Quitter

I did it. Not cold turkey, but I quit. And no, I don't feel good about it yet. But I am proud of myself. Last Wednesday it was three. Thursday and Friday it was two. Saturday it was one. Sunday....none. Today....none.
I'm groggy and emotional, but still alive. And maybe next week I'll have the energy to be proud. And I still want to leave the door open to have one every once in a while. But for now, with much love, goodbye Dr. Pepper.

Regret

It is the weekend once again. I am such a horrible person that I make Sammy clean all weekend without a two second break. And all she wants is a fun weekend and I keep ruining it for her.
Can I just say that her room is so messy that I literally cannot step one foot into it. And I don't ask much during the week, but on the weekends, they have to do their rooms and their bathroom and whatever various chores we need done. No one has had it worse than my children. I did suggest she could work on it tonight and not have so much to do tomorrow....
I get that Sam is tired. It has only been too obvious all week. She has been sassing me for an hour, so I finally just sent her to her room. And I had to count to three and start to stand up before she took off down the hall. And then she yelled out...."you'll live to regret this mom". Whaaaat? Where does she get this stuff?!?

Dinner Time

Last night I lovingly prepared dinner for my appreciative family. I was planning on doing some chicken on the bbq, but it was too windy, so I cooked them on the stove and made some au gratin potatoes. We sat down to partake and it began. Sammy doesn't like potatoes unless they are french fries. They are too orange. I know she doesn't like to try new foods. It is yucky. I informed her that if she didn't try them, she could go straight to bed and have them for breakfast. Of course she took the hard route and went to bed. Luckily I didn't have to deal with it this morning, Nate did. I texted him to see if she ate them and she hadn't. He let me know that he didn't pack her a lunch like he always does, or a snack. She would be expected to eat school lunch and when she got home she would sit at the table until they were gone. Now, I need to make this clear. All I gave her was one spoonful of these potatoes. Not a serving spoon. Just a regular spoon.

Well, I got home from school, ate my lunch and then the phone rang. Sammy didn't realize she was supposed to buy lunch, she thought we expected her to starve all day. And she was hungry and lunch time was over. (BTW, it was her favorite lunch and they don't serve it very often. The injustice) I ran over to pick her up, brought her home and took those withered up potatoes out of the fridge and warmed them up one more time. And she cried and wailed and dry heaved but managed to get them down. And then I fed her lunch and took her back to school. While we drove over to the school we had talk about being polite and appreciative.

Tonight for dinner I made stroganoff. And I heard a little voice chime, "Thanks for the good dinner mom!" Mission accomplished.

POST 400!!!!! and a weeks worth of ramblings...

I had a Fab- U - lous time in Utah this last weekend. It is always so great to go home and see my folks and all my siblings. On Saturday we got up to do my typical Utah tour. Started off at Old Navy, headed to Quilted Bear for lunch, over to the mall to see my niece at work at Justice for Girls and then to Tai Pan. We were whooped so my sister, two nieces and I headed out to get pedis.

I took a picture and then as we were in the doorway, I made a comment about our "free frip frops." Yeah, not my most pc moment. I sprinted out to my car as fast as those frip frops would allow:)

This little squirrel lives in my parents backyard. If I was a squirrel, I would live there too. My dad has a gaggle of oak trees with the biggest acorns ever. My dad put out a corn cob and it was so cute to watch him eat and then clean his little hands and face. I named him Archie.

This is one of my mom's cats. It is gi-normously fat and can hardly walk. Sorry mom.

I didn't pack Sunday clothes, so I stayed home while my folk went to church. My sister and my two brothers came over with their families and I had such fun catching up with everyone. We get a little loud when we are all together, but I'm glad we had the chance to.

Monday morning was the big day for my mom. My sis-in-law Polly, my sister Mindi and her hubby Bryon were there. Good thing. We are always good for some comic relief. At least we think so. To pass the time and lighten the mood I got some pics of Mindi. Sorry, but I warned you.

I love this one because her candy dish is a pee pan.
I thought I would take a picture of Polly and myself, but didn't realize the zoom was all the way up. We did better the second time.

The surgery took a little longer than we had anticipated, but it went really well. They were able to rule out the really bad stuff, and frankly, now I will sleep better at night. Thanks to all my friends for all their nice comments, questions, and prayers. It helps:) I am so grateful that the stars aligned and I was able to be there. I wish I could have stayed longer, but couldn't. Thanks to the Dana's for helping Friday with the ladies and Nate, you are fabulous. Kiss kiss!
Well, it has been spring break, with the kiddos out for school. Lucky me, I had no time off. It is nice that they are old enough that we can leave them in the mornings and then I get home a little after noon. Having big kids rocks! Too bad for them, we didn't have any big plans. On Wednesday night, we did go ice skating for a Young Women's activity. There is a new Polar Ice a block or two from my house and it is a really nice facility. And cold. I was colder that night than I ever was my whole weekend in Utah. Runny nose and all. My girls did great! They roller skated all day in anticipation of the big night. And they love being counted in with the "big girls"

Friday night was DATE NIGHT! We went to The Keg with Kyle and Diana. And get this...we didn't even get a babysitter. WOOHOO!!! And the dinner was so good and I ate a whole huge creme brulee all by myself.
Sam and I headed to WalMart on Saturday where she talked me into buying a pool. They played all day in it. Nate was savvy enough to hook the hose up to the hot water heated. Spoiled!



