The 5-fer Weekend

Not just a 2-fer, but a 5-fer: my brother Dave's graduation from USU, my niece Ella's early birthday party, Benji and Mia's blessings, and early Mother's day. Even Grandmother flew in for the festivities. It was a big weekend, and although it was fun, I'm glad it's over. We did so much planning for it, that I forgot to check my schedule. Oops--I was on call all day Sunday (from 7am-11pm). I would normally write it on the white board (I have a monthly calendar I write on, but the month ended on Saturday May 3rd), and it was in my planner (although my weekly planner starts on Monday, so I forgot to flip the page over). I felt like the biggest eejit when the charge nurse called me at 8am on Sunday morning and told me I needed to come in. Sometimes I truly wonder if my brain cells are working! So I drove from Logan to IMC (it took about an hour and 20 minutes), got dressed in my scrubs and presented myself. The charge nurse said she didn't realize it was my baby's blessing and she said I could take off. By this point, it was about 10am, and if I left by 1pm, I'd still be able to make it back. So I told her that, since I was there, I wanted to work--to make the trip worthwhile, especially if they needed an extra body. I stayed for a couple of hours, holding retractors and suctioning a septic total knee revision. Then they let me go. I could have stayed longer, but once word got out what had happened, they all felt really bad that I had come at all. I left around 11:45 and made it back in plenty of time . . . I even got to take a shower and put on some makeup. Everything worked out all right. I'm still wondering if I'll be written up for going out of town (part of the rules for being on-call is that you have to show up within 30 minutes--not exactly possible coming from Logan). But my boss (the one who doesn't particularly like me) knows about it and actually told me she was sorry. That was nice of her, but I can't blame anyone but myself. I didn't check my schedule and get people to cover for me; everyone else did what they were supposed to do. They were also having a pot-luck for el Quatro de Mayo, so I got a yummy free lunch out of the deal too.

Allen's mom was supposed to join us for the weekend, but wasn't able to. I'm sad she hasn't met her only grandchild yet, and I want Benji to know her. It's too bad it's so difficult for her to travel. She takes care of so many different people, that her world probably would fall apart if she left for a few days. Still, I wish she'd try a bit harder. My view of what a family is supposed to be is a bit different than hers, though. Allen just isn't close to his mother and sister; his father has been out of the picture for years, and I don't know if I'll ever meet him. When we drive out to King's Canyon/Sequoia for my family reunion this July, we'll go early to see his family, but he says all we need is a few hours. And that's so strange to me, because we'll be spending three days with my extended family; not to mention all the time we spend with my immediate family. I think it's a bit overwhelming to Allen at times, but ever since my brother John passed away, my family has been much closer. I love spending as much time with them as possible. I'm not opposed to moving back east if some fantastic job opportunity were to open up, but on my drive to and from Salt Lake on Sunday, I realized how much I love Utah. I love being nestled in the mountains; there's something protective and comforting about them. I love that we have four distinct seasons (even if Spring and Fall are too short . . .). I love that my family is close by, and that I can drop in on them anytime and they are always happy to see me. It is a good life, I must say.

Cute Baby!

Yes, I am writing about how stinkin' cute my baby is. He has the hicc-burps right now (which, I'm sorry to say, he inherited from yours truly). Poor kid. He does have my eyes--a gorgeous dark blue. Allen thinks they will lighten up to look more like his, but I hope not. It would be nice if he had more of me in him than hicc-burps! So . . . how 'bout them Jazz!? Normally I would not condone such crude grammar, but they are rockin'! I can't believe Harpring fouled out last game, and not one 3-pointer would drop! Crazy! But they'll kick those nasty Rockets out soon. Game 5 tonight, baby! Yeah! (That was supposed to be said with an Austin Powers accent.) Since I have been back at work, I have started reading again. I finished up the Twilight series yesterday (yes, again). They really are good books, but personally I prefer Jacob to Edward. Sure, Edward is perfect, but Jacob is real. I hope that, when the next one comes out, Bella does give Jake another chance. He deserves it. It's taking forever to type this, because I'm holding Benji with my left hand. Oh well. I can't be mad at him, because he's so cute. He has started sucking on his hands, and his slurps are so loud! He also will stick out his bottom lip when he's upset--it's the funniest thing in the world. I should be sad when he's sad enough to do it, but it just makes me laugh!

"It's been a while . . ."

I have gone back to work, and that's sucking away all my energy. It's nice to have some adult conversations and get out of the house and learn new things every day (yes--I do love that about my job), but it's hard to leave my baby. He's so sweet. He's taking a nap with Daddy on our bed right now. He's much more awake and observant these days; sometimes he'll smile at me and 'talk' to me. I just never understood how much I could love another person until this sweet baby came along! My friend Shauna just had her baby boy, and they are having him blessed on the same day we are blessing Benji. D'oh! They named him William. One of the anesthesiologists I work with also had a baby in January, and his name is William as well. I guess that name is out for number two. For some reason, I just love the name George. It's not a bible name, but I don't know--it's just a great name! If I were to have identical twins (heaven forbid!), I think I might have to name them Fred and George. Sad, but true. And no, this is not an announcement; I will not be pregnant again for a long time. I have linked my sister Rebecca's blog to my site. Can I just say that the Ugly Frog story is too funny!? I was almost crying with Becca's smug satisfaction. Enjoy!

Grunts and Groans

No, I'm not talking about my baby, although he does grunt and groan a lot. I'm talking about work, and how I have to go back next week. I'm not exactly thrilled, and it's kind-of a mess. They weren't expecting me back until the end of May (although I told them it would be about 2 months, and 2 months it has been . . .), so they covered my shifts and now I have to beg those people who took them to give them back to me. Even though I have done that, I forgot that I have to have each individual sign the paper that I talked to them and give it to the charge nurse so she can change it on the schedule. So basically I have to go back in on Monday (none of this is paid, mind you) and try to do this all over again. I'm not bringing Benji with me this time, so I'll have to wait for Allen to get home from work and try to do this again. I thought I would have been able to start working a different shift--5pm to 1am--which my supervisor told me was available and would have solved the babysitting problems, but now it's not. My boss (who is over my supervisor) doesn't really like me, which is okay. She is trying to accommodate me, but I'm absolutely positive she doesn't think that I'm worth the effort. Whatever. I see her so rarely that it doesn't really matter, but it's still frustrating that she said it was available, but now that I want it, it's not. Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of this. That's the more likely explanation, so I really should go to bed, since I'll be up in 45 minutes to feed the baby anyway. Grrrr.

Some Random Thoughts

My baby is finally smiling at me. He doesn't do it often, but it makes me so happy that he's responding to my communication. I love him so much it hurts sometimes, but his smiles make it all worthwhile. So how about conference? I didn't gain a whole lot from it, since I was extremely tired and grumpy :o( but it was very good. Elder Ballard's talk on young mothers made me cry (big surprise!). I'm glad it was respectful toward all we have to do and how much responsibility we can take on. We finally got our birth announcements, so I'll try to get them out to y'all soon. I think they turned out nicely, even if they were a bit expensive. I need to hit Target today, do some laundry, make some food, and send out the invites. There's so much to do, and yet I sit here blogging . . . I guess I should get to it. :)