100 year old fruitcake

I forgot to attach the picture of the cake. It's encased in glass with a piece of paper on the outside that says it used to be four layers with some candy decor that the children ate long ago. There's also a decorative crafty mouse on the glass to remind you how inedible it is. Lynn read a review somewhere on line about it's gray patina. Lynn likes that word. I believe it's what he'll name his daughter some day.
The photo below features tatting. I'm a tatter - I was impressed.

Hurricane

It got its name when erastus snow was driving over the ridge and a strong wind came along and blew the top off his buggy and he commented that it was a hurricane. They have one fabulous visitor's center - you MUST go when you get the chance. It is staffed by an elderly woman who can tell stories. Most everything in there appears to be a scout or young woman's project depicting and highlighting local hisotry, like the cliff dwelling indians and their arrow heads as well as the pioneers who dug a 7 mile canal by hand to the virgin river. Some highlights were the 100 year old fruitcake and the 50 year old slab of bacon. I was also impressed with the tatted table cloth and "thunder mug" - basically a chamber pot. Like I said - you must visit. And as you leave - look at the horizon behind the building and you will see mollie's nipple - it's a beaut! So said the plaque - I would never make up such a thing. I think danielle got a photo so you can see for yourself - if she ever gets around to blogging. It was a trip of excessive documentation.

Grafton

This house, a church/school, and two much smaller homes are all that's left. I took the photo with the school behind me. Apparently this tiny area was used in the movie butch cassidy and the sundance kid. The bike ride bit happened directly behind where I was standing for the photo. The other indoor shots come from the small home across the lane from this nicer house. It was much smaller and more run down. You can see where some ceiling beams have been replaced. There are still cows that graze. We ran into two women that spent their childhoods living in a home that's now gone. They had no electricity and they'd have to daily go get water from the nearby town of rockville. While we were visiting a large yellow butterfly landed on her shoulder. It was a neat place to visit and we counted ourselves lucky that the sons of the utah pioneers group was out there touring the same time as us so we could get the stories.

Sparkles

Can you see them? It's the hotel's ceiling - it sparkles. I like it. The room has been great. I slept great last night. Lynn didn't. We suspect his fish sandwich on friday night was the culprit. We scheduled a late check out for maximum use of the room. I'm using the time to finish my blogging of the trip. I still have to report on the ghost town.

The globe

Here we wait for othello to begin. Pretty good seats. Long show. Great acting. Iago was amazing. I went in and out of conciousness a lot - pretty normal for me at a shakespeare play but I read and analyzed this one plenty back in january so it didn't hinder my understanding much.

grafton ghost town

About 13 people died in 1866 - the place wasn't exactly conducive to living. The cemetery is pretty well cared for. A lot of original and newer headstones. Some are outlined with rocks. Nearly all are mounds still - not sure why or how - but it makes it easy to walk around them.

Green show

This is mark enjoying the green show before the play starts. It's a pretty big crowd and being gimps mark and I are sitting. Or I should say lying.

Sulli's

Here we are at dinner. Good potatoes. Lots of photo taking. Nice waiter. Next to hotel. We went swimming. Next is othello.

Sharing a room

The joy of sharing a room is that you get to have fun bonding/squishing moments. It reminded me of college days - one bathroom and 6 girls. I loved it when we'd all get ready for bed about the same time and find ourselves brushing teeth together. I also have happy memories of grown siblings home for christmas gathered in the basement brushing teeth together. Oh and there was that time I tried the hungarian slap dance with risa. Anyway, this trip brought us 5 friends together in a hotel room with one bathroom. I convinced lynn to participate in the tooth brushing activity. Dan and lex joined us later. Mark was busy fetching ice for his swollen foot. We had a bit of fun end-of-day conversation before the guys closed their bedroom door leaving us women to have our own girl talk. What fun!

Cemetery

Next stop... the cemetery. Well what do you normally do after eating a ton of fried food? Danielle has people buried here. Being a genealogist she's doubly interested in visiting the cemetery. I personally don't feel so well. So i'm resting. So much in fact that I didn't bother trying to get a better photo. Besides - what would I focus on anyway? at least it's warm and pleasant lying in the sun.

Tat

I got a tat at the hut. Beautiful isn't it?

