Where's Your Voice?

I don't know about you, but throughout the last year I've spent a lot of time watching politics. It was the first time I felt like I really figured out my own political beliefs. Knowing what I believe in has made me want to do more. I've been considering starting a blog dedicated to all things political. But to be honest, I probably won't, becauseI typically avoid confrontation at all costs. All of this might just be a result of listening to way too much talk radio these days.

Anyway, I'm sure we all know about the budget crisis facing Arizona's schools. This is MAJOR. Now since Arizona doesn't have the ability to just print up our own money like the federal government, I guess we won't be passing any stimulus package to send our great great great great great grandchildren into debt. So we have to find another solution. I don't think our legislators are looking hard enough to find feasible solutions. I don't want to see teacher salaries cut (let's go ahead and put them below the poverty line, why don't we?), class sizes double, half day kindergarten, a shortened school week, etc.

I was impressed to read this editorial the other day, describing a local superintendant who is speaking out and gathering the masses to say "Enough!". He says the legislature doesn't even have an idea of what these budget cuts will mean for our kids. He started a website, respectforregularfolks.com, to try and make a difference. He has a link to all of the state legislators email and phone numbers. I know I'm going to start emailing.

How about you?

So Far in 2009 . . .

Hannah won her district spelling bee, so on to regionals it is.

Noah learned how to ride without training wheels.

Kendall and I had a great time at the Phoenix Children's Museum.

Joey celebrated his birthday (no he's not three, that's just how many candles I had!)

We celebrated by spending a weekend up north without the kiddos. It was great. Even standing in the snow it really wasn't that cold, but the scenery was beautiful.

I think we're off to a good start.

Shocker

For those of you who follow the Arizona Cardinals, you may say that the fact they are going to the Super Bowl is no shocker. They've worked hard, they had a good season, they deserve it, it's their time, yadda yadda yadda. Personally, I have enjoyed mocking my hometown team's losing record for many years now.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they usually only play on Sundays, or the fact that my husband has always been a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan (picture this: his bedroom growing up had the Cowboys star painted on the wall), or the fact that my dad was never really interested in NFL football, or maybe just the fact that they were always losing, but I just never got into the Cardinals. I could not grasp those die hard, face painting, jersey wearing, tailgating fans of NFL football. I love baseball, enjoy the Suns, don't mind going to a Coyotes game, and I'd watch ASU football any old time, but I scoffed at the use of taxpayer money to build the Cardinals a state of the art stadium. (I mean, the Cardinals? Come on.)

But then, something weird happened. First, I like the respect that the stadium brings to the West side. And then, yesterday, I was checking the score online before church, and even turned on the radio in the car. I forgot something at home and so I went home during Sunday School, and when I got back to church, I didn't want to leave the radio because I was dying to know the end of the game. I was actually happy for the Cardinals. I wanted them to win. I cared about the outcome. That's the real shocker here.

Call me a fair weather fan if you will. I don't care. I just say that I didn't waste all those years paying attention and being disappointed by a losing team. I read a fan quote in the paper last week that summed it up well: "A lot of people have been trying to find a reason to love this team for a long time." So I'll root for the Cardinals in the Super Bowl with my typically low expectations, because they finally gave me a reason, and whether my love will continue past this season is yet to be seen. I make no promises.

Remembering

When I realized the date today, it took me back twelve whole years to when Hannah had surgery as a baby. I thought I'd write down the story.

She had been sick for a few days, with a fever and just not acting quite right. She was 8 months old and just starting to crawl. She all of a sudden stopped crawling and when she would sit up she would lean to one side strangely. I took her to the doctor and of course she acted fine while we were there. The doctor went ahead and ordered x-rays of her leg and hip just to make sure nothing was wrong. That was on the 13th. The next day she seemed a little better, and the doctor told us that the x-rays were normal. That night, she had a raging fever all night and didn't sleep, it seemed like her hip was hurting, and my mom and I knew that something was definitely wrong. We took her to the doctor as soon as they opened (January 15th) and they did some blood work. They did a test to find her "sed rate" which measures inflammation in the body. A normal range for her would have been 0-15, and hers was 40. They also reviewed the x-rays again and realized that the x-ray technician had not done the hip, just the leg. They immediately sent us to the hospital.

I was supposed to start a new job at Wells Fargo that day, and I had to call them and tell them what was going on. I was worried I would get fired, but I obviously didn't care about anything but Hannah at that point. When we got to the hospital they did some more tests, including a spinal tap. They did not let me come in the room and I just stayed out in the hall crying and completely freaking out. They determined that she had a bacterial infection that had settled in her hip joint and needed to be cleaned out through surgery. Some time that evening, they took her into surgery. I cannot describe the feeling of having your child taken away on a gurney and realizing that you have no control over their life at that point. I'm so thankful that she received a priesthood blessing.

