A RED LETTER DAY(?)

It's been a few days (okay weeks) since I posted last (with the exception of the 20 Things I Love list last night), so here's what's been keeping me busy ...

On Thursday, April 24, I was at work (minding my own business I might add) when I get a call from FOS. He had just been to the ophthalmologist to get his eyes checked. As the exam was ending, FOS mentioned to the doctor that he had a black "spot" in one of his eyes. The doctor looked and found a retinal tear. He immediately called another ophthalmologist and had FOS drive to that location. The second doctor found an additional retinal tear! FOS had his eye lasered in two spots to "weld" the tears. The doc said one of the areas was right on a nerve and FOS said it was the most pain he had been in (including brain surgery - I'm not kidding). HELLO! I'm a mom! and I'm at work! I can't take that information over the phone. I was supposed to be there, holding his hand and saying loving words to get him through the trauma! How could he handle it without me?

Okay, it's still April 24th and I was still at work. FYS then called me to tell me that the hand specialist he had just visited said he needed surgery on his broken hand! WHAT? How much can I take in one day? Let me just say that FYS got the broken hand the weekend before in a little "altercation" (of course he was defending someone's honor!). Holy crap! I was on overload. The surgery would require FYS to have an external fixator (pin sticking out of his hand). Hooray! The news just keeps getting better and better! Crap, crap, crap.

Moving ahead to April 28th (the day of the surgery and also MOMD's birthday) -- the surgery went well and FYS did well. He is his own comedy routine everyday but especially when coming out of the anesthesia. He asked the nurse out to lunch (which he also did when he had his wisdom teeth removed AND his nose surgery), told her that she was the cutest thing he had ever seen (she had a 23 year old daughter and 17 year old son), and kept asking me if I wanted to take his picture. I did take his picture just to satisfy him. Salt Lake Regional did an awesome job of taking care of both of us (although they did not give me drugs). I did an awesome job of being a mom and supporting FYS.

I've Been Tagged! 20 THINGS I LOVE RIGHT NOW ...

I've been tagged before but wasn't really sure what to do - I hope I'm not going to be thrown in blog jail (blail?) for messing this up.  Okay, here goes (in no particular order) ...

  1.  MOMD - What would I ever do without him?  He really is the man of my dreams.

  2.  My rotten (hee hee) kids.

  3.  The ability to read.

  4.  Chocolate.

  5.  Singing along with the radio when you know all the words to the song.

  6.  Reality (?) T.V. (Survivor, American Idol)

  7.  The Office.

  8.  My sweet, sweet friends.  (You know who you are.)  I never realized how much was missing in my life before I found them.  Now I can't believe I lasted as long as I did on my own (well, on my own with a lot of testosterone thrown it from my family).

  9. Mashed potatoes and gravy.

10.  Sunny days with blue, blue skies.

11.  Being alone (sometimes it feels good, doesn't it?)

12.  The comic section in the newspaper (but not the serious ones - they're not "comics").

13.  Soaking in the bathtub for so long that you have to keep adding hot water.

14.  Disneyland

15.  Chocolate chip cookies

16.  Blogging - it's addicting!

17.  When all the wash is done and the hamper is empty.

18.  Hanging out on days off with my boys.

19.  Sleep.

20.  Most of all ... another day with people I love.

Temple Trip - Mormon-speak alert

I had an interesting experience today that hit me smack dab in the heart.  My dad had invited MOMD and me to go to the temple with him, my mom, their ward, and my aunt.  (We were doing a session and having dinner in the temple cafeteria afterward.)  Our little family group arrived at the temple and walked up to the recommend desk.  No big deal ... same routine as always.  We all showed our recommends and walked into the foyer/lobby area (or whatever it's called).  My dad started talking to someone he knew and we were just standing around. All of a sudden I heard MOMD call my name.  I turned around and he was still at the recommend desk.  His recommend expired TWO WEEKS AGO!  What??  MOMD couldn't come in!?!  All of a sudden I was torn.  Since we drove everyone to the temple, MOMD would need to come BACK to pick everyone up.  WHAT DO I DO?   Do I leave with him and then come back later OR do I stay with the rest of my family and do the dinner (which is already paid for) and the session.  I ended up staying at the temple (probably because food was involved). Holy cow -- Talk about an object lesson!  I know that this entire experience sounds trivial (but it wasn't to me) and I was obviously in an emotional frame of mind -- but the whole thing stunk.  Each time I moved to a new area in the temple (chapel, room for the session, Celestial room, even the cafeteria) the first thing I did was to scan the crowd for MOMD.   Of course in a split second I would remember/realize that he wasn't there and wouldn't be there. Even though I was surrounded by my family, it wasn't the same.   If I ever forgot how important MOMD was to me, this situation reminded me how much he means to me and how thankful I am for that goofy guy.  I never want to be without him.   

