Cannon M.D.

Bring it On

2011-12-20T12:41:00.001-05:00

I've heard it said that it's impossible to spoil a child less than 6 weeks old. So from the moment we brought home sweet little Desmond we've given him everything he could possibly desire. When he fussed we picked him up. When he cried we fed him (whether it had been 3 hours or 30 minutes since the last time he ate). When he was tired we rocked him to sleep. If he couldn't sleep I walked around with him in my sling or took him for a walk in my Ergo so he could get a good nap.

Well he was six weeks old on Sunday, and that's all about to change.

I always said I would never spoil my child, but now that I have one it seems so hard. I don't want to let him cry. I want him to always be happy. But I know that to have a baby with a happy disposition I have to be tough...but it's so hard.

Bring on the sleep training. He still wakes up several times in the middle of the night. The goal to to get his daytime routines into a rhythm so he will start sleeping through the night on his own by 2 months. That's the goal at least. We'll see.

I borrowed the book "Baby Wise" from the library yesterday and am ready to put the plan into action. I realized I should have started this sooner, but better late than never. He is to eat, be awake for a little while, and then fall asleep on his own without nursing or me rocking him, then start the cycle over again every 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.

As I type I'm listening to him crying in his crib. (You can do this Maretta) I think typing this post is helping me get through it, reassuring me that what I'm doing is for his benefit, but I hate to think of my baby being unhappy!

I just went in after 15 minutes to give him his pacifier and reassure him. He fell right asleep. Not exactly as flawless as I was hoping, but it was his first time, hopefully we'll get better at this.

What an Honor!

2011-12-14T23:21:00.002-05:00

Desmond was chosen to portray baby Jesus in our ward Christmas Program last night. Some friends of ours were Mary and Joseph and held him while others sang songs about Jesus, Joseph, and then Mary. It was so sweet to sit there and watch my baby portray our Savior.

(I also enjoyed having the whole ward swoon over him.)

Desmond did terrific through the first song. They had to give him his bright blue binky during the second song. And then when the pacifier wasn't cutting it, they had to give him a bottle during the last song. Maybe not the most authentic, but what do you want, it was his first performance...he didn't even rehearse.

After the program was over they served refreshments in the Relief Society room. So many people stopped us to praise Desmond that by the time we got to the refreshments they were already putting them away.

Simple Pleasures

2011-12-13T15:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was able to enjoy a shower without Desmond screaming all the way through it. That is the first time it's happened in weeks. No matter when I have taken one - Desmond could be sleeping peacefully or playing happily in his bouncer - but the moment I get the shampoo in my hair he starts screaming. There's nothing I can do by that point. I might as well finish the shower but I have to suffer through it. Yesterday though I made it through the whole shower without one scream, but I was fretful the whole time thinking he would start any minute. He had only been asleep for 30 minutes but he didn't even let me get my clothes on before he started calling for me again.

Oh well. I'll take whatever I can get.

My baby boy is a month old!

2011-12-09T19:33:00.001-05:00

To celebrate I guess I'll update the blog. The day he turned 1 month several things changed. He's not a newborn any more. We took him for his 1 month WCC. The doctor said everything looks great! He weighed 9 lbs even and is 21.5 in long. We are going to Phoenix Children's hospital where Danny works. We go to the outpatient clinic where Danny does a shift every Tuesday.

Desmond loved seeing his Daddy at work, but I think Danny loved showing off his baby to all his coworkers a lot more.

He is lifting up his head really high when we have tummy time. I snapped these picture of him the other day and will disperse them throughout the post, because who doesn't love looking at pictures...especially of my adorable baby boy?

He likes to make funny faces at us all the time.

The morning of his 1 month birthday I was talking to him and smiling and he suddenly started smiling back at me for the 1st time. This wasn't just any ordinary smile. He was looking directly at me and his whole face smiled at me. A huge, open mouth, toothless grin. Talk about melt your heart. We went on that way for about a minute. And then he lost interest in me.

He has outgrown his newborn clothes and newborn diapers. Time to start packing away his first set of clothes. Tear.

He doesn't really fall asleep on his own anymore, anytime, anywhere. I have to watch the clock and actually soothe him to sleep when it's time for a nap. I learned this the hard way. We spent 2-3 days with him being fussy all day. He wouldn't sleep very long, so I figured he was hungry and I spent the entire day nursing him. After talking to my cousin on the phone I learned I need to put him to sleep more often and he was so fussy because he was overly-tired. Today he's been sleeping like an angel and so wonderful when he's awake. YAY!

I LOVE my little boy and am so glad he's mine!

A Brand New Adventure Starts Now

2011-11-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

On November 6, 2011 at 4:24pm something amazing happened. Our happy family of 2 was blessed and changed forever. Someone new decided to join the ranks and we have become "the three best friends that anyone could have." Desmond Grant Cannon came without a fuss at 7 pounds 13 ounces. I had a wonderful pregnancy; no complications and I never got sick once.

I went into labor 2 days early, had a good labor and delivery, pushed for 35 minutes and then he was here in all his glory.

Despite my episiotomy and some tearing, I felt fine the next day, and 4 days later I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans. Desmond sleeps for 3 1/2 - 5 hour stretches at night and I only have to get up once or twice with him. He is beautiful and so sweet and we are in love with every 21 inches of him.

Danny jokingly threatened to beat him up several times while I was pregnant. He is looking forward to having someone to wrestle with, but it was Desmond who came out fighting, he has already peed on Danny twice. The first time was only minutes after he was born. He has yet to pee on me. :)

Danny says I'm dead inside because I never cry, but that has all changed now. When I do little things like sing him the first few lines of "Families are Forever" as he falls asleep or write about him in this blog I start blubbering. I can't control the water works. This baby has already captured my heart and I will never be the same again.

Welcome to our family Desmond! We're so glad the Lord has sent you to us.

