The appendix

My roommate Camille has been feeling sick for a while now. Dizzy for a month and sick to her stomach for a week. It got worse every time she ate. After harassment from me, she went to the doctor's office. He sent her to get an Ultrasound. So yesterday, Monday, I took her to the hospital. She had to fast and drink water an hour before the scan. Afterwards, the Ultrasound tech immediately set up an appointment for a CAT scan. An hour later she was lying in a big circular machine. She looks happy in the picture but is actually starving. After a long test, the doctor said she needed to get an immediate appendectomy. She was sent to the lab for blood work. At this point, she was getting a little nervous. Luckily, I have had experience with hospitals. After Grandpa, Grandma, and Caleb, I know how hospital visits work. I took Camille home to take out her contacts, get a change of clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush

, and a book. I then drove her to the hospital and we checked into the surgery ward. To pass the time, I read Camille facts from The Encyclopedia of the Bizarre. A nurse started an IV, as you can see from the picture, and took vitals. Sarah came after work and brought one of our Home Teachers, Nate, and another friend, Scottie. They gave Camille a blessing. By 7pm, Camille was taken into surgery. I called Camille's parents with another update and Sarah and I finally got dinner. She was out of surgery by 9pm.

Tuesday morning, after my interview at a doctor's office, I went to see her. Camille was in fairly good spirits considering her trying night. After visiting a while, I came home to do dishes, laundry, and vacuuming. I went back at 4 and we left the hospital by 5. Off to the pharmacy and grocery store we went. She is now safely on the couch where she, Sarah, and I are watching Eragon. (I'll review it later for my faithful blog readers.) Such a Monday. It's been a while since so much excitement has happened in two days. Hopefully Camile will mend soon. Her mom is coming down tomorrow to visit. (I'm glad I cleaned part of the apartment today.)

foot update

This is my foot, a few days after the sprain. Along with ice and heat, I have kept it in a bandage as much as possible. The brown/purple that you see is bruising. It is along the bottom of my foot and across my toes. Gross but true. This picture was taken by my roomate. Right now I have only a slight limp.

Cold feet on the Sabbath

On Saturday I had the opportunity to babysit Lauren. I was up in Salt Lake by 12:15 pm to meet Jen, John, Mom and Dad. We ate lunch at the Citrus Grill. While the rest of the group went to see a play, Lauren and I sat on the grass of her front yard. First we watched cars, then the neighbors had their lawn aerated. This was a fascinating event. She held onto a piece of grass and watched with barely a blink of her long eyelashes. The postman commented on her adorable face while handing off the mail. At long last, Lauren and I both decided that it was time for her nap. After a diaper change and a quick story, I put her to bed. Two cries later, she couldn't have been awakened by the four horsemen armed with thunderbolts. I read, watched tv for five minutes, and then decided on a quick nap. I was awakened by my family returning from the play. Apparently, it had some bad language and a mean grandma. I headed home, stopping at the video store along the way. I ended up with episodes of CSI: NY. My foot, the sprained one, was throbbing. I came home to find Sarah hanging pictures and dusting and Camille asleep. After having a dinner of pizza, I worked on my journal and pictures.
Saturday morning began with me leaving early for church. As ward librarian, I have to go early so I can print off the program for Sacrament meeting. Sarah joined my for the rest of church. One of the most interesting parts of church was the Relief Society lesson. The lesson was on the life of Pres. Hinckley and pioneers. At one point, the teacher asked us to all write our names on a piece of paper. She collected them, then invited two elders and one sister into the room. She had them stick their feet in a buckets of water filled with ice. They were really cold. As we all stood, she would read off three names for every thirty seconds the two men and one woman kept their feet completely submerged in the buckets of ice water. After five minutes, you could really tell that they were getting really cold and their feet hurt. As the names were read off, we were saved on our trek through life. The cold feet in ice were to represent the three young men who carried saints across the Sweetwater River. It was a very good lesson. After Sarah and I came home, I made a double batch of cornbread to take to Break the Fast. It was fun to get together and eat with ward members. Jake, Melissa, and Keri sat by us and were very entertaining. Afterwards, Sarah went on a walk while I worked on my blanket. Thus ends the Sabbath Day.

Sprained ankle and Friday night

On Thursday, a bunch of people went to a place called Power Tumbling in Provo. It is a place where gymnasts can practice. It is full of trampolines, bouncy runways, and large foam pits. We placed around, and in the end, we broke into teams to participate in an obstacle course. Just as we were going to begin, I jumped on the edge of a trampoline wrong. Yes, dear readers, I sprained my ankle. It hurt like the dickens. I got light-headed. I limped off and sat down to watch everyone else have fun. When I got home I took some pain medication and put ice on. After a break, I then used a heating pad. I didn't sleep well that night because my ankle kept throbbing. I was awakened by Camille on Friday. She wanted me to take her the doctor's office. I limped there and then stopped by Target on our way back to pick up an ankle wrap. Luckily, the Internet showed me how to wrap an ankle. It took me forever to shower and get ready for my Friday night. Limping along, I drove up to Salt Lake. Ryan and I ended up at Mikey's house. A group of us spent the night watching clips on Youtube. We were watching the openings of old shows like Today's Special, Gummie Bears, Transformers, GI Joe, and other shows. It was a lot of fun and I got to spend time with my foot up on a table/pillow. I didn't get home until 1:30 am.

