~FLOWERS, FOOD & FAMILY~

Holy Memorial Day Picnic! What a glorious day, what a great bunch of people and most of all, wouldn't our mom's be bustin with pride with all of us for keeping the Memorial Day tradition going! We have such a great family and I LOVE every opportunity I am given to spend time with all of you! What fun it is when one of us finds his or her way home every now and again to visit. Thank you Diane for bringing yourself and Uncle Carl home to Delta and to us...We have missed you so!

Delta will always be our home...more so for those of you who actually live there obviously but, for those of us who grew up there and left and, for those of us who only come to visit it leaves it mark in memories so fond that when I start to think about them they tumble around in my mind and I can't even begin to give them the credit they are due. From the "putty mud" to "walking fences", throwing rocks at skunks ( Chris). The awesome plays we put on, long bike rides, Easters spent on the dunes or the desert, olive fingers, talking Magpies, the Lambert House, Christmas Eves, (Hey Nance, do you remember "Walkin and a wishing for a Man")? Oak City Canyon, Rook, FUDGE, softball, the falls, the old Sugarville church. Matt chipping Nancy's tooth, me chipping Chris's... and SO many more. I am so glad to have all of you in my life and I hope that I tell you that often enough. You are all the very best part of what makes me, ME!

AND, I hope we all live to be as old and as healthy as our dads! Think of the possibilities ;)

~"BE SMART"~

Colo graduated pre-school!! He was so excited to have everyone there. He had this "permagrin" on his face and it was just SO cute. He could hardly wait to gave his teacher, Miss Courtney flowers when she gave him his diploma. What a cute little man!

~WE DID IT~

We actually did it! Got a picture of all of us all together! I am not sure when the last time this was accomplished. I LOVE it.

Deb, Nance, Chris, Me and Mitzi!

~BIRTHDAY CAKE OR TRAIL HAZARD...~

I truly hesitate to post this but I was talked into it by my family because of my last post where I claimed to be a rather poor cake maker...

Here's the proof... John's birthday cake.

I kept saying that it didn't have to look good, it just had to taste good. It sort of made me feel better to say that. I'm not really sure what happened but apparently you can't use what I used for a filling and expect it to all stay together.


It was so pathetic after the "Mad Hatter" cake. I do apologize John. If I would have seen it before the rest of my family did, I would have made it into the best looking"Cow Pie" cake you ever did see and tried to pass it off as a well planned out birthday joke.

~BELLA TURNS ONE~

About 34 years ago I tried to make a birthday cake for my baby daughters 1st birthday. It was a simple cake made up of three square blocks stacked on top of each other with pink icing and large letters on each side that made them look like building blocks. By the time her party started at about 7:00 that night the blocks had slid and the cake looked like Stephanie had all ready given it a good punch with her little fists. It really was okay because it wasn't that great to begin with... I also remember trying to make a Ninja Turtle cake for Garett one year...That turned out not so good either. Now, take a look at Bella's 1st birthday cake! Can you believe my daughter-in-law Loreli! What a talent she has developed. She spent over 10 hours making this beautiful "Mad Hatter" cake for Bella. How cute is that!?

It is hard to believe that our little Bella is 1. Where does the time go? She is just starting to stand up on her own. In a few short weeks I am sure that she will figure out the walking thing. Wow!

She got to share her birthday with her dad this year. John's birthday is on the 22 (TODAY) and Bella's is the 20th. Therewill always be quite the celebrations in their house in May because Loreli has a birthday on the 2 of May also!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE BELLS!

~SUNDAY SUNSHINE~

Sunday's are the day I look forward to the most. Not only because of the obvious but, because I usually get to see some if not all of my family on that day. I have to say that I entice them with Sunday Dinner but, if it works, why not? It has been a tradition of ours now for about the last 5-6 years and I LOVE it. There are so many memories and PICTURES that I have from Sunday's at my house. Last Sunday the weather was PERFECT. For the first time in I don't know how long the sun was out and it was warm. The little guys ( my son's included) wanted to play outside so, after dinner we did just that. We even pulled Skyler into a game of P.I.G. ( A silly little basketball game that Lisa usually KILLS us in). Skyler says that he only wrestles but, we have learned that dude is FAST. He runs circles around the rest of us...

Cole and Maddie can entertain themselves with just about anything. They pulled my old rollerblades off the shelf and pushed them up and down the driveway for an hour. Oh the energy they have. What I wouldn't give to bottle up some of that and be able to use it now and again!

