Boooo! for Friday!!!!

It's Friday and I should be thrilled.
What's not to be thrilled about?
It's time for

Go on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time and see Mrs. 4444's

* I'm not here.
I'm on a romantic get-away with my husband.

Okay, I'm not.
I'm an hour from Rawlins, Wyoming getting trained on how to organize a 30 mile Pioneer Trek for 350 teenagers.  Part of the training includes a 5 mile handcart push/pull.  Just an FYI, it's supposed to be snowy with a high of 41 today and tomorrow.
Go ahead.
Be jealous.

* As if taking a 5 mile trek isn't fun enough,
I'm missing Senior Night.
It's Garrett's LAST lacrosse game of his life.
The seniors escort their parents on the field, present them with a flower, and give them a hug while the announcer says nice things about the boys.
I WON'T BE THERE!
After 8 years of driving Garrett to practice and attending 100's of games in sun, rain, wind, sleet, snow and hail, I AM MISSING SENIOR NIGHT.
Oh well, there will be others.
Oh wait.
There won't

* I woke up yesterday my office windows were streaked with dirty splatters.
I was ready to blame Brian because he was outside my office messing with the sprinklers the day before.
Yeah - it's his fault.
But then I noticed dirty streaks on lots of windows.
Hmmm...it did rain during the night.
But all that dirt?
Later, while running errands, I saw entire cars coated with dirt.
Do you think it's volcano debris?
Do you think the clouds were full of ash?

* OH.MY.GOSH
Margaret MADE me watch Glee the other night.
Well, she didn't  "make" me but she lured me over with cupcakes.
Way, way, too much singing and estrogen for me.
But now, I'm kind of glad that I did because
evidently,

+ 

= True Love.

According to someone around here

 

+

= TRUE LOVE

I NEED a Dress!

Dear Dress Buyer for Nordstrom, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, Macy's and every other retail store -

I am looking for a dress.
I wear a dress to church every Sunday.
I also have several special occasions coming up - weddings, graduation, etc.


You have 100's of dresses on your website, but not a single one that I would buy.

This is pretty, but I'm looking for a dress with sleeves.

Don't even think of suggesting this -

I am NOT wearing a gray T or any color T under a strapless gown.

So to better help you take my money,

I'll tell you what I'm looking for -

Sleeves - They can be long or short but not strapless or sleeveless.

Not too low cut - I know.  I'm crazy.  But I'm just not feelin' the whole Cougar trying to "catch" some young thing.  I'm wearing this to church.  I'm not on the prowl.

Hemline to knee or longer - Once again, when I get out on the dance floor - its not THAT kind of dancing that I'll be doing!

It can be any fabric or color...........except ugly.

Let's see what you got!

I said I wanted SLEEVES -

Thanks for the sleeves, but is it too much to ask for something NOT out of "I Dream of Jeanie?"  Please - no 60's prints.

Thanks for toning down the pattern, but I'd also like something that covers my "unmentionables" AND my varicose veins.

Teen Slumber Party?  NO!

What the?  NO!

and NO!

Seriously, does it have to be this hard?

Surgery Pain, 3 Hours of Awards, & a 5 Mile Hike in the Snow....What's NOT to Love!

I LOVE my life.
It's smooth.
It's easy.
It runs like a well oiled machine.
AND it's always GLAMOROUS!

At least it's Tuesday.  I get to be glamorous AND random!

Go see Keely at The UnMom.
She started the whole random thing.
And her life is pretty glamorous too!

* Speaking of glamorous -
Garrett's recovery from surgery is progressing.
We went from apples, to avocados to limes.
It's all good!
He's back at school - except for weightlifting.

That hurts just to think about - and I don't even have man bits.
He's off the percocet.
He takes ibuprofen every four hours, when he remembers, or when he can't ride out the tide of pain.
I'd try to remember if I were him!
Thanks for all of the well wishes!


* What are the symptoms of Spring Fever?
If it involves going back to bed for a few more days hours
and getting up and doing nothing,
I think I have it.........or not.
I think I have my seasons mixed up.
I just want it to snow 2-3 feet so I can hibernate.
Probably not going to happen.

* Oh wait.
It IS going to snow!
Yep, Brian and I are going to Wyoming Friday and Saturday.
Told you my life was glamorous!
We're going to be "trained" so we can plan next summer's
30 mile pioneer trek.
We GET to go on a 5 mile hike while pulling/pushing a handcart and wait..........it's supposed to SNOW!
It doesn't get more GLAMOROUS than this!
Seriously, who doesn't want to trade lives with me?
I go from one weekend of icing someone's manhood to
a weekend of pulling a handcart in snow.
Isn't hell supposed to start AFTER you die?

