Walkin' To School

Branden has decided he wants to walk to school this year.  His middle school is only a mile away and he walks with one of his friends who lives across the street.  I'm kind of at a loss without driving him in the mornings since I have been driving kids to school every morning for the past twelve years.  I don't mind driving him because it's so close, and I'm usually heading to the gym around then, but he keeps wanting to walk. It's a little odd since Kelsie and Trevor would only walk if they absolutely had to. I was wondering how long this walking idea would last--maybe a week--maybe a month--until I learned the true reason why he likes to walk to school.  He stops at the donut shop and buys himself a donut every morning.  I think I'll start walking him to school.

Time to Change Pharmacies

I had to pick up several prescriptions at the pharmacy last week.  One of the prescriptions they said was "on hold" because they were waiting to hear back from the doctor about a refill.  I very kindly reminded them that I had brought in a new prescription for that medication last month.  They looked up my info and low and behold I was right!  They said it would be ready in about ten minutes.  The pharmacy I like to use is in a grocery store, so I did some shopping while I waited.

About ten minutes later, I picked up the prescriptions and went home.  After I had been home for about fifteen minutes, Trevor said that one of the prescriptions wasn't in the bag (the prescription Trevor was waiting for).  Ironically, it was the one that they said wasn't ready.  I assumed that they gave me the ones that were ready (although I did notice they charged me for all of them) and didn't realize that they were still filling the last one.

I went back to the pharmacy and explained that I didn't have one of the prescriptions in the bag. They looked through the prescriptions they had just filled.  It wasn't there.  They looked through all of the prescriptions that were waiting to be filled.  It wasn't there.  They asked me if it could have fallen out in the car (No--the bag was stapled shut).  They called up Trevor to make sure that he hadn't seen the prescription.  They looked through every single prescription that was waiting to be picked up in case it had been put in the wrong place.  The prescription was missing.

Apparently, the prescription without insurance is normally about $500, so they couldn't just give me another prescription.  They kept explaining to me how expensive it is and it seemed to me they were a little accusatory of me losing the prescription.  I kept assuring them that I was not trying to commit insurance fraud, but I just simply wanted my prescription.  OK...so I might not have been very calm because by now it had been half an hour of me trying to convince them that I didn' t have the dang prescription.

After I pleaded with them to call the insurance company to see if they could replace it I kind of stormed out of the store.  I was soooo frustrated!   I got into my car and within 5 seconds my phone rang.  It was Trevor telling me that he had found the prescription.  It was at home.  He had put it away and forgot that he had put it away.  It seems the prescription was in a different bottle than it normally comes in so he didn't think it was the one he was looking for.  I made him call the pharmacy and apologize for his stupidity.  

I am so embarassed for making the poor pharmacy clerks spend so much time looking for the prescription that was in my cupboard at home.  When I went to the store this week I couldn't even go down the aisle near the pharmacy because I didn't want them to remember me.  I think I'm switching all my prescriptions to mail order...or at least a different pharmacy.

Best Vacation EVER

I had the best vacation ever last weekend.  Well, maybe not the BEST vacation, but the most relaxing vacation I have EVER had!  Our ward had youth conference and since Branden is now twelve, he was able to go with Kelsie and Trevor.  Since Chris is young men's president, he had to go, too.  That meant I was going to be alone--completely alone in my house for 24 hours.  

I am often alone at home.  I'm alone when the kids go to school, but that is only for a few hours. Every now and then Chris goes out of town and leaves me home, but the kids are always with me.  I don't think I have ever been home all by myself overnight since I've had children, and that's 17 1/2 years.

So how did I spend my time?  First I went to a movie and then out to dessert with a friend of mine.  Then I came home and surfed the internet for a while.  The next day I cleaned the house. Cleaning is not normally an activity I look forward to or even choose to do in my free time, but I was able to clean and have it stay clean for more than 20 minutes which, I have to say, was quite rewarding.  After cleaning for a while I watched a movie and then I cleaned some more.

It was so quite and peaceful. It was more relaxing than I ever dreamed 24 hours could be.

  

I have to say I was a little bummed when everyone came home.  I put on my happy face and told them how much I had missed them, but secretly I knew that if I had one more day I wouldn't have minded.  

HAWAII 2009

Wisdom Teeth

I'll admit it. Although I try to mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those in need of comforting, I'm not very sympathetic when it comes to getting wisdom teeth extracted. I think this stems from two main reasons.

1. I never had my wisdom teeth out. Although I am no stranger to pain (can you say natural childbirth?), I have endured two major surgeries and given birth to three large children. The thought of a 30 minute outpatient procedure leading to days of coddling doesn't seem right.

