Just a few things about this guy

My creation, originally uploaded by kimmusjax.

-This guy turned the big 30 today
-This guy is one of the funniest guys I know-he makes me laugh everyday
-This guy makes the best waffles ever--from scratch-they are sooo good
-This guy never complains- ever
-This guy is the greatest daddy to our kids
-This guy has a heart of gold
-This guy loves Japan and the people there as well as the culture
-This guy has got the smarts of the family
-This guy has more patience than anyone I know
-This guy is the love of my life & my best friend- I couldnt have asked for anyone more perfect for me than my Daniel

Happy Birthday Daniel!
"Baby I'm amazed by you"--(wink, wink)

Charges

So 2 weeks ago I was in the ER for my shoulder dislocation. We just got the bill. Did you know that if you get a PREGNANCY TEST in the ER it will cost you OVER $200? Do you know you can actually buy one at the dollar store for---- get this-----$1? Thats a pretty nice profit margin for the hospital, seeing as how they probably get them in bulk for less than that. And seeing as how I told them I was DEFINITELY NOT PREGNANT and they made me pee in a cup anyway- I am not too thrilled with this insanely ridiculous charge.

Did you know that if the Xray techs mess up the first view of the xray and they take another you have to pay $350 bucks for their mistake? Well you do. So thats $700 just for a dang xray just because they needed proof my shoulder was dislocated- if only they had taken my word for it.

And did you know that just to be in the ER you get to pay $900? Just for being there? Disneyland with all of the kids doesnt even cost that much.

And then to have a dr yank your arm back and forth not even knowing what he is doing costs you $300. Just to have him yank it around.

Then there is the charge that says "hydration therapy"- My guess is thats for an IV- which wasnt needed but it costs $500. Hydration therapy- it wasnt very therapeutic in my opinion.

The drugs that I didnt get until after being there for over 2 hours cost $200 bucks. You can buy some hard core drugs on the streets for less than that-(or so I hear)

And get this---the injection fee is $150. Seriously. Just for them to stick a needle in my arm.

And there are lots of other charges. The total for my visit-- well over $3000. I could take the family to Hawaii, stay in a 4 star hotel for a week and live it up for that.

I think I need to go hit a punching bag a zillion times over to release some of this agitation for this bill, but my shoulder would probably slip out again.

Company

We desert rats finally got a visit from one of my siblings. My sister and her family came to town this past week. In the time we have lived here we havent had any sibling company- its quite tragic really. A girl needs her family. My sister finally came to her senses and got out of the winter cold iceland and joined us in our warm sunshine and crystal blue skies.

Daniel and Big D took care of the kids on Saturday while Christie and I went shopping, got pedicures and had lots of bonding time. (If you know my sister be sure to ask her about her interesting "butt massage" from the pedicure chair.) We stayed up late playing games and talking and watching movies. We ate so many wonderful meals all thanks to Daniel and his talented cuisine making skills-( "like nunchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills." and Daniel certainly has many-) We even got to go on a double date Saturday night thanks to our friend Victoria and her friend who watched the monkeys for us.

They had to catch a plane this afternoon, so our house is feeling quite empty now, not to mention quiet. Kylie is feeling really down since having to say good-bye to her cousins. I can relate. When I was little I would cry on the drive home from family reunions after saying goodbye to my cousin Natalie. I have always hated goodbyes and now it looks like my daughter is following in my footsteps.

I sure do love my sister and am grateful that we were able to have such a great weekend together. Hopefully they had a good time too and will make a yearly habit out of visiting us.(come on sis-- you know you want to!)

Baby steps

(the junk on his shirt is compliments of having a 2 year old brother yogurt-ify him)

My lil' Ben has decided to try his feet at walking. This is a little odd for us as the older 3 started walking after they hit the 1 year mark. Ben still has a little over a month until then, but I guess he couldnt wait to keep up with his siblings. So the next several months he's sure to have a permanent goose-egg on his forehead, not to mention bruises. (I promise I dont beat my kids.)

Singing the Blues

This little turkey got into some trouble yesterday. I was extremely upset with him and put him in time out. At our house time out is on a little chair in the garage, and the garage is right by the laundry room. So he's in time-out, mad at me for putting him there, and I am in the laundry room trying to switch a batch of laundry with one arm. (Quite the feat) Then he starts singing. It was a new tune. One he just happened to make up in his frustrated state, and quite catchy. And with each new line I was almost in tears with laughter as I listened to him singing the Tyler blues. He sang about a "house in a forest thats green, and no-one there is being mean, like mommy and James. But Kylie and Ben are nice. And we eat candy all day, and never go to time out. And Yoda is my Jedi friend, but he hasnt let me meet the other jedis. But thats alright cuz I have my friends at preschool. I wish I was done with school. That would be really cool. But its not at my house anymore so I dont get to use my jedi tricks on mom. She is so weird. You hear that mom? You are weird. But I like when you're nice to me, and let me play webkinz, and eat muffins. Thats so nice of you when you do that."

