Anxiously Awaiting

I have to admit I am nervous. With every passing day I am becoming more anxious about an upcoming surgery or two. Having another section of my liver removed was not something I had been planning on, but at the suggestion of several of my doctors, surgery seems to be the preferred treatment over radiation.

The last surgery to my liver was an awful, frightening experience that has haunted me often over the past 5 years. With my fears and trepidation in mind, Dr. Fairbanks has reassured me this surgery will be less invasive. I will meet with Dr. Holbrook tomorrow to discuss the surgery and am hoping that the procedure can be done simply.

As if a one part drama isn't enough, this latest development has a second act: my thyroid. The lastest PETScan showed some activity in my thyroid and the tumor board is concerned it may be a tumor. On Wednesday I will have an ultra-sound of the area and then meet with another surgeon who I'm sure will propose to partially remove the thyroid.

I literally feel like I am being taken apart, piece by piece. I'm going to have to instate a quid pro quo saying if you taken something out, you must replace it with something more fun. I'd love some squishier boobies, for example!

Happy Mama

What a happy Mother's Day (3 day celebration) for me! The children at Jolinda's made us wonderful goodies and we joined the pre-schoolers for a delicious brunch that included fantastic crepes. Yum. Katherine painted the flower pot blue because she is absolutely convinced it is my favorite color. Anyway, the marshmallow flowers are so adorable. Giant marshmallows are skewered, the tops dipped in colored white chocolate and then topped with skittles--they look like cute tulips.

On Saturday we shopped with our friends for flowers, trees and shrubs. Part of my Mother's Day present was 3 giant Cypress trees that will provide much need privacy and color to the yard. Working in the yard for 6 hours straight planting the purchased greenery in addition to planting my garden was probably a mistake and I had a very hard time getting out of bed the next morning.

Mother's Day was lovely (except for the aforementioned pain). I played the organ in church and taught Relief Society and then rushed home to make desserts and a fabulous salad for dinner. We were invited to a delicious roast beef dinner at our friends' house where we shared our salad topped with Greg's honey mustard dressing. He's perfected that recipe! After dinner we joined my sisters and their families for dessert which was the pound cakes and strawberries we had made earlier. Of course it was topped with real whipped cream and we polished off all 4 loaves.

How blessed I am to be a mother. Nearly 6 years ago I was given the greatest gift when we were chosen to adopt our precious daughter. Being a mom has brought me so much joy and I cannot imagine my life without my beautiful girl.

Daddy-Daughter

After evenings such as tonight it is nice to remember times like these:

Greg and Katherine on 9/12/08 and her chocolate sauce imitation of her daddy's goatee.

The evening started out lovely and calm, and it was so cute when Katherine said, "Daddy, you are so handsome!" How darling is that? But then I asked Greg to wash Katherine's hair since 4 of my fingers are wrapped in band-aids and stinging because of bleeding splits in the skin. The calm atmosphere in our home deteriorated rapidly from the moment the shampoo was poured on that poor, pitiful head. Talk about weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, and that was from both of them! Katherine's screams of "I want mommy" were followed by Greg's stern direction to "just close your eyes." Call me an optimist, but I really thought the situation would resolve without me having to leave the coziness of my comforter. I was wrong. Greg was completely frustrated and Katherine nearly puked after inhaling sudsy water.

Alas, all was right and lovely again even before her hair was driy. Soon, daddy was performing magic tricks for the gullible little girl and we were laughing hysterically together. A moment of fun was followed by family prayer, hugs and kisses.

Isn't it so cute that they have matching eyebrows?

Task Time

Helping Katherine complete her tasks took too much time and two too many adults.

First, Katherine had to practice writing her name. She traced and then wrote. Her first attempt was the best and took about 2 minutes. Completing the rest of the tries took almost 30 minutes, a couple of buckets of tears and a couple dozen threats/bribes.She was so angry about me taking a picture of her throwing a fit and said people will laugh at her with her "naughty" face. Moments later she is all smiles while completing the task of emptying the silverware tray and perfectly happy to have her picture taken. This job took about 4 minutes to complete.

