ONE MORE TIME

I'll try to write a little more now that I've gotten the pictures in. They were driving me nuts. I couldn't imagine what was going wrong with them. Every time I tried to get them in something would happen and they just wouldn't go, so I just gave up and quit.

In addition to the four of them graduating there was Chalice's boyfriend, Blake Whitney also graduated from Taylorsville and Chalice graduated from 4 years of Seminary in which she was chosen to give a talk. He gave Chalice a promise ring for graduation, we've had some very interesting conversations about "what that means" between her sisters and myself. To me it means that you promise to go steady for a while and if things work out well between yourself and the person that gave you the ring, you will receive an engagment ring at some point.

Also of importance here is the fact I was given the red sash from the U graduates which means a great deal to me. Especially when I wasn't even able to go to any of the Convocation Ceremonies. I hope to put it in a frame with pictures and make a nice wall hanging with it.

Now, we have to get them all employed. Chalice is unhappy with the amount of money she earns and JorJa hasn't put her Resume in any place yet because she promised to work up at the U until the end of June. Jacob is doing ok though and KayCee just got a position with Jason's Deli that she will start in about a week. For now, she is working up at the U doing some project which she can fisnish up in that week until she starts her new position.

I have to go get ready to go to dinner, so bye for now.

I'll try one more time?!?!?!

THE DAY AFTER THE NEXT DAY

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES TO GO WITH THE WRITINGS FROM A DAY OR TWO AGO.

The Day After the

OUT OF IT AGAIN!?!?!?

I keep intending to do better on my blogs, but I never do. Better I mean. Well I had better start with me. In the last month, I haven't had any more breaks in my vertebrae, thank goodness, but I did get 2 broken ribs and 2 cracked ribs all at the same time. Now if you want to wish for some pain, I can suggest some things that you can do to attain that wish. The Doctors don't do anything for you except give you some pain pills to put up with the pain from broken ribs and of course constant ex-rays. It is so darn hard to get clothes off and on during that time without screaming and they want to know if you are catching pneumonia each week. I won't tell you how I got the breaks but it has to do with the Heimlich maneuver and I won't tell you who did it on me except to say that if you are around our son (number 2) and you swallow some thing and it doesn't go all the way down, be extemeley careful about asking his help or making the decision to start digging your own grave. He feels so badly about it all, that I don't dare use his name. I keep telling him not to feel so bad because the alternative is not something that I desired.

Charlie and Sandy has had 4 graduations this year, JorJa graduated with a Masters in Civil Engineering, Jacob graduated with a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering, KayCee graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Communication Techonology all from the University of Utah and Chalice graduated from Taylorsville High School. By the way she will be going to the U of U next year but I don't have any idea what she will be majoring in, I don't think she knows yet.

I will write more tomorrow or the next day, promise?!?!?

ALL-READY APRIL

My goodness the time really flies when you are having fun, doesn't it? I haven't done much in this last month except add another year to my already advanced age. This happened on April 3rd and I once again invited my whole family to a 15 course (or more) dinner. It was held at the Golden China Restaurant on about 5500 South Redwood Road. About 25 people came and we had a nice dinner and a good time. It was at 3:30 in the afternoon. So you see we have changed a lot of what we did before.

Also, I want to tell you how much trouble the "Boy Scouts of America" are in. We had a visit with our Bishop and one of his counselors the other night and when Brother Sorenson asked what I was doing I answered just some genealogy. Pretty soon, he said "How would you like to be the genealogy merit badge counselor?" I said "Well I would consider it if I didn't have to go out anywhere like to meetings or to the genealogy library or anywhere like that." Kent said that if a trip to the library was required' he could take them." so I agreed. Now, if you don't think the Scouts are in trouble just let me pose this question to you, when they start having an 80 year old woman who can't breathe, is on oxygen 24/7, and has all these back problems that I have had the last several months be a merit badge counselor what do you think?

Tales From The Past Week

I finally got my oxygen squared away. I think Kent trying to eat that poor delivery guy was the thing that did the trick. We finally got him to realize that a person on oxygen without any oxygen can get pretty angry, guess what the next step is? I just about found this out last night when we went up to the Spagetti Factory at Trolley Square last night. Brooke had phoned and they were having a dinner for Aspen, our 5 year old granddaughter, well neither one of us had been to Trolley Square for years so we didn't even know where the Spagetti Factory is located. We parked in the lower parking lot and the elevator was out of service so I had to walk up one set of stairs and when I realized that I would have to walk up another set to get there I just couldn't do it. Brooke and Matt came in just about that time so she said she would go and try to round up a wheel chair which she did and I appreciated her more at that time than anyone could know. We had a nice dinner and everything went well.


