Yup, he's a boy.

Sorry, this one is kinda long, but I hope you'll understand as we've had a bit of stress this morning.

Emily sings in a small group made up of Her dad, two sisters and, of course, her. They typically get together on Saturday mornings, and occasionally, Jeremy and the kids come along to play while the moms practice.

Today seemed no different than any other time the kids get together. Lots of running, jumping, screeching, hooting and hollering, with occasional weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth if someone does something another doesn't like. Just the usual kid stuff.

Anyway, Jeremy asked if we wanted to go to the park to get out of the house (and the hair of the aforementioned practitioners). So, we tried our best to wrangle the howler monkeys enough to get shoes on and head out the door.

Well, while I was trying to get the stroller out of the van for Henry, he escaped out the front door and decided to try his hand at going down the front steps by himself. Now, on a GOOD day, he still walks like a sailor who's had a bit too much shore leave, let alone when he tries to run sideways. He got the first step okay, but gravity and his momentum carried him down the other one where he hit a tiny pebble on the driveway.

Now, I have to give him a bit of credit. He did put out his hands to catch himself, which they did, but his noggin must weigh as much as a bowling ball because he tipped like a teeter-totter smacking his forehead (with his feet in the air) on the cement. I got a first-hand view in slow motion.

I got to him while he was still face down, picked him up and blood started flowing. ALOT. I kinda feel bad because Hank must've felt like I was torturing him. I grabbed the first thing I thought of to stop the bleeding, which was his shirt. I pulled it up right over his face. That didn't work. After that, I went to the front door to get Momma and everything else went by in a bit of a blur.

Nobody lost their calm or anything like that. Thank you to Jen and Grammy for helping. It took about 5 minutes total for his head to stop bleeding and then we could see that he didn't need stitches (thankfully). After we got it stopped he just went about his business like nothing had happened.

I think he was mainly annoyed with people holding his hands down and pushing on his forehead.

Yup, he's a boy alright.

P.S. Grammy just told us that while all the commotion was going on, Henry's cousin Eva, saw the blood and starting saying, "He's dead! He's dead!" at that point Josh chimes in with the same thing: "He's dead! He's dead!". I think that is HILARIOUS!

Absolutely priceless memories but, no I don't need more like this one, thank you very much. (But, I'm sure I'll get them.)

Spider-man

Audrey likes to be my shadow and goes with me wherever she can. She likes to "help" me take the trash out to the dumpster or whatever errand I'm doing at the moment. Most of the time it's fun for me too.

Anyway, today we went outside to get the mail. No big deal, just out to the curb and back, right?

We had just finished lunch (Taco Bell, mmm...), and I had JUST put Henry down for his nap. I asked Audrey if she wanted to go with me and she obliged me (of course).

Well, I seemed to have picked up a hitchhiker along the way. We get back into the house and Audrey says to me in a bit of a scared tone, "Dad, there's a spider on you!" and runs off to go get Em.

Now, first thing is that she is almost deathly afraid of spiders for some reason.

(Well, we kinda know the reason. She got bit on the bum a couple of months ago while sitting on the toilet and now says there's a spider in the bathroom almost every morning even before she goes in there to pee).

Anyway, I stand in the entry way til Em gets there and Audrey is already starting to freak out a bit, so I just have to be the brave daddy and pretend that it's no big deal, while being totally still in case there actually IS a spider on me somewhere.

So, Em gets there and as she's looking for it, the poor little critter decides to silk its way to the floor from the bottom of my shorts. Em is bending over to try to get to it and Audrey gives the biggest scream I've ever heard from her.

Now, this wasn't a "I'm trying to get your attention" scream, or "I'm yelling for fun" scream, this was a "I'm about to get eaten by a two-ton tarantula" scream. I mean, her eyes were bigger than Dara's! (No offense Dara, but I just needed a point of reference.)

And, she screamed right into Em's ear. As soon as I saw it on the floor, I squished the little thing which couldn't have even been the size of my pinky fingernail. After that, we had to calm Audrey down and tell her that things usually get worse if you panic.

I think we'll have to work on that for a while, though.

Gumpy bottoms...

My conversation with Audrey early this morning went like this:

"Audrey, go back into your room . It's not time to get up yet."

"But I want my doodle! I wanna play! I wanna play!"

I proceeded to close the door with her inside her room. After a moment I hear Henry start to get cranky. I then hear,

"HENRY!