I couldnt stay mad at him after such an entertaining performance.

Trauma in the ER

This morning I was cleaning up my house after the usual weekend tornado hit that plows through here each week. I was simply wiping down the fridge when I felt an all too familiar and horrid feeling as my shoulder dislocated itself.

This oh so painful occurrence has happened to me several times over since I was 14. One Dr. told me I should have surgery. Another said physical therapy would be best. And a different Dr. told me basically there isnt much they can do-that it will just happen, so get used to it. I dont like Drs very much.

Most of the time I can pop it back in. It hurts like a bugger, but relief is immediate and then my arm is only sore and loosey goosey for a day or two. Othertimes I try popping it back but cant get it and then I get to make the not so fun trip to the ER.

Thats what happened today. I called Daniel who had to cancel a VIP phonecall, and booked it over here to take me, and fortunately my dear neighbor was in-tune with a certain prompting and happened to stop by at the right moment and took care of my boys.

I hate the road to the hospital. It is horribly rough with potholes and bumps all over the place. Every jolt just makes the nerve endings go bonkers and I was trying my hardest to be tough- but IT HURT!

So we got to the ER, they got some info and after 10 minutes I was in a room. 5 minutes later the nurse gets my vitals, five minutes later the dr comes in. He asks about it, I give him some answers, he leaves, five more minutes go by. The nurse comes in and moves me to another room. Then a different nurse comes in. She tells me the dr wants me to pee in a cup to make sure I'm not pregnant. I KNOW I am not pregnant and am thinking this is all a waste of time cuz I am in excruciating pain and they are making me jump through hoops first.

So Daniel helps me out, we go back to the room, a different nurse then comes in and does my vitals. My blood pressure drops significantly-(gee i wonder why- could it be my freaking body is traumatized and shaking uncontrollably in pain)- so then she tells me I have to move onto the bed. I bite my lip to endure the pain, and then 10 minutes later she leaves and a different guy comes in and says i have to get in a wheelchair to go to the Xray. Daniel told him since my BP had dropped the nurse wanted me to stay on the bed, hooked up to a bunch of crap. He wasnt to thrilled but then he wheels the bed down several hallways and bonks into a zillion things and finally gets to xray.

The chick there has to get me in a certain position to take the xray so she jostles me around and i couldnt hold back the tears at this point. That really really hurt. they finally get the xrays, move me again and take me back to the room.

Then we wait. Finally a different nurse comes in. Then the dr. He says "yup- its dislocated alright." I guess he didnt believe me. So then he tells me I have to lie on my back. I tried, but any movement just sends shock waves of pain, so I wasnt too successful. So he and the nurses move me around and at that point I am bawling cuz I am just hurting so bad. Then the dr says- we arent ready yet- you guys dont even have her shirt off.

So then he leaves and the nurses leave and five minutes later they come in and cut off one of the only few shirts I like. And then they have to hook me up to some heart machine and get some respiratory nurse to come in and finally after my arm has been out of its socket for 2 and a half hours- they finally give me something to knock me out.

Daniel gave me the rest of the story as I thankfully dont recall the Dr yanking my arm to and fro and not getting it back in. He even had to ask Daniel how to do it cuz he couldnt get it in, and Daniel has helped me before. I am thinking this dr must be some student and I was his guinea pig.

I guess i was screaming pretty loud but i dont remember and really if some dr is yanking on your dislocated arm who wouldnt be yelling.

So when the drugs wear off and i come to I was thinking -ok-they will give me a shirt as they destroyed mine, give me a sling, and send us on our way. Nope. We waited 2 more hours- just waiting. Seriously just waiting.Then a totally different nurse comes in, gives me some papers, searches for a sling, and gives me a hospital gown. Lovely. Then we were finally able to come home.

5 flippin hours. In the ER. What the fetch is up with that?

The last time I had to go to the ER for this was when we lived in Mesa. I had to wait an hour in the waiting room, but as soon as I was taken back, they knocked me out, popped it back in a sent us on our way. Oh- and the sling they gave me was so easy to get on and off and so supportive. The one I got today is a beast.

So I am totally not a fan of the ER here. Since my arm was dislocated for so stinking long, the ligaments, and muscles and whatever else have stretched themselves hay-wire and its gonna take so much longer for them to tighten back up. And that also means my little arm is gonna be sore for a while. And loosey goosey for even longer. So I cant do my hair, carry my baby, or do anything that requires the use of both arms/hands. Its a bugger.

But on the upside- perhaps Daniel will hire us a maid to do the cleaning from now on. hahaha! Wouldnt that be lovely!

