Back to Craziness

Well, the first week of school is now over. I have 26 students. They seem to be great kids, but many academic challenges are ahead. It looks like, at least a third of the class is below grade level. It is amazing how each year is a brand new experience and is almost totally starting over again.

I like school so much better when we are in the full routine of our schedule. The day always passes by more quickly and smoothly. More of the routine will be implemented this week.

Our biggest set back is the intense heat. Our rooms are so HOT. It is difficult for teachers and students alike to concentrate.

Looking at test scores and the progress of our last year's students has been bittersweet. Sandra and I worked extremely hard and looking at their scores, it does seem to have made a difference. I want so much to share that with Sandra and she isn't in a position to do so.

As I go forward with lesson plans, it brings back so many memories of us working together and I miss her terribly. I am so excited to hear of her daily progress, though. She has a long road in front of her, but it is such a joy to hear of her improvements. I would love to see Doug's smiling face again, as well as the girls having waited so long for this awakening! My prayers include a speedy recovery for her each and every day.

Back to school NIght with parents is Monday night so I have tried to prepare this week end! I hope that I will be ready! There are so many things to tell them about. Which are the most important when the time flies? The craziness begins!

Love this dream coming true

So excited to here of Sandra's "waking up." I laugh, I cry. My whole outlook has brightened and I am so thankful for divine intervention!

Messages from Sandra's girls:

Tiffany Swasey Brown Emotionaly drained still or maybe again. So glad it is for a different reason. Mom is pretty responsive off and on. She will nod yes or no and mouth things to us if we ask. Facial expressions tell alot too. She could mouth all the grandkids names....

Stephanie Swasey Mecham Our wonderful news: Mom is responding to us by nodding yes and no, mouthing words, and different facial expressions. Even things that may seem small to others are HUGE to our family!!! We definately believe in miracles!

Stephanie sent me this message:

Yesterday was wonderful!! She was so responsive to everything that I said to her and was trying so hard to answer! When I first started talking to her and saw her try to smile, it was the best feeling!!! I was practically screaming with joy and just kept talking to her and she continued to respond by nodding or blinking or trying to smile. It was WONDERFUL! She is there and trying so hard! No doubt!! Still can't believe it after everything has been so slow and scary for the last while. I am happier than words can say!!! Thanks for your support and kindness. We are definitely hoping for more good days!

June 15th was when this ordeal started. It has been a long, difficult summer.

Ordinary Miracles

I am so thankful for ordinary miracles and so much more!

Video from YouTube

My Heart is Full

I just heard some news that I hope, hope, hope is true.

I heard that Sandra was "awake" for part of the day, that she mouthed some words to the family and that she kissed Doug goodnight!

Oh, may this be the beginning of recovery!

Dare I really believe?

Text from Janalee that Sandra is following directions a little!!!!

Oh, my - our miracle is coming true! I am so anxious for more news!

Video from YouTube

Never giving up hope

"Back to School" activities have made everything harder again - many emotional moments.

I won't stop believing and hoping. There is purpose in all things and we will figure it all out! Someone does watch over us and He knows the whole picture rather than the tiny piece at a time that we see! We just need to hold on and have patience and faith!

video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyAfqxT7Ulo

2nd week of Primary

Today was my second week in Primary. I again only had one student, the same as last week. This week went better than last week, but it is still a struggle to make sure that I have enough to do. He has a very difficult time sitting and listening and following directions so I must be creative enough with activities related to the lesson so he does not shut down and tune all the way out.

Trip to Provo

Cassy and I did go to Provo on Friday. When we arrived in town, we went to Seagull Book Store and then to Shopko. When we finished there, it was time to go to Sizzler to meet Cris and her family.

Cris, Katy and Rich

Cassy was so excited to be seeing Cris and her daughter Katy! We had an extra bonus as her husband Rich came, too! It was so much fun spending the next 2 hours with them at the restaurant! We love Rich and Katy. They are so much fun.