YOU CAN'T CRY, I WANT TO CRY!!!"

Interesting Joke From a 3 Year Old

Audrey: "Knock, Knock."

Em: "Who's there?"

"Willamina."

"Willamina, who?"

"I want some candy!!"

Audrey told Em this joke in church on Sunday. She just made it up on her own, as far as we know. She's really been going with her imagination recently and it's been great to see and hear how her mind works.

Oh Deer!

Do you ever have those moments where you have a near-miss event and you think of the one or two things you could have done differently and that would have been YOU in the circumstance?

I had that happen to me this morning.

I was on my way home from work in a pretty decent mood (because of how well things went for the first day of the week) and wanted to get home a soon as I could. I take a semi-rural route to and from work instead of the freeway because the scenery is better.

Today, the scenery almost got me.

I was coming up to a part of the road where it went from one lane to two for a bit to let traffic merge and there was a slower car two cars in front of me and an older red VW Jetta directly in front of me who REALLY seemed to be in a hurry. When we got to the second lane, the Jetta went around as fast as they could and zoomed off. I decided I wasn't in that big a hurry so I stayed behind the other car as the two lanes merged back into one.

About 15 seconds later a small herd (about 6 or 8) deer came running as fast as they could across the road in front of us. They were far enough ahead that I didn't feel the need to slow down much, but when the car in front of me got the the crossing point, they slowed waaay down.

I thought they were being a bit too overly cautious now, but realized when they went around the fresh accident scene that a deer had been struck. I didn't know it until they stopped a bit further up, but the red Jetta hit one directly and pulled off to inspect the damage.

I pondered for a moment as I passed by them and decided to turn around in case anyone was hurt. It turned out that they were physically ok, but the car was pretty well totaled. Not only had they hit a deer head on, but a SECOND one broadsided the driver side of the car.

I asked them if they needed me to call for help, but they had already done so and asked if I could give the passenger a ride to work. It turned out that his work was on my way home and I agreed. After giving him a ride he thanked me for stopping and helping and asked my name. I told him, and he told me his name was Moroni.

Interesting. (Not tooo out of the ordinary living in Utah, but still...)

Anyway, I was thinking about it the rest of the way home and came to the conclusion that we really are looked over if we listen to the still, small voice inside. Literally, if I had only made one or maybe two different decisions on my way home, it would have been me in that spot at the wrong time.

Making The Sign of the Cross

Do you all remember the saying that Catholics sometimes use to remember the sign of the cross? You know, "Spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch"?

Well, with the events of the last couple of weeks, each of those have been on the forefront of my mind.

First off, I got new glasses!



I needed them even though I've had contact lenses for the past few months. I didn't really have an adequate pair of glasses to back them up. I decided for these because I wanted a different look and I feel like they look cool.

I don't care what anyone else thinks, y'all can keep the negative comments to yo'selfs!

As for the second token in the phrase, Emily and I have had many discussions about them (or as one of my brothers-in-law call them- "Thing One and Thing Two"), and we decided it was time to "take me out of the gene pool" (As sung to the popular baseball tune) so to speak.

A week ago Friday I got the deed done and have been walking like I got kicked by a horse ever since. No exercise, no lifting and no relations of the husband and wife type for at least a week.

Ugh.

Things are slowly progressing and I'll be returning to some semblance of normal, and work, next week.

As for the wallet, it seems that things keep grabbing for mine lately. New tires for my car, new TV console, We almost needed a new TV because I PULLED THE CABLE ATTACHMENT out of our TV, but my Father-in-law had me check to see if there were the red,white and yellow Audio/ Video ports back there and now the picture actually looks better than it did before.

And as for the watch, well, TIME FOR SUMMER VACATION!!!! School's out til the last week of August when I start at U of Utah. I hope I fared well in my classes, but I'm ready for a good vacation and hope I'll get to do/ see everything/ everyone on my list.

YAY!

I Got In!!

I've been waiting for the news for a while and it finally came today!

I got accepted to The U of Utah! Woo Hoo!!! I start in the fall and should (hopefully) be done by December of 2011!

Ode To A Gentle Giant

Even though I moved almost a year ago, I still keep up with some of the happenings around the Q. Every few days I'll check the news websites and whatnot, just to see what's up. It's pretty interesting to me to see the contrast between the types of news that gets reported in NM versus SLC.