Does anybody else see the problem with the time taken to complete these tasks? Greg and I are baffled that it takes 8 times as long to write her name a few times than to stack forks, knives and spoons.

Easter Joy

What a beautiful Easter weekend! We spent time together as a family engaged in fun traditions, relaxing in our beautiful home as the winds blew outside, and feeling peace as we listened to the counsel of the Lord as spoken by our latter day prophets and apostles.

We decorated Easter Eggs and cleaned the house. I even taught Katherine how to scrub the toilets and iron her own shirts. She self-appointed herself to be my ironing assistant and stood by my side for nearly two hours spritzing the wrinkled clothes. When an item was finished, she then exchanged it out for another piece of apparel from the basket. She was such a great helper. As I ironed, we talked about what the apostles and other leaders were instructing and teaching us.

Saturday evening we attended the Eibert family's traditional flashlight egg hunt (incredible yummies included) with several other families from our ward. This is the second year we were invited, and Katherine absolutely loves the thrill of running through the school fields with a flashlight, searching for pastel plastic eggs filled with treats. What a fun tradition!

Before Conference began and in between sessions, Greg, Katherine and I worked together to make and prepare orange rolls, holiday potatoes, spiral honey glazed ham, asparagus, strawberry pretzel salad, and pound cake with strawberries and cream--all for the Easter feast we were hosting for my family. I really enjoy being able to have my family at our house for dinner since we regularly gather at my mom and dad's place. I think my mom enjoys the break from hostessing duties even though she is the ultimate hostess and loves to entertain. We had a lovely time together and events such as these remind me of how blessed I am to have my loved ones so near me.

A Helping Hand

This evening as I emptied the dishwasher, Katherine ran to my side to lend a helping hand. She exclaimed, "Mom, you don't have to do all the work by yourself--I'm going to help you. You just sit back and I'll take care of this (the silverware)." She took great care to make sure all the utensils were clean and stacked all the silverware neatly in the tray.

Little does she know she has earned herself another job on her chore list (and some brownie points with mom and dad).

Hisss

This is the funnest game. Grandma gave the game to Haylie for her birthday and Katherine enjoyed it so much that we went out and bought it today. The object of the game is to combine the drawn cards into snakes according to colors, combine sections and then add completed snakes to your pit. When you complete a run with its head and tail, you announce "hiss" and then take all the cards. Katherine came up with a little snake dance while she hissed and that was pretty cute.

Spring Break-ing

Our first real springbreak and I am expecting too much I think. In anticipation of the break, I began creating a TO DO LIST of home improvement projects, cleaning, and activities. Now on the eve of the big week, and I'm not very sure I will actually get anything done but RELAX. Except for a few make-up lessons, I am not teaching this week and I am caught up on all of the office work for Simply Gourmet, so I don't have any excuses. The pile of books next to my bed does look awfully appealing. . .

Healthcare Heartburn

I haven't had this kind of political heartburn since the 2000 Presidential Elections. Back then I checked news websites for updates on a regular basis, I listened to talk radio all day long and then tuned into Fox News the moment I got home from work. I listened to anything that would be give me a sense of hope that the election would be resolved, the chads would be counted and Bush would be the winner.

(Insert any Bush joke here>>>>> The bigger joke would have been Gore)

Anyway, the point is that I felt my choices and freedoms were related to who controlled Washington.

Now, with the atrocious Obamacare being passed, I feel that Washington has intruded into a part of my life that I feel very sensitive about: my health. Living with a chronic illness for 8 years has made me very selfish and all I can think about is how the quality of care will decline, research and development will be underfunded, and I will not have access to experimental and cutting edge treatments. In a sense, I feel the bill will make me more ill in the end.

A bigger point is what this means to us as Americans. Who are we? What kind of country do we have? Where are we headed? Whatever it once was is no longer and this country has taken a giant step into the entitlement trough. The problem with entitlement is that it is the disease that kills exceptionalism.

