Update......Things are getting better......

So I realize that title isn't very interesting, but it is true.  As of yesterday (monday) Scott was no longer employed full time.  He is only working on-call nights and weekends for Autocare.  This decision was reached mutually between Autocare and us.  He missed a lot of work when he had pnemonia, and then he needed a lot of days off for testing for various Fire Departments.  So he is just now working a little to supplement our income, which is sad if you think that I only work 20 hours a week at Lynn's Audio & Video, sorry I digress.  So yesterday was his first day at home.  It almost killed him.  He hates not working or having a "purpose".  I constantly remind him that his purpose is to study and get the best scores on his tests he can.  So today rolls around and we get a phone call, he made it to the top of the list on the Ogden Fire Department and they have an opening so he has an interview with the Fire Chief of the Ogden Fire Department.  We are so excited BUT trying to not get to excited because we realize he isn't the only guy they are interviewing, we just hope he is the best!! 

So here is our future plans, he interviews at Ogden tomorrow, then he has the physical test at Logan on Friday THEN we are heading to Jerome Idaho on Tuesday. 

So I just got back from LaShars and I was talking to Jenny and I told her how Scott and I were talking and we wonder if DeLoy had a hand in the Ogden testing because he promised he would help Scott get a job.  He was always so worried about us and Scott getting a firefighter job.  I had kind of put that out of my head and Jenny says of course it's DeLoy.  She knows he is watching out for all of us because she is not ready for him to leave us all yet so she knows he is still here with all of us.  I would love to believe DeLoy is watching us from Heaven, but I wonder if he is so busy enjoying the afterlife pain free?  I love Uncle DeLoy and I know he wants nothing but the best for all of us and if there is anything he could do to assist any of us from up above he would do it.

Love you all.

More Animal Smiles

It seems I have been blogging about my animals a lot lately, but here you go.  First let me say I realize animals are a lot of work BUT i can't even imagine my life without them.  It is very very rewarding and the love they give is great, even when they do something bad (Titan) and he looks at me with those sad puppy eyes that just seem to say "I'm sorry, I won't do it again" and I believe him. 

So here is a little background to the photos to follow.  We have Duke our 9 year old English Bulldog.  Now 9 years old is very old for Bulldogs and he is almost completely blind but he is hanging in there.  Titan is our 5 month old Engligh Mastiff.  Yes we seem to have an affinity for animals with flat faces (Pebbles and Duke) and any breed that has English in the title.  Titan being a puppy loves nothing more than to play and he would play all day long if we were able or Duke could stand it.  The best part of Titan's day is when Duke gives in and plays with him, unfortunately Titan is clumsy and plays very very hard with poor old Duke.  So after a long hard game of torture Duke this is how Titan makes it up to him.  These pictures were hard to get because if they see us Titan stops doing it.  So sorry for the spots, it was taken through my dirty sliding glass doors but you can still get the idea of how much they love and understand each other.  Duke even seems to be enjoying it.

So I hope you can tell from these slightly blurry photos that Titan has his paw around Duke's shoulders and he is licking behind his ear.  Duke loves having his ears scratched and it appears that Titan has figured this out.  Most of the time Duke acts like he doesn't like Titan and he is just too old for this dumb puppy but then I catch moments like that and I can see it's all just for show, Duke really does like Titan.

For the record I have seen Titan hold Mason down with his ginormous puppy paw and lick him all over.  It is just cute, but I haven't been able to get a pic of that one yet.

At a loss for words

Answer to what happened to Pebbles (the cat) Yes Mason did dip her in the toilet, but to make it worse he then rolled her in her litter.  If you look closely at the last photo you can see the specks of litter.  Do you know what litter is?  IT's clay so when it gets wet it gets soggy.  It took me forever to brush all teh litter out of her long pretty hair.  So instead of being tar'd and feathered, she got toilet and littered. 