* Senior Award Night was last night.
Garrett requested that none of us go.
So we all dressed up, pulled out the camera and traipsed along.
He was positive that 1) the invitation was sent to the wrong house
or 2) he was getting the "most improved."
He received the Wolf Award.

It's an award that goes to students who make a positive contribution to the school and make the school a better place.
It's one of my favorite awards because it goes to students who reach outside of themselves and achieve something for the greater good.
Way to go Garrett!



* Speaking of awards,
The Department of Children and Family Services comes for me today
and it won't be to give me the "Mom of the Year" trophy



Unfortunately, the amnesia drug in Garrett's anesthesia worked in reverse.
He seems to remember EVERYTHING in technicolor!
I asked if he remembered ANY thing that he said while in recovery.


He remembered EVERY WORD!
He remembers EVERYTHING!
That means he also remembers coming home from the hospital and crawling on his hands and knees, dragging his head and crying across the slate floor in the laundry room, onto the wood floor into the kitchen and into the family room.
Yeah, he crawled from the car to the couch.

I was hoping a dose of the amnesia drug would erase that blip in parenting.
Now, we're going to have to spend good money on a psychologist!
If it wasn't for this ONE incident,
I would be Mother of the Century.

* To acknowledge Garrett's abuse award, Brian and I wanted to get him a little treat.
The way to this boy's heart is through his wings!
I stopped by Wing Stop to pick up a gift card.
Boy, are they idiots!
No gift cards, no service.
She nonchalantly went through the safe and both cash registers, shuffled papers on the counter and pronounced, "I guess we don't have any gift cards."
WWWWOOOOOOOWWWWWW!
What was I expecting?  Brains?
It's a WING place!
My bad!


* Saturday, someone brought me a yummy sugar cookie!
I love them!
Sunday, someone brought over a plate of  chocolate chip cookies!
I love them!
Last night at 10:00, someone brought me a sugar cookie!
I love them!
I love a lot of cookies people!

Well, I'm off to enjoy some cookies for breakfast.
Go get your random on!

Lessons Learned

We've had a lot of fun (at Garrett's expense) joking about his surgery.
But I would be remiss if I didn't also take the time to record the lessons we have learned.
This whole experience has been testimony building and taught/reminded/reinforced many lessons.

1) Obedience to God's commandments brings blessings.
2) Heavenly Father can direct us through the Holy Ghost.  We can receive personal revelation for our lives.
3) Heavenly Father cares about each of us as individuals and is concerned with our daily lives.
4) Priesthood Authority is the power to act and speak for God and it is on the earth today.

Garrett has been in pain for some time now.  We started to seek treatment by going to our pediatrician who sent us for an ultrasound.  About a month ago, we went to a urologist, who was very highly recommended by a physician friend of ours.

The doctor examined Garrett and gave him a diagnosis which included "This is very common although we don't usually need to correct it.  But since you are in so much pain, we should  probably go ahead and do surgery whenever you would like to."

As we left the doctor's office, Garrett said, "I don't like him.  I don't feel comfortable with his diagnosis and I don't think he's right.  I want a second opinion."

It wasn't that Garrett didn't want surgery.  He knew that surgery was probably inevitable.  He just had a "feeling" about the doctor.

I kind of pooh-poohed Garrett -figuring he's 18 and the doctor came highly recommended and has ben practicing for 30 years.

Brian and I told Garrett that if he was uncomfortable with the doctor's diagnosis, he could definitely seek a second opinion. 
When I got home though, I discovered that the doctor was not covered by our insurance plan.
He could not perform the surgery if we wanted him to.
Garrett would HAVE to have a second opinion.

With hindsight - we know that Garrett's feeling wasn't his own.  He wasn't a crazy teenager.  The feeling was a prompting from the Holy Ghost who was guiding him in his decisions.  This was a testimony to all of us. Whenever we are trying to live the commandments and be obedient, we can feel the Spirit and are open to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  Garrett's prompting led us to look elsewhere for medical care.

We received another referral from a friend.  I called and asked for the soonest available appointment.
The appointment was for 11:15 on Tuesday, April 20th.

