Small Annoyances

I am a little bit annoyed right now. Just stupid little things that get on my nerves! As you may know, I am having surgery to remove a cyst on my right foot. In order to have this surgery, my dr wanted me to get a pre-op clearance through my primary care physician. No biggie, I figured so I went and got the blood work and xrays done. My primary care dr's office called to say they needed to discuss my blook work results with me. I ask them if there is a problem and they won't say. I tell them I just need a clearance and that I really don't have the time to come in unless it's important. They still won't tell me anything. It takes so much out of my day to go the the dr's office. Usually I have to arrange a babysitter for my son and the kids I babysit and it cuts into my budgeted studying time. I also hate interruptions to my schedule because it sets my school timeline into my family time and i try to avoid that as much as possibe.

So now I get to go to the dr's office this afternoon to hear the blood work results. And it is probably all totally fine! It just irritates me how they can't or won't tell you anything over the phone and you worry for nothing!

My other annoyance is my Anatomy and Physiology class. I had a Lab quiz and a quiz on the first lesson. The lesson materials covered 3 chapters: Anatomy terminology, chemistry of life, and the cell. About 80% of the quiz covered these materials and the rest had info on genetics, characteristics of blood traits and other things. I reread the lesson and nowhere does it go into these areas! So irritating! We went over most of these things in my previous Biology class, but it has been two years since I took it! I should be pleased with the fact that I got a B on both quizes, but it just irritates me! I feel like if they are going to quiz you and tell you which areas will be covered, they should stick to those areas. Anyway, I am just annoyed today and hopefully posting this nice long rant will get it out of my system so I can go about the rest of my day and be happy! Here's to a happy day for you, too!

Cause I'm A Blond...yeah, yeah, yeah!

Yes I am a blond, usually proud of it, but I have been having a lot of blond moments lately! This last one is just...duh! Seriously a "Duh!" moment! I filled out my book voucher form for Rio Salado (this will allow me to get books and they will take the cost of the books out of my financial aid when it comes in). The only problem is I put Bryan's social security number instead of mine. Duh! Of course that's not gonna work! lol I use his a lot when I am paying bills or whatever and he is usually the primary social on most of our accounts, etc. So I rarely use mine, but still, Duh!!

Oh well, it won't be a hard fix. I just have to go down and fill out a new form and show them my ID and pick up my books. What really is lame is my Biology books are about $250 and I have to find out if the study guides are worth another $50. My English book is only about $40 and then a novel I have to buy for another $20. So there goes over $300+ already. The classes themselves only cost $500 together! They really gouge us on books. Lame! But, I do love to learn. Remind me I said that in about a month when I am loaded down with homework! lol

Have a great day, everyone!

Surgery and School Frustrations!

I am so frustrated right now I could scream!! I am trying to get books for my classes and I am about to burst a vessel in my head! Bryan had to really tell me to calm down and thank goodness he did! He is probably about the only person that can get me to actually calm down! I am registered for Rio Salado and am taking 2 classes this fall. ENG 102 (the essay writing one :/) and BIO 201 (Anatomy and Physiology). I should be getting financial aid to cover the cost of school and books. The financial aid will not be awarded and dispersed until mid september and in order to help those of us who don't have the money up front to pay for the books, they issue book vouchers. These will allow me to get my books and take the money out of my financial aid award. Well, in order to get a voucher, you have to jump through 500 hoops and there is no one helpful at the school. I call and they say do it on the website and I just feel like I am getting the runaround. I try the website and I cannot log in to save my life. Even Bryan could not get it to work. By this point I have steam coming out of my ears I am so mad. Finally, I get logged in and get the form half filled out and their website gets overloaded and I get kicked off. Screw it! I will deal with it tomorrow after Alex's party. School starts next week and I really need to get those books! ARRGGHH!! Anyway, I will deal with school later because nothing I do with it seems to be working.

Now on to surgery.....My doctor informed me that the cyst I have on my foot will not get better on it's own and in fact is just getting worse. It keeps growing and has already about tripled in size in area. It will get really big until one of my kids jumps on my foot or a shoe pushes on it and pops it. It will then drain and start the process again. Gross! Since it is bigger in area, it isn't quite as high as it used to be, but that lump still looks big and gross to me. It is attached to a tendon and that sometimes causes pain and the stupid thing just has to go. I can't wear running shoes or any shoe that presses on the top of my foot because it just hurts but mostly the doctor wants the cyst as full as possible for surgery. It increases the chances of getting it all out. So I have my surgery scheduled for September 3. My doctor says I can expect to have it immobilized for 3 weeks. 3 WEEKS!!! I am going to take about a week and a half off of babysitting to recover and hopefully I can get around enough after that. I can't afford to be off any more than this. Bryan, thankfully, has paid time off so he will be with me on the Thursday the 3rd and the 4th. Then I am on my own with Alex for the next few days. It's my driving foot, so I am a little worried about getting around, but hopefully I will get by. I have to follow doc's orders or the pesky cyst can regrow and I do not want that weird thing back!