Lunch

On Fridays I pickup a package at an office and take it to UPS. My boys really like the weekly "adventure" cuz we pop in a CD and rock out. They are still young enough to where my acting like an idiot is entertaining and not embarrassing, so its fun. Yesterday we hadnt had lunch before we left, so the boys were hungry and since the UPS store is just down the street from Daniels office, I thought it might be fun to grab some lunch with Daniel. Luckily for us Daniel was available and met us.

On the way over I told Toast we were going to eat lunch with daddy and he says, "thats the greatest idea you have ever had mom." Nice to know my child thinks so highly of me.

We got to the restaurant and after receiving our order, dug in. As we were eating this little old couple comes up to us and tells us what a beautiful family we have. Daniel and I smiled and said thank you and they smiled back and were on their way. So I thought about that a little bit. Since it is winter we have a lot of visitors in town. Some are really grouchy and get extremely annoyed with the noise and chaos that my boys bring. Others are like this little couple. They are kind and encouraging. I wonder what makes the difference. But I certainly hope that when Daniel and I are old and gray and the kids are all grown and moved away, we will be more like this little couple. We will smile and reminisce about this stage and how that little boy reminds us of ours. And on our way out we will smile and tell them what a beautiful family they are and be on our way. Cuz who knows- it just might make their day, as it did mine yesterday.

So Daniel and I arent big on celebrating Valentines Day. Probably cuz I have carried a dislike for the holiday since spending one at dear old Ricks college. Now it could have just been me, or my apartment, or the apartment building, or my ward at the time, but if you didnt have a boyfriend on Valentines Day you just were not cool. And seeing as how Daniel was still on his mission and I had yet to meet him at the time- I wasnt wasting my time with anyone else- so I was therefore uncool. Not that I care if I am cool or not- but I hate when people look at me like I dont belong and going to church the following Sunday made that very evident as 3/4 of the ward was engaged. Interestingly enough I think only a quarter ended up still engaged by the end of the semester, but thats a research project for another time.

Anyway- the Holiday just seems filled with fluff- I dont need a special commercialized day in order for Daniel to know I love him- and vice-versa. So we get a few dollar store knick-knacks for the kids just to make them all excited, but thats it. And I dont mind cuz what I get is so much more special to me.

Daniel writes me love notes a few times each week before he goes to work. He writes little things he loves about me in the back of his journal. He brings me flowers on ordinary days, he arranges all of our dates, he frequently makes me dinner, and almost always does the dishes. He sends me texts messages throughout the day just to let me know he is thinking about me. And will often surprise me with a favorite treat. But most importantly he is aware. If I am having a hard day with the kids, Daniel tries his darndest to get home early, and then will proceed to entertain, feed, wash, and put to bed each kid. He notices when I am in pain, and tries his darndest to help me feel better. He is aware of my dreams and desires, and encourages and supports me in those. And he even notices when I fail- but never criticizes, judges, or makes me feel ashamed. He builds me up, and helps compensate for my weaknesses. When I am cold, he makes me hot chocolate, grabs me a blanket, and rubs my feet. When I fall asleep watching a movie he carries me up to bed. And when I cry he is there to hold me. When you have got someone this incredible what do you need Valentines day for?

wont you be my neighbor?

So we have some good neighbors. To the right of us, there lives an older than we are couple who have a lot of dogs. The barking doesnt bug me so much. But the fact that the guy sends his dogs to our yard to do their (how do I put this nicely, as to not offend).. ..."biz-ness" does. Our neighbor takes great care of his lawn. He plants the winter grass and stinkifies the area while he fertilizes. He edges it, and mows it in a clean cut pattern. And during the dreadful heat of the summer, this guy still manages to keep his lawn green. Basically he puts a lot of time and effort into making it so pretty. Now our yards are separated by a small edging divider. But even without that divider you can tell a night a day difference in our lawns. Ours gets mowed once every 4 or 5 months, and we dont bother watering it, cuz it will only make it grow faster. Daniel gets up in the early morning to run, showers, goes to work , and usually doesnt get home until 6:30 or later each night, and that only leaves him 30 minutes with the kids, and once we get them all in bed, we make something to eat, try to put the house back in order, and then crash from all the excitement of yet another day. So taking care of the yard-- its really not a priority, so we dont bother with it much. Terrible I know! So yesterday when Daniel got home,we headed out to jump on the tramp for a few minutes before the nightly routine. We heard the distinctive hum of a lawn mower, and thought it a bit odd cuz our neighbor usually mows in the morning. Lo and behold it wasnt our next door neighbor, but our home teaching neighbor. The guy took a little chunk of his time to come and mow our pathetic looking lawn. What a nice guy! So I have been feeling a little guilty about that cuz its not like we cant mow the lawn ourselves. We just dont. But yet he saw something that could be done and without a second thought did it. Seriously can you get a better home teacher? I think I better go bake him a cake!