So I am not really at a loss for words, but I am at a loss for the next topic to blog about.  I have a lot to say but I am having a hard time narrowing it down.  Let's see dinner was good.  I love artichokes.  Work was good just same bills different day.  Life has finally slowed down, kind of.  Scott has so many firefighter tests this next 2 weeks I just can't believe a job doesn't come from one of these.  Seriously people we will move to where the work is.  So which ever job comes in first we are out of here, well if it is outside of Northern Utah.  No one is sick.  I know it is a modern day miracle, it seems someone is always sick in our house.  Scottie's last day of work is on Friday then he is officially unemployed, he is just working on call nights and weekends.  In the summer he made bank doing nights and weekends but now all the vacationers have left and it has been deader than dead.  Oh well, so goes life.

So since I can't focus my wandering mind we'll play a game. Guess what happened to the kitty. Here are some pictures of my poor kitten from yesterday and the only hint is it did not do this to itself, it had assistance.

Colton did not do it, he was just consoling her while I laughed and took pictures.  So leave me a comment and let me know your guess the probably tomorrow I will post the correct guess or I will just tell you what really happened because it is kind of funny.

Cute Things

So here are some things that cheered me up, maybe they will cheer you up also.  First off here is my new kitten.

She is soooo cute.  We are still kicking around some random names.  Right now we call her Pebbles, but Scott hates it.  His name choices are Lint or Stella.  I like Pebbles or Duchess.  She is so playful and just cute.  We really love her.  She is our bright light in our very stressful life right now and she is just what we needed.  In case any of you care, she is a pure bred Persian cat.  The owner didn't want her because she is the runt and is so small.  So we got her.  We love you Lint, Fungus, Stella, Duchess......whatever your name is.

Now here are some photos of Bowen's football game today.  For the record Scott took these photos and there isn't much of a chance to get frontal photos of my boy so pictures of his back will have to do.  He is number 80 and today he got to be a team captain.  If I do say so he looks pretty cute from behind.  He just looks so grown up.

Isn't he cute? I mean isn't he handsome?  He doesn't like the word cute anymore.

Here are a few pictures Scott snapped while we were watching.  In case you care, we lost 21 to 14.  Oh well we have a fun game.  The high point for Bowen was when he tackled the runner who had the football.  He grabbed his jersey and held on just like his coach said.

This is how Mason gives big hugs.  I can be painful, but he is sweet.

See You Later

No I am not leaving, that is just what Dallas said at the funeral  yesterday.  On Wednesday night after the viewing Scott and I were hungry and we were talking about going to grab something to eat and then Dallas said he was hungry to.  So we all loaded up dressed up as we were and took Dallas to Hamilton's.  He said he had never eaten there before so we decided to go since we were all dressed up.  The hostess was nice and asked what we were celebrating.  Scott just whispered to her it was a funeral and boy did she feel bad.  It wasn't her fault how was she suppose to know?  Anyway we had a great dinner and Dallas was deffinately hungry, LOL.  We had a great talk, boy do I love that boy!!  We enjoyed his company sooo much.  So as we were getting ready to leave and I think we spent the entire dinner talking about his Dad, but I think he just needed to talk, so we just listened, Scott was quiet most of the time then at the end he told Dallas when his grandma died she told him not to say goodbye to her, just say "see you later" because in reality that is all it is, a see you later.  So while Dallas said it was me that told him that it was Scottie.

What a beautiful funeral.  My Craw relatives sang like angles, as did the little kids who sang as good as they could.  My kids took it so seriously that they were singing for Uncle DeLoy and I told them I was sure there were other spirits there also helping us through and they needed to sing good for them and I think they did great.  It was nice to hear Jenny and the girls talk and Dallas.  He was so concerned that he say the right things, and I told him there was nothing wrong he could say about his dad.  Wow I cant' believe I am still crying.