Who knew so many kids could fit in there and still have fun? All the Dana's were over so we ordered some Barro's Pizza. After dinner, Nate and Kyle decided it was time for Megan to commit her first felony. And out came the potato gun. I mean really. What are the odds that someone would move in across the street and have a potato gun like us? Fate.

She looks like an Iraqi with her first Bazooka.

Partners in crime.
Ready, aim...
Little bit too proud ;)
So it was a fun, busy, crazy week. No wonder I couldn't formulate my thoughts. Plus, I had to make #400 a good one!

SWAG baby!

Today I went to a Dental Convention in downtown Phoenix. New toothbrush, anyone? To prove that we were good students, we had a "scavenger hunt" that we needed to fill out. Since we had to go to all the booths, I charmed my way into a bag full of chapstik, lip gloss, toothbrushes, a tongue scrapper, pens, and keychains. Oh yeah, I learned some stuff too. ;)

But my day gets even better. After school I headed to the airport and boarded a plane for the SLC. It was top secret, I couldn't talk about it. Nate knew, duh, and my brother Jeff and my dad. My mom is having surgery on Monday, so I surprised her and flew in to spend the weekend with her. Surprise, schmurprise. This woman has ESP. When I have a difficult day, my mom will call me up and ask me if I am okay. Well, this morning, she washed the sheets on the guest bed. She just "had a feeling" that I was coming in. She could feel it all week. I guess if I want to surprise her, I need to suppress my feelings better. It was FABULOUS to surprise her and my adrenaline was going and my legs were shaking. I am so happy to be here. We headed to dinner at my favorite Chin Wah and then I had to go to Shopko to replace all the toiletries that the airport stole from me. I haven't flown in almost four years, so I screwed it up. GRRR! The worst part was they took my unopened soda from me. That one just hurt. So I am here, and the weather is pretty darn nice (50 degrees) but it is clear and sunny, so you breathe the cold air, but the sun feels so warm on your skin. Yummy!

Goin' on a Safari

I had a great opportunity today. Instead of going to school, we were able to participate in a community health project at a local Mesa school. This van goes around to all the schools and the kids get their eyes checked, their height and weight, they get checked for lice (EW! Didn't have to check for that) and then they headed over to us to look at their teeth. The kids were adorable.

They had these cute posters all over inside the van.

My BFF's, Cherys and Tabitha. They watch my back and make sure no one swears in front me. They are the best!!!

A few of us needed to use the restroom, so we went in the school, used the facilities, and they had the paper towels in the hall. Right above the paper towels was this sign. Oops! I hightailed it out of there after waving at the camera.

I believe that we almost had more volunteers than kids, but we sure enjoyed the sunshine!

To pass the time, we got caught up in a little double dutch.

The men in charge offer prizes to us if we could answer anatomy questions. They asked what TMJ stands for. Oh Yeah! I am the TMJ expert! I won this fabulous giraffe. Jealous? I think Tabitha is. Look at the way she is looking at me!

It was a great time today, nice and relaxing and we all needed it. Working with the kids makes me think pediatric dentistry. Decisions decisions!

Difficulties with Friends

Megan has a little club with two of her friends. The three of them love exotic animals and they get together and discuss animals and they have raised money to send to the World Wildlife Fund. Weeeelllll, yesterday, Megan let it be known that Nate likes to go hunting and she likes to go with him. And they KICKED. HER. OUT. of the club. And it pissed me off. I told her to ask them if they have ever gone fishing. Or had leather shoes. Or eaten meat. Or had a drink of milk.
I guess I didn't need to worry too much. Sammy got to school this morning and marched right up to those girls and let them have it and gave them a lecture on all the ways they use dead animals. And they apologized to Megan and all is well. I love it when my girls prove to me that they really do love each other! And I'm so proud of them for standing up for themselves.

Dental Assistant Jen

Well, I finally got the pleasure of taking Cherys' mouth impressions. After having such a hard time getting mine done, I was nervous to put Cherys through the same thing. I started off doing her mandibular and got it on the first try! WooHoo! I was feeling pretty good about things and I was happy that Cherys doesn't have sensitive teeth. On to the maxillary. Didn't quite get it the first time. Or the second. Or the third. So Sue came over to give a little bit of help.

I felt a tiny bit better about things when even the teacher couldn't do it. My other teacher Rhonda suggested using a differently shaped tray for the impression and I got it on the first one. Der! Sorry Cherys. She was such a good sport, especially since we took 7 impressions total.
Here is Cherys grinding down our impressions so we can make our bleaching trays.


