Just a really stupid week

Ian broke his hand on Monday. It has been a learning experience for me. Mostly, I've learned that the medical profession places broken bones on the absolute bottom of the priority list. I just didn't realize they were no big deal.

Monday afternoon when he broke his hand, I didn't know where to take him. I thought I should take him to the InstaCare, but I didn't want to go there and have them tell me to go to the Emergency Room. So I called. They said I could bring him there, but they would just put a temporary cast on him and refer us to an orthopedic guy. I thought, why would I want to do it twice? Can I just go to our regular doctor and get a cast? They transferred me to my regular doctor and his assistant said that, yes, they could put a cast on him if he needed it. Bring him in in the morning and they'll x-ray it. I paused. In the morning? So what you are telling me is, don't panic, it is okay to come in tomorrow. She said yes, just ice it really good and give him some ibuprofen.

So we go to the doctor. He looks at the x-rays and says we need to go to an orthopedic guy. He writes us a referral and when he hands it to me he says, just call them within the week. Within the week? Really?

So I call the orthopedic guy and get an appointment for Thursday. He looks at Ian's x-rays and says - - "I need to reset the bones in his hand before we cast it, and I have to do it in the Emergency Room." Are you kidding me?

Apparently the Emergency Room has an x-ray machine, and the doctor does not. Somehow this does not make sense to me, but there is no point in arguing. So the orthopedic guy says, "I will call you tomorrow, after my day of surgery and you can meet me at the hospital."

Seems like it is always tomorrow with broken bones.

Thoughts on Prayer

I learned something the other day, a spiritual truth, and I want to try and write it down. I hope I can explain it in a way that will be clear. Sometimes things are “lost in translation.”

Jared, who is very bright, had parent teacher conferences the other day. When I got home I was going over his scores with him and noticed that he had a poor grade on an essay test. I said, “You write well, why did you get such a poor grade?” He said, “I write well, but I don’t write fast. It took me 20 minutes just to think of what to write about.”

I said, “Well, Jared, if you went to you teacher and said, ‘I didn’t have time to finish – can I come back during lunch, or after school, and work on it some more?’ I am sure your teacher would let you. Your teachers know you can do well, and they want you to succeed. Sometimes you just have to ask for help.” And then I felt a little light go on in my head and I said, “It’s just like prayer.”

As the truth of that sunk in, I realized that it was very much like prayer. Heavenly Father wants us to succeed. He knows we can do it. He is willing to bless us. If we would rather say “no, I don’t want to ask… no, I’m embarrassed to ask… no, I’ll just take care of it myself,” then Heavenly Father will let us take care of it ourselves. Agency is so important that He will never force any thing on us, including blessings. If we are willing to trust in the arm of the flesh and muscle it out ourselves, he will let us have what we want.

But if we ask, we can be sure our petition will be considered as much as any concerned parent/teacher who wants us to learn, who wants us to succeed.

Senior Prom 2010

Here's a picture of Scotty and me at our Junior Prom in 1980.


Our ward has sponsored a "Senior" prom for the last three Valentine Day celebrations. Here's the latest.

Proud of My Guy

I am pretty proud of Scotty and the impression he has made on the students and the administrator in his English as a Second Language class.

Steve Christensen is the administrator of Southwest High School's ESL program. Scotty had to interview him for a paper he's writing for his Master's class. Here is a quote that is just a really nice compliment for Scotty:

"Steve's level assessments assist in determining just how much ESL benefit the classes are providing. But he said, "The big picture of how well the program is running is by how many smiles I see...and this year, I see lots of smiles!" Student level gains and retention rates are unprecedentedly high this year (2009-2010) according to Steve."

And the students have made an impression on Scotty as well. He says, "I teach one of these ESL classes and know that my students cannot be cowards. I ponder their strength from what is often a wrenching decision to move to America, learning of a new world, living with constant challenges, humbling themselves to sit in class where they may embarrass themselves with their speaking ability. None of this is kid stuff. The ESL class is for the strong and gutsy. I suggest each of my students learn, remember and sincerely consider the last for words of our American National Anthem. I can testify that they, too, are part of what makes this a "Home of the Brave."

She'll Always be My Little Girl

Tara is sick. She sounds just awful. But she doesn't have a fever. And she doesn't have insurance. Her lungs are tight and achy, so I told her to boil some water on the stove to put some humidity in the air. She said, "How do I do that?"

