Morning Stubbornness, Cougar Losses, Water in the Basement and an MRI

This morning we had five minutes before we needed to go out the door to walk to school, and Daniel was throwing a fit about getting in the bath. Incidentally, we made it to school, walking, before the bell rang. Little miracles.

Since the last time I posted about BYU football, they've lost 2 more games. They are starting the season 1-3, which is rough. Also, one of their star defensive players was taken out for the season due to a cheap shot taken by a Nevada player.

A week ago Friday we discovered that we had a water leak in the basement. Rick rigged it up to drip into a bucket rather then down the inside of the wall and therefore out to the carpet, and Saturday afternoon, as a family, we ripped up the carpet and tore out the carpet pad. Due to several other obligations, Rick has yet to find the time to fix the leak, so we're emptying buckets, running a dehumidifier and receiving water bills for nearly 5 times the normal amount.

Rick has been battling hip pain since June. He hasn't run since the Steamboat Classic. He was resting it, and reading up to try to figure out what was going on. After many weeks (months, really), the pain was still there, and so he decided to visit a doctor. He got an X-ray and was told he had minor osteoarthritis. He's 39. That's just too young to be arthritic. He took the prescribed anti inflammatory for awhile, with no relief and was instructed that an MRI was the next step. In the meantime, Rick is reading up, trying to figure out what might be going on, and I am getting increasingly worried. Naturally, my mind began to ponder on what I might do under the worst possible scenario, which in my mind was cancer. This was silly of me, I know, but it's what I do. The MRI didn't show anything new, and he has now been seen by a Physical Therapist, been referred to an orthopedic specialist, and had conversations with another Physical Therapist and an orthopedic Physician's Assistant. All in an effort to figure out what is really going on, and what he can do to fix it. It's beginning to look more and more like the pain IS the result of arthritis, which is the result of some issues in his hip joint that he has had since birth, all of which means there's not a lot he can do about it, and that his running days might just be over, or at least drastically reduced.

What do all of these things have in common, you might ask? It comes down to one word.

PATIENCE

I've never been a really patient person, something that was made clear to me when I became a mother. Motherhood has a way of throwing your faults right in your face. You can either deal with them, or suffer the consequences through your children. I've been working on patience for 15 years now, and I've made minimal progress, although it has been progress. The fact that we made it to school this morning is evidence of that. I am happy (although not 100%, mind you) with the way I handled the bath situation this morning with Daniel. And the fruits of my patience, making it happily to school on time. The Cougars, well, we just have to be patient and recognize that the team needs time to figure each other out, and it's not the end of the world to lose a few games, and hey- they still have a lot of games ahead of them. The water in the basement? When we decided to buy a 30 year old, well built house with mature landscaping and trees, we had to accept the fact that stuff like this would happen. It's not the end of the world, it's just a water leak.

And as for Rick's hip, I'm glad it's not cancer. Or anything else that my mind conjured up in this process. It's hard for him to accept the fact that there isn't a fix for the pain in his hip, and it's hard for me to watch him experience pain, and have to figure out a new exercise regime, when he had one that worked so well for him. Why can't he just have something wrong that can be easily and quickly fixed, so he can go back to running and no pain? I don't know, but I do know that patience is a good thing, and it makes us better and happier people overall. It helps with stubborn children, football seasons that aren't going the way you'd like, water leaks in the basement, and aches and pains that come with, well, let's just call it experience : ).

*the latest is that it is not arthritis, and the orthopedic specialist he talked to on Friday had confidence that he would run again. He got a cortizone shot in his hip on Friday to see what that would do, and he'll have some more physical therapy. Answers and questions come and go like money. More patience.

FHE Tradition

Nine or ten years ago, Rick had the idea that he and Dallin would do a womanhood appreciation dinner for Family Home Evening. They made a menu, made dinner and served us as waiters. It was so much fun to see both how special the girls felt, and how much Dallin enjoyed serving his sisters and mom. We decided the activity was a keeper and have done it ever since, but the girls decided they wanted to do the same thing for the boys. So, once a year we have a womanhood appreciation dinner for FHE, and once a year we have a priesthood appreciation dinner for FHE. One year we decided to take it a little farther, and also did a Teacher Appreciation dinner where the kids invited their Primary teachers and served them dinner.

Tonight was the annual womanhood appreciation dinner, and in spite of a busy and hectic schedule, the boys pulled it off in style. Here was our menu for the evening:

And here are the handsome waiters. Daniel was SO CUTE serving the girls. He had lots of fun, and we thoroughly enjoyed his service and entertainment. As you can see, the restaurant had a Mexican flare:

Dallin displaying one of the drink choices for the evening- Jarritos:
To top it off Dallin made a delicious chocolate raspberry cake with ganache frosting. Oh yeah, we were spoiled. Delicious!!

