Snake-wrangler

Those of you who know me know that I am not a fan of snakes. I find them to be a bit unnatural because they don't have any appendages. Fish have fins, insects have six legs, spiders have eight, and so on. The fact that snakes do not have legs has always bothered me. I have always found them creepy.
On Sunday afternoon my roommate, W, came up and asked me what I knew about snakes. I replied "I know I don't like them." She then proceeded to tell me that there was a snake in the downstairs bathroom. She had stepped out of the shower and had found a snake coiled up on her pile of clothes. Roommate M and I went down to investigate. Sure enough, what looked like a 3 to 3 and a half foot long garden snake was in the bathroom. Roommates M and W decided to look it up on the internet to find out if it was poisonous. I decided to take matters into my own hands since I could not be easy knowing a snake was in the house. I went upstairs and found my bedroom garbage can and a scrabble board. Using the board, I flipped the snake in the garbage can and quickly covered it. Roommate M opened the door to the outside and I flung it into the canal behind our house. The question remains: how did the snake get into the bathroom in the first place? (Was I the only one who just got the shivers thinking about it?)
I'll admit that I gave myself a pat on the back for staring down my fear and getting rid of the snake. Just call me the snake-wrangler. :)

A physical betrayal of epic proportions

On the whole my body has been good to me. There are so many things it does correctly. I can walk, talk, think and generally function. While it has a few quirks, it pretty much works....until this week. Now, dear reader, is the time to stop reading if you are squeamish. If you don't like reading about bodily functions and how they go awry, stop reading now. You have been warned (and I don't want to hear any whining if you don't like what you read.)

On Monday I went to work as normal. Afterwards, I stopped by a store to pick up some boxes and had dinner. I then went to get Gelato with Sarah, Angie, and Alisha to help welcome Sarah back to the United States. We talked for over an hour. I went home and packed a few boxes, then started to get ready for bed.
At 10pm my stomach started to really hurt. As some of you might know, I hate throwing up and will do almost anything to avoid it. I drank some Pepto Bismo and laid down on my bed. I then felt flush and knew what was going to happen next. I threw up. I then proceeded to throw up every half an hour or so for the next 7 hours. After the eighth time I started to dry heave. I then started to drink water so I would have something to throw up. It was pretty pathetic. I threw up in my room and in the bathroom. Luckily, I managed to throw up in the garbage cans. After the first time, I made sure that my garbage can and the bathroom garbage can were lined with plastic bags. After each time, I took the garbage bag full of vomit downstairs and to the outside garbage can. About an hour after I started throwing up, my body decided to rebel in another form and there were issues with the other end of the food/water system of the body. There were cramps and it was messy (I told you that this was a disgusting post.) I had to change my sheets and then ended up slipping in my own vomit in the bathroom. I must admit that I really started feeling bad for myself and really, really wanted to be home with my parents. At the very least, my Mom or Dad would have changed the sheets of my bed while I was in the shower. After throwing up 11 times, showering twice, and changing my sheets and clothes, I was exhausted. At 6am I decided I should probably contact my work and let them know I wasn't coming in.
All in all, Monday night/Tuesday morning was a complete rebellion of my body. It stopped working how it should. Now, Thursday morning, I am keeping down toast, water, and Coke. I am still at home, which annoys me to no end. I have missed two (three if you count today) days of work. While I have access to e-mail, my brain is so fuzzy that I can't do much with it. Luckily, my boss is in Germany so I don't feel like I've abandoned him. I haven't thrown up since Tuesday but the other issue hasn't quite ended. On Tuesday I had a fever of 100.1. Yesterday afternoon it was 97.8 (per the same thermometer.) My body has had a heck of a time regulating its temperature. I am shivering one minutes and then, then minutes later, I am sweating and wanting to take a cold shower. All in all, I am sore and exhausted. My back and sides hurt from heaving. I am grumpy and am getting annoyed.
I had planned to do a lot this week. Since my boss was going to be away, I was planning on catching up on work projects that I have been putting off. I was planning to pack a lot of boxes and move at least half of my room to my new place. I was planning on throwing my cousin, Sarah, a great coming home party on Friday (now I think I would just get all the guests really, really sick.) I was also planning on riding in a parade on Saturday. I guess I should be thankful for what I have, which is a body that is on the mend, a family who loves me (there's nothing like Lauren calling me and being concerned about my "hurting tummy,") understanding co-workers who are picking up the slack, and functioning plumbing (how did pioneers function under these circumstances?)
I hope to be able to go to work tomorrow or at least get something of worth accomplished. I so dislike being sick because of the inconvenience. Well, I hope all of you are either laughing at the patheticness of my life or counting your own blessings. Oh, and to all of you are who are grossed out: you can't say I didn't warn you. :) (Just be glad there aren't pictures with this post.)

P.S. Just in case I am not pathetic sounding enough, my tv stopped working on Sunday. The power went out for about an hour and when it came back on the picture didn't work. When it snapped off on Sunday during Music and the Spoken Word I heard a pop so I think it's officially dead. It turns on but no picture comes. I think it's just as well since I watch too much tv as it is. There is a tv in my new place on the main room. I don't really need one in my bedroom anyway.