Landlocked lighthouse

Yep - there's a real lighthouse here in cedar. Since it says providence all over it maybe we're now in providence. Who knows. Sounds like a town you'd find in southern utah. I got a photo of my foot and then got a photo of mark taking a photo of his feet. It's right off the main drag next to a zion's bank. oh and earlier we visited a ranching store and saw some fundamentalists - sight seeing in southern utah - total blast. Dan got tons better photos - some day she'll blog them. Nothing beats the ease, though, of mobile blogging.

Bricks

The first brick yard in utah was located around here 800 s and main in cedar city. See - dan is checking it out. There are two sides to the thing so you don't have to lean around like dan is doing to read about it. If you are interested in men's abs from the 30's there's a great photo of them on this plaque.

Holiday reading

Ah, memories. Years ago I went to new orleans with some of my closest friends - 8 years ago I believe - and here we are again, on a trip, this time to cedar city. Well four out of 7 are the same - the others got married. Anyway, on that trip I discovered what a nerd my good friend lynn is. He brought along dickens' bleak house. When on holiday don't most people bring something lighter? Well, on this trip I caught dan reading cervantes' don quixote (english translation, though). What's up with them? Lynn's driving but for his spare time he brought lonesome dove - we're in the same book group. He claims he also brought cyrrano de bergerac - to prep himself for the play he's seeing tonight. Nerds all around. Earlier dan passed around past issues of the ensign - I remember the days she brought copies of entertainment weekly. I'm thinking our age might be showing. And for those interested I packed middlemarch and at the last minute grabbed austenland - for something light and fun. I'll get to it as soon as I finish the article on addiction in july's ensign.

Lettuce

This is too funny! I just got this card in the mail from my sister. It's a head of lettuce. She wrote inside "i hope you have yummier food to party with than lettuce, though I know you do like lettuce." how did she know? I totally had lettuce at my party. AND other good food.

loot

i have to say - this bday i seem to have lucked out with some really great loot. i had a grand party - i just love seeing so many people i love in one place - and many of those people felt inclined to give me gifts - cards and other cool stuff. currently i'm blowing bubbles with some bubbleyum. not bad - for about 5 minutes. my good roommate learned on monday night of my new love for bocce so i got myself a set of bocce balls now. okay, so i doubt she got me the 90 plus dollar ones - but they're still totally fun. from dan i got a whole set of photos to replace the ones she gave me last year in my photo mobile. i love my photo mobile. i love photos of my friends. i am the lucky one! i got the usual set of happy smelly lotions and soaps - very nice to have. i received a couple of gift cards to my favorite places (b&n and target) - really does it get any better? one good friend gave me hand made earrings - in my favorite stone - turquoise and in a color i really needed for earrings - black. it was like she knew! and speaking of knowing - the best surprise of all came from a friend that i don't know terribly well, but we do seem to have quite a few connections. i once attended a movie showing at her house, "smoke signals" (an all time favorite). while there i checked out her walls and she had many story people decorations. if you haven't discovered the joy of story people then it's about time you did! story people are delightful! my dear friend kristin used to email me story people greetings on a regular basis - that's when i first fell in love. they have clever sayings to go with crazy art. so this new friend knew how much i liked them so she went out and gave me my very own print! really - very cool! my print's saying was meant for me: "if she held on to the handle, she said, it's easier to maintain the illusion of control. but it's more fun if you just let the wind carry you."

it was a spectacular party. how blessed i am in every way shape and form.

mysterious ancestors

okay, danielle may mock me for my version of "family history," but i'm excited to have discovered an answer to a long standing question about my heritage. granted, i just did some googling and came up with it, but i have no reason to doubt its authenticity.

when i was a child and filling in my pedigree charts on sunday afternoons (yes, this was one of the approved sabbath activities in my home) i was excited by my relation to a sarah ward. although i wasn't named for her, i liked to believe i was. the cool thing about her is that she had one son, james, that took her last name. the other cool thing was that from all i could tell she had had two different husbands, william spanswick and a william spackman. i always wondered if it was the same guy - their names being so similar - but why didn't james have one of those last names? why did he go with ward? my father always said i should ask my uncle platt, i guess he was the record keeper of the family - my grandfather was the youngest of nine in his family and i'm guessing platt was the oldest boy at least. anyway, i do remember visiting platt in a nursing home once, but my family was never that big on bonding with the extended family so i never did ask uncle platt about good old sarah and her son james.