He Doesn't Like to Write

Dallin has never liked writing, but 10 years of school have helped him learn how to deal with it- make it random and humorous, and he's good. His assignment was to write a fable. Let me know what you think of his writing:

Plutarch Krisstoffersson was like any other 13 year old male American citizen, living in the 21^st century. Every day, he metal detected his back yard, practiced his calligraphy, and walked his 5 pigeons. His family went to the dentist regularly, his father was a Democrat, and his mother’s side of the family had a history of heart disease. He had two younger brothers, named Renaldo, and Broderick, who were 7-year-old twins. He lived in a southern Oregon town called Grants Pass.

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets, and Plutarch stared out his window staring at the rain. He had being doing this for a couple hours, but he would rather be doing so than writing his English paper. His English teacher had assigned a fable of all things! Who reads fables anyway?! Plutarch sighed at his poor luck, and followed a drop of water down the window as it engulfed several others. He thought of how his grades were in English, (a B-) and thought he could probably spare a couple points. “I’ll do it in the morning.” he thought, and fell asleep.

He woke up and stared blankly at his alarm clock for several seconds until the significance of the time registered. “2:30” flashed across the screen. He the realized what had happened. He checked his watch, which he found metal detecting his backyard. It read 8:00! School started in 10 minutes! He realized the storm had caused the electricity to go out, and was almost late for school. Thankfully the school was only a 20 minute walk, or a 10 minute jog. But, if he sprinted at an average speed of 10.5 miles per hour, he could make it in 4.5 minutes! He rushed out the door almost forgetting lunch, which as he ran back, he remembered he didn’t have because his parents and brothers were on a vacation to Somalia for several months to visit his uncle in law’s second cousins neighbor.

He barely made it into class when the bell rang; sparking the thought he had had last night, when some thunder had sounded at exactly the same note as the bell, a slightly flat A sharp. He had forgotten to do his fable that he had thought was so unimportant! All his hopes of living a good life! Gone! All his hopes of ever passing high school went out the window in a second. His father had told him that if he didn’t pass English with a B or A, that he would disown him. Stricken, Plutarch stared dumbly at the wall and the world slowly faded to blackness.

When he awoke, he stumbled blindly out of the school, screaming, and ran until he made it to Chicago. He lived in the streets, conning people, and metal detecting the countryside. He never had enough to eat, and as he listened to the moans of his aching stomach, he thought of his fable, and began to write. He wrote of his experiences, and of all his sorrows and all of his misfortunes. He wrote of all the happiness he had left behind. He wrote his life’s story. Thanks to his middle school English teachers, it was a masterpiece, unrivaled by any other! It was also written in a beautiful, but unfortunately nearly indecipherable calligraphy which he had practiced for years. Unfortunately, he died of a strange incurable brain disease and the manuscript was never published, because no one could read it. Now all that is left of his legacy is this feeble fable, written for English class.

The moral of the story is: Don’t procrastinate doing your homework, or doom and destruction is imminent.

An Evening With Laura Bush

We had a very neat opportunity tonight. We were invited to attend the party for Aaron Schock's Reading Program (US Representative from Illinois, and a Peoria native). He had invited a special guest, former First Lady Laura Bush. Daniel, Eliza, Rick and I were able to go. It was a lot of people, a lot of children, and a lot of chaos, but it was also pretty cool to me.
She spoke to the children, read them a book, and then answered a few of their questions. In this close up, you can see Eliza right behind Mrs. Bush. Originally Daniel was sitting beside her, but before Mrs. Bush came out, Daniel got sad and came back to sit with us.

Still a Fan

So, since I tend to report on the BYU games here on Cougar Blue Jeffs, I'll let you know that the Cougars left a lot to be desired on Saturday against Air Force. No worries. We are not fair weather fans. We're true blue through and through. One of Rick's favorite Sundays to wear his BYU tie is after they've lost, just to show that he's a true fan. Anyway, we'll hope they pull it together before they travel to play Florida State next week. Nice game, Air Force.

Fun With the Camera

While the rest of the family was enjoying the attempts at catching fish during our Labor Day excursion, I was enjoying playing with our new camera. I didn't do anything tricky, I'm really a novice at this, but I was happy with the following shots that I got. I'll let them speak for themselves.

Labor Day Camping

We have had some amazing late summer/early fall days recently. You know, the kind where you want to spend the whole day outside. And when you go outside, you wonder what you've been doing inside. We decided it was perfect camping weather, and decided to take advantage of the day off. There's an old Boy Scout Camp near us that is now owned by the Park District. We got a campsite there and headed out Sunday evening.