The nurse came in and visited wit us first.  We told her about the other diagnosis.  She explained the diagnosis to us and gave Garrett some paperwork about it.  She was very thorough in her explanation.  Then the doctor came in he seemed kind of irritated.  He had reviewed the ultrasound and the nurses notes.  He said, "Your diagnosis is totally incorrect.  You don't have a ------" and he took the papers away from Garrett.  He was shaking his head as he said, "I know Bruce (the other doctor).  He's a good doctor.  I don't know why he would tell you that you have ----- because you don't."

He then questioned Garrett thoroughly and did an exam.  After the examn, he explained the problem to us and said, "If this were my son, I would have surgery tomorrow."  I interpreted this to mean, "When you ceck out, ask the receptionist to get you on the schedule in the next few weeks."

That is NOT what he meant.  He flung open the exam room door and called, "Kristen, get Matthew Cox on the surgery schedule tomorrow."  Eek!  Garrett and I looked at each other in shock.  Garrett had a huge grim on his face - not because he was dying to go under the knife, but because he felt confident that this doctor knew what he was talking about and could actually treat Garrett and take care of the problem.  His face was flooded with relief.  Once again, the Holy Ghost confimed to Garrett that the doctor was correct and that immediate surgery was the correct way to go.

Garrett asked Brian to give him a priesthood blessing before surgery.  A priesthood blessing can only be given by someone who has been found worthy and has received the Melchizedek preisthood through ordination. The priesthood power is the power to act and speak for God.  When called upon to give a blessing, the priesthood holder is not telling the receiver what he wants to hear or what sounds good.  He is telling the receiver what the Lord wants him to know.  Blessings can bring comfort, give advice, serve as a warning, or reassure the receiver.  One of he first things that Brian said in the blessing was something to the effect that the surgery would be a little more complex than the doctor expected.  I raised my head and opened my eyes and looked at Brian like, "WHAT are you saying?"  He didn't notice me.  He went on to bless the doctor through Garrett that he could perform the surgery and that it would be successful, Garrett would recover and their would be no permanent negative effects.

The surgery was successful.  When the doctor came out to talk to me, he said it was a more difficult case than he thought but he was able to fix the problem and everything would be okay.

Garrett is recovering well - a little more quickly than expected.  We all have an increased testimony of the tender mercies of the Lord.  We know that He knows and cares about each of His children.  He has a plan for each of us.  Through prayer, the Holy Ghost and personal revelation, we can each find out what that plan is.  He is involved in the details of our lives.  He leads us and guides us and puts people and opportunities in our lives.  Through our faith and obedience, we can listen to the still small voice and make good choices that will lead us back to Him.

I know this is true.  I have always known this is true.  But I am thankful for Heavenly Father who reinforces this knowledge daily!

Don't Worry About ME! I'm Having a Ball!

All the days have run together this week
and I haven't been able to keep track of what day it is.
But I know a Friday when I see one!
Thank heavens it's Friday!

For more Friday Fun than you will ever find here -
Go see Mrs. 4444 at Half-Past Kissin Time


* I've been on newborn baby schedule the last two days.
I get up every four hours throughout the night to "feed" my baby.
Instead of delivering a bottle of milk,
I come in with the nectar of the Gods:
Percocet and an Ice Pack.
Don't you wish I was your mom?


* Garrett's "emergency" surgery went well.
He's in recovery mode.
He's a HE, so recovery includes a LOT of groaning
and saying, "You have NO idea what this feels like."


* If I EVER hear the word "balls" in ANY context again,
I will scream and ban the person from the house.


* My brother told me that there is an amnesiac in anesthesia so patients usually don't remember surgery, recovery or the first few hours after recovery.
He's mistaken.
Garrett remembers EVERY single thing he said and did in recovery.
So that means, his memory of CRAWLING from the car to the couch after surgery is crystal clear.
He hasn't forgotten that I "made" him do that.
Children's Services is probably on their way here to remove me from the home.
I'll go pack.
Will it be tropical?  Do I need a swimsuit?



* You would think that in a week's time, something else would have happened in this house.
Surely there is more going on.  But no, it's all been about "balls."
Oops, I said "balls."
Ban me from the house.
I'll go pack right now...... I'll grab a swimsuit........and a good book.

* I LOVE our weather.
Seriously LOVE it.
Yesterday was foggy, cloudy, sunny, rainy, and then tornadoey.
When the tornado sirens go off,
we always go outside to watch for a tornado.
Why would you "duck and cover" and miss all the action?
Right now it's raining water and sometimes slushy snow.
Just as long as it's not raining men, I'm happy!