since i've been doing some scrapbooking lately i got online and googled "sarah ward" with utah. mostly i was looking to see if you could come up with anything about me online - nope. but i did discover this great ancestor of mine. let's see... she would be my father's father's father's father's mother. so is that my great great great grandmother? i found this story about her that said she was married to william spackman, to whom she was later sealed in the logan temple, but she already had a son named james spanswick whose father died when he was two. i'm guessing james later just kept his mother's maiden name - unfortunately the site didn't tell me why. but at least i figured out the order of the men and how james fits into it. spanswick is basically forgotten since the sealed line is with spackman. man, those sealings can be confusing. another cool thing i discovered about sarah is that her second husband (he's the only one i found real info on) was nine years her junior! i always thought it was cool that my grandmother was six years older than grandfather - but i guess that wasn't so abnormal afterall.

i love the internet.

bday update

wahoo - happy to report i've already begun celebrating my happy day! i got up at a decent hour, because i treated myself to a decent bedtime, which i could do because i allowed myself to finish lonesome dove during the day light. ANYway, i've taken care of the yard and cleaned the kitchen, still should mop, caught up on reading blogs, talked to my mother, met up with mark to get device for tonight's party, gone to the library (to get happy new reads), and then treated myself to an iced cocoa and mixed berry scone at the local cafe while reading one of my new books - a graphic novel about buddhism. and now i have a lunch date with al! happiness all around.

I give in

Okay mike... here it is. The proof that swelling is down. Sorry lynn - i'm a push over, what can I say? The public demands the visual proof!

Sheesh - seems like for my bday I should have a better post than this. I'll keep the eyes open - I bet I can get something else.

Party at 7 at liberty park if you want to join the fun!

Swelling down

Repeat...the swelling appears to be down. I know, old news, but this time i'm thrilled to report that a shape is beginning to appear out of the sausage that was once my big toe. Really - not quite the hourglass figure of my other toe but you can definitely see the potential.
In case you're wondering... I left out the picture (visible proof) out of respect for the weaker stomachs that are reading this. Over the weekend I heard from two totally different sources that they've found my blog. I better be more careful in my blabbings. And photo posting. Trust me - the swelling is down. I'm going to try walking again tomorrow - seems like a festive thing to do for the bday.

Lonesome Dove

i've been reading it for the last couple of weeks and i have to say it is one of those books that's so good it just leaves you drained. it's over 900 pages - it's like watching the entire first season of the o.c., or buffy, or alias, or any dramatic epic story all in the span of a few days - it's that engrossing. sunday night, by making myself go to bed at 10 p.m., i felt the joy that comes from being free of an addiction and monday morning i felt it too - my eyes weren't so achey and my joints weren't so stiff. last night i intended to do the same - i can totally attest that going to bed early is better for you than sleeping in (or in my case, trying to sleep in) - but good intentions often go the way of the world and next thing you know it's 1 a.m. and it takes all your remaining energy to close the book and turn off the lights. so i'm currently taking an eye strain break - by looking at the computer screen. hmmm, i guess i should have gone for a walk. anyway, i think if i push hard today i can finish it tonight BEFORE midnight. actually, the visiting teachers are coming at 7:30 so that's my target time. i wonder what i'll read next.

anyway - i MEANT to say that this is a really good book. i can't remember the last book that made me smile big and cry hard. i find myself wishing hard i could be one of the female characters, i even try to imagine in my head how i could behave or speak differently so i could be more like them. now, in case you've read the book, don't get me wrong - the women in this book are generally whores - but i don't want to be like them in that sense but more in the sense of self awareness and courage. yes, i want to be tough and strong and brave and independent, at least in spirit. anyway, i guess i should say they're inspiring - i don't REALLY want to be like them, i just find myself being a bit inspired. if you haven't read it, make sure you have about a week of your life to kill. it's thicker and more intense than any measly harry potter.

okay, back to my book.