Off We Go

2011-03-23T17:48:00.000-04:00

This thing has been neglected for a ridiculously long period of time. I thought I would just post a quick update. The day I thought would never arrive has now come and gone. We have matched for residency! We tried to stay in Pittsburgh, and we tried to be closer to family in Dallas, but there is another plan in store for us. We are being sent to Phoenix! We are very excited and are trying to (very quickly) plan our new lives. I will quit my job May 6th, then comes some traveling, a LOT of packing, a graduation, and then we're off. We still have to find a house to live in, and try to figure out what neighborhood that house should be in from over 2000 miles away. We have got a BUSY two months ahead of us. Danny starts his residency June 13th.

There will always be a spot in our hearts for Pittsburgh and most especially the friends we have made here. So many people have been so good to us, it will be hard to say goodbye. We will miss the unique architecture, the seasons, the green, the food, the unity through sports, and even the mispronounced words and ill formed sentences. We will not miss steep, pot-holed, bumpy, anorexically skinny roads.

Thank you for giving us so much Pittsburgh and making us so happy in our short time here. We will never forget it.

Pitts"burgher" Bucket List

2010-07-30T19:31:00.012-04:00

As I sit here waiting for Danny to finish a practice test and listening to my stomach growling at me, I'm trying to decide where I would like to go for dinner. Danny and I have lived in Pittsburgh for over a year now. We are pretty boring with our restaurant selections. We are living on my teaching salary, so our budget is limited. To avoid a surprisingly large check at the end of the night we keep our restaurants simple. I'm realizing though that we now have less than a year left here and I think we need to start branching out from our usual Taco Bell, Little Caesars, Steak and Shake, or Five Guys. I've decided to make a Pitts"burgher" bucket list of all the cheap restaurants we need to go to before we possibly leave next May.

The Pittsburgh Restaurants we've been to so far are:

Primanti Brothers**

Deluca's*

Pamela's****

Southside Steaks*

Los Chiludos****

What's Cookin at Casey's***

Jerome Bettis' Grille 36***

Alladin's*

Carbonara's**

Tamarind****

Taj Mahal***

Dormont Dogs****

Mendoza Express***
Beto's Pizza**

(*Not impressed)
(**Eh, I've had better)
(***Pretty good, I would go back)
(****LOVE IT! I'm going to miss this when I'm gone)

The Pitts"burgher" Bucket List:

Restaurants recommended by others:

Uncle Sam's

Dor-Stop

Quaker Stake and Lube

Fiori's Pizzaria
Mineo's Pizza House
Fuel and Fuddle
Green Mango
Angkor

Restaurants I just found online:

Smiling Banana Leaf

Peppi's

D's Six Pax & Dogz

Thai Me Up

Original Hot Dog Shops Inc

Cambod-Ican Kitchen

The Terrace Grill

A'Pizza Badamo

Armstrong's

Do you have any thoughts on those restaurants?

Are there any other cheap restaurants you are in love with or wouldn't be able to live without? Give me your suggestions please, our deprived tummies are yearning for some culture! (Even if it is Pittsburgh culture)

Tastes good...

2010-07-28T21:44:00.001-04:00

So I made sausages for dinner today and decided some green peppers would taste really good with them. I tried to think if I had any in the fridge...no. I tried to decide if I could run to the store to get some before the sausages finished cooking...not enough time. Instead, I walked out my front door, around to the side of the house, reached down into my garden, and PICKED one!

That was a first. I've never found that I was missing a key ingredient for dinner and realized I was growing that very thing right outside my front door. Amazing! I admit, it probably was not ready to be picked. It was only half the size it could have gotten, but I got it when I wanted it, and victory never tasted SO good!

Let's take a peek at some of my other vegetables...

Zucchini:

Broccoli:

The ones in the ground are doing a little better than the ones in the pots.

I planted some in pots on my deck to protect them from the deer. It looks like I should have been more concerned about deck dwelling insects.

Carrots:

Spinach:

Poor spinach never had a chance. Apparently it likes cool weather...not 95 degree Pittsburgh humidity.

Tomatoes:

I should be awarded Employee of the Month

2010-07-15T21:20:00.003-04:00

Let's review the facts.

1. On June 1st I started my new job and I was 15 minutes late because the battery in my car was dead.

2. On June 4th I insisted on ditching the tour of our new locations early because Danny and I were going to Philly for the weekend and I didn't want to hit traffic.

3. On June 16th we moved from the central office to our new location in Carnegie and I was 20 minutes late because my battery had died again.

4. On June 18th I went on vacation to Utah for 12 days and I missed 7 1/2 days of work.

5. On July 1st (my 1st full day back at work after our vacation) I came to work for 2 hours then left early due to the splitting pain in my abdomen.

6. Turns out I had to have surgery and missed another 6 days of work.

While I was out recovering I had $720 worth of work done on my car, including a new battery, so I wouldn't have to be late to work again.

On July 13th (my 2nd day back at work after the surgery) I had to go to the central office in the Waterfront at 8:30am to sign some paper work. At 9am I was in my car headed back to the Carnegie office. They had the main road closed off for construction. Traffic was forced to cut through the shopping center in order to get out. As I was cutting through I noticed I was right in front of a Target and there was an empty parking space right in front of me. I knew I needed some face wash and I would have to go get some eventually. I whipped right into that parking space and rushed into Target to make my purchase quickly so I could get back to work.

As I stepped into the Target I got that familiar rush knowing there were so many things that would be fun to buy. So many trinkets and knick-knacks; things I didn't need, and things I probably did need if I thought long enough about it. I set off with a purpose toward the health and beauty department. I was side tracked momentarily in the jewelry department. I spent a good minute or two looking at all the shiny earrings. I even picked a couple up to look at them closer. I was strong though. I put the earrings back and completed my mission. I grabbed my face wash and headed for the cashier.

Since it was so early in the morning they only had 1 register open. I got in line behind 6 other customers. After a couple minutes another employee came over and opened another lane. The lady in front of me let me go 1st since I only had 1 item. "Yes!" I thought. I was going to get in and out and back to work. I paid for my item, got my receipt, and headed for the car.