The surgery went perfectly and they were able to completely clean out the infected area. We still to this day do not know exactly what caused the infection. It could have been an injury that we didn't realize she had, or just an infection that thought her hip would be a nice place to live. We will never know. She stayed in the hospital for nine long days after that. I would sleep in one of those reclining chairs each night next to her metal hospital crib which looked more like a cage. At some point she would end up in the chair with me and I would fall asleep nursing her. My mom would come to the hospital every morning so I could run home and take a shower, and then come straight back. We had a great medical staff that took care of her, from nurses to our pediatrician to the infectious disease doctors and her surgeon.

She had to have a pick line put in her shoulder so that IV antibiotics could be administered to make sure that the infection was completely taken care of. We had to learn how to do that and keep it clean Amazingly she has no scar from the surgery and just the slightest scar from the pick line. My mom had started a new job right before this happened and she was absolutely hating it. When Hannah was sick she called and quit her job, which turned out to be one of the biggest blessings. Being a single mom I already relied on my parents a lot, but I would not have been able to work or go to school if my mom had not quit her job and taken care of Hannah during that time. I also think about how young and uneducated I was about everything that was going on. Thank goodness I had my parents to ask questions and keep up with the medical side of everything.

We had to follow up with the surgeon for several years after that, because there was a chance that Hannah could have had one leg shorter than another or other permanent damage from the surgery, but by the time she was about 4 they determined that she would have no side effects from the experience. That was such a relief as well.

I know many of you have experienced traumatic moments with your children and can relate to how scary it is. I'm grateful that we were so blessed. (Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that while all this was going on, my brother Chris found out that he was going to have brain surgery! When it rains, it definitely pours. Thankfully there was a happy ending to that story too.)

I wish I had a scanner so I could post a baby picture of Hannah!

A List

Since I haven't had much to blog about lately, and I left my camera at my brother's house so I don't have any current pictures from Christmas, etc. to post, I copied this from Callie's blog. You copy and paste and then put in bold the items that you have done before. With sarcastic comments, of course.

Started your own blog (you're reading this aren't you?)
Slept under the stars (girl's camp)
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity (does tithing count?)
Been to Disneyland
Climbed a mountain (not a big one though)
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo (I sing solo all the time, but actually solo, as in no one else is listening)
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning (most likely)
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty-I have seen it from a distance though
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on a train (I did recently ride on the light rail though)
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked (just for fun though, I wouldn't have really gotten in the car)
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (of course!)
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping (don't ask)
Run a Marathon-how about walk a 5K? does that count?
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse-I think I might have when I was little but I'm not sure
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run (I used to pick weeds in the outfield when I played t-ball)
Been on a cruise (I wish)
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (if Kentucky counts)
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language (taught myself some sign language when my kids were babies)
Had enough money to be truly satisfied (not currently, but in the past)
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted (maybe by my kids??)
Gone deep sea fishing
Gone without food or water for 24 hours or longer (I used to go long periods without eating in high school, but I'm not sure about 24 hours)
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie (home movies?)
Visited the Great Wall of China (are you talking about the real one or the restaurant with the same name that was by our house growing up?)
Started a business (the joys of home day care)
Taken a martial arts class
Stayed up for 24 hours with NO sleep at all (aahhh, college)
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout Cookies-I've bought my share though
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (are the Nazis still keeping people in concentration camps?)
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Changed a lightbulb
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle (high school boyfriend with a motorcycle!)
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book (Shutterfly)
Visited the Vatican (no, but I've visited Temple Square, the LDS equivalent of the Vatican, and I've been to the National Cathedral and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and St. Patricks in NYC)
Bought a brand new car
Mowed the lawn (just a few weeks ago for the first time ever)
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible (that Old Testament scares me a little)
Visited the White House (didn't go inside though)
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life (my friend Lisa from grade school swears that I saved her life in the pool once)
Sat on a jury (I've been to jury duty one time though)
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake (why would you want to?)
Been involved in a law suit (why do you think I'm so rich?)
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee

Copy and paste on your blog, if you want to!
By the way, I got my haircut today. It's fabulous. I'd post a picture but I don't have my camera.

Merry Christmas

If I would have had a Christmas card, it might have looked like this:

Merry Christmas, and here's to hoping that 2009 brings more frequent blog posts from me!

Figured it out, kinda sorta

I stayed up way too late last night because the Google Reader thing STILL wasn't working, and it was driving me crazy. I think I finally got it to work correctly, the only problem is that in Google Reader it lists my blog as being called "Family Gems", but it is feeding my posts correctly. I suppose you can rename it in your Reader, as I still haven't figured out how to correct it.

On another note, I discovered that Blogger essentially has NO customer service, just some help topics and a help forum. No way to contact them directly. Nice.