Cocktail Party

What a fun night I had partying it up with many friends. I wish I'd documented it with my camera for better blogging, but I'm counting on Lena, Tricia, and/or Marie to do so for me. Okay girls... any time... I'm waiting. =) Anyway, one fellow, who is a non-dancer, commented that it was the best time he's ever had dancing. That's some high praise. I think the dance cards made it so successful - everyone interacted and kept moving. It was a bit challenging to have any sustained conversation, but that's better suited for a different setting anyway. What a successful, beautiful, grand night! Muchas gracias my beautiful hostesses!

band of brothers

once a month i meet with a group of girl friends to discuss a variety of topics - in way it might be described as a self help group - we share goals and insights we have in relation to achieving them. last meeting one of them shared a few thoughts from an article in the ensign entitled "band of brothers." i remember reading the article and not getting anything out of it - just chalking it up as one of those wwii stories. anyway, this morning i chose to reread it and i was struck by one paragraph. it reminded me of something i know marie has given a lot of thought to (the social aspects of the gospel) and it helped me rethink some of my motives for daily decisions. anyway, now you get to be inspired!

Understand Your Priorities

If someone were to ask you who we are as a people, what would you say? Who are we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

The answer, I believe, is a simple one given to us by the Savior Himself. We are a people who love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds. And we are a people who love our neighbor as ourselves. (See Matthew 22:37–39.)

This answer satisfies many of the questions asked about why we do what we do. Why does the Church ask so much of its members? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor. Why do we do temple work? Missionary work? Welfare work? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor.

These are the roots of all that we do. We do not send our missionaries out into the world to collect statistics. We send them into the world because we love our Heavenly Father, and we love our fellowmen.

That is who we are as a people. That is why we do what we do.

El Tigre

I've often been tempted to take my car to the local mechanic - it's like 2 blocks away, but I feared the unknown. When the battery died and rotted away last night I realized it was time to put fear aside for the sake of convenience. Luckily, my good friend veronica always spoke highly of el tigre. She gave me the necessary confidence and phone number. They got me back on the road within half an hour and only charge 30 for labor (not sure how it compares but he implied it was a discount). I was thrilled to be mobile again. It's one thing to have a lame foot but another to have a lame car. Hooray!

For Lynn

This foot photo is for lynn. He said my other foot photos grossed him out. Notice I am boot free! Hooray for freedom. Now if it just didn't hurt so much to walk on. I gave it a good workout tonight - walking downhill through mueller park. The real pain, though, was discovering my car battery was dead and corroded. I hate cars.

Lasagna gardening

Look at my friends! They are serving their community by doing a bit of lasagna gardening. The process involves peeling off all tape and labels from strictly brown cardbaord. Then you lay it down over the grass/weeds you want dead. Then you wet it down with a hose and cover it with three inches of mulch made out of chicken poop. You wet it all down one last time. It is biodegradable as compared to the black fabric others choose to use to kill/block weeds. We learned a lot, worked hard, and were treated to a free bird show at tracy aviary. Good times!

In the news

My little brother told me about this news story over lunch yesterday. It's hilarious! Luckily he emailed me a link - now you can enjoy it for yourself. It came from KSL News.

Would-be robbers walk away empty-handed
April 11, 2008

Marc Giauque and Mary Richards reporting

A frustrating night for some would-be robbers in Salt Lake City, especially for one whose demand for cash went way wrong.

In Utah it may be a difficult deal to tell the difference between the words "fill" and "feel." Last night when a robber presented a bag at the Cafe Treo, he told the server to "fill" it.

"The employee thought the suspect said ‘feel' the bag, so the employee reached over and felt the bag," said Detective Jeff Bedard, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Bedard says the suspect replied, "You've gotta be kidding" and fled the store empty-handed. "Maybe he had a chance rethink his life of crime," Bedard said.

Police are also looking for someone who tried to hold up two Salt Lake businesses with a hypodermic needle. They say the would-be robber came into the Starbucks store near 900 East and 900 South, pointed a hypodermic syringe at employees and demanded money. The employees told him they couldn't open the safe, so he left.

Officers say just 15 minutes earlier he tried to rob a salon in Sugar House with a needle as well, but he left when they told him they had no money.

Witnesses say he was wearing brown gloves. Apparently he didn't want to get stuck with the needle but didn't care about the others.

