Good & Bad News

Good: We're back in Provo! Hank and I had an amazing Christmas vacation, which I will write about later...

Good: George is back in our presence. We missed him like crazy but were super lucky that he had a loving family to stay with over the holiday season (most of the time...I will not discuss my poor decision to allow him to stay with 15 other dogs under the supervision of one old woman, because that would be under "bad" news.) Hank can now stop asking, "When are we going to see George??"

Good: I just checked my grades. This was inspired by Paul Dean's gmail status as "best grades ever." I got competitive and wanted to know if I received my best grades ever. Not sure why I thought this could ever be possible, seeing as how this was the semester from hell. The result? Almost my best grades ever. A special thank you is in order to my team members and professors for being so understanding.

Bad: I turned the heat off before leaving town 2 weeks ago. At the top of my mind was the opportunity to save on utilities! Not sure why I temporarily forgot that Utah is FREEZING, which often leads to the freezing of items inside the house. Luckily, our pipes are fine, all except for the refrigerator. Unfortunately, all liquid items such as detergent, olive oil, etc. are completely frozen. Even the food inside the fridge is frozen. Not my smartest move.

The end.

The Big Bang.

No, not the theory. Me. This morning as I carried Georgie down the stairs half-asleep, I wasn't watching where I stepped. His fluffy body was in the way and I didn't have contacts in anyways. I slipped on the edge of the stair and flew out from under myself, landing flat on the middle of my back. Sweet George went flying and I wailed in pain. My apologies to any neighbors that were woken up as a result of the loud bang. How embarrassing.

While this may eliminate the possibility of a spa massage on the cruise, I sincerely hope it does not hinder my ability to relax on the beach, snorkel, or climb ancient ruins. That would be pretty lame.

The Hospital Bill is in....

Total cost to reconstruct a middle finger: $1,058.20.

Christmas George

Christmas George can hardly contain himself with so many new elements in his environment. A Christmas tree. Presents. Doo-dads on every present (thank you, Barbie). Ornaments that act like balls. Ribbons. Christmas tree stems to chew. Snow to pee on. Snow to play in. Candy cane collar. Christmas commercials with barking dogs. Christmas bells (unfortunately the tool we used to potty train him).


This puppy is in heaven.

We are going to miss him so much over the Christmas break. He will be staying with the woman we purchased him from for a few weeks. I know he'll be in great hands, but I cannot fathom being without him for so long! It breaks my heart knowing we won't celebrate his first Christmas together.

On a similar note, we will be spending Christmas here:

Belize, Honduras, and other places I need to research. This upcoming vacation has definitely served as a much needed light at the end of the tunnel. Now all I need to do is recover from the bloody swine flu, somehow pass my classes this semester, and drop Georgie off in SlC.

Christmas cruise, here we come!

Could the Bad Luck Spell be Over?!

With massive amounts of snow on the ground this morning, Hank made me take his car to work. I didn't object since my sweet car can't make it out of the parking stall without getting stuck. I love that my car refuses to be useful for an entire season in Utah and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! Anyway, as I pulled into the work parking lot today I made a few quick decisions that were actually good ones!

I went straight past the first few spots that are actually "reserved" for guests of the building, mostly because this is where I backed into another car a few weeks ago. Additionally, I could foresee a possible accident based on the positioning of the spots...I'm still not completely clear whether I'm in reverse or in 1st gear. It helps if there is a bit of an incline so I don't go shooting forward or backward, I can feel the roll first! So tricky.

Next, I came to a fork in the parking lot. Do I go right, or left? If I go left, I'm closer to the building and its freezing outside. I went right. Why? I don't know. It made no rational sense. I had open flats on and snow would surely find its way in, not wearing a coat and kind of far to walk, no particular reason to compensate for my inability to drive Hank's car on the right side. I did it anyway. I did get snow in my shoes and I did freeze my butt off. But it wasn't all for nothing.

At lunch time, we pulled out onto University towards Magelby's Fresh and saw a car driving south had slid on ice and fallen down into our parking lot, right onto the tops of cars! My heart goes out to the people who were involved in this accident; I know it could have been me! I am so grateful I listened to my irrational nudges this morning and that we will not be paying for another "accident" for the next few years.

Way to go, me! I sincerely hope this is a sign that our bad luck spell is on its way out! Cross your fingers.

Amazing Friends

During a routine g-chat this week with Taylor, she mentioned a few times how "cool" it is that I have friends. (We were discussing all the kind things people have done for me the last week.) I thought she was joking, but I quickly realized she was serious.

The fact is... I'm surprised too. I have amazing friends and I have done nothing to deserve them! One blog post and an absence on a school day led to an outpouring of service! Some people brought over dinner. Others dropped by with get-well remedies: soup, movies, orange juice...you name it! Many sent emails or called to see how they could help. MPA teams rearranged assignments, taking on much more work to give me time to recover. Over the last week, I have been amazed by the kindness of so many people.

Words can't express how grateful I am to everyone for their service in a very hectic time! You know who you are.....thank you.

The Hog Flu

Why not? This is perfect timing. Doctor figures I picked up this beauty in the ER on Saturday during Hank's visit.

I been taken advantage of by a dirty hog.