Anyways, that is what is happening here. I am going to go chill out for a while or I may just bite off one of my kids heads!! Lol

Happy Birthday, Alex!!

Happy Birthday, Alex!!

Today is Alex's 4th Birthday! He was an unexpected addition to our family but we wouldn't have it any other way! He is a bundle of fun, energy, silliness and sweetness. We love you, Alex!!

Alex had to go back to the hospital and go under the lights when he was a week old.1st birthday
2nd birthday

3rd birthday
His first "homework" from preschool. He was so excited!He is so excited to take birthday treats to his school today to share with his friends.

I hope you have a great day, little man!

"Oh How Lovely Was The Morning"

The sweet sound of stringed instruments playing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" filled my living room this morning and I couldn't help but think how lovely this morning is. Jonathan has put together another musical number for church in September and they held their first practice this morning. He is playing 2nd violin with a solo, his Grandma Hooper is playing 1st violin, Grandpa Hooper is playing the cello, his dad, Bryan, is playing the bass and Sis Hansen is accompanying them on the piano. It was so beautiful and I am so grateful for the gift of music that has been passed down from Grandma's and Grandpa's to Bryan to my children. I hope that one day my younger children can play along also. There is no better way to bring the Spirit into our home than through beautiful music!

Grandma and Jonathan

Grandpa

Bryan

And this was a sweet moment between Grandpa and Jenna, I had to post it!

Have a wonderful day!!

Toy Drive

Jonathan is doing a toy drive for his Eagle project and I just wanted to express my appreciation for all the friends and family that are helping out. We have had family offer to help during the toy drive and also donate toys and water bottles for the volunteers. We have had friends ask what they can do and I am so pleased at everyone's generosity. It is humbling to see how many people want to support Jonathan in getting his Eagle. I am so proud of him, because he is doing all the work. Bryan guides him and he comes to me when he needs support and we are both happy to help him, but almost all of the work has been done himself.

I am also pleased at the generosity of our local businesses that have donated things too. Staples donated 500 copies for fliers to hand out at the toy drive. Paradise Bakery donated 3 large bags of cookies, at least 150 cookies and Krispy Kreme donated 8 dozen donuts. During this economy, I feel grateful for their support!

Anyways, I hope tomorrow is a success for Jonathan, and I am sure it will be mostly because he has a kind, loving and supportive network of family and friends. Thank you everyone, for showing my son that people will step up and be there for him. It means a lot to me!

When do I breathe?

I feel like I am so busy that I haven't even had time to breathe! This past week especially. I have barely looked at blogs and facebook. Life is so crazy and this is summer! I have no idea how I am gonna keep up this fall and later in the spring when I will have all the kids playing baseball again. Oh well!

I have spent the last week running a "camp" for my mom's two foster girls that she has had for years. They are older girls, ages 22 and 21. They have special needs, which is why they are still in the foster care system. Due to these needs, they have been kicked out of every camp they have ever attended, so my mom came up with the idea of me running the camp. It went better than I thought, but it was really hard on my family. They felt like their whole lives were invaded, and they were. The girls were difficult and ornery at times and sweet and grateful at others. Mostly, they are really hard to be around for extended periods of time. Some of the activities we did were: makeover day (getting them hair cuts and TRYING to teach them that 21 year olds don't wear blue eyeshadow and glitter all over their faces!!) They act like they are about 9 or 10 years old, so that is a really hard concept for them to grasp and makes taking them out in public potentially embarrassing!! Then we had some cooking classes and basic instructions there. We had movie day and took them to see the newest Harry Potter movie. They laughed and made all sorts of noises at weird times so I am glad the theater was crowded and they had to sit a row behind us! (I know I am a little bit of a jerk there, but I can't help it!!) We took them to Saguaro Lake on the boat and let them do a lot of tubing. Which they loved and I so wished that I had a camera to take pics of how funny they looked bouncing up and down on that tube! And finally, of Friday we took them camping overnight. They had never been and really did enjoy the experience.

It was a really busy, hard and frustrating week, but worth it. I am so glad it is over! Anyway, now I need to de-stress and get my house/life back in order. It's also time to get the kids ready for school. All 5 of my kids should be in school this year. Alex is enrolled in a preschool program, although I had a small snag in the registration for it, hopefully it will work out. He will go 4 afternoons a week for 2 hours. It will be weird having my kids all gone for a part of the day. It's almost too bad I have to babysit, cause I will still have kids in my home. Unfortunately, I still need the income. Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do.

Anyway, that is why I haven't returned emails, calls, posts, rsvp's and such. I do feel bad about that and will hopefully be back on top of things again!