Matchy matchy

Look - I got new pajamas that match my new blog look. After finishing the blog makeover I met up with friends to plan a bridal shower. We hit the big lots afterward to purchase elements for the critical lengerie gift. While there I spotted the spectacular pajamas. I think they grabbed my eye because of the time i'd spent doing the blog. I don't generally wear pajamas but they're handy to own. I've hung out in them all night. They're pretty!

temple accessories

with my free time this summer i decided i better hit the temple some more. i like to go in the morning and then meet up with my brother for lunch. yum! today i got to sit next to a rather delightful older woman. she knew all kinds of cool symbolism in the paintings on the walls. apparently there's a three pronged tree that represents the father, son, and holy ghost. there are also 47 blue medallion things on a border that stand for 1847 - when the pioneers got here! then there were some numbers that had to do with joseph smith but i couldn't quite understand what she was talking about. she was talking in one of those really loud whispers older people seem to have, and i didn't want to encourage her. but the coolest part was that she had this "sock" for her cane. you think you've seen it all in home made temple accessories - the shawl, hairpiece, bag, slippers, belt - whatever - but then in comes a woman with a white crocheted cover for her cane. it was priceless!

fancy!

i picked a fancy new layout for my blog - thanks to kristen for inspiring me! but even bigger thanks to

for designing it!

Expensive pain

What's that called when you bring pain upon yourself? It was amazingly delicious going down. The pain set in right before the check came. At least I was prepared for that pain. I wish the beauty showed better - the broiled tomato was candy.

FDT

Guess what! I had a french-dip-tuesday by accident! I'm at a faculty retreat in park city and that's what they served us for lunch. When I saw it I realized it was a tuesday and whipped out the camera. It was pretty tasty! The mushrooms were a fancy touch.

Not so puffy

This morning I noticed there was a slight shape emerging from my foot that used to be an overstuffed sausage. In this photo I flexed so you could see that even tendons are showing through. Notice the big toe, though, lacks a bit of bendiness. At least the other toes are beginning to act normal. Oh, and my ankle sockline is almost the same - the foot still shows a sock imprint, but the ankle is nearly normal. Hooray for me!
Today I am off to park city for faculty bonding. I look forward to pool time. I hope I can stay awake until then. I need to get packing.

joy!

this is the niece - loving the swing - i remember those days. a swing may still be my favorite thing in the whole world.

time fillers

okay - so it's been a long month of recovering from bunion surgery. there are times when i can't imagine walking around boot free. mostly i miss being able to walk around the park and do yoga. i should get the boot off next monday! i plan to try yoga next wednesday!

so how have i filled my time? well, keeping up on everyone's blogs for one. i've done a fair amount of reading, but mostly watching "the office" and "seven up" series on netflix. i've also done a whole stinking lot of scrap booking. i know - crazy. i'm not a real scrap booker - i just put all my old stuff in sleeve protectors. the funnest part of this month has been going wedding dress shopping secretly. not for me - but for the good friend plewe! she's getting married sept 26! she spent about 2 weeks nearly engaged so we went dress shopping to get a head start. she gave me the chance to practice my secret keeping skills and i'm very pleased with my good work! too bad i had to delete all the wedding dress pictures to help preserve the secret. so there are no photos to go with this post.

well, my lazy recovery days are over. tomorrow i head to park city for a work retreat. a bunch of faculty members "bonding" and pretending they're having a good time while they return to the grind is always a bit amusing to me. i hope to make the most of it!

Improving!

Earlier this week I peeled off the scab and most of the surrounding dead skin. Yes, gross, I know s but it feels good to see normal pinkish scar vs. crusty scabby skin. Again, too much, sorry. so I just wanted to share my improvement. It's looking and feeling better. Swelling is decreased significantly - the boot's velcro is adjusting for smaller foot. I can even sort of mostly stand on it - the foot not the toe - it's still a bit stiff and tender to touch. I should be boot free come a week from monday. Yes I made a thousand bucks on this and had it done for free, but every now and then I wonder if it was worth it. I do like making money.