I was perusing the usual channels when I came upon this story.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1481058.shtml?cat=516

To say the very least, I was appalled. I can't even imagine how desensitized a person has to be at their job to do such a thing to any animal, let alone magnificent creature like a GIRAFFE!!

The reason I bring this up is that, just before Em and I moved our little family up to Utah, My family took a nice outing to the zoo. I took a couple hundred pictures (literally), and a good 40 to 50 of those were of Kashka and her 2 DAY old calf. She was calm but protective of her little one, and at the same time she seemed proud to show off her progeny. She was captivating.

There was something that seemed to connect me to her, as I had witnessed the birth of Henry only 3 weeks earlier. Something inside me seemed to feel like she knew I was in the same boat, looking out for my little one as he was learning the ways of this new existence.

When I read the article this morning I knew right away that it was her. I looked up my photos to check, and yes, those were the same markings. I wanted to cry. She was one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet and someone was so wrapped up in taking the short route to get done with his day that he desecrated her body for the sake of saving himself a bit of time.

I know she was already gone, but what does this say about how this person cares for the living animals in his charge? I know this is an isolated incident. I've met many of the zookeepers there and they are almost as passionate about the animals as they are about their own children.

Kashka was a great being and I know this world was made better by her being in it.

It's Been Fun, But...

Well, it was a fun ride. I enjoyed the time together, but now I must bid adieu to the hills of the dancing sun. I wasn't expecting it to end this quickly, but I received a something better.

In other words, I have a new job.

I got a phone call on Wednesday morning from FedEx saying that they wanted to set up an interview. What? I applied more than two MONTHS ago, before I got the fire starting job, and hadn't heard anything back at all. I had the interview later in the day just before work. It went well and the interviewer said that, pending a background check, they would offer me a position.

I told my manager at work later in the day that I would most likely be quitting, that I would miss the work up there and that I was thankful for her giving me the chance to work for her. She said that she didn't like me anymore. Not really. She was glad to have me for as long as she could and understood that I was doing what's best for me and mine. She also said that she hoped she could find someone half as dependable and quick-learning as I was.

*gush*

Well, I started FedEx Saturday morning at 3AM, and then went to work at 2 in the afternoon. This will last til April Fools Day. Fitting.

The hours will be less, but the pay will be the same, if not a bit more. Also the schedule is Tues-Sat, meaning NO MORE WORKING ON SUNDAYS!!!

More for less is good these days.

The sights, sounds and smells of wildlife.

I've told a few people about some of the interesting wildlife happenings at work a few weeks ago, but I figured I'd share with everyone since I haven't been on in a while.

It seems like most of my encounters happen after dark. The first one I had was with a momma moose and her yearling calf.

I was on the way home from work after 11 o'clock in the evening when I came across a couple of cars going RRREEEAAALLLYYY slow on the winding road from the resort. I was about ready to go around them when I spotted Momma and her not so small son. They had been fixtures on the upper portions of the canyon and they decided to take a shortcut down the road to get to their next destination.

The funny thing (well, not so funny for the person in the truck nearest to them) was then when truck closest to them tried flashing their brights at the beasts, momma got mad an gave a love tap to the hood of the vehicle. Eventually they tired of the raucous and detoured at about what seemed to be a 90 degree up slope on the canyon wall. (Spider-man has nothing on these guys)

Then, about 2 weeks ago, I was headed toward the van at about 10:30pm and heard a couple of owls hooting to each other, seeming to signal that spring is right around the corner. It sounded just like out of the movies.


Lastly, on Friday as I was finishing with one last request before heading home, I was talking to Em on the phone when I smelled the odoriferous emittance of a skunk. I asked her if they hibernate for the winter and she confirmed that they did.
Smells like spring is in the air...

My Lappy

You know how when you take something apart, and put it back together, you almost ALWAYS end up having a screw or a nut or bolt laying around extra?

Ya, that happened to me today.

In case you were wondering, I dropped my laptop at work a few weeks ago. It only caused (mostly) cosmetic damage. Everything continued to work, but one hinge was busted and a corner of the lid was pretty mangled as well.

So, I waited as long as I could, (which was when pieces started falling off into my hand) and then went shopping online for parts. No big whoop, right? I've built computers from scratch before. I knew what I needed which was mainly a new lid and front bezel for the screen.

Well, 2 weeks after buying my stuff, I got a package in the mail and everything was only a little banged up after being on the slow boat from China (literally, Hong Kong). I had previously downloaded the service manual so I knew what to do.