Sky thought that Clark's bike made the perfect lounge chair. I have to agree, it looks pretty comfy. Clark took me on a ride up Mapelton Canyon on his bike before dinner. It was beautiful. The rain has made everything SO green. I'm not a huge fan of motorcycles but, the weather was beautiful the air was warm and, except for when Clark tried to launch me off the back by going too fast, I had a great time!

I was able to get my boys to sit for just a minute so that I could take a picture...The last one is what happened after and what usually goes on. Do they EVER grow up? I guess they do because it takes both John and Clark now to get Garett down! Their bodies have grown but it will be awhile before their brains catch up!

I think that happens when they find out that it really hurts BAD the next day to "play" that hard!!!

~ABBIE AND MOTHER'S DAY~

After Abbie took a little tumble in the wood chips at the bottom of the slide her dad distracted her by pointing out a bug crawling on the ground. She was very interested in it for a few minutes until her dad told her to step on it and then she let out this hilarious scream! She is so animated it is pure entertainment just to sit and watch her. What fun I have trying to take a picture or two!

~LIFE IN THE OR~

Mornings take on a whole new dimension in my line of work. No early morning smell of fresh brewed coffee for me, oh no, ( Not that I ever drank the stuff anyway but I always liked the way it smelled) early morning smells for me no longer resemble coffee beans brewing or eggs and bacon cooking on the stove...Nope, it's Ode de Escher for me, the firing up of the autoclaves and the ever present smell of the over powering chemicals that are used to clean a surgery center from top to bottom before and after every procedure! Actually, the smells can be quite pleasant ( minus the eschar) for the most part...For me a sort of second home given the amount of time I spend there and at times I really wish my home could be so clean and smell so good! I have gotten to where I can walk in and for brief moments during certain periods of the day feel slightly comfortable. Don't read anything into that, I still have mostly stressful days of wondering if I will ever learn and remember everything I need to about my job but, for the most part I am getting by... I have had a few moments of brilliance believe it or not when I have so anticipated the doctors that even they have been shocked! I give them my best " you expected less" look and keep on going. Then 10 minutes later I screw up :) It's my way of keeping them guessing...I don't really want them to think that I have this thing figured out yet...Today for instance I forgot more than I remembered, a common occurrence for me but, there are a few day that I remember more than I forget! If you think for one minute that my confidence is starting to build then just throw another machine into the mix and tell me that I must master it before tomorrow as there will surely be a surgery that will be needing it and I will most certainly have to know how to use it. I will spend a sleepless night worrying about what I am going to do and how I am going to do it, and then drag myself to work wondering how I am ever going to get though the day. Somehow I always do. It isn't always pretty but, I manage...They haven't fired me yet!

The OR is a funny place. It's a world unlike any other. It has its own pulse, that is when it has a heart. Most of the time it does but, there are moments when CPR is desperately needed mostly because of righteous indignation but still indignation tends to leave a body pretty cold don't you agree? My theory is, (and I have been trying it out since starting back there) I have never liked being referred to as one who "eats their young" like most circulators so, from the very beginning I have tried to help everyone else. Now I know this raises a question knowing that I don't know anything but, I KNOW HOW TO CLEAN!!! I will often go in and help "turn-over" a room or clean an extra one at the end of the day. It's not all that much but it is something I CAN do. It makes a difference albeit a small one. If one person can go home feeling better about their day then hooray! Mission accomplished! One day I hope to develop some genuine camaraderie back there.

Continue CPR...1-one thousand, 2-one thousand, 3-one thousand...

~HAZARDS OF GARDENING~

It's snowing again at 5000 feet (note the date at top of post) and I am not all that upset about it. I have had one of the longest weeks in history in OR's 1-5 and I really needed to spend the weekend in a recliner with my feet up reading a good book and a heating pad on my sore back! Instead, I have been battling this rash on my arms and legs that just won't go away and itches like CRAZY! I found out that when I was pulling out all of the "stuff" in my flowerbeds that some of that "stuff" just happened to be Poison Oak. l now know what Poison Oak looks like and what it can do to you...STAY AWAY FROM IT...LEAVES OF THREE, LEAVE THEM BE!!! I considered leaving it there because it is a rather nice looking vine/bush sort of thing that the deer seemed to stay away from all together (there's a clue there) and, in September/October it's leaves turn this awesome color of reddish-orange that is very "fallish". Well, I found out that my arms and legs can turn that very same color of reddish-orange from the contact dermatitis that is inflicts after you have brushed up against it or, in my case grabbed it by it's innocent looking leaves and yanked it from the earth! Seems it will take about 3-4 weeks for it to finish it's cycle of itch, burn, blister, and swell...Oh, I almost forgot, and SPREAD!