We went to visit Sandra next. I wasn't sure where to find her because all we knew was that the place was across from the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Not knowing the name of theplace, we passed it by. We called and were given instructions, turned around and went back the block to find it. It is the Provo Rehabilitation Center. Knowing that makes it easy to find. Sandra looks good. She had puffiness or rashes, etc. Her skin was soooo soft! She was in themiddle of therapy when we arrived. The therapist, Forrest, was moving her legs. Shortly after we arrived Sandra Swasey and Amber arrived. Doug and Stephanie were there. Britlee is a beautiful baby girl! I don't know what will happen with Sandra, but I wish we could help make the waiting time better for Doug.

We went to JC Penney so that Cassy could get some new clothes for school. She found several items that she liked: 2 pair of shoes, 4 pants and a couple of tops. YEA!

Here are a few of the choices made:

Really cute pocket!

We stopped in Heber at Walkers, gassed the car up and ate at Wendy's and then came home!

Depressed?

I had my first bone density scan this past week. I was a little worried of what would be found since my Vitamin D levels were sooooo low, but the technician told me that things looked good and that I am at low risk for fractures! That was good news.

I am plugging away at getting the classroom back together and then decorated and ready for the year. All boxes are unpacked, but a do have a mess of papers that need to be sorted and filed. I got tired of doing the sorting so I started doing the getting ready for the year stuff. Bulletin Boards are complete and I cleaned the desks and started passing out books. Hopefully, I can get it done in one more day. We officially begin Tuesday, but several of the days are taken up in inservices.

Thursday night I had an interesting phone message from my medical advisor. She said that she understood that I needed some help with some medicine and that she would be happy to do that. She also said that she had called in a prescription for me and that I could go pick it up... BUT she needed to talk with me and that she would be in the Roosevelt office on Friday. I was very confused with this message because I didn't know what this could be about. I knew she was suppose to receive a copy of my bone density test results, but they had told me they were good so I didn't think I would need medicine for that.

Cassy and I were going to Provo the next day so I knew it would be hard to contact her and pick up a new med. I didn't know if this was something that NEEDED to be started right away. Since this was about 8pm I wasn't sure what to do. I saw that the receptionist was still at the clinic so I gave her a call hoping she would know if this was something that could wait or not.

I identified myself and then told her I was leaving town and if she knew if this was something critical. She told me it was in regards to my phone request. Silence on my part because I had made no phone request. The receptionist then stated, "You didn't call in for help with depression?" I laughed and stated, "No. Did I seem that bad when I was in last week?" It was mistaken identity. She wasso sure that it was me on the phone asking for help. They knew I had such a stressful summer and that school starting was stressful so I sort of fit the bill, but it wasn't me. She had erased the phone message so they won't know who the person really was until they call again!

We laughed and I said that maybe I did need something but that it hadn't been me who had called. The receptionist told me she would cancel the prescription and let the medical advisor know what had happened so she wouldn't be waiting for me to contact her! I have laughed and laughed about this. It has become a joke among my friends!

It's official (revised)

(Read this with a frustration tone NOT an angry tone! I'm not angry-just frustrated and wish that I had answers and better understanding.)

It's official! I HATE the unknowingness of comas. I hate the fact that insurance companies can make such big decisions. I hate that they can force you to move facilities.... that they can decide they have paid enough. I hate that they aren't really there to be by your side through whatever comes your way.

I hate not understanding what is going on. I hate knowing the emptiness the family has to be feeling as they await better news and signs of waking each and every day. I never knew 8 weeks could be so long. I hate not being able to help, not being able to make a difference. I hate not knowing what the long term outcome will be.

I hate that my friend can't let us know that she is there, that she is aware of her surroundings. I hate the lack of communication.

I miss my friend. I miss hearing how she is doing, feeling, and hearing about her going through the ups and downs of life. I miss preparing for the year of school together, the sharing of ideas and materials. I miss the laughter and even the frustrations. I miss sharing happenings of my own life with her. I miss getting her advice. I miss her!

I hate this coma and I wish Sandra could be Sandra again!