That brings up another interesting point.  While I am sad about DeLoy and yes I did cry, but I was able to hold it together mostly because I believe.  I believe DeLoy isn't "dead", I believe he is in Paradise enjoying his relief of pain and suffering, I believe he is waiting for us, I believe he is enjoying reunions with family that has already passed, I believe he is there to prepare a way for us and I believe he is there so when it is my time I won't be afraid because he is there. 

I do believe it interesting though that no matter what my Uncle did to me as far as jokes or riding 4-wheelers in the desert I trusted him 100%.  Some may call it a child's trust, but I will alwasy be a child to him looking up and trusting like he could do no wrong, that is how I felt about Uncle DeLoy.  I would jump on a 4-wheeler or a motorcycle with him in a heartbeat and never doubt I was safe, and believe me I did it a few times and afterward Scottie was like "I can't believe you jsut did that" because I won't ride on a motorcycle with him but I would with DeLoy.  I used to love going for rides on his Dakati before he sold it.  Heck, I would put my kids on that bike with him, and believe it or not they all got to ride.  Because of the trust I had in him I know that when it is my time and he is there  all he has to do is reach out his hand and I will take it and follow him wherever with no doubt in my heart I will be safe.

My Uncles were great at teh funeral with the prayers they offered and how they stoically carried the casket from teh church and then at the cemetary.  The dedication was beautiful and I was privilaged to some of those rare moments seeing Uncle Bill and Uncle Scott hugging each other.  It was tender and made me cry all over again.

No matter how different we are as families (and believe me we are different) we are still family.  We love each other, through it all.  Some days it may not seem that way but I know that any of my Aunts or Uncles would come to my aid if I just asked, and it is comforting to know that.

I love you all. 

Seriously Does it Ever Stop???

The answer to that question is a resounding NO.  Oh well, first let me say even though I put on a tough exterior and I try to keep things in perspective with the big picture in life, I want you to all know that I do have my moments of weakness.  I do breakdown and cry over the small things like a baby needing her mommy, but then I get up and get going again.  What did I cry over today you ask?  Well my clothes dryer blew up.  Yes I said blew up.  I must admit it was a contained explosion, but non the less it is dead, toast, kaput, swimming with the fishes.  Well not swimming with the fishes yet, that would require me to remove said piece of offending appliance which I am not strong enough to do or believe me I would.  We have had this dryer for 7 years and it wasn't the best when we bought it.  We didn't have any money so we bought a cheap dryer cause who cares about your dryer right?  As long as the washer is nice the dryer can be a POS.  Well we have replaced the belt and the heating element 2 times in the last year.  The repair place told us that was a sign that it was very quickly wearing out.  Well we were hoping it would last a little longer.  This morning I went down to change the laundry and turned on the dryer and the horriable loud pitches squeeling came out of it followed with the unmistakeable smell of burning.  I turned it off and just to verify my findings I turned it on again to have the exact thing happen again this time followed by a muffled yet distinctive boom.  That is it, my dryer died.  I do not have an outside line and even if I did I am sure my loving mastiff puppy Titan would tear everything down.

So here is my next connundrum, we have no money.  I mean no mula, pesos, dollars, bling bling, nothing.  We had some savings but since Scott's bout with pnemonia we are flat broke and paying doctor's bills and living expenses since he missed 10+ days of work.  Oh dryer I didn't really hate you that much.  You always dried my clothes in one cycle most of the times.  You handled the wet tennis shoes we occasionally threw in you and you held up remarkable to 4 moves and being bumped and dragged up and down countless stairs.  Couldn't you have waited a few more months for when Scott got his real job a a firefighter/EMT and we could afford a new dryer?  Couldn't you hang on like our old falling apart mini-van and just last a little longer?  Was 1 more winter too much to ask? 

I almost can't stand to break this to Scott, he is just gonig to hang his head and ask "what next?" but I will then cheerfully remind him that it is only a clothes dryer and the pioneers never had one and we can do also it's only wet clothes.  I wonder what our neighbors will think when they see my batch of wet jeans over the front railing?