As I was walking I started digging through my purse for my keys. They weren't clipped to my strap. They weren't sitting on top. They weren't under my wallet. I started wondering if I had left them somewhere in the Target as I was browsing. Maybe by the earrings. I decided to go to my car first so I could thoroughly search my purse. I was in a hurry and didn't want to have to go back in the store if it wasn't necessary. Nope. Not there. Before turning back I decided to look inside of my car. There they were. In the car. In the ignition. And what was that sound? It wasn't the car next to me. It was my car. I had gotten out of my car and LEFT IT RUNNING!!! I tried my door. Locked. I tried the backdoor. Locked. I looked at the 2 doors on the other side. Both locked. I tried my door again. Still locked.

I went back in the Target and asked for help. Surely someone at the customer service counter would serve their customers. After 7 minutes someone finally came over to see what I wanted. I explained the situation and just asked for a hanger and a screwdriver so I could pry my way into my car. They basically said "I don't think so" in a politically correct way and suggested I call the police.

I called 911 and explained the situation to the dispatcher who told me the police don't open car doors anymore and I would have to call a locksmith.

I fished my AAA card out of my wallet which was 14 months expired and called them to see if there was anything they could do. They told me they could renew my membership for $60 and charge me a $25 fee for same day service. This time I was the one to say "I don't think so."

I called Danny to see what he could do to help. He said he would come to unlock my door with his spare key but it would take about 40 minutes to get to me. I had him look up the number for our insurance company to see if they would help.

I called USAA and they said they would be glad to help me. (Hurray!) They said they would contract with a local locksmith to come out and unlock my door but it would be 40 minutes. I was sure they were giving themselves a wide buffer in case something happened but they would probably get to me a lot quicker.

I leaned against my car and waited for rescue. 5 minutes passed. No rescue. I called my boss to let her know the situation and that I would be late. 10 minutes. No rescue. My car was getting hot. I grabbed my purse and my face wash and walked over to the sidewalk in front of Target to wait on a curb. 20 minutes. No rescue, but what was that smell? It must have been the drainage pipe next to me. I grabbed my things and moved down the curb, far from the drain.

Many people came and went. Cars pulled in and cars pulled out. "That could have been me if I wasn't so dense. Why did I come to the Target any way? Was this face wash really that important? I should have kept driving!" 30 minutes. No Rescue. "The next car will probably be him. He should be here any minute."

I eagerly inspected every truck that came near. Anything that looked like a work vehicle could be him. I would get so excited as any truck came near thinking, "I waited patiently and now the wait is over." Every time they would keep driving right on past me. 40 minutes. No rescue. Times up. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of the locksmith company. I decided I would give them 5 more minutes and then I was calling to chew them out. 41 minutes. 42 minutes. 43 minutes. 44 minutes. *Ring* It was him! He was here!

It took him 5 minutes. He stuck a pad inside the door, pumped it up, got his stick in there, fiddled around a bit, and click, the door was open!!

7. On July 13th (my 2nd day back at work after the surgery) I was 2 hours late to work because I locked my keys in the car...while it was still running.

Wouldn't you consider me for employee of the month?

Healing Quickly

2010-07-14T21:52:00.000-04:00

I know people have been concerned about me so I wanted to write an update on how the recovery is going.... It's going great! I had a lot of help and friends to hang out with while healing which made it go quicker as well. I know my doctor told me to stay home for two weeks, but I say that a happy body is a healing body. I would have gone crazy if I never left the house!

My happy healing started when I got out of the hospital. I called my friend Ashley from the hospital to tell her what happened and she had a delicious meal (and a hug) ready for us to pick up as we passed her house on our way home. When Danny's parents heard what happened they sent roses to my house. Conveniently, they were delivered while Danny was at home for an hour getting some things together for school. When I walked in the door my flowers were there to greet me. I went straight up to lie in bed and Danny brought the flowers up to me with a TV tray so I could have them right next to me! :)

I took it easy on Saturday, but on Sunday night I went over to my bishop's house for dessert and to watch Mt. Lebanon's fireworks with my ward. On Monday Ashley and Jordan invited us over for dinner. Delicious blue cheese burgers and a rowdy game of Pirates Cove (which I won!). On Tuesday I went out with the girls for some dessert (chocolate, of course) and to watch Eclipse.

I think my doctor would cringe if he found out how much I did NOT stay tucked up in my bed.

I called Megan for another dinner, but she was out of town, so CJ brought us some AMAZING pizza from Cestone's. I felt bad, but not too much, because the pizza was delicious. Thursday some of my new coworkers came over to see me and to bring me dinner. My boss also came and brought me an edible arrangement, balloon, and teddy bear. Aren't they so cute? And I only met them like a month ago!

I stopped taking any pain medication a week after the surgery and was able to take the steri strips off my incision. There was still a lot of bruising, but it is looking better by the day. I was back at church on Sunday teaching my primary class, and back to work on Monday (shhh, don't tell the doc).

I can do most things as normal now. The only times I really notice my incision is when I sneeze or roll around in bed trying to get comfortable. I can't lift heavy things or work out for several more weeks, so I get to sit on the couch and eat Oreos while I watch Danny struggle through (or as he would say, "dominate") P90X.

