Yet another sappy blurb about being thankful...

I know, I know....but I have been giving the topic of being thankful much thought lately, and have compiled a little list to share. Here goes :
My Family - It really goes without saying, but sometimes it just needs to be expressed. Sure, they can drive me crazy ( as I'm sure I do them) but they are my family, and I love each of you very much.

• My World of Difference friends. Each person I met has had such a profound impact on my life. I am so lucky to have had the experience I did with each of you, and whether we never see each other again, I will always think of you with fondness and gratitude in my heart.


• Peter and Isaac


• My work - I may bitch and moan about them, but without it, my life would be different.


• Wes Anderson


• blogging


• My thoughts, beliefs, and convictions. Agree or not, like them or not, they are mine, and for that I am very grateful.

Got that done. I think I will now start off my holiday by watching the classic movie " Planes, trains, and automobiles". It gets me every time I see it, and should be the perfect start to a awesome day.

My body fails me, and so does our healthcare system

What a tough couple of weeks. This has been my first chance to write as I've been a mess 'O pain lately. A few weeks ago, I started not being able to sleep thru the night. I'd wake up at midnight, one Am. 3 am, etc.. etc.. etc.. with back pain that got progressively worse. At first i though it was just stress from work, as that has triggered my lower back pain before. But a week ago last Wednesday, I woke up at 5 am in excruciating back pain, hardly able to breathe or walk. Hobbling into Aaron's room, I had to wake him up and get me the the ER. The Doctor's looked me over, took a CT scan, and thought I had Kidney stones. Again!, I thought. (see here)

I was heavily medicated in the ER, but thru my dopey haze, I hear the doctor's say that they think they see three kidney stones, but the radiologist doesn't see any. Of course, they don't have a clue what is really happening to me. So they just discharge me, tell me to drink lots of water, make an appt. for a Urologist, and basically hope for the best...

But I did get all this lovely Medication...

and all of these great little urine strainers

I go the Urologist a few days later, and after waiting over 1/2 an hour, he see's me for all of five minutes, concurs with the H & P from the hospital, saying he see's no kidney stones either. Wonderful healthcare I'm receiving. So he thinks it might be acute back pain. At this point I don't think anyone has any idea, but I'll become a pharmaceutical pin cushion, and try whatever he prescribes.

When I get home, I decide to just listen to my own thoughts. I stopped drinking Diet Coke cold turkey. I went and bought a filtered Brita water pitcher. I stretch each morning and each evening to try and keep all my muscles loose. And I'm on a more routine exercise program. Last night I finally slept over 8 hours without waking up once, and I feel pretty good. I am also going to go see a Chiropractor this Friday that my brother uses and he really likes. It can't hurt, right?

Master Snickup's Cloak

In roaming the blogging world I came across this great site called The hermitage about the lives of two artistic nomads living in Europe. Check out their site to learn more, but I would like to share one little discovery I made, a book called Master Snickup's Cloak.

The best way for me to describe this story would be from the jacket cover :

Master Snickup's Cloak is a Medieval moral tale animated by the spirit of Poe and Burroughs. It weaves a web of Gothic horror around a story of childhood love, tragically betrayed.

Alexander Theroux creates a pageant of characters that wittily parodies 20th century preconceptions of the Dark Ages.

Amongst these characters are the divinely beautiful but mercenary Superfecta; the money-grabbing burgher, Mijnheer van Cats; and Master Snickup himself, wanderer, ascetic and recluse.

Brian Froud's illustrations depict in subtle colors a world teeming with tiny spirits and mutant devils. The text is set as in an antique parchment, a context that perfectly complements Theroux's wryly humorous fable.

This book was originally going to be a christams gift for my niece, but upon reading it, I will wait a few more years before i pass it on, as I feel it's depth and beauty would be lost on a 7 year old. It is also a 1st edition.

Thank you Rima for bringing this art into my world.

I'm Spongeworthy!

So on Thursday, October da 1st, my 39th birthday came to be. To celebrate me making it to the summit of life's hill ( it's all downhill from here!) Pa and Aaron took me to the Lakeside golf course aka " The Sponge" for a afternoon of golf ( free on your Bday)

As you can see by our beanie's, hoodie's, and jackets, it was a little chilly, but still a beautiful autumn day in Bountiful. Snow on the mountain tops, with autumnal leaves below, and a crystal clear blue sky.

I did recieve two very specials gifts as well. First was from one of my 'World of Difference" friends, Ruth. Ruth is a teacher in Georgia, and was the one that invited me to help teach in Nairobi. After myself and Dawne taught our first class of "Be True, Be Clean/HIV & AIDS", I was able to tell these wonderful children about Truddles and then gave each of them a Trudi 5K memorial T-shirt. Ruth sent me pic's from that very special day.... Then later that night Jared sent me this video from Crazy legs and C-Bug.

Thanks! Love you guys!

Halloween Super Utes!

So this year I decided to get back into Halloween after taking a hiatus for the past several years. The comeback had mainly to due with the University of Utah football game being on halloween night, and it was also the "blackout"game. I've always thought that it looked like fun seeing people dressed up at sporting events on TV, and so I came up with the idea for Jared and I to go in costumes. It was awesome! the crowd around us loved our costumes, and we had fun acting like we were 10 years old ( insert your own joke here...) Shauna, Jared's monster-in-law (J/K!), got into the spirit and joined us with a costume as well. I made this short little video of the day, but be forewarned that i used a soundtrack from the classic 90's movie The Wedding singer, and if you are easily offended by
curse words..... Enjoy!