them with my first periods. The speculation, since no one knows exactly what causes the retrograde bleeding that causes endo, is that my tilted uterus caused me this problem from day one. I am grateful to have my kids because my scarring was bad enough for my last OB to say my conception was miraculous. But now, it's time for this to end.

I am going to have to get to Mesa and see a specialist because I don't think any of the OB/GYN's around here have a lot of experience with this. And there is usually a several month wait here. I want to be seen now.

The only thing I am waiting for? To see if dh keeps or loses his job. Insurance is important.

And finally, here is my long awaited 'Day in the Life' LO. I put it on hold to work on pages for the SBB Birthday challenges. I finished this morning though.

I am DULL!


credits here

A Day in Pics and a Spelling Bee

I started the day with pictures. I decided, since I was awake at 6:30 AM anyway, that this should be the day I memorialized by taking a picture every hour. So far, I have learned one very important fact about my life.

I am one remarkably dull individual.

Now, I did choose an average day to make it more realistic, but I really am boring. So far, these are my pictures: (Not the actual pics yet...that will be a separate post. These are just the descriptions.)

the clock when I woke up
my breakfast
one of my shirt drawers because I finally got dressed
things I purchased at the store (while still at the store)
a sink full of soapy water and dishes that I was washing
my lambie being fed
my lunch
a basket of laundry that I was putting in the washer
the spelling bee
my computer as I scrapped the spelling bee picture on my Project 365 LO for this week.


CRIPES!!!! Did you fall asleep reading that list of housewifely monotony? I am about to doze off just thinking about it. But, this is the everyday minutia of my life.

Now, on to the spelling bee. Daisy and Will were both contestants! And.....neither made it past the first round. I am slightly (maybe more than slightly) biased, but I think that the words my kids were given were a little rough. The other kids got words like: urgent, cable and button. Daisy was given 'gladsome'. Which wasn't hard, but it was unusual. And Will got 'assignment'. Seriously! OK, these were reasonable words. But, when my kids get home, I am playing up the harder word angle for them!

26 Things

I am going to give this a shot. These are the directions:

The next 26 Things project is running during January 2009!

Take 1 photo for each item on the 26 Things list below -

neighbor unfamiliar mess information change everything company

twin warning odd decadent in the distance crowded eyes

green entrance cross sunset leftovers different

big things frozen line up tube bed in season

When you're finished, upload your photos to your website/blog entry or flickr album, and come back February 1 2009 to submit your entry/album URL.

So, anyone want to give this a shot with me? Also, I am going to do "A Day in the Life". I know that I missed the official date. However, I think this would make a cool LO. A picture an hour, all day, to see what a day in my life is like.

Welcome to My Personal Hell

This is what it is like to live with Molly. Unless she is working off her ABUNDANT energy by getting into stuff she knows is off-limits.

Regret

I once told someone, "I live with regret as my constant companion". I used to say that I regret nothing about my life, because my choices made me who I am. But...there is one regret that just gets to me. No, I won't say what it is here. Suffice it to say, it's painful. I am tired of this regret. I just can't seem to move past it. Feeling it strongly today.

Can't shake the feeling that I REALLY blew it with that choice.

Obituaries

Yes, I read the obituaries. I'm not morbid or obsessed with death or anything. But, I seem to constantly find people I have known in the obits. I read them to see...

For example(s): I never would have known that Dh's grandmother had died if not for reading the obits. Dh doesn't speak to his family, so we weren't informed. And further, on the day we found out, Dh went to the cemetery to say goodbye to his grandmother. He found that the services for his mother's best friend, someone Dh and I cared deeply for, had just concluded. He just missed her burial.

Another example: I was reading the obits and found that a beloved Primary teacher from my childhood in Clifton had died. I had just missed her funeral, which was held at my Stake Center in Mesa. She had lived for many years in the same stake as I had, but I hadn't known.

I am posting this because just today, it has happened again. I heard the announcement in church on Sunday that Tammy Trammel had passed. The name wasn't one I knew, so while feeling sorrow for the family, I wasn't directly affected. Today, I read her obituary. She was born Tammy Scott. She is my age. And it hit me. This must be the same Tammy Scott I grew up with. Her uncle married my cousin (or something along those lines). We knew each other as little kids somewhat. Then in 7th grade when we were both the new kids in class in Duncan, we became friends. I read this obit, just after seeing that a funeral was going on in town. I missed it. It wasn't that we had even seen each other in almost 30 years. But, I knew her. I considered her a cousin of sorts and definitely a friend. And, as the poem by John Donne says, "Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind."

I am feeling a little diminished today.