The Lord gives us Blessings and the Lord gives us Trials (life in our world)

2010-07-03T10:26:00.001-04:00

The Lord gives us Trials

Last Thursday, while in Utah, I started to get a gradual ache in my abdomen. Over a couple hours it got worse and worse until I was crippled over in bed and couldn’t get up. We couldn’t figure out what was wrong. We thought maybe I was just dehydrated and needed to drink more water. I drank 3 glasses of water, took some Ibuprofen, and went to sit in the hot tub. Forty-five minutes I felt perfectly fine. Four days later on Monday I started feeling the same pain coming on. Before it got too bad I took some Ibuprofen grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the hot tub. Thirty minutes later I was fine. I didn’t feel it again until three days later on Thursday. It was my second day back to work after our trip to Utah. We were getting certified in First Aid. I had been there about two hours and felt completely fine, then all of a sudden while watching videos of people getting sick and others administering first aid I started to feel the pain. I couldn’t stay in that room watching those videos. I walked out and collapsed in the next room. I was blacking out, sweating like crazy, and I felt like I was going to throw up just from the pain. I’ve never been in that much pain in my life. I lied there on the ground for half an hour with a coworker looking after me. Finally, when the pain wasn’t subsiding, I called Danny to come pick me up from work because I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive. I tried hot baths and heating pads when I got home trying to recreate the hot tub feeling, but I was still in extreme pain. Danny’s friends were driving through town to go to DC from Columbus and they wanted to go to lunch with us. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do lunch but Danny and Justin were able to give me a blessing when they came by. I was able to go to sleep for a couple hours and when I woke up the extreme pain was gone, but I could still feel the pressure. I think the 4 ibuprofen I took had kicked in. We decided to go see a doctor thinking I might have an ovarian cyst. We called 8 different doctors’ offices but no one could get us in that day. We considered setting up an appointment for the following Tuesday because I wasn’t in extreme pain anymore but I was scared that the pain hadn’t gone away completely yet. I knew if it was the third time it was happening it probably would happen again, and I couldn’t imagine it getting even worse the next time. We decided to go to the ER.

I’ve never been to the doctor for anything other than a check-up, routine shots, or a broken limb, and definitely never to the ER. I felt dumb going to the ER when I wasn’t in very much pain, but I’m glad I did. I checked in to the ER at 4pm, was told I was 5 weeks pregnant at 5pm(we had no idea I was pregnant), found out it was a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in my left fallopian tube and I was bleeding internally and that I would have to have an emergency surgery at 7pm, and by 10pm the baby and my left fallopian tube were gone and I was in the recovery room with a sizeable cut across my abdomen. That was a lot of information to process in such a short amount of time. I still don’t think I fully comprehend the situation that there was a baby inside of me and now it’s gone. I didn’t think it was a very major surgery and was planning on shooting a wedding Saturday and going back to work on Tuesday. My doctor basically said “I don’t think so.” He said I shouldn’t think about doing anything for 2 weeks. He said after 2 weeks I could consider going to the grocery store and running little errands, but it will be 3-4 weeks before I’m completely functional.

I had to spend several hours yesterday morning calling around to anyone I know in Pittsburgh who is interested in Photography to cover the wedding for me tomorrow. Most people were out of town or busy tomorrow, but I found one person who would cancel her camping trip and take over the wedding for me. The bride didn’t sound very happy about the photographer change the day before her wedding, but she wasn’t very sympathetic about my situation so I don’t really care.

I’ve spent all day yesterday recovering at the hospital and working on slowly getting off the morphine, folly catheter (Which is amazing by the way. I want one 24/7), SCDs (calf wraps that reduced blood clots from forming in my legs), liters and liters of saline, pulse oximeter, and antibiotics. I’m still in a lot of pain, but the doctor let us decide and we chose to go home last night instead of this morning. My amazing husband wanted to sleep in my room with me after the surgery so I didn’t have to be alone, but he had to sleep in a chair while I got the comfy bed. At least this way we could both sleep in a bed last night.

Even through the Trials, the Lord gives us Blessings

We were blessed in many ways through this trial. We are blessed that even though I started feeling pain in Utah, I didn’t have to have the surgery in Utah and get stuck there for several weeks before I could come home. I was blessed that the intense pain that did me in didn’t start during our 7 hour flight home. There’s nothing I would have been able to do and the situation could have potentially escalated if it would have gone too long without being treated. We are blessed that this happened during Danny’s only time off school all year and that he’ll be able to spend 5 whole days looking after me before he has to start his rotations again. We are blessed that they caught it when they did and no more serious damage was caused. I can still get pregnant through my right fallopian tube and my left ovary will still produce eggs, but my chances of having another ectopic pregnancy have increased.

That is all the information we have now. We are open to answering any questions you may have. For those who don’t know what an ectopic pregnancy is (like me 48 hours ago):

Ectopic Pregnancy

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the embryo implants in one of the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus. Ectopic pregnancies can be life-threatening due to severe blood loss or rupturing if not treated. Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in the first trimester and needs to be treated to avoid future fertility problems.

If there is a rupture in the fallopian tube, the bleeding could cause fainting. It is important to go to the emergency room right away if these symptoms are present to avoid hemorrhaging and safeguard future fertility.

Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment

Because a fertilized egg cannot develop outside the uterus, the ectopic tissue must be discarded. Some ectopic pregnancies do not require emergency care, but if they do, the most common treatment is surgery. In a laparatomy(this is what I had), an incision is made across the lower abdomen. A laparoscopy involves tiny incisions in the skin and usually offers a quicker recovery(not what I had). In some cases where there has been heavy damage, part of the fallopian tube, the ovary and even the uterus may need to be removed.

Here is a web album with some pictures from Utah and from the hospital.

Not a great first impression

2010-06-01T17:02:00.004-04:00

THE BACKGROUND
(If you're not interested in the background skip down to the story)

So, as many of you know, I got a new job. I have been subbing for the past year in Brentwood School District but the school year was going to end June 10th and I needed a job for the summer. Plus, subbing pays 1/2 of what I was making as a teacher so I was also looking at jobs for next school year. I'd given up on finding a teaching job with a school district because last year I sent out 20 different applications (we're talking 25 page packet applications) and I didn't hear a peep from one person. I figured it wasn't worth it to go through all that again. So I've been looking on craigslist for a job as a nanny, daycare provider, summer camp counselor, waitress, etc. Anything that would pay decent money and that would hire me. I couldn't find anything that would pay enough and I wasn't excited to do any of those jobs any way. Then one day I got an email from the IU which is government run and provides specialized services to all the schools in the county such as ESL teachers, Sp Ed, and Head Start programs. They are starting a new program in Pittsburgh for Early Head Start which is for kids from low income families ages 6 weeks to 3 years. They were only hiring two teachers and after two interviews they offered me the job! It's salary and I'll be getting benefits, paid vacations, and lots of professional development opportunities. Yay! I'm really excited! The classroom will be in Carnegie which is about 10-15 minutes from my house. We will be doing training and setting up the classroom over the next couple of months and then school starts August 2nd. It will be very interesting. I have a lot of experience teaching Preschool though 5th grade. But how do I teach a 6 week old? There will be 8 kids and two teachers so it should be really fun. After subbing for a whole year I'm excited to have my own classroom and to be able to bond with my kids.