* I NEED a cupcake or ten.

* Oh and for fun,
I'm joining up at
 
You should too!
Get going!
You don't need to hang out here all day!
Seriously!  Don't worry about me. 
I'm having a ball!

Celebrating Earth Day

So, it's Earth Day.

I'm not really into the environment so much.
We certainly don't litter, we try to conserve energy,
I don't purposely destroy the place, but I don't recycle.


I know, I'm so uncool, not politically correct, a rebel.


Sorry.
My parents' generation left me with an unbelievable deficit.
It's really pulled my generation together.
It's something we can fight unite over and try to solve.


So as a favor to my kids,
I'm leaving them with overflowing landfills.
Hopefully, disposable diapers will bring them together.
Besides - they are the kids who wore the diapers.


But we'll still celebrate Earth Day........
by going to Chipotle.

I don't know what that has to do with Earth Day.
It just sounds good.

PS: I WON'T throw out the little plastic basket that the burrito comes in.....so they can reuse it.
That's kind of like recycling.
See! I AM earth friendly.

Thank Heavens for Princess Ice Packs!

Remember how yesterday, I said that it had been a long week and it was only Tuesday?
Well it's only Wednesday and the week has turned out of control CRaZY!

Buckle your seatbelt.
Hold on tight.
Yesterday was a packed but brilliantly planned out day.
8:30 Parker - Orthodontist
10:30 Garrett - Urologist
1:00 - Go to church and set up for the Teacher Appreciation Dinner
3:00 - Pick up Parker and take him to the church to finish setting up
6:00 - Take Garrett and Brian and meet Garrett's teacher at the dinner and have a nice, relaxing night honoring her.

What really happened -
Things were going swimmingly until we were at the Urologist and the doctor said -
"If you were my son, I'd schedule the surgery for tomorrow."

Absolutely!
I knew what he meant was "Don't dawdle.  When you go out to the receptionist to check out, schedule surgery in the next few weeks."

But I figured out what he really meant when he threw open the door of the exam room and yelled,
"Kristin, get Matthew Cox on the surgery schedule for tomorrow."
(Don't get confused - Matthew IS Garrett)

Tomorrow?  Wait.  What?

A minute later, Kristin was right there in the exam room handing us pre-op instructions and telling us that surgery was scheduled for 2:15 today and to be at the hospital at 12:45. and don't have anything solid to eat after 6:15 in the morning.

My head was spinning.
The rest of the day just kind of went wacky.

But it's all calm now.
I KNEW the Sleeping Beauty Ice Pack that I bought Garrett the other day would come in handy!
I'm warming up or rather, freezing it right now!

Garrett's at school for his last classes of the week.
And then we're off to surgery!

THINGS I'VE LEARNED WHILE MOMMYING BOYS

It's been a long week.
What? It's only Tuesday?
Seriously?
Whatever.
At least it's RTT - RaNDoM THouGHT TueSDaY!

Go on over and see Keely at The UnMom and hook up!

And now -
THINGS I'VE LEARNED WHILE MOMMYING BOYS -

1) Your definition of a "clean" room and their's are miles apart. They have a high tolerance for clothing on the floor and are allergic to hangers.

2) Once they hit 13, you need to cook/prepare/have available TWO dinners each night.
Not snacks, not a bowl of ice cream, not a bowl of cereal, not a handful of popcorn or pretzels - two MEALS.
And they need to be different.

3) There are a LOT of slang words for private parts.
Example from last night:
Me: "Little Jimmy, say the blessing on the dinner."
Little Jimmy's Brother: "Yeah and don't forget to bless my Fruity Pebbles."

Note: It was dinner, not breakfast.
Still don't get it?  Remember, cereal is NOT dinner.

4) Never, ever ground your boys.
Really?  Who is supposed to be punished?

Real life convo -
Parker - "Yeah, my friends are always getting grounded.  How come you never ground us?"
Me: "What?  And torture myself?  I'd rather hit you and get it over with."

5) If you ever feel like putting your hands around your son's neck and squeezing really, really hard, you are normal.
Try not to do it.
Try to walk away.

6) Don't use idle threats that you could never or would never enforce.
We were at Disneyland with friends and the mom said,
"If you don't quite pinching your brother,
you're going to go sit in the car in the parking lot."
Her son knew THAT would never happen.
Who would put their kid in the car in the parking lot of Disneyland?
Be realistic.
Like when I was shopping with Garrett last fall and said,
"If you don't cut it out, I'll give you a round house kick to the head."
I could do it.
Practice round house kicks in your bedroom.
You need to be ready to follow through on threats.