Please come back to us. I love you, my friend!

Busy days are here again!

Between trying to finish taking care of medical tests and trying to put my room back together, I feel overwhelmed!

I sure am glad that I hit my medical deductible. I received a statement of cost of my recent blood work. It was over $400! Because I am over the deductible, the whole thing was paid for. Before hitting the deductible, I had to pay the WHOLE thing on the last blood work! Mammogram is over. Don't know what it will cost. This was a painful experience this time. I haven't had it hurt like it did this time, so I'm glad that it doesn't roll around any more often than it does. Bone density test is coming up on Tuesday. This one is a first for me. Haven't had one of these before. Again, I don't have a clue on what these tests will run me.

The prescriptions haven't been so bad lately either BUT the financial portion of it all starts over again September 1st!

I should have taken a before, during and after shot of my room at school. Unpacking and putting away is so much more unpleasant than the original packing in the first place. Boxes, boxes, boxes .... although I had emptied almost all of them now.

Of course, I can't just put things away - NOW I have to clean, organize and rearrange all the other shelves to find a place for everything. WHAT A MESS! I would love to have magical powers for a day to somehow have it magically rearrange itself. I need to get everything out of the middle of the floor so that we can bring in the student desks and chairs. The hallway where they are still needs to be shampooed!

I haven't even started the yearly preparations yet. Will I be really be ready in a week?

First day in Primary

Wow. Today was my first day in Primary. I only had one young man but what an experience that was!!!! I know now why I don't teach Kindergarten any more. I don't have the energy to handle 25 + students that are five and six years old! What a rambunctious young man I have as a student.

At the beginning of today's lesson I was to whisper everything. The thing that was suppose to happen was that the students would follow suite. Not this young man. He looked at me shortly after I began talking in whispers and said, "We don't talk like that in this room. We TALK LIKE THIS!' The last part was in a very loud voice. I kept whispering more until it was obvious that he would never follow suite. A rough beginning to my lesson on "Let Your Light So Shine - Being a Good Example."

I will need to be on my toes for sure! I need to find many activities and ideas to keep their attention. It will be a challenge!

Pursued

I also just finished listening to "Pursued" by Lynn Gardner. I really enjoyed listening to this book and would recommend it.

Synopsis: In an attempt to discover the truth about what really happened to her two brothers who were declared dead at birth, newspaper editor Maggie McKenzie has signed on for more of an adventure than she bargained for. What begins as a much-anticipated fact-finding trip to England quickly turns into a dangerous escapade as Maggie is forced to run for her life after she inadvertently gains possession of an innocent-looking flash drive. The tiny device contains details of a terrorist plot to destroy major London landmarks. When she realizes that someone she knows is involved with the malevolent plot, it becomes time to make her solo mission a family affair-even though it seems that most of the family members she has met in England would like to see her gone. Hold on tight with sleuth Maggie McKenzie in a pulse-pounding thrill ride through the United Kingdom as she discovers that when it comes to long-lost relatives, what you see isn't always what you get.

Finished the series

I finished "Above and Beyond" and "Code of Honor" by Betsy Brannnon Green, which completes that series. I did enjoy these books.

Above and Beyond synopsis: Once they had Caroline safely back, Savannah assumed that she and Dane would pick up where they'd left off years before. But Dane sends her and Caroline to Ft. Belvoir with General Steele and refuses to even answer her phone calls. Then Mario Ferrante's daughter, Rosemary, comes to Savannah for help. Savannah feels sorry for the girl and sees her request as an opportunity to involve Dane in her life again. Dane does agree to help - with near

disastrous results.

Code of Honor synopsis: Savannah barely escapes a kidnapping attempt from Mario Ferrante by throwing herself from a moving vehicle. But her efforts (and injuries) are in vain since he manages to kidnaps her from the hospital. In a misguided effort to free her, Dane surrenders himself to Ferrante. So when Savannah escapes - she finds Dane is now under Ferrante's control. She musters the team and helps Dane escape only to learn that he's keeping a new secret from her - one that threatens both their present and their future.

