One little hole...

It was just one little hole in one little pipe which happened to leak a little water under my kitchen floor.

Of course, the insurance company found asbestos in the damp drywall and so my kitchen is now being "abated" of all hazardous materials.

The cabinets were removed from two walls.  Drywall was removed.  The granite countertops which we spent many evenings and Saturdays tiling was destroyed in less than three hours.   My kitchen sink and dishwasher are sitting on my dining room floor.  I don't know where my oven is.

Through all the mess, though, I am living one of my lifelong dreams--eating out breakfast, lunch, and dinner and having someone else pay for it!  You wont catch me complaining.

Kings of Narnia

When I heard that Trevor's band would be playing a song that Trevor had written,  I must say I felt a little proud.  When I heard the name of the song was "Shut Up and Die" I was a little concerned.  It didn't sound like the type of song I would even want him to listen to, let alone compose.  I must say, when I heard his friend Matt sing the song I thought it was pretty good.

Way to go Kings of Narnia.

My New BFF

Last weekend our stake was involved in a 21 stake women's auxiliary training meeting.  Our stake happened to be the "host" stake which meant that the meetings were held in the Simi stake center and that the church leaders visiting were staying overnight in Simi and had a few hours to spend in Simi before their meetings.  Apparently they had spent the prior two days visiting other areas in southern California so that all of the stake leaders in southern california had been trained in a matter of three days. 

Before their meetings, the church leaders wanted to make one one one visits to people "who could benefit" from their visits.  As a young women's presidency we prayed about young women who could benefit from a visit from Sister Elaine Dalton, the YW General President, in their home.  Some young women didn't want a visit, some young women never answerd their phones, some young women never called back, but the day before we finally had three names.

I begged my way into accompanying our stake YW president and Sister Dalton on their visits. (Actually, I earned my spot, since I found one of the YW to visit.)

I was first impressed with Sister Dalton because she came out of the hotel with just a small purse and her scriptures.  We picked her up at four and I knew she wasn't going back to the hotel room until about 10:00, but that's all she needed.  As we started going to the first home it was really cute because Sis. Dalton wasn't sure what was going on.  She had been so busy the past two days she wasn't sure if she was going to do focus groups, one on one visits, or what time her next meeting started.  She was searching through her purse when we told her we were doing one on one visits, she was looking for something to give to the girls.  She felt bad she didn't have anything, and she felt a little flustered  as she asked us to say a prayer together before the first house.

When we started with our first visit, she just talked with the young woman we were visiting, trying to get to know her, and just kept telling her how remarkable she was and was impressed with everything this girl was doing in her life.  The spirit was very strong as Sis. Dalton told her she didn't have anything to leave her with except for the most important thing that she had, her testimony.  Sis. Dalton bore her testimony and asked the young woman to bear her testimony.  Then she asked the mom to bear her testimony.  I was getting a little stressed because we were on a pretty tight schedule and we were spending way too long at the first house, but after we left Sis. Dalton said "we couldn't leave that house until the mother bore her testimony and said what she needed to say."  

The second house was a totally different experience.  It turned out that in the second house the dad needed the visit more than the young woman.  Sis. Dalton listened to the spirit and reached out to the father.   It was amazing to see the spirit work and to see someone so in tune with the spirit to know exactly how to direct her words so that he was reached.  She invited the family to come and visit her if they're ever in Salt Lake. How cool!

The third house she called her "joyous" visit.   She met a beautiful family with three generations of women.  Turns out that everyone in the family heard and learned something different from her visit, especially the less active grandmother who just happened to fly in that morning. The grandmother said she had never felt the spirit so strong in her whole life as she did during that visit.

I learned how important it is to stay close to the spirit so that we can hear the Lord tell us what to do, and how to do it. I learned that true teaching and learning comes from ministering one on one.  It was an amazing experience, and I'm so grateful for the chance I had to spend with Sis. Dalton (my new BFF).  It has changed me. 

Mononucleosis

WARNING: Photo at the bottom of post may be disturbing to some.

According to google health, "Mononucleosis is a viral infection causing fever, sore throat, swollen lymph glands, especially in the neck."  But according to someone who has  had mono, I would like to define it as "Mono is a horrendous virus causing extreme fatigue, a throbbing sore throat covered with hideous while scaley stuff that causes such intense pain you don't even know what your other symptoms are (except for the extreme fatigue)."

I had mono a few months before I got married.  I remember the extreme fatigue and the horrendous sore throat.  The only energy I could muster would be to take a shower each day. My throat was so painful, I couldn't eat or sleep.  I remember eating popsicles just to try and ease the pain for a second. (I did lose ten pounds...but that's not the point).  In other words, it was the sickest I have ever been in my entire life.

When Kelsie first complained of a sore throat and said she had white stuff on her tonsils, I took her to the doctor for a strep test.  She didn't have the fever that she usually gets with strep, but since she usually gets strep once a year I took her in to get her started on antibiotics as soon as possible.  The doctor did a rapid strep test which came back negative and decided to do some blood work for mono just in case the other strep test was also negative.  A few days later the doctor called back and said all the lab tests were negative and that it must be a virus and to just rest and get lots of fluids.

A week later, she was still sick and her throat was worse.  I took her back in and they did another strep test and more blood work.  The next day they called back and said that this time she had tested positive for mono. At least we knew why she was so sick!

The worst thing about mono is you really can't do anything about it.  There is no antibiotic, no special pill, nothing.  You just have to wait it out.  Her worst symptom, like mine, is the sore throat.  It is terrible to be hungry but not be able to eat because it hurts too bad.  I took her to the store and let her pick out anything she thought she would be able to eat.  She picked out ice cream, popsicles, mac and cheese, raviolis, soup and mashed potatoes.  That's my girl, ice cream and carbs!

Amazingly, she's still been able to go to school and keep up with teaching piano lessons.  As long as she gets her nap when she comes home from school she can get most of the things done that she needs to do.  Now...if only the sore throat would go away.