She meant, "Is that gonna work?" Remember, she's sick.

So I decided to get her a humidifier so she can have it in her bedroom. I went to Target and bought this cute little Elephant shaped humidifier. She was tickled. I was amused she liked it so much. I guess my little girl will always be: My Little Girl.

The Best of Men

My cousin wrote this on her Facebook account about her father, but I thought of Scotty when I read it. He really is the best of men.

"How beautiful is that home where lives a man of godly manner, who loves those for whose nurture he is responsible, who stands before them as an example of integrity and goodness, who teaches industry and loyalty, not spoiling his children by indulging their every wish, but rather setting before them a pattern of work and service which will underpin their lives forever." ~Gordon B. Hinckley

WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE, TOTO

Okay, so maybe we live sheltered lives, but some of the stuff we saw was pretty weird.

First was the "biohazard disposal" box in the restroom somewhere in Nevada. I guess it's okay to USE needles, as long as we dispose of them responsibly.

The boys wondered what was going on when we had to stop at the California border for the fruit fly inspector. I'm sure the rest of the world has experienced the huge toll gate system they've got going, and the guards who ask you if you have any fruit. That was a first for my boys and they wondered what country they had just entered.

I should probably not share this one, but oh, well. There was a woman in the bathroom at the San Diego Zoo who obviously had some paranoia problems. Or at least some big phobias. She was apparently afraid to sit on the toilet seat, which I know alot of women don't care for. But she was also, apparently, claustrophobic, so she didn't close the stall door. Weird. Really weird.

The last one is a fun one. Also from the zoo. In the parking lot as we arrived a fellow hollered at us from across the way, hey, congratulations Utah! Did you come to watch the Bowl Game? Hey you know that quarterback, Jordan Wynn? I was his Spanish teacher for three years!

I missed an opportunity there. I should have gotten my picture taken with him and posted it on Facebook!

The ZOO

Tara loves the elephants. Jared loves the tigers. Scott loves the lions. Ian loves the sun bears, and sea lions. I forgot what Kudi likes - the penguins? And I love the polar bears.

Or so we say.

We were facinated by the apes.

They had a big silver back gorilla that was HUGE. And we were so surprised to see the younger monkeys running after it and wrestling. I thought all the monkeys would be as afraid as I was, I guess. It was interesting to watch how they walk. I thought they made a fist and walked on their hands that way, but they bend their fingers at the first knuckle and walk on that little ledge. The orangutans hands were huge - twice the size you would expect them to be, even when you expect big.

And there was one little orangutan who stripped the leaves off a branch and poked it in a "termite mound". Her face was priceless as she very, very carefully slid the stick back out, so as to keep as much termite juice on it as possible. So funny.

Good memories. I'm so glad we got to go.

Personalities

While at Disneyland we all had the chance to sit in a big "Beauty and the Beast" chair and take a computerized personality quiz to find out what Disney character we were.


Ian was Timon, the meerkat from Lion King. He is energetic.

Jared was Sheriff Woody. He likes order.

Kudi was Tinkerbell. She is sometimes a little jealous.

Tara was Ariel. She likes adventure.

Sophia was Mulon. She fights to protect her family.

Scotty was Mushu, the little dragon from Mulon. He sometimes speaks without thinking.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

This year Santa gave our family a week-long trip to Oceanside, California for Christmas. Because that was our big family present, Santa stuck to filling the children's stockings for the rest of our Christmas presents. We only took what we could fit in our stockings. I actually loaded the stockings a couple of days before we left, and we packed them all in a copy paper box. "Christmas in a box" we called it. It felt kind of funny, but I think it was mostly a hit. The girls got scarfs and make up and money and pop tarts and chocolate. The boys got ties and something, (uh-oh! I always forget!)


I thought it was cute this year how the boys actually put some thought into their gifts for others. Jared gave Ian a Spongebob cd, Kudi a badly needed wallet, Tara a necklace, Papa some earphones an ammo, and me some red mixing bowls. Ian gave Jared cash toward the laptop he is saving for, Kudi a hat, and Tara some ear rings, shared Papa's present with Jared, and got me badly needed socks. They did well.

The girls' presents were sweet, too. I got an apple timer, some red spatulas, and a wisk, and Scotty got some tools he really wanted. They threw in some treats as well. Notice the picture of us with our "memory mints" as we are getting a little forgetful.