Live

In case you missed it, randy pausch died today. He's the author of this book i've been reading. In fact, today I read his chapter on brick walls and how he overcame the one that was his wife. His father told him if he loved her he should support her. I agree - i've found in my own life that the best way is to be supportive and then the walls disappear. His book has really moved me. I started it last week when I finished journal of the trail and decided to keep up the inspiring reading. In both books it seems the lesson about life is that you must live it, no matter how much you don't want to. Very good stuff. If I were really blog savvy i'd embed the youtube video of his last lecture, but at least i'm giving a photo of his book - much better than the video, by the way.

memories... all alone in the moonlight...

i'm a fan of the song even if i don't know the words. i'm a huge fan of memories in general - in fact i'm the in the middle of scrapbooking 1993 - i only have about 10 more years to do to get caught up. so here's a game i found on kristen's blog - fun!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Dumb foot

For fhe tonight they were hiking ensign peak and hearing history about it. I love easy hikes. I love history. I love bonding at fhe. But I have a lame foot. Instead I got to stay home and do some mending - seriously - and some tatting. I also watched the 7-up series on netflix. It's pretty cool. Back in the day some british people decided to track the lives of 7 kids to see how they'd turn out. Tonight I watched the one of them being 21. A bit sad in some ways to see the innocence lost. I guess growing happens.

Hate is contagious and you're catching it.

on saturday i attended incredibly strange movie night, being hosted by out/ex blah blah i can never remember the long name - basically odd movies/media shown monthly at nobrow coffee. my friend blair is the curator of the lost media archive and was the host this month. he showed us a movie called "creating rem lezar" - a funny children's musical movie about an imaginary super hero becoming real because the kids use their imagination and really believe. (the above picture is the three of them together when he first comes to life.) there were all kinds of good morals to the story. one of my favorite scenes was a sing along dance through central park where they pick up various musicians and become a semi-parade - it was totally copied in the latest disney hit, enchanted. luckily, disney improved on the idea. the funniest moral was near the end when rem told the kids that hate is contagious and they were catching it. they turned their hearts around and exuded love. consequently, rem stated, "love is contagious and you've caught it." really it was a beautiful line - and nearly as powerful as that scene in return of the jedi when darth vader and luke are fighting and luke is being pulled to the dark side because he's hating. well, there's your moral lesson for the day. go spread some love.

Gas

I have finally finished this book. I bought it for my father years ago because my writing teacher told our class about it. The main character suffers from a lot of gas. Father liked it. He loaned it to the brother who liked it. I borrowed it and have finally read it. I think it belongs to me now. I'm not sure what to say about it. I was offended and entertained. It caused me to think and question and laugh at my on beliefs. It is most definitely a ride - good I think. Read it and tell me what you think. Unique for sure. I couldn't help but wonder how autobiographical it may have been. Just "seeing" new orleans made the read worth it - better than any holiday you might take there - more real.

recovery

everyone keeps insisting that i need to take it easy to let this toe recover. well, i DO take it easy. i sleep in about an hour or two more than normal (during the school year i get up at 5). i usually only do one type of household chore a day - like watering the lawn or mopping the floor or doing laundry - it never really takes more than about 15 minutes of moving. i watch movies on netflix, i read, i tat, i eat (which sometimes involves going out to eat). but generally my summer has a been rather mellow. last night i went to a play - sooooo good - "the curious savage" at hale theater. i loved all the themes it brought up. i got to bed by 11 - not too late. but this morning, i woke up totally dizzy feeling. i got up at 5:30 because i couldn't go back to sleep and i wanted to eat breakfast - the winder farms people deliver on wednesday - i LOOOOOVE getting food delivered to my front door! but after breakfast, some scripture reading, and book reading, i decided i better go back to bed. because i could. and because i still felt a bit dizzy and it bothered me. i took a benadryl (i'm totally staying off lortab if i can help it) and lay back down on my bed in the dark. i slept (made myself keep sleeping whenever i sort of woke up) for a good 3 1/2 hours! wow! it seemed strange to come out to the rest of the house where it was middle of the day lighting. i sort of felt like i missed something. oh well. it felt good. and i can say i obeyed all the heavy hints people keep giving me like, "you'll be out of the boot sooner if you rest more now."

