you guessed'er chester!

Okay, so the big prize goes to......(drumroll please!)....Danielle! She guessed it! Hmmmm....now what to give for the prize?.....Any requests, Danielle?

If all goes well, in November I will be sleeping peacefully, while my life changes forever. That sounds a little anticlimactic, doesn't it? Sorry about that, but too many late nights and early mornings are conspiring against my ability to "wax comedic" right now.

Here's the scoop, but you have to plod through some history so you will understand why this is Big News to me. If you get bored......meander on over to your other favorite blog, since we BOTH know this is your favorite spot to hang out!!! ; -]

When I was younger, my sis's and I would play this game. It entailed smashing your face all up with your hands until you looked like a wilted pumpkin, or a 3000 yr old woman; because we were young, it looked like we had been "victims" of the "kick anorexia's butt" club. Then we had this chant that went something like "My name is ____. I love to eat! So does everyone else in our family; my mom's fat, my dad's fat, my brother's fat and so is my sister! One day, I got to go on a motorcycle ride, and when my friend hit the gas, Whoa!!!!" This statement was accompanied by us pulling all the skin on our face back as far as we could, thus appearing as if we had magically dropped a lot of weight.

Juvenile, I know, but somehow in my mind, it gave some consolation for being overwieght...made it funny. Since then poundage has been a huge part of my self identification. Even though I hated it, and myself, I continued to feed my face. There were many diets, and big weight losses followed by the inevitable weight return plus bonus poundage. Up and down, up and down.

Marriage and children again contributed to the accumulation. At first I consoled myself with "Well, I do have 3 children!" Then at some point I began to realize that there were many women with more kids than I who were at least much closer to their intended weight than I was. At first, I told myself that they were the exception to the rule, there weren't that many "skinnie minnies" out there. Sometime though, these thin, fit moms became the rule, and I became the exception.

After Adam was born, Paul and I became focused on our bodies, and made some serious changes in diet and lifestyle. We joined a gym, and both of us lost weight and became much more fit. Unfortunatly, a tubing wreck resulted in a broken neck, and I spent 3 months in a C-collar, on restricted activity. That was all it took to derail me. Since then, I have been aquainted with ever higher numbers on the scale- numbers I didn't know were even included!! I mean., sure, I had taken care of people in the hospitals that were morbidly obese, but we used special scales for them! I couldn't be MORBIDLY OBESE!!!

In the past several years, I have experienced more and more health issues. Being transferred to Deaconess a couple of months ago with unstable angina, and going through a heart cath was the clincher. Along with the increasing diabetic symptoms, chronic pain in my back and legs, difficulty moving around, skin issues, etc, now I was a "heart patient". At 45. I have to tell you, I have had several operative procedures done, and while a little nervous, they really were no big deal. Waiting in the holding area before the heart cath was the most terrifying experience of my life. Total meltdown. Luckily, my arteries are clear. I am- as one doctor put it-" out of shape and overweight". No kidding!! Somehow I was unaware of this fact?

After having some medication added to the ever longer list, my cardiac problems have resolved. Thank heavens!! About a month ago, I heard about this new program starting at Samaritan- bariatric surgery. A lottery was going to be held, and 6 people would be chosen to have either a lapband or gastric bypass done at 10% of the cost. All I had to do was fill out an application. After dropping off the application, I pretty much put the possibility of winning out of my head-I have never won anything in a lottery-not a quilt, cake, or free dinner. Wait a sec , I HAVE won a free dinner! . One evening, the phone rang, and on the other end, someone told me that I was a winner for one of the free spots!! UNREAL!! I was so excited and surprised, that I was screaming in the poor woman's ear!

Surgery is slated for around Thanksgiving time. And for the rest of my life, I will be able to get my weight down. All I need is "a little help from my friends" . Will you be one?

woooot wooot!! Teaser #4

Well, after many comments and um hmmm....PROBING questions.... here is teaser #4. I wonder if you will come any closer to guessing the Big News? So far, no one is on the right track! So.... here we go!

wednesday's workings and teaser #3

One of you is getting closer!! Which one?

Today I went to school with my kids. It was so fun to see all of the children engaged and learning! They are learning about the cell, math, and the 4000year mark in history. Dylan was so into it, he brought his home and is still working! Never did I think this would happen. Kimber Academy is already such a blessing in our home. My cup runneth over.

After school, Safeway was next on the agenda. I was so craving cookie dough, but I didn't want to make any, because , well,, we don't need those calories at out house. So I did the next best thing-I bought one of those little packs of premade dough, and ate it ALLL before arriving home.

Driving home, the imminent onset of cold weather brought views of field corn, all dry, waiting for the combine to come and chop it all into silage. The wind is blowing fairly good today, so all the farms in the area are trading dirt. The sunset should be spectacular. Maybe I will catch a photo and share it with everyone. Living on a little rise out in the sticks definitely has its benefits!!