For any of you out there that have guilt and self-loathing about America and its exceptionalism must not have children, or do have children and regularly smoke pot. Parents (who care) do everything in their power to raise children to strive in school, excel in extracurricular activities, be the cutest in the class, have lots of friends, etc. Parents on Pot (in this case, people in America who are ashamed of its exceptionalism) don't take score at soccer games, worry about self-esteem and just want their kids to feel happy and fulfulled without making any effort or doing any work.

Okay, so maybe you're not really smoking pot, but it probably wouldn't matter if you did because your brain is whacked. Seriously. You are just dehydrated, lacking basic fundamental principles this country was founded on. What you need is detox by getting back to the moral and political basis this country was founded on. We, collectively as Americans, need to rediscover that revolutionary spirit willing us to break from our oppressor, the pioneering spirit that calls us to adventure, opportunity and challenge.

Maybe that's what we need right now is a way, a method, to become modern day revolutionary pioneers???

Haircut Crisis Version 2.0

A few days ago I experienced almost exactly what my mother did in the form of a haircutting emergency.

It was a Saturday evening when my mom decided to give my hair a trim. Just as she made the first cut she discovered her scissors were blunt. She was so angry (as we were forbidden from using her hair shears) and stormed out of the bathroom to find the blade blunting bandit. My brother, Brian, had used the scissors to give the back brush a trim! The worst part was her telling me that I would just have to go to church with an uneven, chunky hairdo. Alas, my coif was cured when she realized the sewing scissors would be a suitable substitute.

Gingher fabric shears came to my rescue, too! I had Katherine all set up in the shower to receive a trim, but the first clip just folded into the blade. I was able to finish the trim and it turned out quite nice.

The little pink handled scissors had served me well since I purchased them in 1991 to trim my own bangs and give haircuts to some of my friends in college.

I'm On a Roll. . .

I couldn't possibly stop with only one new post. I simply must include a picture of my newest niece, Kolby (Kimberly's precious baby).

I had a photo session with this precious baby and could not resist putting the HUGE peony on her head. Her daddy protests my use of pearls, peonies, etc., but I think it's DARLING.

I'm Back. . . to Blogspot

It must be the weather: I'm inspired to blog again!

Last Friday, Katherine and I enjoyed an outing with the pre-school girls and moms to Greenbluff. What a wonderful tradition we have of visiting the farms, picking pumpkins and sinking our teeth into Washington grown apples.

Out of the Ozarks and At My Table

I just have to follow-up with this picture of 4 Stevenson Gentlemen and the "Rose Among the Thorns" eating dinner around my table during the weekend we celebrated my mother-in-law's 80th Birthday. Notice they have knives, forks and napkins. But you can't entirely cure all--notice that the Stevenson men are all positioned around the table so they can watch the golf game on the TV in the top right corner. . .

I love you all and love teasing you, too!

The Family I Married Into

First, Scott, you should know better than to send pictures to Greg, me or anyone with the suggestion of "blackmail" in the message.

This is the Sharm and Mardy Stevenson children during their last vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks, standing above the Bagnell Dam circa the 70's. From front to back is Scott, Chris, Jorli, Brad and my guy, Greg (in the overalls).

Question is: did they crawl out of the Ozarks or were they really just visiting?

Love you all!

Addressing A New Addiction

As if there aren't enough addictions already!

I think the following article is worth a looksy by anyone taking a looksy here. I certainly identified with a few points:

http://www.parenting.com/article/Mom/Work--Family/3-Reasons-Moms-Are-Addicted-to-the-Internet

I laughed out loud at the comment about the mom who checked her blog, Flickr, Twitter regularly for comments others made about her posts and pictures. You know who you are!!!

Ebay Queen

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been obsessed with selling on ebay. I have an intense psychological need to get rid of the clutter in my life and with every package I mail, I feel a little lighter, less encumbered.

If you're interested, I sell under "fritzytoo."