Toe news

Sorry if this grosses any of you out. I'm fascinated by this strange appendage of mine. Besides the purplish swolleness i'm confused by the direction my big toe now goes. That bunion is really gone. The rest of the toes are still used to going to the left - I wonder if they'll naturally move back. The doctor's office visit was much less traumatic today. I was prepared to sit there and stare at my foot for awhile. I didn't wait to tilt my chair back and start relaxing. Don't you think my toe looks odd? I sure do. I can't wait for the swelling to subside and instead of stitches i'll just have a faint line of a scar. I can wash my foot now - i'm sure that will improve its looks rather quickly.

obedience

sunday, our lesson in relief society was on obedience. this is one of my favorite topics of all time - i've really gained a testimony of the power of obedience - it brings me all kinds of joy and freedom. sadly, i fell asleep during the lesson. i totally missed any great new insights. i wonder if i was a bit judgmental of the teacher and thought i knew more than her. what a way to ruin a good sunday - letting pride get in the way of learning new things. that IS the challenge of loving a topic - you tend to think you know everything about it. well i have to say i also know a lot about pride - it totally keeps you from learning new things and appreciating some really great stuff. what about any of you guys? any favorite topics that have changed your life? my other favorites of late are agency and trust.

nader

i just finished watching the documentary, ralph nader: an unreasonable man. wow it was soooo goooooooood! i'm thinking about having a bday party with that as the main activity. i think he's my hero. he's up there with mother theresa. the guy has guts. he's a hard worker. i'm impressed.

ex-boyfriend

it's not always easy keeping up on the life of the ex. i generally manage to stay friends with them, but when they get married they tend to move on with their lives and i never hear from them again. one, however, is my sister's brother-in-law so i tend to hear about how life is going for him through her occasional updates. well, this past week they had a large family reunion. i couldn't resist sharing the family photo that she sent. he's the fourth from left, with a goatee. which is funny to me since i've never cared for goatee's but i can easily believe he has one. he may have even had one at one point in our relationship, but since we dated at byu that probably isn't true. he's looks about the same. he's a good man and i'm always happy to hear how well he's doing.

diet tip

this morning i read a good article in the ny times about advertising and getting people in third world countries to use soap. one paragraph jumped out as worth sharing with my peer group. (you readers are my peer group, right?)

“Habits are formed when the memory associates specific actions with specific places or moods,” said Dr. Wood, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. “If you regularly eat chips while sitting on the couch, after a while, seeing the couch will automatically prompt you to reach for the Doritos. These associations are sometimes so strong that you have to replace the couch with a wooden chair for a diet to succeed.”

Leatherby's and citrine

Wrong order, but still it came out to be a great night. I'm just sorry I didn't have my cell on me so I could document with photos! I think plewe at least captured the beauty of ice cream, which failed to match the beauty of the music - which was amazing. In fact I cried a bit during one of the numbers - caledonia I think it was. I smiled all through yellow - it's been so long since I heard it. I wish kristin had been there but luckily plewe was. What a great song! Good times all around. I love music outdoors.

failure to serve

yesterday i felt a bit like a failure. i tried to put together a service project but no one can come because i picked a holiday weekend. i think i'll push it back a week and hope people can come then. but on top of that, i went to the humanitarian center for my monthly assignment with the ward, and although a few good friends showed up, the humanitarian center wasn't open. well, it was open but we don't think it was supposed to have been. we couldn't find anyone home and only could turn on half the lights. we debated working anyway, but opted not to since the church is particular about following protocol. so i came home and read some of my book, "a confederacy of dunces," which didn't do much to improve the failure mood. it's a book about an annoying failure of a person. funny stuff. unique voice. try it, but you might not like it.

more than my foot

yes, hard to believe, but there is more to my life than a foot in recovery. so i'm going to try to blog a little about the rest of my life..... hmm.... well, i have been doing some lesson prep. it's a paying job - i took it on as an excuse to keep busy while staying off my feet, plus my friend who needed it done seemed desperate to find a gullible soul. i got to read a book called, "shipwreck at the bottom of the world" - now i'm doing a unit of lesson plans to go along with the book. i really liked the book. it goes along with the davis reads theme, "discovering the majesty within." pretty inspiring - check it out if you want a good non-fiction scientificish historical book.

in other news... i recaulked my tub yesterday. and i have to say it wasn't the greatest job. i'm redoing one portion and wondering if i should have let it dry more before scraping out the fresh but poorly placed caulk. anyway, i'm learning lots!

Wow

this is another post that should have gone up last week (tuesday) but got lost in cyberland....
I'm not sure if it shows its full glory but my breakfast this morning was truly amazing. Let me officially advertise for kneaders. Thick cinnamon french toast with mapley buttery syrup and whip cream with strawberries - i'd have liked more strawberries. Then, not pictured is an orange smoothie reminiscent of the orange juliuses my sister and friends and I tried to create at sleep overs back in high school. Joy!