Cassy Jo

Meg took pictures of Cassy! It is her Senior year. I can hardly believe it. Isn't she beautiful?

Photo collage created with Smilebox

Oh my - aging means falling apart?

Every year I have to have annual blood work done in order to have my prescriptions refilled. I needed to get that completed before school started so I went in to make an appointment with Lori Team a couple of weeks ago. She was going to be on vacation the following week, so gave me the order for the blood work to be done and gave me an appointment to see her yesterday.

I went over to the clinic Tuesday morning, only to found the waiting room full. I wasn't even called back to the room for an hour after my appointment and even after being in the room waited over 40 minutes. I hadn't even taken a book or anything because that is uncommon over here at the clinic.

I was overcome with the results of the labs. I have known that my glucose levels were running high and knew that it was inevitable that diabetes medicine would be coming my way. This is the year that hit. Unfortunately, that wasn't a shock to me.

My thyroid results were out of whack... that was a surprise. They have remained fairly stable for years. My dosage is being changed for that.

But the biggest surprise of all was my vitamin D levels. They were EXTREMELY low... like nursing home patient low. The risks of that aren't so great. Low levels increase the chance of osteoporosis, and breast and colon cancer. GREAT! I was prescribed a mega dose of Vitamin D to be taken once a week for about 4 months and then the blood will be checked again to see where I am at. I will now have a bone density scan next week because with levels that low, Lori said that it has to be affecting my bones.

It was a very depressing find. I said to Lori, "Oh my. I am falling apart!" She replied back that the tests also indicated some good news. My cholesterol levels look great, my blood pressure was excellent and that those are both very good things. I came out of the office with a STACK of prescription papers. It is scary.

Feelings of the forthcoming year

I am glad to see that the carpet guys are again at the school. Each day they are there gets me closer to being able to get back into my room and get it put back together. I wish I had realized that they weren't going to come until the end of the summer. I hurriedly packed up everything to get out quickly in June. I wish I had sorted and cleaned more then rather than hurried the process.

I would like to have time to clean and sort before the students come but I have run out of time. It is hard to get in the right attitude to begin. Changes always leave me with a sense of wonder and worry. The past two years of working with Sandra was wonderful. I think that we worked very well together. We were truly a "team." I will miss that. It makes the change a little awkward.

I am excited about working with Paula though. We have attended several workshops together and it will be fun. She is a very creative person. ( I am so jealous that she is able to get into her room and start preparing for the new year! :-) I am very anxious to do that!)

Sustained

I was sustained and set apart to be a Primary teacher today. I turned in my keys to the church and library after the block. I will have the 4-5 year olds. It is the same class that Mandy has had. Small class but challenging!

I was set apart by Bishop Val Oman. He gave me a nice blessing. He told me that Heavenly Father is mindful of me. He blessed with health and strength to be able to accomplish all the things that I need to in my busy schedule of life. He blessed me to find happiness as I learn to love and teach the children. He blessed me with their respect. He blessed me to develop a closeness with the other Primary workers and presidency. Those are the main thoughts that stick out in my mind.

I have such mixed feelings as I go into this calling. I have loved Primary in the past. I loved working with the special little children. Teaching them of the Savior and his love for them is priceless. It has been so long since I have worked in Primary though. What if I don't feel the same way? What if I don't have the patience that I need?

I have to admit I had wanted some kind of a change. I sometimes felt that I was forgotten in the library, especially as changes kept happening all around. I felt that nobody wanted me.... feelings of insecurity abound. The very day that the Bishop came to ask me about this, I had thought that no-one wants me to be a part of their team. I guess I was having a private mini-pity party. What could I say when the Bishop asks me about a new calling after that?

After church today the president told me that she hadn't asked for me. The Bishop had called me before he even spoke with her. I'm not sure what she wanted me to get out of that when she shared that with me. I wasn't sure what to think.

I am nervous but I think excited to go forward with this new assignment.