Zacky's best friend

Zachary had his buddy Freddy come home from school with him today.  They are in Kindergarten together, and they really are the cutest little friends.  Freddy was a little timid about coming to our house today, so once we got in the car and were on the way home I thought I would break the ice a little bit with a question.  Boy, did I pick the right question.

I asked Freddy if they had a fun Thanksgiving.  He opened right up and started telling me every detail about how his mom killed the turkey in his grandpa's garage.  He couldn't stop telling me about how exciting it was to watch the head get chopped off and all the blood and stuff coming out, and then his mom had to take out the heart from inside the turkey.  He was waaaay too detailed for it to have been a made-up story.  It was so funny.

When we got to our house, Zack showed Freddy around and they played with a million different things, first upstairs, and then in the basement.  Then they settled down to watch a movie when the UPS guy came with the first of many Christmas boxes that will be arriving in the next few days.  This box was HUGE! And clean!  Usually boxes that arrive are somewhat dirty--at least too dirty for me to be OK with on my floor.  But this one was shiny and new, so I brought it in, got out the markers and told the boys to get busy coloring the box.  Freddy had the idea to make it into a school bus and they colored for the rest of the afternoon.

I made chocolate chip cookies for them, and Freddy was in heaven.  He had never had milk with cookies before.  He looked at us like we were crazy at first, but then he was hooked.

Then it was time to take Freddy back to school where his mom was picking him up.  I asked her if the story of the turkey was true, and she admitted it was completely true.  A friend who owns a farm had given them the organic turkey, and she had indeed slaughtered it herself.  She said it was the first and the last time she would ever do that.

Next week it is Zachary's turn to go to Freddy's house.  I wonder what kind of stories he will tell them about me.

Gift for the guy who has everything

I bet he doesn't have one of these.  That's because it was just made available yesterday.  It's the Franklin Sensors ProSensor 710.

Mark's brother invented this gadget and has been working hard to get it in production, and another of his brothers is marketing it to get it out there where people can see how great it is.  So I thought I would do my part to spread the word.

We have all used a stud detector at some point.  Here's how it usually goes:  I need to hang something heavy on the wall, so I grab the stud detector out of the garage.  After about 20 swipes across a broad area on the wall, and 40 pencil marks trying to identify where the stud actually is, I put the nail or screw into the wall.  Sometimes, even with multiple scans and marking up my wall, I still missed the stud and then had an unwanted hole in the wall that needed to be repaired.

Here's how it went with the Franklin Sensors version last weekend:  I placed the sensor on the wall and three lights lit up in a row to show me exactly where the stud was behind the sheetrock.  No sliding it back and forth.  If you do slide it, then the lights change position on the display to still show you where the stud is hiding.   It really is a great product.  It would be impossible to miss getting a nail or screw into the stud using this ProSensor.  It's almost like cheating--sort of like x-ray vision for sheetrock.

Most detectors only have one sensor inside, but this one has 13 that all work simultaneously, which is why it is so accurate.  Also, with the wide display of 13 lights, the ProSensor shows you exactly how wide hidden objects are, and also will show if there are multiple objects behind the sheetrock.  No sliding back and forth, and instant accurate location of all hidden object makes for quick work of a project, and no additional reapair of unwanted holes made in error.

I had been hearing about this product for two years, and I was honestly skeptical that it would actually work.  But over Thanksgiving weekend we got to try one out on our walls, and it really was as great as I had heard it was.

It does cost a bit more than other sensors on the market, but nothing out there works like this does.   In my opinion, the accuracy and ease of use make it worth the additional cost.  I have never been able to use another stud sensor accurately.

I'm sure we all have someone on our gift list that is hard to buy for.  This ProSensor 710 would make a great gift for any guy--and even for some ladies who appreciate a good practical gift as much as I do.  Plus, while the kids are busy playing with their new toys on Christmas, the guys can have fun testing out their new stud sensor to see how it works.

Here'a link to the product on Amazon.  Just in time for Christmas!  Check it out.

Christmas time is here!

Today we made our annual trek to Martins U-Cut to get our Christmas tree.  It is an unwritten rule that if you have a 19-foot ceiling, you need at least an 18-foot tree.  And that's what we got.  A beautiful noble fir.  It is always fun (not) to listen to people tell the same joke about putting a tree that tall onto a Honda Odyssey.  Yes, it works.  Yes, we've done it before.  Yes, it will fit in our house.  Yes the kids are all ours.....Same thing every year from every person at the tree farm.

