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It's been awhile since I posted anything, so, I had a hard time choosing what to blog about. I thought you might be interested to see Dale with his Pirate patch. His little granddaughter, Ellen, is sitting on his lap. Last month he went to Dallas to get his cataract removed from his eye at the VA hospital. Long story as to why he went there instead of doing it here in Utah.
Before he went in for the surgery, the doctor that examined him told him he is always in on the surgery but there is usually another doctor there also. The part he didn't tell him is that the other "doctor" is a fifteen year old who doesn't know what he's doing.
The surgery is only supposed to take an hour, but that's if a grown-up does it. If a kid does it, it takes twice as long. They laid him on the table and told him to hold his head really still. "Don't sneeze or move at all. Don't talk, because when you talk, you can't help it, your face moves. If you move your face, well, we could really mess up." Now, I know what you're thinking . . . same as I was thinking. . . Don't they have a way of holding your head still so that you don't move? So, the surgery starts and part of the way into it, Dale realizes it's the kid that's doing the surgery, and so keeps hearing things from the real doctor like: "No, no, don't go so deep on that cut!" "Oh, crap (didn't really say "crap"), don't touch the cornea!" And then from the kid doctor,"Well, my hand's in the way and I can't see what I'm doing".
Remember that Dale, the patient, is awake during all of this. Apparently the doctors think the patient on the table has gone temporarily deaf and can't hear. Also, remember that, even though by this point Dale is wanting to scream, "Take the knife away from the kid and do it yourself, please, Doc!", he has been instructed not to talk. Dale at this point is wondering if he will even have an eye left, let alone be able to see out of it.
Finally, after what seems like forever, they put the patch on his eye and wheel him back into his room. I came in and could tell by looking at him that he had been through the ringer. I wanted to talk to the doctor because I was not very happy with the treatment, but he conveniently was already involved in another surgery.
Next day when we went in for his followup, Doogie Howser (for all you youngsters reading this, that's a reference to a TV show about a teenage doctor years ago) did the check up. He asked Dale how he was doing. Dale said, "I'm alright considering I was traumatized yesterday". The doc, having no idea what he was talking about said, "Really? Why?"
I wanted to let him have an earful at that point but decided to just zip it and let Dale handle it.
Long story short, miracle of miracles, he can see. Went in for a followup checkup on Monday and the doctor in SLC told him it looked really good.
Next cataract surgery, we think we'll go with the private sector.
Hello all you readers (that's probably me and Dale)! As you have probably read from the family blog, Dale and I have now turned into Transplants from Texas to Utah. Now Dale is the transplant, so I guess the name can still apply. He started his new job as Director at C.S. Lewis Academy in Santaquin last Monday, July 19th. They dropped a whole lot of stuff into his lap on Day One and he didn't have a chance to catch his breath until the weekend. This week, he has also been very busy, but I think they let him go to the restroom today, so, that's progress. . .
He has been loving every minute of it because his brain likes to handle a whole bunch of stuff all at once. The best part of the job is that there is a Maverik Station about half a block from the school, and he can buy one of their hot dogs whenever he gets a hankerin' for one. Well, that's if they will unchain him from his desk.
I have been busy this week trying to do some of the transitioning that is required in any move. Thank goodness for my sweet, dear Dad who has this house for us to come to. Otherwise, we would have had to drive around Payson with our Uhaul trailer until we found a place to live.
Utah Valley really is a beautiful place with its surrounding mountains. You don't realize how beautiful until you are away from it for awhile and then come back. Dale was/is quite impressed with the view of Mt. Timpanogas from the front window of Dad's house, as well as the view from the front door of C.S. Lewis Academy. It looks out over the valley from the hill above Santaquin.
I'll post more as I get a chance. So, don't give up on the Texas Transplant blog.
I am enjoying my visit at Sarah's house. Noah lets me sleep in his bed. The other day all my children, except Tyler, as well as Trevor, Brittany, Noah, and Jason, were here visiting. It was so fun to look around and see all of them. I am so grateful for the wonderful children and grandchildren Heavenly Father has blessed me with.
I don't have any pictures to post with this, but I think I might mosey on down to main street today and take a few pictures. Wow!! gotta love Delta Main Street.
Dale and I went to Martina McBride on Saturday night. I wasn't too familiar with her songs, but as she sang, I realized I had heard many of them. She is a pint-sized singer with an amazing voice. The show lasted for two hours and she sang almost that whole time, with a couple of short breaks while the fiddle player had a solo and the keyboard player played one also. It was a great night. Dale took me out to dinner and I enjoyed one of my favorite things to eat which is ribs. MMMmm. .. yummy.