Strange facts

Before I go to bed each night I try to read something to get my brain to focus and calm down. I generally don't read works of prose because I get too involved, causing me to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Right now I'm reading Ripley's believe it or not! Encyclopedia of the Bizarre. There are many odd and amusing facts in this book, including the following:

-The average human body contains enough potassium to fire a small canon and enough carbon to fill nine hundred pencils.
-Denna Sayles, of Fairfield, California, has four kidneys.
-Tongue prints are as unique as fingerprints.
-Fingernails grow faster than toenails.
-The human brain can produce enough electricity to power a toy train.
-When Vera Czermak learned that her husband had betrayed her, she jumped out her third-story window. She survived, but she landed on her husband, who was killed.

One can assume that the editors of this book checked the facts before printing them, but I didn't find a statement in the book attesting to their vigilance.

Fun this weekend

I had some fun this weekend. On Friday night I went bowling with the young single adults. Six of us girls were on one lane with some very fun neighbors. I was taking pictures and turned around to see Cassi, Tiffany, and Camille taking or looking at pictures they had taken. I ended up getting a 55. Sad, but I was excited to break 50. Afterwards, Sarah, Camille, and I watched The Holiday. It was a good movie although there was too much bad language.

On Saturday I rushed home from my parent's house to find Sarah putting together a cabinet for the bathroom. After she was finished, we decided to go have some fun. We called Jake and Amy, and then went to Trafalga for mini golf, racing around the slick track, and cups of dippin' dots. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, Sarah, Jake, and I talked for a while. At 1 am we decided to call it a night.

New blanket; much easier than quilting

This is the blanket I am working on. It isn't done yet but I am not sure what to do next. I am kind of making up the pattern as I go along.

The fear of quilting

On Saturday morning I went up to Mom and Dad's for quilting.

It was decided a few weeks ago that Alison was going to teach us how to make a quilt square. Having never pieced a quilt in my life, this was a daunting idea indeed. I chose my fabric on Friday and forgot to throw it in the washer. I got to Kaysville by 10:15 am. I played with Isaac and Lauren while we were getting set up. After cutting out my fabric, I took a quick break and went to the hair salon. After returning, I held Tanner. He got his first cast on to fix his club foot. Saturday was the first time I had really gotten the chance to hold this sweet boy. He slept the whole time but it was completely wonderful. Isaac and Lauren were darling as usual, although Lauren refused to take a nap. It was great to see everyone. Thankfully, Sarah has a sewing machine that I can use since I didn't get much sewing done. Everyone managed to finish. Because of my trip to the hair salon and a baby shower, I am horribly behind. Such is life. (By the way, I still am scared of quilting.)

Camille, the library, and the museum

Yesterday I decided to be the happy chef. I made a pot roast, baked potatoes, and carrots for dinner. It was my first time cooking a roast all on my own. It turned out really good. Camille liked it and praised my cooking skills. I did laundry and cleaned most of the upstairs bathroom. At 4pm I heard the shower turn on. Since I thought I was alone, I was a little alarmed. It turns out that Camille had been asleep all day. So, with waking up twice for bathroom breaks, Camille had slept for 14 hours. She hasn't been feeling well lately. Along with being tired all the time, she is dizzy most of the time. Sometimes it is so bad that she can't get out of bed. I took her to the doctor's office last week but the blood tests came back ok. Now if I could just convince her to go see an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor. I am worried about her. Anyway, enough about Camille.
I have two interviews tomorrow so I would appreciate positive thoughts from any readers of this blog. The first interview is with a law firm. The other is with the Lee Library on the BYU campus. It would be a wonderful job. I am hopeful but am not getting my hopes up. After Camille and I ate dinner last night, she showed me where the library was. We went inside to find the office where my interview will be and I ended up looking around. What a wonderful building. In the basement there is a small exhibit about World War II. What I found fascinating was several journals. They were all open to various pages. I couldn't help but sit and read everything on those open pages. According to the notes accompanying the books, they have not been published. They were all on loan to the library from the families. What I wouldn't give to be able to read the whole journals. One particular journal caught my eye. As a POW, one man was given the duty, from his LDS group, to be a record keeper. He sketched pictures and wrote daily reports on what was happening in the POW camp. What a fascinating record. Anyway, after we left the library we stopped by the art museum. There is a wonderful exhibit about Christ. We would have stayed for the Impressionist exhibit but it was getting late and Camille and I were getting tired. I plan to get back to the museum this week, probably before or after my interview tomorrow.