THE STORY
For the training the next couple of months we are meeting at the IU in the waterfront which is about 30-40 minutes away. My first day of work was today. Last night I dreamed that I kept forgetting about meetings I had to go to in my new job and I was always late for everything. It's ironic because this morning I tried to leave pretty early to make sure I wasn't late on my first day. I got out to my car, turned the key in the ignition, and....nothing. I tried again. Nothing. MY BATTERY WAS DEAD! Yesterday I gave my car its annual cleanup and while I was polishing the steering wheel I must have turned the headlights on. I was even looking at my battery yesterday while I was checking all the fluids thinking, "That's a pretty crusty looking battery. I'm glad it has never died on me!"

Well I ran to my neighbor's door (neighbors we never talk to) and started knocking (at 7:30am). Finally they answered but said they didn't have jumper cables. We own jumper cables but of course they are in Danny's car and he had already left. I called Libby who lives two houses down from me but she didn't have any jumper cables either. She did offer to drive me all the way over there though with her 3 children, bless her heart. (She's had to do it before when I left my keys in Danny's car.) Then I called the Betteridges who also just live a couple houses down from me. Luckily Justin was just walking out the door and he did have jumper cables! He drove on over and after a few tries we got the car to start!!! My hero! It took a couple calls but I finally got a hold of my Director and told her what happened and that I would be late. I got there about 8:15am and they had to wait for me to get started. Not a great first impression!

The day went really well though. We had fun getting to know each other and learning more about the program. They bought us lunch from Panera and let us go home 2 hours early (with lots of homework to do). They also gave us laptops with a Sprint 3G wifi air card so we can connect to the internet anywhere Sprint gets coverage. I love my new job!

Home Grown Beauty

2010-05-31T15:30:00.000-04:00

I never claimed to know how to garden. I've never been able to boast of a green thumb. I don't know if I'll ever get any home grown vegetables this summer, but what I captured out on my deck yesterday has made all my work worthwhile. Look at my gorgeous tomato plants after a rainfall!

The Dance of the Pittsburghers

2010-05-23T18:23:00.005-04:00

There is a dance that all Pittsburghers have to learn around the time they turn 16.

I never learned it growing up in Texas.

It wasn't one a the dances they taught in my Social Dance Class at BYU.

Even in Philadelphia I didn't need to learn this dance.

It was when I moved to Pittsburgh that I had to learn real quick.

No one ever explained the dance steps to me. I learned by watching others and then I practiced the steps my self. I made mistakes at the beginning, but I've been getting better and I have gone several months without messing up so far. Sometimes when I'm in the middle of dancing I think I'm about to mess up but I've come out just fine.

More often than not you will dance with complete strangers and then never see them again. Some people talk to their partner during this dance even though their partner will never hear them so many people use gestures as well.

Your feet will not get tired while you dance. You use them very little. They only have to tap slightly up and down. You don't even have to be very musically inclined. No one cares if you can move to a beat. People listen to a variety of music during this dance; some might even be dancing to a book on tape or talk radio.

This dance is danced in your car. Almost all of the neighborhood roads here are two-way roads which would be fine because they are wide enough for two cars to easily pass each other going opposite directions. The problem arises because most people don't have driveways so they also park on these streets. These streets are no way no how three cars wide. So we learn to dance.

I've mapped out the dances for you so if you ever visit you will know what to do. The dances are listed in order of difficulty from least to most challenging.

Dance #1 The Side to Side (solo dancing) - When you are driving down a street and you see a car parked in front of you, you swerve over to the left side of the street until you safely pass the parked car. Then you may swerve back to the right side of the street.

Dance #2 The Stop and Go (group dancing) - When you are driving down the street and you see a car parked in front of you but there is also another car driving toward you so you can not swerve to the left side of the street. In this dance you stop before the parked car, wait for the on-coming car to pass, then you may go around the parked car. Variation #1 If multiple cars are coming in consecutive order you must stop and wait until there is a big enough break in the congo line for you to sa-shay around the parked car. Variation #2 There may come a time when a car is coming toward you but there is a car parked in front of him and he should be the one stopping for you. The rules to this dance change when that car is bigger than you or does not look like he is going to stop. You must be vigilant in this dance. Safety first. You have to be the better person. If the other car is not slowing down you will need to stop in your lane so he has enough room to swerve around the parked car into your lane and back into his before you can go.

Dance #3 The Do-si-do (partner dancing) - When you are driving down the street and you see a car parked in front of you and 50 yards or so down the road there is a car coming toward you and another car parked on his side of the street. (This happens a lot more often than you may think) Now you do-si-do. Almost simultaneously you both swerve into each others lanes as you pass the parked cars but to avoid the second parked car you have to swerve back into your own lanes without hitting each other. This dance is my favorite and it is beautiful when executed correctly.

These dances will need to be repeated in random order several times before you reach your destination.

Now if you ever come to Pittsburgh you will know how to dance.

I looked out the window and what did I see?

2010-04-08T19:52:00.000-04:00

I just realized I post a lot of pictures about plants. I'm sorry if you guys are sick of it. Tough. Until I get kids, plants are my love. Look how gorgeous all these trees are! These are some of the blossoms I see when I look out my back window.