Here's the story behind the name: we got the sweetest Schnauzer when I was in the hospital during my first round of chemo in 2002. He was my best buddy who kept me company when Greg was on the road, slept curled up in the crook of my legs, and even sat on my lap while I drove to Utah and back. His name was Fritz.

If you know the movie "The Wizard of Oz" (and if you don't I can't understand how we're friends), then you'll remember at the end when Dorothy is hoping to exit Oz via a hot air balloon she asks Glinda, "And Toto, too?" It's one of my favorite movie lines of all time, so it was fitting that when Greg and I would go anywhere, I would ask, "And Fritzy, too?"

And fritzytoo was created.

This is Fritz with his winter haircut. We would have his coat shorn very short because of the "snowballing" that would happen when he'd run through the snow, bounding like a jack rabbit. It was so funny to watch our neighbors through our kitchen window standing at their kitchen window watching our dog and laughing.

Sloppy Joes 3 Ways

Yes, I know it's not fine cuisine, but sometimes a Sloppy Joe just sounds good. I hadn't made them in a while and so it was a new meal for Katherine. She was excited until she pulled something out of the meat and asked/demanded: IS THIS AN ONION?!? And in my mind I said, "DARN YOU JASON!" At dinner at our house during the holidays, he enlightened Katherine on the subject of onions. With the new knowlege, the Sloppy Joe was smashed.

Katherine then made herself a different kind of Joe, a Katie Joe, if you will, that was filled with 5 cup (or Ambrosia) salad. For a moment I believed we had a winning sandwich until she discovered the shredded coconut in the salad. Not quite as evil as the onion, but close.

Out of buns, we turned to sliced bread for her third sandwich, the banana peanut butter wonder. The only problem is that she didn't want to smash the bananas.

It is the last time I let her have options. What a mess.

Little Girls

Yesterday Katherine sang the song from Annie, "Little Girls, Little Girls" and I remembered that song all day as we had Jessica at our house to play. It was so fun to hear them as they made up imaginary scenarios and took turns being the puppy dog or the princess. There was a little fighting (mostly Katherine being bossy) and Jessica graciously giving in. What a good girl she was and cleaned up all of the play-doh mess by herself, Katherine being no help at all.

After 4 hours together, it was time to relax a bit so the girls chose to watch Sleeping Beauty. I was asked to bring them chips and strawberry Crystal Light as a treat and then they plopped down on the couch to watch. I thought it was so funny that of all the places one can sit in the family room, they're cuddled close together, sharing chips and chatting throughout the show.

Hoar Frost

Because of the bitter cold weather, the trees are covered with hoar frost. It is a serene drive through the tree lined road up the mountain to our house as the pine trees are blanketed in white. The scenery looks unreal, appearing dream-like. Looking out at the pines and aspens in my backyard, their branches seem to be covered with fluffy, white mittens. It is a beautiful sight and one of the reasons I can tolerate this cold and foggy weather.

These are some trees at a house in our neighborhood. I wanted to get a better picture, but I 1) forgot the long lense and 2) was too cold to actually venture out of the car and into the deep snow to get a picture.

Friday Night With the Super Shopper

My friend, Jolinda, invited me to attend the Super Shopper class she presented this evening. I thought that she had already taught me everything she knew about saving money on groceries, but I learned even more! Not only is she a wealth of knowledge but a great teacher, too. I've been using the methods she teaches since she invited me to be her protege for the following news story (click on the video link once you're at the site):

http://www.krem.com/news/local/stories/krem2-112008-super-shopper.1d1239e53.html

Jolinda treated me to DQ afterwards and then we chatted in the driveway until after 11 p.m. I was gone a lot longer than I expected to be so Greg teased me about being at a shopping class for 5 hours. When I tried to tell him how much fun I had and that I laughed a lot, he said we should take the coupon comedy show on the road. Yep! I'm the Super Shopper's Sidekick, the Ed McMahon to her Johnny Carson.

P.S. I really do have enough peanut butter to last a year and a half!