Isaac, Hillary Hahn, Ryan, and church

On Friday morning, Jordan and Alison dropped Isaac off at my apartment. It was my job to watch and play with him while Jordan and Alison went to the viewing and funeral of her grandfather. For over two hours, we talked, laughed, and played. He especially liked to talk to, and about, some plastic dinosaurs that we keep at the apartment for just such occasions. We also had fun getting the mail out of the mailbox. It made a lot of noise when Isaac repeatedly hit it. Jordan came and picked him up at about 12:30. I then took a shower, did some housework, and wrote part of a short story. At 4:30 pm I picked up Camille from work and we both got ready to go into Salt Lake City. Camille had found out about a concert at Symphony Hall. Hillary Hahn is a thirty-something violinist who has an amazing talent. Along with the orchestra led by Keith Lockhart, Ms. Hahn played music composed by Jean Sibelius. The music was dark, moving, and passionate. It was a great evening, and Camille's brother drove down from BYU-Idaho to join us. Even after stopping to shop on our way home, we still beat Sarah home.
On Saturday, I took Camille to the mall to get her ears pierced. Afterwards we went to the library, then home to watch a video based on a book by L.M. Montgomery titled Jane of Lantern Hill. I started a new blanket while we watched. At night, Ryan came down from Davis County and we went to dinner and hung out for a while. It was nice to see him since it had been a couple of weeks since we had seen each other. He didn't stay too long though; I had a headache and he was tired.
On Sunday morning, Camille and I got up and ate breakfast. As I was getting ready I happened to look at my cell phone. While my alarm clock read 10:15 am, my cell phone read 11:15 am. That's right, we both forgot about the time change for daylight savings. This means that I was late to church (which starts at 11 am.) Camille stayed home because she wasn't feeling well. Sarah left this morning for a business trip to Las Vegas. It will be strange to have her gone for a week. The part of church I was there for was excellent. I received a new calling: ward librarian. The Relief Society lesson was about repentance and forgiveness. After church, one of our home teachers came over to give Camille a blessing. The three of us ended up talking for almost two hours. Joe is a nice, well-spoken man who I can see becoming a good friend to both Camille and I.
Thus ends my weekend update. I hope all who read this update are doing well. Another week stretches out in front of me. Who knows what interesting things will happened this week.

Update from a stir-crazy girl

I have noticed that I am going stir-crazy. Because I am still in the interview phase of job searching, I have most of my days free. Luckily, I have found some things to do. The first is dishes. I am doing my best to make sure that no dish spends more than a couple of hours in the sink. I have also visited the Orem Library almost every day. I walk there. Yesterday I took the long way, which involved walking up to 4th east, across to 2nd north, then back to Center and State where the library is. I stayed there about an hour and I ran into Aunt Diane. She was going to a zoning meeting. After the library, I walked home by way of State. Aunt Diane stopped by to drop off some stuff from Grandma Roberts. She graciously sent Sarah and I some bowels, towels, and a few kitchen utensils. Aunt Diane and I had a good talk. After dinner, Camille and I went to the UVSC library for an art exhibit. We were pretty disappointed in it. We beat Sarah home by about 5 minutes.
Yesterday was a more interesting day than Tuesday, when Camille and I spent two and a half hours in the doctor's office. Camille hasn't been feeling well lately so she went in for a blood test and check up. Luckily I took a book, which I finished, and a book of Sudoku puzzles. I also made friends in the waiting room. Two sets of missionaries came in along with some nice girls, one who admitted to me that she had cheated on a test. (It will never cease to amaze me what people tell me, especially people I have just me.)
Today I plan to do some laundry, clean the kitchen floor, and work on a short story. I think I finally figured out what is going on with one of my main characters. I figured out on my walk yesterday. Anyway, I will try to keep busy.

Visiting family

This week I was able to see my loving family. On Thursday Alison, Jordan, and Isaac came to visit. Alison and Jordan came down to see her Grandfather and they let me babysit Isaac. The cute boy charmed Sarah and Camille. I was amazed how close to crawling he is. I also was amazed how sharp his new two teeth are. Sadly, my joy at seeing my nephew was lessened by the fact that Alison's grandpa is so sick.
On Friday, my roommates and I took some pictures. Included in this blog are pictures of Sarah cooking and Camille and I. Friday was quiet because I wasn't feeling well. After hearing something upsetting, I had an upset stomach for a few days. On Sunday I drove up to see my parents and the rest of family. We celebrated John's birthday. Mom made a great meal of ribs, potato salad, fruit, and wonderful chocolate trifle for dessert. It was great to see everyone. John and Jen's kitchen is coming along. Lauren now has seven teeth. Amazing!
Josh and Brooke are doing well in their roles of new parents. Tanner is growing although his sleeping schedule is a little off. Jordan and Alison both looked a little tired. Alison's grandfather died and his funeral is on Friday. I still remember when Grandpa Johnsen died and how hard it was. I wish her whole family the best. Jeremy and Britnie are both doing well. Wyatt is apparently teething and Sidney is as full of energy as ever. Mom and Dad are doing well. It was so nice to see everyone and I was home by 10:30 pm.
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