Let's just say, Pittsburgh did not disappoint me this season.

I'm in love

2010-04-01T22:24:00.002-04:00

With my precious tulip that just bloomed!

Manis and Pedis

2010-04-01T22:16:00.002-04:00

My good friend Rachelle just had a big birthday, and we've been partying ever since! For one of our celebrations we all went to get pampered with a delicious breakfast and manis & pedis. So fun!

I have an obsession with taking pictures of my feet. Can you tell?

We had all our nails under the special light to make them dry quicker...I just like the way it looks!

Happy Anniversary to me....

2010-03-30T22:51:00.005-04:00

So today is Danny and my 3rd anniversary.

Are we celebrating it with a night out on the town?
No.

Are we staring lovingly into each others eyes, strengthening the bond between us?
No.

Are we enjoying a peaceful evening at home watching our wedding video and pondering back on how far we have come together?
NO!

We are doing none of those things! Cursed surgery rotation! He just started surgery yesterday and found out at 3pm that he had call tonight. He kissed me goodbye at 5:30 this morning while I was in bed, and I won't see him again until tomorrow night around 7pm (hopefully) at which time he will probably head straight up to bed so he will be rested enough to get up at 5am and start again. Sound fun?

So since I don't get to spend time with him, I will blog about him.

Just a few of the reasons I love Danny:
~Every day he has some new nickname for me that makes me smile.
~If we're both really busy working on projects, he's always the one to come over and make sure we spend some quality time together (even if I get frustrated at the time because he is interrupting me).
~I don't think I'm a moody person, but next to him I seem bipolar. He always puts up with my antics and leaves me laughing in the end.
~He gets excited with me about my plants.
~If I'm really worn out from work he'll make us dinner and I love him for it...even if it is something really easy, like warming up the leftovers.
~He loves to sing songs, but instead of the real words he will always change to lyrics to be about me.

I LOVE you Danny!! Thank you for 3 amazing years!

Well hello there

2010-03-18T16:57:00.001-04:00

They came! Well, one of them anyway. My broccoli popped up to say hello just three days after I planted them. I love my little plants. It's always been remarkable to me that something so little as a seed can start something so amazing.

I'm excitedly anticipating the rest of my plants, but I thought I would share this little accomplishment with the world.

I'm realizing that they are quickly going to outgrow their egg carton home. I want to plant them in containers on my deck so no animals eat them before we can. Any ideas of a cheap container I can put dirt and plants in so I don't have to spend $100 on a big planter?

Bring on the Veggies!

2010-03-15T18:12:00.005-04:00

I've helped my mom in our garden when I was younger but I've never had my own garden until we moved here. My very first gardening attempt was last August after we had settled into our new home here in Pittsburgh. I started some bean seeds I had left over from my kindergarten class in Philly. I went out and dug up the weeds by the side of my house and planted the beans there. They grew great. When the flowers came I knew the beans would not be far off. Imagine my happiness as I was about to reap the fruits of my labor.

Then imagine my dismay as I discovered one day after work that my plants had been torn up. It looked like a kid had gone out there with scissors and cut the tops off each plant. It took me a while, but I finally realized those beautiful deer that I love to watch roaming around in my neighborhood were feasting on MY BEANS! The plants grew more, and the deer ate more, and such was the story of my garden. By the time it started getting cold outside I was able to go out and gather a bowl full of beans - enough for one meal.

This year I didn't know if I would bother with a garden. What was the point if it was just going to be grazed over every week? Deer eating our plants was definitely not a problem we had to deal with in Dallas. At enrichment though we had a class all about container gardening. The Mormons in the east are not going to let some critters stop us from our natural instincts. It's in our blood to plant gardens, even if we don't get much return on our efforts.

So here we go. Round 2. I've been saving the egg cartons all winter, the seeds I got at enrichment, and I found some pots and some dirt at an estate sale. Even if we have no money, I'll get those seeds in the dirt one way or another. Now, the question is if I'll get any plants?

To be continued...

It's here!

2010-03-12T20:30:00.009-05:00

I found it! The first signs of spring! The snow has almost completely melted, and I found the first brave crocuses pushing up out of the ground. They were just waiting for that darned snow to go away so they could make their grand entrance into the world.

So far, Pittsburgh has put on quite a show for the seasons we've been here. We adored the summer of beautiful greens, bright sunshiney days that never got above 90, and living out on our deck barbecuing. We were entranced in the fall as the most vibrant colors we've ever seen spread throughout the whole city and we watched as the gorgeous yellow, red, and orange leaves cover the ground. We were astonished in the winter as we witnessed the biggest snowstorm we've ever been in.

We have learned that this city likes to do it big when it comes to the seasons. Spring will be the last season to round out our first year in Pittsburgh.

I can't wait to see what it will bring!

from Kute-Slothful (or as you know it, K-12 )

2010-03-01T17:11:00.003-05:00

As most of you know, I work as a building sub at an amazing elementary. I've worked with all the kids from Kindergarten to 5th grade and know them all pretty well by now. They all love me, and I love working with them. They are all very respectful and nice, even the ones who come from rougher families. Of course, I especially love the younger grades - that's why my certificate is EARLY childhood education. Although I'm certified to teach preschool to 3rd grade, I don't even care to go that high. Second grade is as high as I've ever wanted to teach. Although, you don't always get a say in what grade you teach, and that is especially true when you are subbing. You are asked to go all over the place as a sub, and in my position I could be in kindergarten one period, then up to 5th grade, then I head on over to special ed. But I know the kids, and it's fun. Today was different though. My school had parent-teacher conference today so they didn't need me. I could have just taken the day off and lounged around in my fuzzy socks all day, but I needed the money, especially with all these snow days and the fact that we just lost our food stamps! I went to another district to see if they needed subs for today and they were looking for a sub to teach 12th grade social studies. I've never wanted to sub in a high school before, but with all the experience I've had out of my comfort zone in 5th grade I figured it couldn't be too bad. You can do anything for a day, right? (Especially if they offer you $100.) I guess I survived, so I shouldn't complain too much, but I should have stayed at home in my fuzzy socks.