**Update - Scott came home and I told him the dryer was broken and sounded like there was a dying cat in the motor.  So he stoicaly went downstairs to see what I had done and he turned it on, it squeeled and then went away and has worked just fine.  Isn't that how it works, the car is broken UNTIL you take it to the mechanic.  The dryer doesn't work UNTIL the husband gets home.  Oh well, needless to say I am glad to have my dryer back.  Since Scott is no longer working there is NO way we could afford a new dryer.

Uncle DeLoy

Well I was woken up this morning by a phone call from my Grandpa Elder.  Just seeing his name on my caller ID and I knew what he was going to tell me.  I had told them to call me when DeLoy passed no matter what time.  So without him telling me I knew what had happened.  Surprisingly enough I did not cry.  I just sat there for a minute then I called my mother.  I knew my grandpa had probably called her, but I wanted to know if he had called my sisters or if I needed to.  Being she just got out of the hospital on Saturday she told me to do it, she was still kind of out of it.  It didn't sound like she had done much crying either.  I guess it just hasnt' sunk in yet.  I am sure when I go out to the house to see Jenny and the kids that it will hit me then when he is not in his bed any longer. 

While I am releived that he has passed and I know he is with the Lord doing his work, what makes me sad is the fact he suffered so long.  It also makes me sad that he left behind his wife he loved so much and waited so long to find the right women for him, and he left his wonderful boys behind.  During this last 9 months I have been able to spend a lot of time with Dallas.  It has been great.  He is a wonderful boy, and now a great man.  He calls when he has problems and needs to talk or needs help doing his resume for a job.  He says I am "cool", but saying that he makes me feel old.  Oh well I guess that comes with being the oldest cousin, he even called me his Aunt once adn I about fell over, LOL.  That family has been through so much I am glad the suffering has come to an end and now a different kind of pain sets in.  The pain of the loss.  The going to call DeLoy and then remembering he isn't going to answer.  He was always so candid about what he was going through.  In fact I remember when he was first diagnosed, we had come from Washington for the Memorial Day breakfast Grandpa did every year.  We made the trip for this one because they had sold teh farm for real and were going to move.  I remember very clearly asking DeLoy "How are you doing?" and his answer was "I can't poop"  and that right there was the first talk of poop and it just went on from there.  The next day they did his colonoscopy and found the cancer and our lives took on a new normal and we were always talking about DeLoy's poop, because let's be honest that is how he judged what kind of day he was having.  He went through so much and we all were able at one point or another support him in our own ways.  Whether it was visiting him in the hospital in SLC or Logan, driving him to Chemo, buying him treats, going on vacations, doing his books, or attending the Relay for Life.  All of those things meant so much to him and he remembered him all, I know he did because he would like to recall those things when he was just talking.

I want you all to know that DeLoy had spirits with him for the last week preparing him for his passing.  There were always 3 men in his room and there was 1 lady he saw in his bathroom.  He saw them all the time.  You could feel the spirit when you walked into his room IF you were not paying attention to the fact he was dying, but to the "feel" of his room.  The reason he was not in pain was because of those spirits. I will be eternally grateful for whoever came to help DeLoy leave us, because I know then he wasn't alone and I hope he wasn't afraid.  The fear of the unknown made him uncomfortable but I think the Lord knew that and sent them to offer comfort to DeLoy. 

I know now we all have a Guradian looking over us from Heaven and when our time comes we will have someone there we know who will greet us with open arms so we won't be scared.

I love you all.

Charity

Summer Fun

Well here are just a few random pictures from today. First off Bowen's team won their football game 7-6 in a sudden death overtime. To be honest that was the only part of the game that was interesting was the end. The regulation game ended 0-0 and they they give them 4 chances from teh 10 yard line to score, then whoever scores the most wins. Here is a picture of Mason with Bowen's helmet on. He kept it on all night and wouldn't leave us alone until we took his picture. 