Now, on to the laundry, and cleaning the bathroom and floors. Can't wait!

measuring up teaser #2

So, you are all hilarious!! But, alas, not even close! And now we pause for a public service announcement: I am not nor will I ever be pregnant again in this life! I understand it requires an internal incubater, from which I happily separated 11 years ago. Good guesses, but keep trying!

measuring up

I have big news. Really big news. And it will be made public. Very Soon. I am trying to assimilate it all, and I am incredibly surprised at all the emotions and thoughts that the Big News has brought with It. I fully intend to blog the complete experience, but it is taking a while for me to come up with the words. So, there will be daily (I hope) teasers. But maybe not. Here is today's teaser. I am accepting guesses. If anyone should accurately describe the Big News, maybe I will give them an insider's snippet. Maybe.

summery summary

Wow, it has been a really long time since the last post! It is embarrassing that my last post was such a rant, as well. I have been doing a lot of thinking about this blog; whether to continue it, take a prolonged (?) hiatus, or totally bag it. By this time, I am sure, very few, if any, people read my silly little thoughts. Readership is not why I began blogging, however. The purpose was to record my life, and the events of our family. Since I haven't touched a journal/diary since my mission days, there is very little recorded about the past 22 years. After re- reading my last post, I wonder how much I am just blithering on, and how much actual history I am recording. Perhaps I should make this a private blog? I don't know. Thoughts, anyone?

In any event, a quick catch up is in order. We have had a busy summer- as everyone else has. For the life of me, looking back, there are not that many "events" that stand out.

One of the things that happened was that my side of the family had it's first annual family reunion- and it was a blast.
To kick it off, we had a family temple baptism night. My siser lost an 8 month old baby to death, and she would have turned 8 this year. Since she would have been baptized that week, we decided to go to the temple as a family, and did over 250 names. What a wonderful experience- our whole family there, dressed in white, being baptized for our ancestors. My dad's sister and her husband both died with the last couple of years, and so their baptisms were also done.

Over the next few days, we barbeque'd,had water slides, played games, went to Leavenworth to see "The Sound of Music" in their natural amphitheatre (which,by the way, is definitely a must see- it was sensational!), and just sat around and got some quality relationshipping done.

Labor Day weekend rolled around, and it was Paul's turn to host his side's family reunion. We went up to Scout-a-Vista ( a BSA owned facility that has campsites, a lodge, winter cabin, etc.)looking forward to some volleyball, Bocchi ball,croquet,and campfire time. Instead we got 3 days of rain!! The rain actually turned out to be a blessing, because everyone congregated in the lodge. There were home made donut/fritters, early Christmas candy, games, art projects, puzzles, and LOT'S of visiting. Since each family took a turn preparing,serving, and cleaning up a meal, there was much less stress, and more fun. You knew who was cooking by the various genre's of music being played on the stereo in the kitchen. We even took up some guitars and amps, and the cousins had a blast jamming together.

Another high point of our summer, was our garden. That sounds really lame, but we have had many gardens over the years that just didn't produce much except weeds. This year, we put up corn, carrots, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, and even got a few onions. It was very rewarding to actually benefit from all those hours of sweat and dirt!

Many people know that we have homeschooled our kids for the past several years. This year, however, a Kimber Academy has been started in our town, and both of the boys are enrolled. After 3 days of class, they have memorized 20 historical dates along with the people from the Book of Mormon and Old Testament that are associated with those dates, as well as one event for each date. They have covered the various forms of government around the world, and begun math reasoning.

Each student will have memorized 40 "hook" dates,with at least 100 facts for each date which equals 4000 facts, by the time they graduate from the academy. The dates/facts include religious as well as secular history of the world. In order to graduate, they will write a thesis from memory, in story form, of the the history of the world from the beginning to present time. They will also place at least at a college freshman level in the 22 areas covered by the diagnostic GED test;this test is given every 90 days throughout their years at the Academy. Their study/academic goals are set according to the results of these tests. We are extremely excited to have the Academy here in our little town. In about 3 weeks it has gone from 6 students, to 20, with more "in the wings". In a word, the Kimber Academy is AWESOME!!!

Last night, we went to bigger town to see my baby sister sing the National Anthem at the semi-pro hockey game. She did fabulous! And the hockey game was really exciting, with tons of action and some good brawling at the end. Super fun!

Well, I think that basically catches us up, Josslin is back at BYUI for the fall semester, and is doing very well. Ironically, 2 of her roommates from summer semester got engaged over the break,so today they are shopping for wedding dresses. How fun is that?!!

balm of gilead

Have you ever been so mad at multiple people that all you can do is cry, shake, and yell? And in the process said things that needed to be said, but would have gone easier had you not been angry? And know that you should apologize, but also not because you said what everyone else was thinking but didn't have the guts to say out loud? And to top it all off, can't get unmad because your child is involved? And even though your child did something wrong, the other party is acting like your child should be in a max. security penitentiary? And your child wasn't the only child who did something wrong, but is the only one being vilified? And even though you know that the anger is only poisoning you, and no one else cares that you are mad, somehow you can't let the anger go even though you keep praying for peace and relief?