To put this day into perspective for you: I've never taught a grade higher than 5th (in a terrific school), I've only been taught HOW to teach up to 3rd, and I've never attended public school higher than 2nd (I home schooled after that). I had no idea what to expect going in today.

First period I had to supervise all the kids who had in school suspension. Luckily for me, there was only one student in there today. I thought it was going pretty well and that he was behaving very nicely until a lady came in to give him some work to do. He simply said "no" while she was in the room, but after she left he started shouting that he wasn't going to do any work. He tossed his work onto the next desk and sat there muttering under his breath for 3-4 minutes. He quieted down for a while, but after another couple of minutes he stood up to come toward me. I thought he was going to ask me a polite question but instead he threw his work in the garbage and started muttering under his breath again. I wasn't trying to make a good impression on anyone in the school, so I didn't feel like correcting his behavior. I just ignored him and started practicing my cursive handwriting to pass the time. As long as he wasn't hurting me, himself, the building, or anyone else, I didn't care.

And that's about how I spent the next 8 hours of the day; writing in cursive and ignoring the students' bad behavior. I went back to the social studies classroom and every 45 minutes a new class would come in, ignore me while I tried to take roll, listen to about half the directions I gave them, and then continue to talk to their friends. For all the personal finance classes we went down the hall to the computer lab so they could work on an essay about careers they thought they might like. The moment I unlocked the door to the lab the kids scattered to a computer. Some kids did their work. They talked the whole time, but they worked. Others spent the entire time watching movies, playing games, instant messaging, shopping on the Lids website, researching cell phones, or texting on cell phones. There was even one group of boys who were playing music on their computer speakers and singing along to it! They didn't once work on their assignment. Everyone knew I was watching them, but they didn't care. And the language of these kids! In 5th grade kids will tell if someone says "shut up" but I guess in 12th grade anything goes - every other sentence!

In American Government the kids were supposed to use rulers to draw time lines of important events. Some kids used them to draw straight lines, but others saw them as good weapons. I'll give them one thing, they were creative. They used an ordinary ruler to battle in a sword fight, slice across arms (luckily it didn't break the skin), slap people, and choke people. That time I decided I could no longer hide behind my desk and write a letter to my friend on a mission, I had to regulate. I've learned I'm not very good at regulating. I'm not a very stern person and I ended up smiling as I walked over there, and of course they couldn't take me seriously then. They did stop using the rulers as weapons...for a little while.

How do such Kute Kindergartners turn into such Slothful Seniors?

I chose the wrong day to not wear a coat

2010-02-27T00:03:00.001-05:00

We've had a bit of a rough week. Well, mostly Danny has had a rough week and I've been dragged down with him. Mostly it had involved cars, tires, and Pittsburgh roads. Of course I'm not complaining about Pittsburgh. I'll take their roads over Philly's any day.

The trouble started on Wednesday when Danny was late getting home from the hospital. I called him to see why he wasn't home yet. He told me it would be another 20 minutes, he was waiting for the police officer to finish writing him a ticket for running a red light. He gets so frustrated sitting in traffic for an hour and he was just trying to make the left turn light...but obviously was a little too late. He considered going straight to fill his car up with gas, but decided to turn left instead. The ticket came to $105. There goes his birthday money.

Thursday brought more car troubles. Danny has had a slow leak in his front left tire for several months. He has to pump up his tires every couple of weeks now. He was due to pump up his tires as well as to fill up his car with gas. On his way home, just as he was about to enter the liberty tunnels his car started sputtering. He didn't want to get stalled in the tunnel, so he took a detour up Mount Washington. Probably not the best idea to try to make it up a huge hill when you're out of gas, but luckily he made it to the top and right into a safe spot where he could park. When he got out of his car he realized his tire was almost to the ground. That's why he ran out of gas a lot sooner than he expected. All of that wouldn't have been such a big deal on its own, but to make matters worse Danny was in a huge rush to fax his rotation choice for 4th year to his pathway coordinator in Philly. He stalled around 3:20 and had to have this form turned in by 4. He called me just as I was leaving my school to tell me what happened. This wasn't the first time he had run out of gas and I've had to come rescue him. I started to scold him for always waiting until his gas light turned on to get gas, but I could tell he was very frustrated so I decided it wasn't the time. I drove straight there, but it took me 25 minutes. Luckily he had an empty gas can in his trunk from the last time we went through this, so while he was waiting for me he started running through the neighborhood in his dress clothes looking for a gas station. By the time I got there it was 3:45 and he was frantically trying to get the gas in his car so he could find a fax machine. The "lottery" (where they put in everyone's rotation choices and decide where everyone will go which block) was going to start at 4 so his form couldn't be late. He wants to do pediatrics, but if he doesn't get his picks he may have to choose a different specialty. He kept trying to start his car before we had finished pouring the 2 gallons in his tank but it wouldn't start without more gas. Finally we got it to start just so we could move it out of the way of someone's driveway. We hopped in my car to search for a fax machine. I saw a school a block away, and I thought if we begged pitifully enough they would feel sorry for us and let us use theirs. We parked in front of the school but didn't see very many people around. We ran up to the doors but they were locked. We stood there for a minute and then started running back to the car to try to find a library or post office to see if they had a fax machine. As we were getting to the car the janitor opened the door to see if we needed anything. We explained our situation and she said we could come in and ask the principal. The principal thought it was all very strange, but she finally conceded to let us use their computer. We ended up just scanning the form and emailing it to the guy. They asked us if we had help coming for the car. We had been so worried about getting the form sent in that we hadn't even considered what to do about Danny's car. He hit the send button at 3:55 and got it to him just in time. Back at Danny's car again we decided to drive it -flat tire and all- to a gas station to pump the tires up. We drove to the same gas station Danny had been to earlier and pumped up his tires, filled his car with gas, and put a couple gallons in my car since I only had about an 1/8 of a tank as well. (We make quite the couple, don't we?) We then drove another 40 minutes to a Walmart because we didn't know where else to take his car here in our new city. All the way down there I talked to my wonderful dad in the DR to get advice on what we should do about the tire. We figured we would have to buy a new one which would have cost us $75, but he told us we could just get the tire repaired and it would be fine. The repair only ended up costing us $12! I've never paid that little when taking my car to the shop. We were very happy. While they were working on the tire we decided to make a date out of the night and treated ourselves to the only thing we could afford - Taco Bell! We got the NBA "box that rocks with lots and lots for only 5 bucks." (You had to see the commercial)