I got everything torn apart and found that I needed a mounting bracket for the actual screen. I thought I remembered a piece of that in my hand earlier. Oh well, back online and luckily I found a guy in Texas that had a set so I bought them and got them on Monday.

After what I figure to be a total of four (4) hours over a three day period, I have my computer back together (a la Humpty Dumpty). I'm just glad I still have the know-how with computers. And, it saved me probably 200-300 bucks.

The only thing I couldn't figure out was where the last little screw was from. Oh well, we all need a screw loose at times, right?

Round Three!

It was suggested a couple of days ago by Em's grandmother that we pin a big sock over monkey's cast to keep him from tugging on it. (By the way, the first night he had the second cast it got pulled down to where his fingers were barely showing.)

We tried this and it worked the first night. Well, this morning momma and I heard the usual hooting and hollering from the kids' room before we got them up and didn't think much of it until I went to get them up. I got in there and the sock was still pinned to his shirt, and it still had his cast in it, but it DIDN'T have his arm in the cast!!

I asked his sister if she pulled on it and at first she said yes, then she changed her story realizing that she was in trouble. We finally got it out of her that she didn't think is was supposed to be on there. I have to keep reminding myself that even though she LOOKS like she's almost 5 years old, she's only two.

So, back to the doctor for the THIRD TIME THIS WEEK!!!

This time we got a casted splint with an ace-bandage so that if it comes off again, WE can wrap it and not have to worry about having to waste the doctors' or our time...

Ah, the stories we'll be able to tell from this one.....

Monkey Update

So, ya...

The Doc says our monkey is supposed to keep the cast on for (hopefully) 4 weeks. He also said that most kids that age figure out how to get the thing off in about 2 weeks.

My kid must be REALLY advanced. Momma called me at work saying that she checked on the kids after putting them to bed this evening and he had gotten the darn thing off! It barely lasted 24 hours!!

Yay! We get another trip to the doctor for a new one!!

My Little Pew Monkey

Have you ever had one of those days as a parent where you feel like the best parent in the world? The kids do everything you ask, they don't fight and all is well.

Today was NOT one of those days. In fact, it feels like the exact opposite. Today kinda made me feel like, well, NOT the best parent in the world... The biggest of today's challenges started on Sunday. I know it sounds weird, but as Ricky Ricardo says, "I got some 'splainin' to do!"

Sunday was a fairly normal day, or so it seemed. We had our usual routine in the morning and headed out to church. During sacrament meeting the kids were restless and buggy. We had to take turns wrangling the munchkins. As the meeting ended we started to head toward our usual duties and distractedly gathered our things.

And then it happened.

The 1/1000th of a second that neither mom or dad was watching, Henry decided the floor looked like a tempting place to be and tumbled off the pew. We both reacted to the instantaneous crying and picked the poor little pew monkey off the floor and cuddled him til he stopped crying.

Momma took him with her, and little was thought of it until later in the day when she called me saying he wouldn't crawl. At first we thought it was one of his legs because he'd get on his hands and knees, kick one of his legs back and scream.

Then, yesterday momma noticed that it wasn't his leg, but his hand. She'd move it around and our monkey howled as loud as the day is long. We didn't think it was that bad because other than when we touched his hand, he was fairly happy.

Today was his 9 month well visit to the doctor. He got two shots and a prick to his big toe, along with the misery he was already in. We mentioned his arm and, at the end of the visit, the doctor sent us to get some x-rays for precaution. We got into the lab and the tech had to hold the poor little guy in her lap and stretch his hand out.

I still shudder thinking about him screaming like that.

As soon as the picture showed up on the screen (digital x-rays are cool, btw...) I saw it. It was confirmed by the Doctors. He has a "Nondisplaced buckle fracture of the distal radial matediaphysis".

In other words, he broke his arm on Sunday and we didn't do a damn thing about it because he's fallen before, and he is so happy a kid that he was already getting around doing a half army crawl to avoid putting pressure on his wrist. I know I can't beat myself up for not doing something earlier, but I still feel like an ass.

Anyway, check-up was at 3pm and by 6pm our poor little pew monkey had a little blue cast on his arm that he has already learned to use as a club.

The doc says to come back in 4 weeks if the thing is still on by then. (He said he hopes it takes more than two for him to get it off himself... interesting.)

So, our little man got beat up pretty well this week, and it's only Tuesday.