Getting the tree up the hill and to the car is really the biggest problem with getting a tree that big.  Once you get it on top of the van, it's not a big deal.  And we were amazed once again at our Bowlings Last Stand tree stand that held up a hefty, tall tree without a problem.

The kids had fun hiding while we had the furniture pushed out of the way to bring the big tree into the house.

 When we get ready for Christmas, we have to listen to a certain CD.  It is Roger Whittaker's Christmas  album.  Once we have listened to that one while getting the tree into the house, we can move on to other Christmas CDs.  But it has to start with Roger.


One good thing about having 7 kids is that I can make them carry all the boxes of decorations up and down the stairs for me.  First, we had to pack away all the fall and Thanksgiving decorations.  As they went downstairs with a box of Thanksgiving stuff, I had them bring up a box of Christmas decorations.  It made quick work of a very big project.

Savanna and Zack got busy unpacking the Nativity sets today.  Savanna is in charge of the big fancy one, and Zachary is in charge of the little wooden one.  They take their jobs very seriously.

 Some people are OK with just a few strands of lights on a tree.  Some people are OK with about 10 strands of lights on a tree.  Some people need 20.  Some people need at least 30.  That's us.  Mark does everything first-class.  Every branch gets wrapped up and down so that the wires are undetectable. This is why we don't have Christmas lights on our house--it would take too much time to do it right, so he just doesn't get started.  I believe this tree had at least 32 strands of lights on it.  And it is bright!

We all helped decorate it after Mark got the lights blazing.  Seven kids, one mom and 3 ladders.

 

After we thought we had it all perfect, we shut off the lights to see what we had accomplished.  It took us an entire day, but I think it was all worth it.
 

"It's time to play the music."

It's time to light the lights....

I am so glad I went to see The Muppets in theaters!  Wow, wow, wow.

Sure, I'm a muppet fan.  Or at least I was until Muppets From Space--hated it and haven't liked anything since then.  But Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, along with the classic Muppet movies are some of our families favorites of all-time.  But thanks to dumb old Muppets From Space, we almost waited for this new movie to come out on blu-ray before watching it.  That would have been a tragedy.

Fortunately, the theater near our house was not showing Hugo this weekend, which we had planned to see today.  They have 3 theaters devoted to Twilight  ***shiver***, so there wasn't room for all the weekend opening movies.

The Muppets was absolutely fantastic.  Fun songs, hilarious random lines, a sweet story, and just a happy, fun movie.  We were laughing out loud--all 9 of us--more times than I can count.  And I have the songs stuck in my head.   To me, you know it was a good movie when several catchy new songs are stuck in your head. I loved the songs so much that I came home and ordered the soundtrack from Amazon.

"Everything is great, everything is grand. I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand."

"Am I a man, or am I a muppet?  If I'm a muppet, I'm a very manly muppet.  Am I a muppet or am I a man?  If I'm a man that makes me a muppet of a man."

I can't even begin to tell you how much every one of us loved this movie.  That's a lot of kids a lot of different ages who all truly enjoyed the same movie.

18 thumbs waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up!  Go see it!

Turkey time

So our plans have changed for Thanksgiving.  The party itself was always going to be at our house, but when I was going to be in the hospital with Joel, I planned a simple menu of ham and funeral potatoes, with Costco rolls and pies that Mark and his family could throw together without much effort.

But now I am here for the weekend, and we are having turkey.  I bought a jumbo 25-pound Butterball last week for $10 just because it was so cheap.  Now that big boy is sitting in a bucket of brine getting ready for the feast tomorrow.  I have never brined a turkey before--always wanted to, just never did.  We'll see if it makes a big difference.

I think I am also going to be a little crazy this year and make cranberry sauce!

Mark's brother is bringing Costco pies--which are Jill-approved baked goods, and his other brother is going to make fresh rolls at our house tomorrow, so that left me a little sad to not have  a big baking project.

So I decided we will make some gingerbread turkeys with colorful icing tonight.  I can't let this holiday go by without me baking something!

Now it's off to the dental office to pull down the Christmas decor from the attic for Monday, a trip to the bank and then the grocery store.