Patriotic nephew

oops - this post should have been done on the fourth - it got lost in cyber space....
my nephew and I are chilling in the recliner. We match: red shirts and brown bottoms. Earlier today we went shopping at shopko. He sat on my lap as I drove the cart around like an invalid. Sometimes when I wasn't looking the nephew did the driving. It beeps when you go in reverse. You can get whiplash if you don't ease off the gas - it takes a bit of skill.

Change of bandage

Today I saw the doc for a change of bandage. I took the polish off befor going only to discover that my sister had painted all the toes on my left foot - I didn't know the two smaller toes were painted until the nurse took off my bandages. Then the nurse left me with my bare yellowish purplish foot staring up at me for at least 10 min before the doc came in to rebandage me. I wish i'd thought to take a photo then. There was no foot support and the chair wasn't terribly comfortable. I saw a huge dark purple section of my foot where i'd felt the worse pain. I started to get sick so I figured out how to move the chair back. Then I noticed the eons worth of dust collected on the air vent. Then I felt super neglected and started to cry. I remembered a granola bar in my purse so I ate that and tried to ignore the easy listening music that was making me anxious. Finally the doctor came in and rebandaged me without the slightest wiping of the foot. It probably still has the purple inked "yes" on top. I know it has the two red nails. Then he left me and told me he'd get me a shoe to wear in bed that's much smaller. A nurse brought that in and walked away. That was it. I was left to put my boot back on by myself. Lame! I think he's a lazy careless doctor and his staff is thoughtless. At least I won't be going there for the bunion on my right foot. Unless I get to do the research thing again and get paid to do it. My standards only go so high.

Patriotic foot

My sister was kind enough to make my good foot patriotic. Cool, eh?

I'm home

Here's my foot propped at mom's place.

Last pitcher

I drink lots of water while i'm in here. The orange lidded container is waiting for it to go through me. Then i'm free to go. I can walk like the wind now - well, the wind in a walking cast anyway.

Sleep

Yep - that's my big chore for today. Oh, and maybe read some more. Actually i'm scheduled to go home today! Around 4. I walked cane free. Call me mobile. My days of lameness are over! :)

Tv

I'm learning about tv by being laid up. I've discovered there's a channel with law and order constantly playing. The nurses seem to like the price is right. There are a lot of news and sports on tv. Even with more channels there's very little to watch and commercials are always annoying. I think i'll nap some more.

New boot

All along my foot has hurt on the left side (nonsurgical site) and the pain medication hasn't helped. Everyone seemed stumped and said that was unusual. This morning a new nurse came in and I did my usual whining. She quickly insisted that my boot was too small - designed for people with size 7 shoe. I'm a 9 1/2. She brought in a new boot and I have to say it hurts a lot less. She also helped me get my pants off over the boot so I could take a shower. So besides having a new boot i'm clean! Well, not like i've gotten very dirty lying in bed 24 hours - but still, a shower is a nice thing! Here's to another exciting day in bed.

Walking

So my first attempt to walk didn't work so well. I'd just like to report that i've done it successfully 3 times now. The foot hurts and then throbs a whole lot when I get back. I can't imagine doing this without the 24 hour nurses but plenty of people do. I think they take a whole lot more lortab. Walking will be better tomorrow. Time time. Oh - I just remembered the inspiration for this post. I'm watching walk the line. They have cable - supposedly basic, but it's not as basic as mine.

FDT

Look! I'm having my own french dip tuesday. I only wish cindy and plewe were here to join me - or I was "there" to join them! I think either way it's a good omen.

I just had THE worst experience of my life. It is called walking. I couldn't get beyond my room before I nearly passed out. Something about lying in bed for 24 hours combined with the foot pain - well, it nearly did me in. I'm back in bed now.

Good morning!

My toe is throbbing but the sun is rising. I have an east facing window. I'm trying to picture myself at the park on a nice walk. I wonder when i'll get to do that again. I'm happy to say lortab works for me. I woke up at 1, though, with some gas pain - like I needed to burp - but i'm not a burper. I tried using the commode, though, and that brought on a bit of a hiccup that brought me relief. Then I slept the rest of the way. I just remember the poor nurse had to listen to my whining ramblings - it's hard to think let alone communicate through drugs.