I got a permanent on Thursday of this week which I was badly in need of so sitting there for 2 hours was a little tiring. On Wednesday I had two cleaning ladies come in and clean my house which I was so thankful for. I will have them come in once a month and do the same things, keeping my house liveable but not having to do it myself or depend on Kent to do it. It is too hard for both of us to clean in addition to doing laundry and dishes and preparing something to eat every day. I don't call it cooking because it really isn't cooking, it is just opening packages or cans or adding hot water to something. The microwave and I have become very good friends lately. We are gooing over to Charlie and Sandys for Corned Beef and Cabbage in a litttle while so guess I better go get ready.

THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY

Another Month gone by. My how the months are flying around so darn fast. It seems like I just get one blog written and a whole month goes by. Well this is just a way to get me out of here before I will want to go. I would love to hang around forever but it is not to be. Lets get out of the "Pity Party" mood and on to something more interesting. I really seem to be doing much better than I have for the last several months at least I haven't broken any more vertabrae in the last 2 months so that is something to be thankful for.

We went to St. George last weekend for Kyle's farewell, and it was almost scary. We had called our Lincare provider to have a concentrator and 4 tanks available at the Motel we would be staying in and when we arrived down there the concentrator was there but no tanks. so I would be fine as long as I was at the Motel but going anywhere else was out of the question. Kent called the number there and even went over to the place Lincare was located and found no one there, but he did find a National number on the door so he came back and called that and to make a long story short we got some tanks from the guy that was in church teaching a class. It was a good thing too because we had some car problems on the way home just before we got to Nephi and we were stuck there for about an hour,when we got home we took our car into our mechanic and $128.00 later found it wasn't too serious. It was a good thing Charlie and Sandy were with us to help.

Kent just came home from church and told me we have a new Relief Society Presidency. Surprise, surprise, I didn't see that coming.

This isn't much but I hope to have more later.

This one really tugged at my heart strings

1. Started your own blog No, I had to have a lot of help
2. Slept under the stars Not since I was very young
3. Played in a band No musical talent at all
4. Visited Hawaii! Yes twice
5. Watched a meteor shower Yes, it was breathtaking
6. Given more than you can afford to charity Afraid so
7. Been to Disneyland Yes, wouldn't go again, too tiring
8. Climbed a mountain Tried, I'm just not an outdoors person
9. Held a praying mantis Yes, I also watched one eat the other one in a jar. Ugg
10. Sang a solo Get to have some musical talent in my next life
11. Bungee jumped Good heavens NO
12. Visited Paris No, but I was close
13. Watched a lightening storm at sea No
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch Yes
15. Adopted a child. No, I do have 1 adopted grandson and 3 adopted granddaughters though
16. Had food poisoning Thank Goodness NO
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty Made it half way up and they closed it on me
18. Grown your own vegetables Yes, and I may have to start again
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France No
20. Slept on an overnight train Yes
21. Had a pillow fight Yes
22. Hitch hiked Yes, many years ago when it was safe to do so
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill Had to when you have kids
24. Built a snow fort Yes very chilly
25. Held a lamb Let me tell yu about Eppy
26. Gone skinny dipping Not quite SKINNY, we did have our under wear on
27. Run a marathon Not even that much of an outdoorsman
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice Like France. Close but not close enough
29. Seen a total eclipse Yes
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset Many, they are beautiful
31. Hit a home run Not even close
32. Been on a cruise yes , A short one
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person yes it was amazing
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors Went to Denmark and 12 other countries
35. Seen an Amish community Had lunch at an Amish Community Restaurant in Penn.
36. Taught yourself a new language Tried but didn't do too good
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied Not TRULY
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person No
39. Gone rock climbing Sort of
40. Seen Michelangelo's David No
41. Sung Karaoke Only at home
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt Yes
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant I wish I had
44. Visited Africa NO Way, Love to go though
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight Not even a little bit
46. Been transported in an ambulance Yes when I broke my hip
47. Had your portrait painted Nope
48. Gone deep sea fishing Nope again
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person Again No
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris Again close
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling Afraid of the water, can't even swim
52. Kissed in the rain Not this either
53. Played in the mud Yes lots of it, mud pies are fun
54. Gone to a drive-in theater Lots of times
55. Been in a movie/commercial no, I had never been in a parade until 2 years ago
56. Visited the Great Wall of China Close, We were going to stop in china on our way home from Malaysia, couldn't because of back injury
57. Started a business Not really
58. Taken a martial arts class Nope
59. Visited Russia I would have loved to visit Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen Nope
61. Sold girl scout cookies I bought a lot, does that count
62. Gone whale watching Only on TV or the Internet
63. Got flowers for no reason Yes
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma Yes but not much
65. Gone sky diving No way Hosea
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp Nope
67. Bounced a check Yep Many years ago
68. Flown in a helicopter Yes, it was neat
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy Not that I can remember
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial Never been to D.C.
71. Pieced a quilt Yep Fun But I'm too old now
72. Eaten Caviar Nope
73. Stood in Times Square I have but not in the group type of standing
74. Toured the Everglades Nope
75. Been fired from a job Yep
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London Nope
77. Broken a bone Oh Yes
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle Yep, I had a boyfriend once that had one.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person Both sides
80. Published a book Just Family Histories
81. Visited the Vatican Nope
82. Bought a brand new car Yes
83. Walked in Jerusalem Nope
84. Had your picture in the newspaper Yes, with the Red hat society
85. Read the entire Bible I did
86. Visited the White House Nope
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating Oh Yes, if chickens count
88. Had chickenpox I must have had, but don't remember
89. Saved someones life Not that much of a hero
90. Sat on a jury Tried but they kicked me off because my son was a remodeler
91. Met someone famous Not really
92. Joined a book club Belong to one now
93. Lost a loved one Several
94. Had a baby YeP
95. Seen the Alamo in person Never been to Texas
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake Yes
97. Been involved in a law suit Does Small claims Court count if it does yes
98. Owned a cell phone Yes
99. Been stung by a bee Yes and I am allergic to them.