After the game Scott decided to take the kids hiking up Millville Canyon with Titan.  I have not been feeling the best lately so he decided to give me some "down" time.  I think I am fine, just getting worn down from all that has been going on lately.  So here is a cute pic of all teh kids and Titan, it is hard to believe he is only 5 months old.

Random, completely random.

I do not promise or will I even try to keep this post to one topic, so please excuse where my fingers take me they are in control.

I am up early this morning 6:00 AM to get Bowen off to school. I HATE getting up this early. I don't like sleeping in either. My ideal "wake" time is 7 AM. Oh well. At least it isn't 5:30 like in Washington. I miss Washington. I miss our friends. I miss the mountains, the river, the Ward. I miss it a lot. It turns out Scott misses it a lot also. I think we decided that if Scott still has not landed a firefighter job by next spring in Utah he is going to start testing in NE Washington for a job up there. I feel guilty for uprooting my kids from Colville and bringing them here. They were so happy there. They had great friends and I loved teh smaller schools. They are still having trouble finding friends here and it has been 1 1/2 years. YEsterday I went and watched Bowen at the end of his football practice and he was running his drills by himself away from the team. When they did the team "cheer" he was not in the huddle, but standing outside and away from it. He claims he loves football but he has made no buddies on the team. He doesn't say bye to anyone and let's be honest they act like they don't even see him. Oh well. He isn't the best player on the team so why pay attention to him right? Well then I get comments from all teh kids "remember when we did this in Washington? Remember when I played with this friend? Remember Uncle Hosehead(David)" I know we came home for a reason and Scott now has a education and a career, now I wonder how bad it woudl be if we went back? Now everyone don't freak out, we aren't leaving now, it would be next year, and only after Scott gets a job up there, but honestly I can't wait. I don't think we can go back to Colville because there isn't much industry there BUT we can go close and work in Spokane. Oh the thought of it just makes me smile. I guess I just worry my kids arent' happy and they don't say anything to me because they don't want to worry me.

Scott seems to be feeling better. We are going to teh doctor today at 9:30 for a check up and to see if he can go back to work. Oh yeah Work!! They apologized and "need" him back. He is going back but only after making some changes. Right now he works for them 24/7 and that needs to change. He works from 8-5 and then he is on call any time after that. So he is going to suggest he work just the on call after hours as dispatch and a driver so he can have his days to study, test, interview and exercise. Unfortunately he has gotten out of shape with working so much and attending school and the bad part is when you are a firefighter you HAVE to stay in shape. So this is our solution. He makes 2 1/2 times as much just doing dispatch and going on calls, so it works out just fine $$.

Mom is doing well. She ended up needing a blood transfusion. She didn't loose to much blood during the surgery BUT because of her cancer it seems to inhibit her ability to reproduce her blood at a rate acceptable to the doctors, so 2 quarts here she comes. I think she will be fine.

DeLoy is still the same, well I guess he is worse. He can no longer lift his hands to feed himself and can't make it to the bathroom anymore. If he talks you can barely hear him and have to put your ear right up to his mouth to hear anything and most of the time it is just jibberish. We believe he is seeing angels in his room. He talks and sees 3 old men a lot and there is a girl in his bathroom that upsets him. It isn't the girl that upsets him as much as that she is in his bathroom and he is still trying to get out of bed to help the men in his room. We think the spirits are there so he isn't afraid and to prepare him for the other side. One reason we believe this is in the last 2 weeks he has had no pain. Those of you who spent time with him a few weeks ago knwo he was in extreme pain. He would cringe and tears would fall just from simple movements or when he went to teh bathroom. That is gone now. It is simply a miracle. They have not had to do a morpheine drip like was planned, the pain is completely managed through his same meds he has been taking for sometime and we consider this a great blessing.

Okay I could go on. I know i know it's scary, but I like to type as much as I talk. I will end though to spare you. Thanks.

Inspired and Relevant

Well that was my goal today. To write about something that inspired me and maybe would inspire others and to keep it relevant. Relevant to what you say? Well to whatever I was inspired by. Today I am going to write about life in general. The good and the bad. The ups and the downs. Not all of them of course, but just those I experienced today.