2. I think I have unresolved resentment of a childhood issue. When I was 8 or 9 (everything happened to me then) I had to have EIGHT teeth removed. Four were baby teeth, but four were permanent ones that were waiting to come in underneath the baby ones. So, just like wisdom teeth, they had to cut open the gum, remove the teeth, and stitch it up. The same time I had my EIGHT teeth removed, my older sister had four wisdom teeth removed. Even my young eight year old brain knew that eight teeth was more than four teeth. Yet, I remember (this is the resentment part) sitting on the couch for the first day with my sister and we both had ice and ice cream. But, the second day, she got to stay on the couch and continue to do nothing and have milkshakes and I had to get up and do her chores. What's up with that? I had twice as many teeth pulled but she got to have twice as many milkshakes as I did. Not fair!

I was not looking forward to the day when my children would need their wisdom teeth out. After seventeen years of denial, Kelsie's turn finally arrived. I had to schedule it during the one time of the year that Chris goes out of town to see his dad, but with our weird summer schedule, it was really the only time we could do it over the summer. I was a little nervous about the procedure because I don't do well with health issues; bleeding, needles, vomit, etc. I usually let Chris take care of all that, but I was VERY brave and did quite well. I didn't faint when I went back to see her in recovery (yes, I have done that) and I only had a little headache from the stress of the situation which a couple of Advils took care of quite rapidly.

Kelsie sailed through with flying colors. She was a little cranky and angry the first couple of hours...but that was it. She was quickly back to her normal self except for the fact that she couldn't eat much and kept putting bags of frozen peas on her cheeks. After twenty-four hours, she is just using Advil to take care of the pain.

I know there are more serious cases that require more care (and sympathy) but I am SO glad that Kelsie's was an easy case and an easy recovery. I like to hope that I would rise to the occassion if she really needed my help and sympathy...but for now, I'll continue to live in denial of the pain of losing one's wisdom teeth.

HOW TO GET PAINT OUT OF CARPET

Yep. "HOW TO GET PAINT OUT OF CARPET" was my google question for about five minutes until I realized there was no quick cure for the puddle of sapphire blue paint on the carpet in Trevor's room. I was finally finishing up Trevor's room last week. I had installed the baseboards and was just doing some touchup painting before the room was complete (besides adding a closet door, but it's a weird size and I just haven't made it to the Special Order desk). Since I was just doing some touchup work I thought it would be easier if I just put paint in a paper cup instead of lugging around the big gallon of paint. Worked great. There were a few areas that needed a second coat since Suddenly Sapphire is such a dark and vibrant color, so I had the paper cup on the floor (I know, stupid mistake) while I was cleaning some stuff in Trevor's room. He was at EFY so I thought I'd have the room all finished and clean when he came home--I was trying to be such a nice mom. Next thing I know, I look around the corner and the paper cup had somehow fallen and there was a nice puddle of blue paint on the tan carpet.

My heart started pounding and I started panicking. I tried googling for help...but no easy and sure fire ideas came to me. I thought about taking a picture for the blog--really--but I did not want to waste any time at all in my feeble rescue attempt.

I started blotting and blotting. I went through one roll of paper towels. I started dabbing with water and blotting. I went through another roll of paper towels. I did this for four hours until I needed a dinner break. I was starving, exhausted, and my shoulders were killing me. I told Chris "We're going to In and Out and I'm getting fries and a shake and I'm not sharing with anybody." Hunger and stress had clearly taken it's toll.

I came back from dinner and dabbed and blotted for a couple more hours. I thought it was looking pretty good before I went to bed. Not perfect, but better. The next morning it didn't look as good as it seemed to the night before it so I contined my blotting, scrubbing, and stressing. I went through at least four rolls of paper towels (thank goodness I had bought some from Costco) and all my white hand towels.

And now? There's still a very slight blue tint to the area of carpet, but it looks so much better than I ever dreamed it would. I thought for sure the room would need new carpet or a permanent rug over the area, but it's not too noticeable. I'm still going to work on it a little bit more...I think I can get it looking even better. And yes, I've learned my lesson.

Reunited...and it feels so good!

My little family is finally all back home together.

Branden graduated from 6th grade on a Wednesday and Saturday morning he left for his first ever week long Boy Scout camp. I was a little more secure sending Branden to camp than Trevor, since Branden is a little more cautious. But, a week is a very long time for a 12 year old! However, he loved it! He only called me on the last day to see when Chris was coming up (Chris was driving up to bring back scouts). He earned six merit badges (woo-hoo!). His favorite was wilderness survival where he had to build his own shelter outside and actually sleep in it. SCARY...for me...but he did it! He least favorite was pioneering...too many knots for him. He also earned swimming, enviromental science, photography, and orienteering.

Two days after he came back Kelsie and Trevor left for EFY in Santa Barbara. They had a fantastic time and can't wait to go again.
They came home today...so now we're finally ready to start our summer with everyone home.

While they were gone I learned some things:
1. Branden entertains himself pretty well. The house was extemely quite while he was home. I would see him read for a couple of hours, watch TV, read some more, play video games, read some more. He was perfectly content staying home and keeping his pajamas on all day.

2. The bathroom stays much cleaner with Trevor and Kelsie gone.

3. The living room and kitchen stays much cleaner with Branden gone.

4. And...I finally figured out which son keeps peeing on the seat!

I missed each one of them when they were gone and I am so glad everyone is back home!