NEW GREAT GRANDBABY #10

This one is a boy, born to Dave and Ashley Gay, they live in West Virginia, he weighed 7 lb. 10 oz. and is 21 inches long. You can see a picture at http://daveashley.blogspot.com . He was born on January 29 at 10:09 p.m. His name is Zachary Danger Gay. Just what she was afraid of happened, "Murphey's Law" . Dave had a VERY important and difficult test on tap for this morning and he told her she could either have the baby one week early or 1 day late, it made no never mind to him but for heavens sake she couldn't have it either yesterday or today. Well now you know how their luck is running.

NEW GREAT GRANDBABY

This past Friday morning January 16, our newest great granddaughter (No. 9) was born at the St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City. Instead of telling you all about it, why don't you just go to their blog and read all about it yourself. They are at http://www.mattandabbey.blogspot.com. In case you don't want to go to all that trouble, the babies name is Mya Val Mangus and the parents are Matt and Abbey Mangus. The baby is really really cute with lots of black hair and brown eyes. I would show a picture if I could steal it from their blog but I can't so hope you will see it there.

Charlie has been driving a limousine for the Sundance Festival, which is in gear during this week and I guess he has had some interesting things going on. We don't get to see him or talk to him very often since he is so busy from 8:00 in the morning till late at night, we still go to their house for dinner on Sunday but he is no place around. The girls do a good job of fixing something to eat and we still enjoy the time spent and have a real nice dinner. Yesterday, JorJa and Jacob brought Soon (Sun), a little Chinese girl that is going up to the University of Utah (in the graduate school of Engineering she is going to be a teacher in Engineering when she goes back to China) She understands English pretty well but there are a few things we have to get right down and explain to her. At dinner time each of the girls, JorJa, KayCee, and Chalice gives a run down of their experiences for the past week both in their personal lives, Church lives and school lives, It usually is quite interesting. Of course we have to give a run down of what we have been doing also. And then we get a run down on what Brooke and her little family (5 children) is doing as well.

More later?!?!?!

Bits and Pieces

My goodness, you would have thought I had died and gone to Heaven or He__, or wherever I'm going or that I had taken an extended vacation to the farthest point where no computers are in existence. Well I have done neither, I really don't have a reason for not writing for so long.


Of course I have spent a great deal of time in bed these last few months, the reason is: I have had 5 Vertebroplasties in the last 5 months. Number L3 was the first in August, Number T12 was in September, Number T10 in October, Number T9 in November and Number T8 in December. The sad part of this is I still have 7 more T vertabrae left that could break at any time, I just have to be very careful not to bend over wrong or lift anything that could fracture one of these. By the way, in December I also had a Reclast infusion, this is the medication that helps to build bones so they don't fracture so easily.


Kaycee helped me with getting a Christmas motif on here for December and changed this one to show the background for now, but didn't write anything for me to put in for everyone to read. In spite of all those fractures and really bad weather the last part of December, we did have a nice Christmas, made it to a lot of get-to-gathers, I felt pretty miserable most of the time but with pain pills and the desire to go, I think the only parties we missed was the trip over to Gary and Gwen's on Christmas night and new Years Eve at our house or at Charlie and Sandy's. They wanted to come here and I told them that it would be alright but I would probably just go to bed, so they decided to go to Charlies and I did go to bed about 6:00.

JorJa and Jacob came over and brought all the Christmas decorations up and decorated the house, or at least the living and dining rooms and took the deer and things outside (Kent had put the lights up out there) and I told them they could only decorate the things that they were going to come back and take down and put away. They agreed to that and Jorja came and took everything down and put it all away. The day she came, Jacob had to work, so she also made a pot of soup for lunch.


I have really enjoyed reading every ones blogs, keeping track of what they have been doing and where they have been going and how they have all been feeling. It's kind of like sitting around having tea and talking don't you all think? I think I better close for now, with the promise I won't take so long next time.