First off I am being inspired by Jim Croce, he is now singing Photographs and Memories.....I love that song. yes I have a diverse love of music.

So you all know Scott is sick. Well because his illness his employer has questioned his "dedication" to his job. This made me sooooo fighting mad. I felt more like he was my child at school who had a teacher that needed a talking to instead of a supportive wife. I wanted to march down there and give them a piece of my mind that goes kind of like this: My husband works for you 24/7 (that is literal, he works all day long and then is their afterhours dispatcher/truck driver) so he is never NOT working. I believe that is one of the reasons he got so sick, he was working so much and going to school. I am sure Mandy can relate to this, but it appears Michael handles it better than Scott. See I digress. So I got over that and I have come to the conclusion of this: It is only money. That is it. My love of my husband does not revolve around the $$ he brings in. If that was it I would have left him a long time ago. Other wives would keep him going at that rate because the $$ is very good, but the trade off is not seeing him ever. And unlike Michael (sorry for picking on you Mandy) Scott would have no end. Michael has an end and Mandy can look forward to that. If Scott stayed at his job there would be no end. Because of that fact I just look at them now and say "If you care so little for your employees who are EXTREMELY ILL then we don't need you" Scott can find another job and he is actively looking for one. He did not go to school to become a firefighter so he could work as a tow truck driver. So even though we were delt another blow with this pnemonia it is okay and we are totally at peace with this turn of events. Funny how that happens huh? This is something that for other couples/families could be completely devastating and we look at each other and go "oh well, we can handle anything together" One reason may be because Uncle DeLoy is so close to death and once you watch death come it makes petty things like money seem less important. Now we will never be wealthy, but I don't care, I just want to be happy. Have my hubby work at a job he loves and be home when he is done, in our modest little (yes I am sure little) home and spend time with our family. Is that too much to ask???? Now Scott is so sick he is putting in jeopardy his testing/interview for Midvale Fire Department next week. He has to be in tip top physical condition to pass the physical test with a good enough time to move on and right now he can't go up 14 stairs with a load of laundry without having a coughing fit. And once again "Oh Well"

Now for the good. My 11 year old still thinks I am cool. He prefers to hang with his buddies instead of the girls that are "looking" at him. I get these questions "mom why do those girls keep looking at me and writing me notes" he just doesnt' understand what they want. He doesn't write back, and they probably think he is rude, but he doesnt' "see" girls yet and I am completely fine with that. He still thinks his dad is cool and will come to us with anything. I hope it always stays that way even though I am sure it will change. Colton is super sweet and is a sneakey trouble maker BUT we love him tons. He is very creative at getting out of his chores. Rainee is deffinately a princess. She loves fingernail polish, dance lessons with Aunt Jenn and stickers. She is very loving also. Mason, oh little Mason. I think there is a special place for your youngest child and there is also a reason they are the youngest. Mason could give anyone a run for their money. I show up at preschool today to find him dressed up in a leather fringe vest with a silver sequined vest on top with a beautiful blue bonnet on his head. he is sitting on the floor surrounded by his 6 babies and he is talkign to them. I had to literally "remove" his dress up clothes to take him home where he has now discovered Rainee's old dance costumes. How cute!!

So please remember to put your life struggles in perspective. I kind of put my head down and just plow through teh trials, there has to be an end, I just know it. When I find it I will let you know. For now it is longer working hours for me. Good thing I have a job that accomodates me and IF i were sick with pnemonia they woudln't fire me.

How did I do????

Why God Made Women.