Capes with clothespins

After church on Sunday I went up to my parent's house to celebrate Father's Day and two birthdays. We had a great meal, as always. I ended up getting Lauren and Isaac a flip book/card set about bugs. Hopefully they can use them all summer long to identify bugs (or at least have pretty pictures to look at.) The weather went from cloudy, to rainy, to sunny, and then to windy. After dinner most of the kids went outside to play. When I was a kid, I used to love going out in the wind with a sheet and pretend that I was a superhero or a dancer in a flowing road. As we were running around, I thought that the three-year-olds would like to do the same. I got four pillowcases (sheets being way too long) and headed out. After showing the kids how to hold the pillowcases around their necks with their fingers we took off. After a few minutes I realize that it would be much easier to run around if the kids didn't have to hold the pillowcases on. I went back inside and found some clothespins. After securing everyone's capes and giving mine to Tanner, we took off again. Sidney joined in with her own cape. The six of us ran around the yard flying and having lots of fun. It reminded me that some of the simplest things can be the best: a pillowcase, a cardboard box, bubblewrap, etc. Hopefully one of the family photographers managed to get some pictures of the kids.
I loved spending time with my nieces and nephews. I went home a little early so that I could drop Dad's keys off to him at Grandma's house.

A quote

A friend of mine, Gabe, gave me a great quote last night:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

-Anonymous

Isn't that great?

Grassroots Shakespeare Company

On Monday night I went to Family Home Evening, which turned out to include a trip to a park to see a production of Much Ado about Nothing. I have seen it performed before and have seen the movie a couple of times. This, however, is the first time I saw it in the rain. We got to the park about 20 minutes before it started raining. Luckily, half of the ward brought umbrellas and all of us brought blankets and jackets. It rained for about half of the production and then stopped. The players kept going through it all. I thought all the actors and actresses did great jobs although my favorite was the gentlemen who played Benedict. The production was put on by a non-profit group called The Grassroots Shakespeare Company. If anyone gets the chance to catch a production by the group, I would highly recommend it.

Lagoon 2009

For the past few years my Dad's work party has been at Lagoon. This year, the majority of the family went along. I left home around 9:30am and was the first to arrive. One by one, the family came along. All the kids but Tanner showed up and we had a great time. I had forgotten how tiring Lagoon can be though. Lifting and carrying the kids just made it a little crazier (and more fun.) We lucked out with the nice weather - I don't think it got above 80 degrees after 1pm, although the wind picked up in the late afternoon. The kids had a great time and the adults had a great time watching them and joining them on rides.
Now that the "triplets" are three, they can go on a lot more rides. I think Wyatt's favorite ride was the airplanes, Lauren's favorite rides was the flying animals, and Isaac just wanted to be moving. Aaron was able to go on a few rides and actually did pretty well. Sidney and I went on quite a few rides. I can't believe how fearless she is. She wanted to go on the Wild Mouse, the White Roller Coaster, the Tidal Wave, and other fast rides. We rode in the front car of the White Roller Coaster, per Sidney's request. She loved it! I think I screamed more than she did. She and I played a few games as well and she ended up winning a small duck. Mom and Dad fed us pizza for dinner and we didn't leave until almost 10pm. I'm amazed at how long all the kids lasted, especially since none of them took naps. They all had so much fun. Thanks Mom and Dad, for inviting us to have so much fun.

Camping

I haven't been camping in quite a while. Oh course, I don't know if I can really call this camping. We slept in cabins with bunk beds and glass windows, there were flush toilets and running water (including showers,) and we ate food prepared in a kitchen by the pavilion. We stayed at the Heber Valley Girls camp. Despite the lack of tents and non-flushing toilets, it was good. Two other singles wards were invited besides mine.
I left work early on Friday to get ready. I bought a sleeping bag on Thursday, which worked really well. I also bought a sleeping pad, which didn't work as well as I'd like. Anyway, I ended up at the church at 5:30pm with roommate M. Even though she had hurt her back, she still wanted to go. We ended up taking Natalie, a girl from the ward, as well. It was a nice drive up. The first thing I noticed is that it was about 10 degrees cooler in the mountains. As the night went on, it became windy and colder. We had a potato bar for dinner and then listened to a speaker. After the speaker there were skits, which I didn't participate in. I went down to the fire pit, where most of our ward ended up (we all decided that we are the old grumpy singles ward.) We didn't have marshmallows but some people toasted Mambas, Starburst, and Red Vines. We talked and joked around. By 11:30 I was tired and cold and ready for bed. I tried to blow up my mattress but it didn't seem to work properly. (Let this be a lesson to everyone about testing camping equipment before taking it camping.) The cabin was pretty cold since it had cement floors and not a whole lot of insulation. It was still really nice though.
Lights were out by 1am but I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable until almost 4 am. I was awaken at 7:30 by some girls packing up. I left my warm sleeping bag and took a trip to the bathroom. Breakfast was at 9am, by which my entire cabin was packed up and cleaned, and consisted of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and hot chocolate. It was still windy and looked like rain. Roommate M's back was killing her so we decided to leave early. All in all, it was fun. My favorite part was sitting around the campfire and tables talking to people in my ward. There is something about food that makes people talk and share things they might not when just sitting around. I didn't end up taking many pictures, but I've included a few.

May Celebration

Last Sunday I went up to my parent's house to celebrate mother's day and May birthdays (Dad and Britnie.) It was nice enough that we got to eat outside. We ate a great meal and had chocolate trifle for dessert. The kids and I had a great time trying to play t-ball. Trying to teach Lauren and Wyatt to hit the ball, drop the bat, and run around the bases was hilarious. Lauren would hit the ball and run with the bat. Wyatt would hit, drop the bat, but then run the opposite direction of the bases. Sidney was able to help me teach the kids. Tanner wandered over every once in a while but was more interested in the t-ball stand than the bat. It was a lot of fun. For our Mother's Day gift and Dad's birthday, the kids decided to refinish Mom and Dad's deck. We are planning on doing it on June 13th.