Since we were pulling things together at the last minute, we didn't have an egg carton for the eggs (I take mine out and put them in the container thingy in the fridge). Dallin came up with this great idea to transport the eggs in the cooler. It worked beautifully.

We didn't do much Sunday night other than get the tent set up, but the kids had fun with the carts that are used to transport gear from the parking lot to the campsite. Dallin was a willing work horse. We later enjoyed sitting around the campfire, eating s'mores. Yum!


Monday morning we slowly got up. The morning had just enough chill to want a cup of hot chocolate. It was lovely. Then we had some sausage and eggs, and just chilled around the campfire. The boys had to get sticks.

What is it with boys and sticks?

We packed up camp and went over to the little lake. We had brought the canoe from home, and enjoyed taking it out.
Next we did some fishing. Unfortunately, the only catch made happened before we had the camera out and ready for pictures. But Dallin caught a nice bass right away. After that, no one caught anything, but I think they all had fun anyway.

It was a perfect day to spend as a family.

It's Cougar Football Time

Season Opener- Success!!
BYU 23, Washington 17

Way to go, Cougs!!

Is My Life Just Beginning, or Beginning to Slip Away?

The house is quiet. Today is the 2nd full day of school for all 5 of my children.

When I look forward to my days ahead, an excitement runs through me. The possibility of a clean house. Time to spend on projects I've wanted to do for years. The convenience of leaving the house whenever I want. Lunch dates with Rick, like the one I have today. I have so many things that I want to do....

And yet, I look back at the years gone by, and a sadness that I cannot describe fills my soul. Gone are my days of playgroup and Preschool. No more little friends here with me during the day. No more Dora or Diego on the TV downstairs while I finish cleaning up breakfast. No more puzzles on the floor or Legos, or snuggling up with a child and a book once the others have left for school.

I feel like I am saying goodbye to the woman I have been for 15 years. I will never be her again. But, I've done this before. When I got married, I said goodbye to single Charity Thompson. When I had children, I said goodbye to the childless Charity Jeffs. When Dallin entered Kindergarten, I said goodbye to total control of my children's days. Why is it that this time seems so much sadder? Is it because each of those goodbyes have taught me that you can't go back? The new chapter in your life may be something exciting, or something you've waited for all your life, but the fact is that opening a new chapter means saying goodbye to an old one. And I've learned that all too well. Goodbye to sleepless nights also means goodbye to the newborn. Goodbye to the discomfort of pregnancy also means goodbye to the miracle of feeling your baby move inside of you. Goodbye to children nagging you at the grocery store to buy everything they see that contains sugar, also means goodbye to the little friend you stop at the bakery to get a cookie for. I know that now. And I see this step forward for what it is. A step forward with a closed door behind me.

Don't worry, I know that I'm still a mom, and have plenty of opportunities to experience motherhood ahead of me. I'm not at all saying goodbye to motherhood. I never will, for as long as I live. But I am saying goodbye to this stage of motherhood. I've said goodbye to other stages, and I have many more to yet say goodbye to (don't even get me thinking about those....). So, what am I to do? What are we all to do as we move forward in life?

Embrace. Embrace. Embrace. Embrace every day and every moment. Make the most of where you are today, whatever stage you are in. I plan to do that. I plan to make the most of my time in my quiet house each day. I will not leave behind the woman I have been for 15 years, but I will take her experiences and I will add to them, adding new facets to her being. I hope each of you will do the same. Those of you moms with little ones at home, I know you have days where you wish you had a quiet house to yourself, but that day will come, and then this day will be gone. Enjoy what you have, while you have it. That's really the key for all of us, isn't is?

So, is my life just beginning, or beginning to slip away? Neither really. I am taking the experiences of the past and adding to them each day, always learning, growing and working toward the woman I want to become.

Independence Day

I just finished watching the press conference where BYU announced that beginning with the 2011-2012 season, they will be going independent for football. For most other sports, including basketball, they will be joining the WCC (West Coast Conference).

I am a happy Cougar fan.

I liked what I heard. I like the reasons behind the change (access and exposure to BYU's nationwide fan base). I like the conference they'll be joining up with for other sports (made up of other private, faith-based institutions). I like that they'll be playing Notre Dame 6 times in the next nine years, which means we might get to see them play, when they come to Notre Dame. I like that we can watch EVERY home football and basketball game on ESPN or BYUTV for the next 8 years (I really, really like that).

Now, do I recognize that there are risks involved? Of course I do. Do I think this is a guarantee that BYU will have constant and immediate success? No, I think it would be naive to think that. I hope they will, but I recognize that it's not a guarantee. But, overall I think it's a great fit for BYU, and I'm excited about the future of BYU football, and all their athletics.

GO COUGARS!!