Sunday morning Laurel, Sydney, and baby Sawyer and I headed out from Denton on our way to Utah. Little Sydney was as good as gold the whole way. . . and it's a long way. Poor little Sawyer was fussy all day on Sunday. That evening he filled up his diaper (sorry, no nicer way to put it, but it figures into this story, which is why I'm telling about it). After that, he was a completely different baby, so we decided he just had a belly ache all day Sunday. We stayed that night in Gallup, NM. Monday morning we headed out and drove the rest of the way to Utah. Laurel got her exercise on the trip by climbing in the back seat and entertaining the kids. She volunteered to drive but I told her I would rather drive than try to keep Sawyer happy. I finally was exhausted and Sawyer was being good so she finished the drive into Gallup. I was amazed at her energy level and the patience she had with the kids. I was so glad she came with me. It was great to have her company and her driving. The closer we got to Cedar City, the more excited she was. She was driving, so I asked her to make sure she had the car in park, when we got into DeAnn's driveway, before she jumped out. Thank you for coming with me, Laurel.
Now, I am in the process of making cream puff shells for the wedding reception. Also, enjoying visiting with my family. We have a wonderful family, don't we?
I am so happy Dale will be coming up here and will be able to meet everyone. He's looking forward to meeting my family.
Love you and miss you, Dale.
Today is Friday, the 14th. Nick, Laurel, and family will be here tomorrow afternoon. Dale and I have a hot date tomorrow night. We are going to the Winstar Casino to see Martina McBride. We are both excited about that. We had a great time there when we saw the Gatlin Brothers and Kenny Rogers. I posted about that on my facebook. Winstar is only about an hour north of here. Its nice to go north and AWAY from the traffic for a change instead of south and into the traffic. There is a lot to do here. That must be one of the reasons people live here.
It rained like cats and dogs today (and left little poodles in the road). I had to say that because that's something Mom used to say. When I was younger and she said the part about the "poodles" I never could figure it out. I knew it was funny or a play on words or something because of the way she said it. I could see that poodles related to cats and dogs but couldn't see what it had to do with rain (of course, cats and dogs have nothing to do with rain, either). I don't know how old I was when a light bulb finally went on in my head and I realized that "poodles" were puddles being left in the road! Hey, I never said I was the most intelligent child. . . .
Dale had to drive in the rain all day. He said there was a bad accident on the other side of the freeway involving two eighteen-wheelers. Not so good. I'll be glad when he gets home safely tonight.
So, not too much to say, except I'm looking forward to seeing ya'all. Also, happy to be welcoming my new daughter-in-law-to-be, Brittany, into the family. She's a very cute girl and Cade is blessed to have her in his life.
I'll let you know how Martina was on my next post.
Did you know that the State Animal of Texas is the Nine-banded Armadillo? I have been in Texas for several months. Up until about a month ago I had never seen an armadillo. They have this dumb-looking souvenir you can buy in the gift shops that is an armadillo on its back with a shot glass. Next time I see one, I will take a picture and post it.
So far, I haven't seen a LIVE armadillo, but now I have seen three dead ones on the side of the road. Armadillo means "little armored one". Isn't that the cutest name? I think it really means "armored rat". That's what they look like. I would really like to see one alive, but I hope I don't ever run over one. Having lived in the Delta/Oak City area for 20+ years, I have run over my share of rabbits. It's not a pleasant experience. It makes a large "ka-thunk" sound under your car, not to mention the damage it does to the rabbit. I can only imagine what kind of dents or holes you might end up with if you run over an armadillo!
The Texas State Reptile is the Texas Horned Lizard. The mascot for Texas Christian University is the Horned Frog. A horned frog, a horned toad, and a horny toad are all names for the same thing, which, it turns out, isn't a frog or a toad at all, but a lizard. By now you are likely wondering why I am even talking about the horned frog, but read on, and you will find out.
It seems there is a famous horned frog that lies in state in a little glass coffin in the Eastland County Courthouse. He is famous for having been placed in the cornerstone of the building as it was being built. When the cornerstone was opened 31 years later, Old Rip (as he is affectionately called) was ALIVE! I won't try to recreate the complete dramatic story for you here, but I invite you to read it for yourselves by following this link: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/pet/rip.html. It's another amazing story from the heart of God's Country (or at least that's what all the people here think it is. . . shhhhhh, don't tell them there's lots of other nice places in the world. )
You know those pesky little black ants that sometimes show up at your picnics in Utah? Not very often, but sometimes? If they crawl into your food, they are annoying. If they crawl up your leg, they are slightly annoying, but if one or two stays on your leg for a few moments, no problem. You will simply brush them off when they are noticed. No harm, no foul.
Sometimes you get a trail of smaller ants that come into your house and get into the sugar, or something else sweet. We call those "sugar ants". They are pesky, and none of us wants to have to deal with them. But, you have to admit, they have a cute little name.
