Gearing up for a Busy Week

I have awesome news! We finally started the long...hard...growling process of house construction. Yes, we are building our house!! Wahoo! Well, and 5 others along with it. Saturday was the day...3 families, two supervisors, and three volunteers (bless their hearts) gathered for a long day of measuring, drilling, sawing and nailing. Most of us are learning the process so it seems a bit slow...but we managed to get three walls up and I got the chance to use a nail gun and a power saw. it's pretty cool and fairly simple to use. But I am grateful for the volunteers that came to help and try to teach us what to do.

Also Saturday (you may think I'm crazy) I did a trial run for the Hurricane 5K coming up this weekend. The wind was in my face the whole time. It was a feat I am proud to say that I conquered, slow...but steady.:) Today I feel very sore and I hope that by this Saturday that I can be faster for the real thing...we can only hope.:) There I am crossing the bridge...in the white shirt at the END of the line.:) photo courtesy of Cherie Santiago.

A Bit Perplexed

First and foremost I must say that our new ward is pretty fun! We have the funnest sports team, always trying to include everyone, and making sure we all have a good time. We really don't care if we win or not. That is what church ball is all about, right? We have super fun enrichment activities every month. There's a book club, play dates, game nights, and even a movie night. All geared toward getting us out of the house and socializing together.
I decided to attend the movie night last night for the first time. Apparently it's meant to be a "classic" movie night. So naturally many elderly women were there, that don't have small children to put to bed. My friend Trina and I were the youngest attendants. We arrived a tad late, so the movie had already begun. Much to my surprise "27 Dresses" was playing on this big-screen TV in the middle of the living room. If you've never seen this movie, I might say that you are lucky, it is rated PG-13 and has slight nudity and many cases of profanity and one enormous instance of the mother of all swear words. An instance so demanding that it would take plugging your ears AND singing "lalalala" to be able to avoid hearing it. But of course you have to see it coming to prepare for such a ritual. This is a church activity!! There are so many movies to watch. Why were we stuck watching "27 Dresses?" I suppose I should have walked out...it was not something I expected.
Now, you might say that I am being a little presumptuous. And I might be...but I am a bit perplexed and I don't know quite what to think. But something inside me says that this is all wrong...that we shouldn't have to be exposed to extreme hollywood at a church activity. I was looking forward to seeing a nice, sweet, classic movie. I hope that next month we will have learned from this experience and pick something more worthy of our viewing attention. If not I'm afraid I will have to say "no" to RS Movie Night. I hope for my best interest it will be the former and not the latter.

Winter Rears It's Ugly Head, Yet Again

Spring, I thought you were here to stay.
Last month we celebrated your arrival.
What is this...snow in April?
Where are the gentle showers for thirsting flowers?

All I wanted was a cool and gentle breeze
While I attended my daughter's soccer game.
But what I got was the bitter cold accompanied by ferocious wind
That blankets can scarcely protect.

Spring, I miss you
And your mild and cheerful temperature
I fear that you will go too quickly
And all that is left will be the scorching heat of Summer.

Pink Ladies Rock!

The ladies in my neighborhood are pretty amazing! We call ourselves the Pink Ladies (not to be confused with Grease...but perhaps that is where the idea came from...I don't remember.:)) My point being that we have a pact that we are always there for each other no matter what crazy things happen in our lives. We cry, laugh, mourn, and even can chicken together...among so many other things (like drool over Edward Cullen). I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends I can count on, and have on many occasions, to be there for me. Thank you, my friends!!
To Marie: You amaze me with your brilliance and strong will, and your feminicity (not even a word...but I think you know what I mean). You are so strong! You bring new meaning to the words "I am woman, hear me roar!" I appreciate how you have helped me realize that I can have a voice in this world...even if I am a woman. You are extremely talented...but you never boast in your talents. I admire you and I'm grateful to know you!
To Trina: You are angelically sweet! You amaze me how you care about others. You are always putting other's needs above your own. Thank you for being such a caring friend! And might I add that you are an amazing photographer!
To Shawna: You are the mom that everyone hopes to be. You've raised and are raising good, respectful boys (and daughter), and still you manage to be "cool." You are a great example to me and you give great advice. Thank you for being such a good friend and neighbor!

Peroxide, Olive OIl and a Massage

I love weekends...Kevin's home...the kids are home...we have Sunday dinners and watch movies and play games together. This weekend was particularly special, and if I might add, a bit challenging. Special because we were blessed to hear the profound words of our dear Prophet and the Apostles of the Lord. Challenging because poor little Eli had a bad ear infection and I couldn't get to the doctor for insurance reasons. He was burning up Friday night and into Saturday. I was disappointed that I had to miss out on my first ever 5K race in St. George. But I realized that there will be other races and my baby needed me more. So...conquering of the 5K for me will just have to wait.

I made the decision not to get antibiotics for once and see if I could find other ways to cure this ear infection. With the help of the internet and friends comments on Facebook and prayer I tried a couple of things. I am relieved to say that Eli is doing much better and almost back to his normal self...and I didn't have to give him the 10-day dose of antibiotics. A friend of mine had sent me over email a list of uses for peroxide (that big brown bottle with the white lid that you find in the pharmacy). It's incredibly cheap and it does wonders killing bacteria and germs. I have been experimenting with it this last week and I must tell you that I am amazed! Forget about buying expensive "green" cleaners that are supposidly safe for the environment. Just buy a cheap bottle of peroxide and use it for everything! And I mean everything!! Anyway, back to what I was saying...I decided, after reading other's experiences on the internet, that I would try putting a little in Eli's ears and see what happened. Within a few hours he looked liked he felt much better. Then the next day I tried the olive oil, just warmed it a bit in the microwave and used a little dropper to get it in his ear and proceeded to massage his ears by holding his head with both hands, placing my middle fingers behind his ears and pointer fingers by his lobes and stroking down his jaw line several times. I was amazed how it seemed to ease his pain. Today he is doing much better...I think I will need to do the massage with olive oil again...but to me it seems to be really doing the trick.