So I am now convinced that God made women so men don't really have to pay attention or take care of themselves. For instance Scott is very sick with pnemonia. We first went to the doctor on Wednesday, I say we because he just couldn't make the appointment he needed ME to do it, so I went with him to make sure he told the doctor everything that was wrong because I was trying to prevent exactly what is happening now. So I went along and the doctor was nice and because we don't have insurance he was trying to save us some money by NOT taking a chest x-ray, so he gave us some "wimpy" antibiotics and sent us on our way with no cough syrup or anything else. Scott took his antibiotics religiously because I made sure he did. He would always ask "is it time for my medicine?" is it that hard to take 2 pills morning and night? Apparentally so. So he steadily gets worse and on Friday I call the doc again and ask for some cough syrup, nothing over the counter is working and the coughing is enough to make me want to go to my moms to sleep. So the doctor assures me that there is nothing he could give me that would work better than over the counter stuff. I tell the nurse he is wrong becuse I have been giving him Mason's promethezine with codeine (the elixer from Heaven), Mason was given it when he had the croup and it is a miracle medicine. Now i know you are not suppose to share medications but believe me you would do it also if your husband was this sick.

So Saturday rolls around and we head out to Bowen's football game. Scott just sits there and coughs and finally at the end of the game he tells me that he needs to go to the insta-care clinic because he is having a hard time breathing and is now coughing up mucus. So we pile the kids to grandma's and go to the clinic. First off they mask everyone thinking he has Swine Flu, so first thing is nasal swab and it comes back negative, and thankfully that doctor decides we need a chest x-ray. I whole-heartidly agree. Insurance or not we have to get him better and the amoxicillen is not working. The chest xray shows something in his lungs to indicate pnemonia, but the doctor says she is not a radiologist and is going to beef up his antibiotics to "cover all the bases" and get him well. So we now double our amoxicillen and add doxycycl along with a proventil inhaler and some STUPID cough syrum called Cheertussin. Now these new medicines throw Scott for a bigger loop. Now instead of just 2 times a day for pills he has to take the amoxicillen 3 times a day, the inhaler 4 times a day, the cough syrup as needed, and the doxycycl 2 times a day with avoiding dairy for 2 hours when taking it.

Guess what folks? I can remember all those instructions without writing them down. Scott just says "she'll keep me on track" and guess what I do??? I keep him on track. He has no idea when to take his meds even though he can just read teh bottles. The stupid Cherrtussin is an expactorant and a cough suppresent. So this seems even more stupid, first let's loosen up the congestion so your coughs will be more productive BUT let's try to suppress your coughing????? Does anyone else think this is odd? So guess what? It doesn't work, no relief from coughing. So back to Mason's cough syrup we go.

Sunday comes adn goes with Scott in bed feeling crappy BUT we are waiting for the new beefed up anti biotics to take hold and offer some relief we know they have the potential of offering.

Monday, oh Monday. So now Scott has started to cough up blood with his mucus (sorry for the yucky visual) and I ask him, do you want to go back to the doctor? He says no. So I talk to the insta-care doctor who says to take him to the ER because there is nothing elese they can do for him. So about 2 this afternoon Scott announces he is worse and needs to go to the ER. So we went there. They insisted on doing another chest x-ray and I am like "go for it, we are so screwed anyway it won't make a difference" and they do and then they announce to us that he is no better and a little worse according to the radiologist. He has a big area of upper right lobe pnemonia and the meds he is taking are not working. So this doc decides to bring out the "bigger guns" as he calls them. So to end this story NO pharmacies are open today. Scott is to not work all week and stay in bed and recover. This is important for a few reasons. First of all it is really upsetting his work. We really don't care, but it makes us chuckle when they say stupid things like "we question your loyality to the company" and things like that because one of the reasons this turned to pnemonia is because they run his RAGGED. So also, he has another interview with West Jordan Fire Department this week AND next week he has a physical test with Midvale. He has to not only be better but REALLY better to make it through the physical in good enough time to advance.

So that has been my holiday weekend. No work, BUT a very sick and grumpy husband, his work yelling at us, 3 trips to the doc, 2 x-rays and $200 in prescriptions because nothing they give him comes in generic.

Wheeeeeeew I am glad I got that off my chest. If you are still reading I am surprised, but thanks.