Occasionally, we run into the black ant's slightly nastier cousin, the "red ant". It's a bit peskier, because they will bite you, I've been told. But, tell me. . . have you ever actually been bitten by a red ant? I didn't think so. It's kind of a "live and let live" situation.
Let me tell you about the Texas cousin of the black ant. It is the "fire ant". You probably think the fire ant is red and easily recognized. No, it's not red. . . it's black. It looks just like the Utah version. If you're from Utah, visiting in Texas, and nobody saw fit to tell ya'all that you'd best avoid an ant pile at all costs, be prepared for a rude initiation. They live in ant piles that are all over the place. Yes, ALL OVER THE PLACE! I stepped in an ant pile last summer when I was visiting here. Someone that was with me (Dale) said, "You've got ants on your feet." I said "oh", and calmly stomped them off my feet. Didn't think anything more about the ant incident, until later that evening when red welts started to appear on my feet and ankles. They were ugly, but they didn't itch or anything, which I thought was odd. Dale said, "We'd better get something to put on those bites. They will start to bother you tomorrow.". THAT was an understatement. They started to bother me the next day and proceeded to keep on bothering me for about a week.
Okay, so, recently, I started having welts showing up mysteriously on my feet, toes, stomach. You see, it's mysterious because you never actually feel the little nasties biting you. No, you don't even feel them on you. I couldn't figure out where I was getting bitten from. Eventually I realized that each day I was waking up with a few more welts. No, I am not a rocket scientist, so it took me a day or two, but finally figured out that they might be in the bed. I tore the bed apart, washed everything. Found two nasty little ants crawling around on the comforter. Ha!! found you! I shook them off outside. Sprayed the comforter, the mattress, all around the bed, the pillows, anything else I could think of. Hoped the fumes and poison wouldn't kill me and Dale in the night. Now, no more bites. But, yes, the exterminator is scheduled for Tuesday!
See posted picture of bite on my toe. I would show you the others, but I didn't want to show you my belly. And no making fun of my toes!
Oil Change Time. Last time I had my oil changed it cost me $45. FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS! for a little Mazda. You know how they reel you in with their teaser rate of $39.95, which is not so great anyway. Then you get in there and it's "well Ma'am, with your car it needs a special kind of oil filter which costs more, so. . . .". Here's what's funny: Seems as though every car I've ever owned, be it a Saab, a Pontiac Grand Am, a Pontiac Montana van, a Chevrolet Astro Van, a Pontiac Bonneville, or my car right now, the cute little Mazda, has always been the odd car that requires a special "this or that" that's of course more expensive than the one they figured for in the ad! Hmmmmmmm . . . anybody else ever had this experience. I mean, where is that car that's only $39.95 for the oil change?
So, anyway, I have been needing another oil change but have been too cheap to pay the $45.00 at Kwik Kar or Kare (not sure which it is). Lo and behold, a guy comes to my door selling a wonderful deal. I pay $89.00 right now and I get a card from their business (Eagle Transmissions) that entitles me to 5 oil changes and a few other free wonderful deals. I hesitated and was "having to talk to my husband" when he throws in another card for 5 oil changes to use for our truck. All for the $89.00. I was even allowed to post-date the check. I know, you're thinking this is all too good to be true! I went ahead and did it, and today I got my first oil change. Guess what? It worked.
Now, I wasn't born yesterday, so I know an advertising gimmick when I see one. The fine art of "get you in the place and upsell you like crazy". Sure enough, he wanted to sell me the upgrade to synthetic oil for only $29.95 more. The synthetic oil lasts longer so you don't need to change your oil as often. I know this, but you see I currently hold in my hot little hand, oil changes for a year for two vehicles in my household for only $89.00. Soooo. . . . . no thank you. Next thing, of course is "you need your air filter changed. It would be $28.00 to do that. Would you like us to go ahead and do that for you?" "No thank you" I say, because I just drove past Pep Boys and changing the air filter is one of the easiest things to do, maybe even easier than pumping your own gas. So I went to Pep Boys and purchased my air filter for $17.00 which I still thought was a little bit high. Anyway, saved myself $10.00 on that one. When I went to check out, I wasn't too surprised to find that everything was included except "shop supplies". That was an additional $3.50. Well, they had me on that one, so I paid my $3.50 and happily drove away with fresh oil in my car and a smile on my face for not folding under the pressure of the dreaded "upsell".
So, here I am in Texas. I didn't just have a baby, in fact, my babies are 22 years old. So, I hope it's alright to have my own blog anyway. The most exciting thing that has happened recently is that I got married after being single for 5 years. My new husband's name is Dale and he is a really good man who treats me like gold. I am blessed to have found him. So, what do I have to blog about? Hmmm . . . lots of stuff.