Project 365

I saw the article in Creating Keepsakes and was intrigued. But, my camera gave me such grief that I wasn't sure I wanted to bother. Plus, I HATE being obligated to do a scrapbook page. I just don't do well when my creativity becomes compulsory rather than flowing naturally. So, I put the magazine aside and forgot about it.

Then, I kept seeing in online forums, references to project 365. People were making templates and tags and getting really excited about this. I started to feel the lure.

And finally, Barry got me my new camera for my birthday. It is such an amazing piece of electronics and it's the perfect camera for me. No, it isn't the Rebel. But it is a Canon Powershot SX110IS. It really is a wonderful camera and does EVERYTHING I need in a camera.

So, I started taking my pictures. But, I wasn't committed. If I chose to not do Project 365, I was OK with that. I decided to use the Creating Keepsakes example as my template. I kept it VERY simple, because if I start worrying about elements and papers, I was afraid of getting overwhelmed. So, this page I did is pretty bare boned for me. But, I was happy with it.

Even more, I was excited. I wanted to commit to Project 365! I CAN DO IT.

And then I have to ask...Who the heck am I committing to? Who cares if I do this or not. Well, I care. This seems like fun, and I would like to see myself actually complete a project for once in my life...ADD be damned!!!

Therefore, I am doing it? Here is page one of week one. Nothing fancy, but I think that I can keep up with this. I am looking forward to the rest of the year with this!

Gamboling Lamb

A little clip of Lambie running around and chasing the kids. You also get to see some of my clutter in this TINY (you will see how tiny) little house LOL! The boxes are books that Cory brought from our Mesa house on his last visit. He is coming again tonight. I HAVE NO IDEA where I am going to put everything. This house is PACKED!! LOL! But....in spite of the clutter....it is CLEAN! That, for me, is an accomplishment!

Hi. I'm Dena. And I am an Addict.

I admit it. I am addicted to scrapbooking. I don't care though. Don't try any of your interventions on me. I don't want to get better. There is too much to scrap, and I HAVE to do it. It's a compulsion. Thank goodness for templates! Because even though the drive was strong this week, the mojo sadly, was not.

And, oh what a week it was to scrap!

First, we did Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Then, on Christmas morning, my great-nephew Nathan was born. He looks just like his mother. (Who I think looked like Zee as a little girl. Not at all as an adult, but as a child.)

And then, it snowed yesterday.

Of course, I found various other things to scrap too. I can always find something to scrap. That should be a monthly or weekly challenge at SBB. Scrap something so obscure, something that you have never seen anyone scrap before. You know, like......well, I can't even think of anything. But with a little effort, I am sure I could.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I got some bling that I really wanted. Barry got a pocketknife set that he really wanted. And the kids got toys (or in the case of Emily, clothing and makeup). It was a wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!!

I want to wish everyone the best of Holidays! May your stockings be full, your family happy, and the joy of the season be with you.

We are getting the best gift of all this year. As I type, my niece is in labor with my first great-nephew. I will share pictures as soon as I get them.

In the meantime. Best wishes to all!

Hey Nineteen

How, in the name of all that is good and right......did I become the mother of a nineteen year old man? I never, EVER envisioned this. Who would? I saw kids in my future. I knew mine would grow up. But, nineteen? That is one year older than a legal adult. When I was fifteen, nineteen year old persons could still legally purchase liquor. (I know this because I dated a nineteen year old when I was fifteen for that very purpose).

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. My son is now nineteen. And, I can't even be with him this day. This sucks up the wazoo. I miss my baby. He is still my baby. I don't care if he is nineteen, or thirty or seventy-two. He is still my baby. Forever.

So, Happy Birthday Son. I love you. I hope your day is wonderful. I miss you.

Thank You Zee!

That was a wonderful thing to say. Yes, my Em is almost all grown-up and she is lovely. Somewhere, along the way, she stopped looking exactly like her Grandma Cooper. And suddenly, she looked like me! Only prettier, I think. And apparently, so do the men. I swear, I am going to punch some perv in the face someday. As we walk through stores in Safford, I watch the men staring at my daughter's....ahem...."attributes". She knows the curse I suffered. Having fully developed before high school even begins. And I do mean FULLY. I want to slap these men and yell, "She's effing 13 years old you effing perv!". But, instead....I glare at them and hustle her out of the way.

But, I also see the young men at school looking at her. That is sweet. I get so many compliments from adults too. Recently, someone commented that Emily had obviously just gotten past that whole "awkward adolescent" stage and had become a stunning young lady.

She really has. And I don't care if it's deserved or not, I am taking full credit for it!