When the kids get home from school we will be off to our traditional day-before-Thanksgiving movie together.  I really want to see The Muppets, but some people want to see Hugo.  I was originally planning to be watching Under the Greenwood Tree on my laptop at the hospital today, which is what I would actually like to do instead of going to a theater.  I have a hard time sitting through a movie.  I need to move or do something while I watch--so much to accomplish in a day that I don't find it very fun or relaxing to go to theaters.  I'd much rather wait a few months and then watch it at home on my TV while I can sew, iron, knit or pause the movie while I get up and move for a bit.

There is one movie I WILL be going to see in theaters this holiday season.  No vampires for me.  This is the guy I'm waiting to see on the big screen.  Elementary.

Foiled again

I took Joel today for a pre-operative exam with the surgeon. Although his lungs have cleared a bit, his sinuses are really congested and full of stuff. They decided it is best to postpone for a few weeks to give everything a chance to clear up, with the help of some antibiotics and a steroid. Now we are looking at Dec 13.  No reason to do the surgery while his immune system is trying to fight something already.

So we will be home for Thanksgiving after all.

Change of plans

Joel was all dressed in his gown and ready for surgery when things changed. The anesthesiologist listened to Joel's lungs as a routine thing. The look on the doctor's face changed into a worried expression. He listened again and again. And then he asked Joel to cough. Joel coughed. And up came a bunch of slime followed by many more productive coughs.  At this point I knew we were going home, but the doctors all talked for about 30 minutes trying to decide what to do. They all agreed that his left lung is full of crud and there was significant wheezing and that proceeding today would greatly increase the odds of pneumonia or other complications.

Joel was a bit excited to go home because they had just explained the catheter he would have for a few days...

Anyway, everything happens for a reason. Why did Joel wake up with a bad cough on the day of his surgery? I may never know.

So we will try again next Wednesday and give his body a week to beat the virus he has right now. I just know it was the right decision to postpone. Having a major chest surgery when your lungs are already compromised is never a good idea.

Surgery tomorrow

Joel is finally going to have the surgery that had to be postponed last May.  He will have the Nuss Bar procedure to fix his Pectus Excavatum.  It is minimally invasive, but very painful to recover from.  He'll be in the hospital for 5 days, which means I will be there as well.  It is a good thing we have so many responsible older kids to take care of things and drive everyone around while I am with Joel.

Here's a video if you are curious about what his surgery will be like.

I really have no idea what we are in for.  I have been told that the pain is more than you would imagine.  Hopefully Joel handles it well.  The good news is that the results will be instant and he will have a normal chest when the surgery is over.  Here's a "before" shot that Mark took tonight.  I'll post an "after" shot when Joel is up for it.

Resumes

I think some day I should teach a class on what to NOT put on a resume.  Sure, there are lots of things you SHOULD put on a resume, but there are definitely things you should not.  Over the past 12 years at the office, we have seen a lot of resumes.  Hundreds.   Mostly horrible.  Mostly people I would not ever call back.  Tonight I posted a job on craigslist for our front desk at the office.  Within 10 minutes I had 5 resumes.  All bad.

First, I watch for spelling.  In this day and age of spell check, how can anybody send things with spelling errors?  Sure, there is always a tricky one that spell check doesn't get because it may be spelled right, just a homophone used in the wrong context or something.  But really...that's not what I'm talking about.

Second, I check for attention to detail--overall look, spaces, extra commas, consistency in verb tenses, etc.

Third, I look at their job history.  Really, some people will send a resume where they have had 8 jobs in the past 2 years.  Why would I look twice at that person?  Those go straight to the trash.

Fourth, I look for statements that let me know that they are not interested in a long-term position.  Like someone who is going to school pursuing a criminal justice degree and graduating next year.  That's all fine, but not someone I want to hire and train in a medical office if they will be leaving next summer after they graduate.

Fifth, I look at where they live.  If they live within 20 minutes I figure that is somebody who could be a long-term employee.

Anyway, here are a few good spelling errors from the first resume I saw today: Qualifacations, avalible, responcabilitys (spelled twice this way...not a good sign), and she earned her GED from a local community "Colege."  Great.  Another girl looked quite promising from her cover letter, but her resume referred to "ruber dams" and that she is "CPR certifided."