7) Remember, the prime motivation to BUILD something is to DESTROY it.
Don't get all excited and think they are mini architectural geniuses when they spend hours building
Legos,
Blocks,
Popsicle Stick Houses,
Gingerbread Houses,
it's not to be creative........it's to wreak havouc.
What goes up, must come down - preferably with fire.

8) Sometimes matches aren't enough to burn things.
Cotton balls dipped in wax, lit on fire with a lighter and launched from a catapult are much more effective.

9) Sound and noise are GOOD.
Loud sounds are BETTER.
Silence is DANGEROUS.

10) Encourage contact sports.
It will be harder to determine whether YOU are responsible for the bruises or not.

11) Boys are the best thing that will ever happen to you.
Boys ROCK!
They make you laugh. They make you cry.
They make you think.  They make you wonder.
They are big and hairy and smelly and sweaty and sweet and amazing and achingly human.
I LOVE BOYS!

WHAT WILL I WEAR?

Oh!  I have a lot to say!
1. I'm exhausted.
2. Seattle was wonderful.  The wedding was fabulous.
I'll get to all of that - eventually.


While we were gone,
it was announced in church that Brian and I have a new calling.
Yep - we get to work together!!!

What will we be doing?
Get ready!
I'll give you a hint with Garrett's text message:
"You and dad got a new calling: nursery."


No, we aren't going to be co-nursery leaders.
Thanks Garrett!
Close though - Brian and I were asked to plan the Bataan Death March Pioneer Trek for 400 youth ages 14-18.
It's an eternity 3-4 days of whining hiking in Wyoming.

It follows the the trail that the pioneers took on their trek to Utah.
Fortunately, we aren't starting in Nauvoo and walking to Salt Lake City.
We're just walking 15-20 mile of the trail.


We've known for a few weeks but it was just announced yesterday.
After we were called, I woke up in a cold sweat one night concerned.
There are about 1.2 million details to be figured out -
transportation,
meals,
sleeping arrangements,
chaperones,
medical care,
I could go on and on and on.
It's overwhelming.


But that first night,
you know what shook me to my core and woke me out of a sound sleep?
I think I gave away my SECOND bonnet!


How can you possibly plan a successful pioneer trek if you don't have a cute wardrobe?
How could I have UNSELFISHLY given away my spare bonnet?
Sharing was foolish.  Look where that got me!
I only have 14 months to secure another.

My Kids Feast on the Word of God!

I was cleaning out my church bag/carry on tote for the trip to Seattle. 
I've been taking it to church because I am lugging my scriptures, lesson books, toys and snacks and books for my nephew and a calendar and assorted other things.  I may as well take a suitcase to church.

Anyway, as I was cleaning out the church stuff,
I came across a piece of paper with an announcement on it.
The Boneheads were obviously paying rapt attention to the speakers,
because they were taking notes on the back of this announcement.

Or not -


I wonder if they ate breakfast before church?

I can pick out Garrett's scrawl.  I can pick out Parker's sloppy writing as well.
Wait.  
Who wrote - "Frosted Flakes, A Cold Glass of Chocolate Milk and Krispy Kreme?"

That was the man - the GROWN MAN - who was sitting beside them.

Talk about partaking of the Bread of Life, Nuggets of Truth, the Living Water or Feasting on the Word of God.
I am so proud of the Boneheads' religiosity.

I'm NOT Compulsive

Yesterday, I was in a panic to get ready to leave town.
You know how it is.
You have to pack but you also have a long list of things to accomplish before you can leave-
like vacuuming your shoe shelves and ironing the sheets.

How did this happen?
Why am I not just ironing a blouse for the trip, but why do I insist on ironing my pajamas?
(Should pajamas have a crease in them?)
And WHO got me started on ironing sheets?

Oh, I'll tell you where the illness started or got worse or found me ironing undershirts.
Years ago, we took the family to Italy.
We were staying in a villa and the owner assured us there were laundry facilities.
The end of our stay at the villa was nearing and so were our clean clothes.
We still had a week of travel left, so I wanted to avail myself of those promised laundry facilities.
We found the owner and asked him

Turns out, there were no laundry facilities on the property.
He meant that the same person who did his laundry could do our laundry.
How convenient.
I emptied a large (and mean large) duffle bag and packed every dirty pair of pants, shirt, pair of socks and boxers I could get my hands on and presented it to the owner.