More Dinner Ideas

Potato Soup

Now this is a good fall/winter recipe BUT Scott is sick and it is great comfort food. I would and always do have a loaf or french bread to go with it.

1 package of bacon
1 onion

Cut up the bacon and fry it up then when it is 3/4 done add the onion. FYI when you add an onion the "crisping" of the bacon basically stops, so don't add teh onions too soon.

Potatoes
Cream of Chicken Soup
Milk
Corn
Sour Cream

Sorry for the lack of amounts, but you really can't mess up this recipe.

So chop up the potatoes while the bacon is crisping up. The amount really depends on the amount of people you are feeding. 4 large ones or 6-8 smaller ones will feed a family of 6 good. After the onions are soft and the bacon is crisp, I usually drain most of the bacon fat off the pan and then add the potatoes. Here is where you choose how you like it. IF you like the stronger taste of bacon fried potatoes, then continue to cook the potatoes in the bacon fat until soft. IF you like more of a milder taste, then drain off all the bacon fat you can, add teh potatoes and then continue wihout softening them.

Ok, so now you add 1 can of Cream of Chicken soup. You can use the reduced fat version or low sodium, it tastes just the same, and add enough milk to cover the potatoes. You can add as much or little milk as you would like your soup thick or thin. Also you can now add teh corn. We usually use 2 cans of corn BUT my kids love corn, so feel free to use less if you want.

If you fried your potatoes before, you can just add your milk and soup and warm through and then add the sour cream and you are finished. IF you did not fry your potatoes, reduce to a simmer and let teh potatoes cook.

After the potatoes are finished and you are basically through, add 1/2 to 1 full container of sour cream. This needs to be done at the end and then taken off the heat. DO NOT let the sour cream boil, it will separate. Now you are finished. This soup holds well in a crockpot, just make sure it is low and does not boil.

Please please remember to salt and pepper your potatoes and as you go through, as we all know potatoes have very little taste.

I am making this today because Scott is sick and it is awesome with some home made bread, or some french bread from Wal mart.

Let me know what you think.

Dinner Idea

So here is what we are having for dinner tonight. Now I honestly don't know a single person out there who does not love chicken turnovers. I guess of course it depends on what you put in it. So here is my recipe, it is kid friendly and I do not ever have any left overs.

1 package of chicken, either chicken brests or I prefer boneless skinless thighs.
1 Onion chopped
1 package of cream cheese
chicken stock
Crescent Rolls

First you chop up the onion and saute it in butter/olive oil in the pan. You don't want them brown, just soft and yummy. The butter is important, there isn't a lot of seasoning in this dish, so the butter does help. You can use less butter if you use a combination of butter and olive oil. Meanwhile chop up the chicken into bite size pieces (this is the hardest part). After the onions are soft and yummy add the chicken and cook. Make sure to salt and pepper the chicken and onions or there won't be much flavor. After the chicken is cooked through add cream cheese. Now you can use anywhere from 1/2 package to the entire thing. It depends on how thick you want it and how you like the flavor of cream cheese. We use the entire package and the low fat version works great. AFter this is all mixed in add a few tablespoons of chicken stock to thin it out. Remember after it cools it will thicken so however thin/thick it is in the pan it will thicken up a lot when cooling. You need to taste at this point and add salt and pepper, especially if you use low sodium chicken stock.

Now is the fun part, and kids rock at helping here. Take the crescent rolls adn roll them out into triangles and fill with a tablespoon of the mixture, fold over like a crescent roll and put on sheet pan. you can really put them close together and fill up teh pan because they don't really spread when cooking. Then cook at 375 for 12 minutes. You now have a great snack or a dinner. We will dip these in a little sour cream BUT I like them just plain.

Now to spice this up feel free to sautee some celery in with the onions or other vegetables. i like to add mushrooms also. You can expand this to make millions if you would like, even though I have not tried that many.

Let me know what you think.