Last year I went by myself (MOMD was busy and it was the last day) to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was spectacular! Tons of tulips of every color and size as well as hyacinths, daffodils, and tons of other stuff I don't know the name of. Of course, I wanted to share the wealth of my discovery with those I love (being that I have that kind of generous nature).

Our experience started out with me calling Thanksgiving Point and asking to reserve a golf cart so my mom and dad wouldn't have to walk. They don't take reservations but rent out the carts on a first-come, first-serve basis. Okay, no biggie. We'll just get there early. Next MOMD and I wanted to stop at the ATM for some cash. The first ATM we went to kept our card and froze up. I'm not kidding. Our card was in there so long that I got out of the car, told the car behind us to go somewhere else, and walked over to the drive-through teller line so I could ask them what to do. Of course, after I had done all that WALKING the machine spits out our card. Okay, we can handle this ... we'll just go to another ATM. We stop and pick up Mom and Dad and go to ATM #2. This is a new machine for MOMD to use. He likes the machines that have big numbers (so I suggested this new one that I had previously used - bad idea!). I think the first machine freaked him out because machine #2 was a disaster. Somehow he pushed the Spanish button and I was "helping" from the passenger seat. Finally in a fit of rage (not really) he said, "I'm just going to my regular machine!". Okay sweetie pie - whatever makes you happy. We peeled out with gravel spitting out behind us (not really) and drove to his regular machine (machine #3 if you are counting). We pull up and I start to "help". He gives me the look of death and I decide that he probably doesn't need my "help". We get our money (with no problem - we really did have money in our account for those of you questioning that) and we are finally off. Now I'm stressed because we are leaving later than expected and what if we don't get a golf cart? I am freaking out (in my mind) even though my mom (who has two bad legs) and my dad (who brought his portable oxygen) are telling me that it's not a big deal if we don't get a cart. Do they think I can walk and carry them too?

When we arrive at TP (Thanksgiving Point), MOMD lets us out near the door so my mom and dad don't have the WALK so far while he parks the car. I run (really I just waddled) up to the desk and yell while butting in front of all other customers, "Do you have any golf carts left today?". The cashier says, "We haven't rented any out yet". I start clapping/crying hysterically (maybe that's an overstatement about the crying) and rent the cart. I am so happy.

We get on our cart and start heading down the path. To my (and my family's) surprise THERE ARE NO TULIPS BLOOMING --- ANYWHERE!!!! What the heck??? Evidently the weather has been a little cold this year and the tulips are delayed. I kept saying to everybody, "I am so sorry - this area was really beautiful LAST YEAR".

Seriously though, we had a really good time and it was my mom and dad's first time to Thanksgiving Point. They said they wanted to go back (when things were blooming). We took pictures of the sticks we liked (since they didn't have leaves, flowers, or any green of any kind on them) for our new backyard that (hopefully) we will put in this spring. Afterward we went to Cabela's for lunch, and as you all know, Cabela's is always a winner.

I've attached some pictures so you could enjoy our day along with us ...



Check out the tulips - they are the sparse green sprouts with no blooms ...




MOMD, dad, and mom.


Me and MOMD.

LOOK - I FOUND SOME TULIPS!!!! (These were the ONLY ONES in bloom.)

The moral of the story is it doesn't matter if things don't live up to your expectations, as long as you're having fun with those you love!

The Big Picture

Okay, so it really is 2 in the AM! Why am I up before the crack of butt? Mostly because I'm (turning into) an old woman and am going through a period of insomnia. What's up with that? It's so frustrating to someone who LOVES sleep.

Anyway, while I was lying in bed (day) dreaming about sleep my mind was in a whirl. You know that feeling -- your mind can't settle down and you are reviewing the previous days events and all those who have done you wrong? (And yesterday I had been done wrong - let me tell you ... from the minute I stepped out of my car and FELL DOWN ("stupid Security Officers - why don't they have salt on the slick spots in the parking lot?") to when I got HONKED AT when I was driving home ("stupid driver - I can't freaking believe they can't slow down for 5 seconds to let me in - they have to stop at the upcoming light anyway") to all the crud in between. All of a sudden the little light bulb turned on above my head (you know how it does in cartoons?) and I realized/remembered that everybody is just doing their best. Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks, "I think I'll drive like an idiot today," or "I'll see how many people I can rile up at work". EVERYBODY IS JUST DOING THEIR BEST. True, sometimes they don't have a lot to work with (hee hee) but they are just doing their best. The person that honked at me is probably blogging right now (okay - maybe not) about how I pulled in front of them and really ticked them off. I hope they remember that I was just doing my best.