The second resume didn't have spelling errors, but she definitely lacked attention to detail.  Her cover letter stated, "I am responding to the employment opportunity listed on your Web site. Please accept this letter and my attached resume as evidence of my interest, in applying for the legal receptionist position at your law firm with the starting wage of 11 dollars an hour."  She sent me the cover letter she had written for another job listing--we are not a legal office, did not post the job on our web site, and I did not mention any starting wage in my ad.  Perhaps this would have just been funny, but it was actually quite ironic because her next sentence says, "I am very detail oriented."  Sure, honey.

The third resume wasn't much, but everything was spelled correctly.  It is someone who admits she has no experience in the medical field, but is willing to learn and she has worked as an appointment setter at her current job for 7 years.  I just might give her a call.

A busy week

I abandoned my husband and kids last weekend for a trip to Utah.  I spent last Wednesday with my mom, and met up with some old friends for dinner.  Then Thursday I went to the annual Bradley Girls Party in St. George.  I spent the weekend knitting, baking, laughing and having a great time with my favorite ladies in the world.  Then Sunday night I spent with my family celebrating my dad's 65th birthday.  It was very fun, because a couple of years ago we never thought he would have a 65th birthday.

Then I came home and played catch-up for all the things I had slacked on.  Laundry and cleaning were first.  And then it was time to sew.  Last month I offered to sew a dress for someone in our ward who will be sealed in the temple tomorrow.  I got distracted sewing all the Halloween costumes, and didn't get a chance to really sew her dress until this week.   I finished it up last night, and luckily all the kids were home from school today so our house could get a deep cleaning.  I told the kids we could go to PicoBerry when the house was clean, and they all pitched in and did whatever I said.  We're all shiny now and ready for a big party at our house tomorrow night.

I got a few projects done today that have been waiting for a while.  I have long had framed portraits of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington hanging in a hallway.  About a year ago I bought portraits of 6 more founding fathers to hang in the basement.  I framed them all, and then they sat there because I dreaded the project of getting 6 things to  hang all perfectly in a row.  But today I did it, and it looks awesome.
When I was in Utah with my mom, I took my first trip to Pier 1 Imports.  I never had been there before, although there is one only 4 miles from my house.   I found so many treasures!   I found this cute owl for my kitchen wall.

And I found this set of 3 owl prints for the wall above my piano.  It's exactly what I needed.

We have lived in our house for almost 10 years and the walls are all painted beautiful colors, but I have never hung anything up.  I was waiting to find just the right things, and Zachary hated shopping so I didn't get too much of a chance to go out looking for just the right things before he was in school.  Maybe I will get crazy and make some curtains or throw pillows here soon.

Colonoscopy!

Has it been 3 years already?  Yes, it has.  Three years ago a colonoscopy saved my life.  A pre-cancerous polyp was found and removed.  My doctor ordered me to come back in five years and to instruct my siblings to have colonoscopies as well.  This was not only because of what they found in me at my age, but also because of the fact that my father had colon cancer at a relatively young age.

And all of my siblings went in for their colonoscopies.  4 siblings, 3 of them also had polyps.  So my doctor saved their lives as well by encouraging them to get checked.

So do the math.  Dad with colon cancer+80% of his children with colon polyps in their '30s.

My doctor then decided that I should come back every 3 years.  And it's that time again!  Next month I go back for part 2.  Not that I am excited to have a colonoscopy again, but I am glad to know that the technology is there to keep an eye on things (that's a horrible way to phrase that, but oh well).

This past year my next door neighbor was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 46.  2 little kids, healthiest, fittest guy I know.  He has done everything right, had absolutely no risk factors, and yet he has colon cancer.  His case was almost identical to my dad's, including its location in the liver as well.  I told him at the beginning he was going to beat it, because my dad had battled nearly the same thing and come out on top.  He is fighting like a champ, and everything is looking like he will be a survivor.

Just like my adorable dad.  We are so lucky to have him still around to tell the kids excellent bedtime stories and take them to the air force base.  The kids love to hear his stories about everything, and they really love to see his scars from his cancer surgeries and hear the stories about where they came from.

Why did I write this post?  Just to encourage everyone reading it to go have a colonoscopy.  It's really not a big deal.  Sure, it's not that fun, but it's not scary at all.  The only thing scary is NOT having one done.