It was a successful day overall, but a little stressful. Danny ended up making it to his beloved weekly basketball, but in all the commotion I completely forgot about book club that night! They were talking about The Hunger Games which is one of my favorite books. I was so mad when I finally remembered.

My brother's birthday was on February 3rd. He was driving on the freeway on February 2nd and wasn't able to see the stalled car until the car in front of him swerved out of the way. It totaled his car. He spent his whole birthday on the phone with insurance companies trying to get everything sorted out only to be told he wouldn't be covered.

My sister-in-law's birthday was on February 26th. She is 7 months pregnant. She had just gotten out of the hospital for kidney stones when she tore the meniscus in her left knee. She had to have surgery for her knee on her birthday.

Obviously this year is not going to be a good one for birthdays. Hopefully it's just February birthdays.

Happy Happy Birthday

2010-02-26T06:59:00.001-05:00

Danny doesn't like big celebrations for his birthday so we had a quiet night at home together. I made German pancakes in the morning for him before work. Then, upon request, I made a German Chocolate cake from scratch after I got back from school. I think it's the first cake I've ever made from scratch. It was HUGE and took a couple hours to make. It took us a week to polish it off, but it was worth every bite (and all the calories). I also made homemade rolls...mmmm.

I was so worn out from all the prep work that I was out by 10:30. I snoozed on the couch while Danny participated in his favorite activity, watching THE JAZZ.

One of our good friends had a birthday 2 days later so we went out to celebrate them both on Saturday at Benihana. They give you a free meal if it's the month of your birthday - up to $30 off. It was awesome!

Delicious!

Dreaming of Summer...

2010-02-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

Summer

Winter

Summer Winter

Summer

Winter

COME BACK SUMMER!

Snowed In

2010-02-10T16:35:00.001-05:00

We had a HUGE storm hit Pittsburgh last weekend. It started at 12pm on Friday, February 5th and ended at 24 hours later. It didn't seem like much as it was coming down, but I guess it was persistent and did some damage. We got 24 inches of snow - more snow than I've ever seen (off a mountain).

Can you find Danny's car?

There it is!

Our power went out at 1am Saturday morning because the snow was so heavy it was breaking all the old trees in our neighborhood.

I kept expecting it to come on at anytime throughout the day but I waited in vain. We heard that the power probably wouldn't come on until Monday and possible not until the next Friday. The good thing about losing power in the winter is that we could throw all our food from our fridge and freezer out into the snow and it was just fine.

However, we were too scared to drink our milk after it froze solid.

We had a hard time getting it out to the back porch though because this was as far as we could open our back door.

Danny spent 1 1/2 hours out shoveling the snow off our front walkway and some of our huge driveway. I felt so bad I borrowed our neighbor's shovel and came out as reinforcements for the next 1 1/2 hours. It was the first time I've ever shoveled snow before.

Our house was FREEZING all that day. We have gas heat but I guess its run by electricity, plus our stove is electric, and we have no fireplace. You don't think about all the things you can't do with out electricity. No internet - and all that implies, no TV, no power to charge your computer, no space heaters. We spent the day bundled up under a blanket together while Danny studied and I wrote letters. We tried to leave our house to go get food for dinner. We tried 7 different restaurants before we found some place open. The snow had stopped for 5 hours by this time but the roads had barely been touched. We were sliding all over the place and got stuck a couple times. Once we couldn't get out on our own and 3 guys had to come over to push us out. Another problem is that we live in a bowl. All the roads in our neighborhood are steep hills that go down to our house. We were thanking our lucky stars to get home unharmed and we didn't feel like venturing out again. Our friends heard that we were stranded and came to rescue us with their truck. They let us stay in their warm home for the night and then brought us back again in the morning (after fixing us a delicious breakfast). Luckily our power had come back Sunday morning, though it was off and on again all day. Our make shift freezer worked, and our ice cream was still good!

I thought things would get back to normal, but it took them days to clear the roads off, and still, more than a week later the roads are still a bit scary. Church was canceled (the first time I've ever experienced that) and school was canceled for FOUR DAYS! Every night I would get a call letting me know there was no school the next day. I was going crazy trapped inside for a whole week. I got out once to go to a friends for lunch - thank goodness. Finally on Friday I was able to go to work, but there was a 2 hour delay, and the whole day was pretty much a big Valentines day party, so it was a pretty easy week. Danny's school said if he didn't feel like he could make it in each day he could call off, but the stalwart trooper drove 45 minutes down to the hospital in Washington everyday. We got a little more snow throughout the week, but it didn't seem like that big of a deal anymore compared to what we just went through. They said 160,000 homes in the Pittsburgh area lost power, and I've heard of people who still don't have power over a week later. Pittsburgh was not prepared for this snow! Now everyone has huge icicles growing on their houses. They are getting so heavy that they are breaking the gutters off of some houses. Check out our monster icicle.

Remember when we were in our bathing suits a month ago?

I had my toes in the water, (butt) in the sand. Life was good that day, life was good that day.

2010-02-09T21:02:00.001-05:00

Details of our Christmas DR trip coming soon (meaning whenever I can't think of anything else to do.) Until then, you can see all the pictures in my web album.