Turns out the laundress wasn't on the premises.
He took the laundry to town.
I don't know where.
It came back the next day
with a bill.
150 Euros!
Are you serious????
We choked. $200 to get a week's worth of clothes washed. 
It was laughingly ridiculous.  But it was what it was.  We weren't going to let it ruin an otherwise incredible trip.  Lesson learned.

BUT EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CLOTHING WAS IRONED.
Every polo shirt.
Every pair of pants.
Every undershirt.
Every pair of boxers.
Everything.

I fell in love!
I fell in love with the Italian laundress or at least her ironing.
And so, from then on, I wanted neat little stacks of pure white t-shirts with nary a wrinkle.
I ironed all of my kids clothes (including jeans) when they came out of the dryer
That lasted about two months and then I realized that meals had to be made, toilets cleaned and the dishwasher unloaded.

Wear the wrinkled undershirts!
No one will ever see them!

But I haven't given up the sheets.
I can't NOT iron the sheets.
There is NOTHING better than climbing into a bed with clean, IRONED sheets!
I'm a sick, sick girl.

TO DO: RaNDoM, Pick Up a Weightlifting Belt, and Maybe PACK

Yea for Tuesday!
Yea for RaNDoM!

Who doesn't like RaNDoM?
Go see Keely at The UnMom. She's the one who started all of this!

* I have a list two thousand miles long of things that need to be done today.
Funny, blogging isn't on the list.
So I'll do that first.

* EVERYONE at this house is a little bit on the grouchy side.
It must be from too MUCH sleep.
Usually everybody stays up ALL night and gets up between 5 and 5:15.
Th kids went to bed at...........ready?...........8:30.
Seriously.
Brian and I would have gone to bed early too but we had to watch 10 episodes of Deadliest Catch.

* Tomorrow, Margaret and I leave for her daughter's wedding in Seattle.
Margaret is probably going to kill me.
I keep calling every five minutes to make sure she hasn't forgotten something.
Just now - "Okay, so while I was in the shower, I wondered if you had packed whatever supplies you need to bustle Laura's dress?"
Check!

* Here's Friday's conversation with the Urgent Care lady.
Me: "Hi. I think my son has a broken wrist and..........."
Urgent Care Lady: "Oh, well you can bring him in and we'll X-Ray it."
Me: "Right, but I need to know what you do if it's broken.  Can we just get it cast there?"
UCL: "Well, see, usually we can't because it's swollen."
Me: "Right.  But his wrist isn't swollen, so can we just take cae of it there?"
UCL: "Well, we usually wait a few days and send you to another doctor."
Me: "See, I'm really looking for a 'One Stop Shop."

Parker didn't seem to think it was too urgent to get to urgent care.
He went to lunch with friends at Panda Express.
I finally dragged him in about 2.
His wrist was.................broken but not swollen.
I'm a medical genius.
We left with this:

a fiberglass splint.  It's way cool because you can take it off whenever you want to, like to shower and go in the hot tub for a few seconds.

* We still went to the Orthopedic guy yesterday.

THAT'S a whole different story.

But we got a whole new official brace -

* Our doctor's appointment was at 9:15.  We got there at 9:00.  I filled out all the paperwork, turned it in and came back and sat down with Parker.  I was looked up from my book at the line of people waiting to check in with the receptionist and hmmmm............there's a guy in line with a weight lifting belt on.  You now, those wide leather belts? Weird.

But who knows, maybe it's part of some treatment he's doing or since I can only see the back, maybe it's attached to a brace or sling or something.  Hmmmmm.  There is a guy with him holding an X-Ray.

They speak with the receptionist and turn around to come sit down.

Wait............a...........minute.

What the????

Yeah...........there's something attached to the "weight lifting" belt.

It's chains with HANDCUFFS!

And the guy is in shackles.

We're at the Felon Orthopedic Clinic!

* The felon went AHEAD of us.

We walked out of our 9:15 appointment at 12:15.

I was NOT happy!

* I woke yesterday and realized there were NO bakery items in the house for breakfast.

THAT was awful.

* Don't you hate it when you are trying to get out of town and you have a million things to do and for some reason you start doing ridiculous things like - cleaning out the freezer and cleaning the crumbs out of the keyboard?  What is wrong with me?

Enough RaNDom!  I hae to go alphabetize the spices!