After she was done trimming my impressions, I got set to grind hers. And she discovered that a tooth on her impression was broken. Yeesh! So I had to take another impression, but got it on the first try! Yay!
This morning I learned how to make a crown. It was so cool to make a tooth! And it looked so real!
At the risk of sounding like a total nerd, it is really cool to see how all of this works. And finally at the end of the day today, we started learning how to take x-rays. Good thing we get to practice on Dexter.

This class is very fast paced. I will never joke about trade schools again. Last night I was studying Radiation Physics. Ewwww! I can memorize the information, just not sure that I will truly be able to understand it fully. But I am having so much fun and am so glad that I get to go to school every day.

Meet Samantha

Here is my American Girl Doll! I couldn't find Sammy at bedtime one night. I discovered her all put away in her bed ;)

Spring Fling

This last Saturday was the Spring Fling carnival over at the school. Sam has really been looking forward to this all week because she knew they were having a pony ride. We rode our bikes over to the school and let Sammy have her turn on the pony. Or was it a unicorn? Either way, I felt bad for the little fella. They did have a horse that was a little bit bigger, but there was a long line and this one became available, so I volunteered Sam so I wouldn't have to wait in line. Yes, she is about three times taller than this horse.Since I purchased wrist bands for both the girls, I unleashed them and let them run around and have their fun. I think Sammy rode the bigger horse a few times, they played games and had a great time. It was good for Megan to get out, she was flat in bed with the achy breaky flu last week.

Side note-my lemon and orange trees are in bloom and they smell so good! The blossoms are so pretty! Lemon blossoms
Orange blossoms

Rough Day at School

Today was not my favorite day at school. On the bright side, we are learning to take mouth impressions on each other, and they are letting us make bleaching trays for ourselves. On the down side, I needed to have an impression made of my mouth. To have more working time, you need to use really cold water with the alginate. Those of you who know me well, you know that I have really sensitive teeth. I don't keep my Dr. Peppers in the fridge because I can't handle the cold. Well, my bottom impression was mucho cold. As in, I think you are jamming needles down into my gums. And the first one didn't work, so I got to have it done again! Think whiter teeth, think whiter teeth. Good thing I am so tough, I survived it just fine. You can see the tears welling up!
Bottom tray almost done!
On to the top. It turns out that my teeth aren't as sensitive up there. But my gag reflex is. The gooey mixture squeeged (my own word) out of the tray and was hitting me in the uvula. And it has to set, you can't just take it out. So poor Cherys is working on my tray and holding it in and I am dry heaving all over the place and my eyes are welling up with tears from the gagging. Finally she gets to take it out. But wait! It isn't good. So we do round two. Same thing. I am freaking out thinking I am going to puke all over the place and be way embarrassed. Now our teacher is helping out, trying to distract me so I don't puke. Cross your legs. Cross them the other way. Make a fist. You get the idea. Finally they take it out. Guess what?!? No good! My stomach is in knots and I'm starting to think that good grades and white teeth are waaaay over-rated. The teacher tells me to take a break, we'll do it again in 20 minutes. Cherys kept apologizing, but it wasn't her, I just couldn't help myself. Just found out the impression was no good. I look like a little pouty kid. Right before taking the third impression. Not a happy camper.
The lovely Sue helping out.
Well, third times a charm. Breathe through your mouth, cross and uncross your legs a hundred times, and you get a beautiful impression. Thank You! and Hallelujah!GOOOOAAAAALLLLL! It's good! And it only took a few minutes to dig all that crap off my face and neck, scrape it off my tongue and dig it out of my teeth. Anyone want to be a dental assistant?
And tomorrow....I get to do Cherys' impression. (Evil laughter)

Sammy's 9th Birthday Celebration

Sammy is finally 9 years old! This is the last year of single digits for our entire family. Weird! For breakfast, she requested German Pancakes.



Then we were off to Sammy's favorite place, the Ostrich Farm. I invited (made) the Dana's come with us and we had fun. I only got my hand bit once this time and when Sammy told them it was her birthday, they let her choose out a big, beautiful ostrich feather from the gift shop. We fed the donkeys, the deer and the Lorikeets. And I fed an ostrich, but they are so aggressive that no one was too thrilled with them:)



For her birthday dinner, I told Sammy that we could go out to dinner, anywhere she wanted to, or we could invite the Kim and the Dana's over for dinner. She wanted to invite them over. I got a little excited, thinking we could have a steak bbq, Sammy loves steak. But she wanted Taco Soup. It was 87 degrees on her birthday, so thank you everyone for coming over and partaking of the hot soup. She got a lot of fun stuff for her birthday, new scriptures, new backpack, a new dress for her doll just to name a few. Megan got her a pretty necklace with diamonds and a dolphin from her trip. She had a great birthday! Thank you to all her sent well wishes and gifts!