Jen Lew this is for you

January- Bear River for New Years

February: Carlsbad California

March~ Moab

April/May- Sainty George

May: Eastern Caribbean Cruise-- Bahamas, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, & Grand Turk

May/June~ Lake Powell

Last year

Last year I had made a goal to travel a lot, I originally wanted to go somewhere at least once a month... it didn't happen due to some unforeseen circumstances -a broken ankle of a brother-in-law- so this year I'm attempting it again. So far so good. January through March were successful and April through September are planned. Anyone who wants to help me figure out October, November, and December let's figure it out :)

word of the day... week... month... year?

spon·ta·ne·i·ty
[spon-tuh-nee-i-tee, -ney-]

–noun, plural -ties.
1. the state, quality, or fact of being spontaneous.
2. spontaneous activity.
3. spontaneities, spontaneous impulses, movements, or actions.

Origin: 1645–55; < Late Latin spontāne ( us ) spontaneous + -ity

I am being spontaneous this week and going to California with two of my co-workers. I decided on Monday to fly out with them on Wednesday and just go relax and say hello to the Pacific Ocean. I was not blessed with the gift of being spontaneous but I am giving it a shot. Maybe just maybe I will be good and blog again sooner than later... considering my last post was in November. whoops

Apparently.

Tonight my patient's baby daddy told me that I'm ready to have children. (crickets right?)

Anyway so here's the gyst of how our conversation went. {At some point I must've made a comment for him to think I have a boyfriend}

patient's baby daddy: "You have any kids of your own?"

me: "Nope."

patient's baby daddy: "What about your man, he have any kids?"

me: (so I'm thinking huh, I have a man? Oh well just go with it) "No he doesn't" only feeling slightly guilty that I lied about having a man in my life.

patient's baby daddy: "How long you been with him."

me: keep lying... "A couple of years."

patient's baby daddy: "And you ain't got no kids? You can't always be waitin for the right time, don't want to get too comfortable (and then started on some long spiel about why couples should just have kids or something)."

me: "Yeah, things are just good. Maybe in a few years."

patient's baby daddy: "but you're ready to have kids, I can tell."

me: "Oh yeah?! I am, how can you tell?"

patient's baby daddy: "Because you's all attentive to details."

So because I'm attentive to details that means I am ready for children. ha ha ha, I think that comes with my job title, being attentive to details. I don't want to screw up at work which means details are important to me.

oh and GO UTES!!!! I am so proud of them for remembering how to play the game of football

Slacky McSlackerson is my name

I haven't posted in a while. I think about it and what I'm going to post and then I don't do it. Sorry.

I went to Lake Powell for the 4th time in October for a quick weekend getaway and it was awesome. I met some really cool new people and hung out with friends I've had for a long time too. It was nice to be down there one last time this year.

I also went to West Palm Beach Florida the last week of October through the first of November. I'll admit it, I am in love. I am in love with the Atlantic Ocean. I feel like I'm a snowbird already because I can't wait to be old as dirt and flying south for the winter to enjoy the warm warm ocean water. I also think the humidity is heavenly. I really can't get over how amazing the water was, there were waves that weren't too big or too small... Just right, like with Goldy locks. It was a peaceful fun calming healing and relaxing trip and I am grateful that my parents invited me to join them. I snorkled, I sun bathed, I read, I slept, I listened to the ocean waves break on the beach and let all my stress melt away. I had fun.

This month I was able to go see Brandon Flowers in concert. He is so absolutely amazing. I really think he just keeps getting better and better. His voice has improved so much since the first time I saw him perform with The Killers with the Hot Fuss album. It was such a great night. I think I fell in love. Granted he's married and famous so it's not going to work out, bummer!

Most importantly it is November!!!! I know it is such a contradiction that November is one of my favorite months when I loath the cold weather but I can't help it. November is the start of the Thanksgiving season and it's just a month that makes me happy. I can't wait for Thanksgiving, it's just a week and a half away and I can't wait for the delish food and fun family events.

I hope this short post will suffice for my slacking over the last 2 months.

1. November (see above)
2. Music (Brandon Flowers... fun/the format)
3. Scooot scoot, scout, little girl, chicky chick, punkin little, thin mint... she is the love of my life after all and she sure makes me happy.
4. Good friends
5. getting a good massage
6. getting my hair done. feels so great!
7. new warm boots
8. My warm bed

I know I should post something Patriotic about yesterday but I have something else on my mind

A year ago yesterday we had to put my cat Tilly to sleep. I know I wrote about him last year and I think I cried the entire time I wrote that post, I'm tearing up right now as I think about him and it's been a year. I get that it is weird that someone could still be sad about a cat a year after he was put to sleep but there was something amazing about him. I absolutely loved the way he'd come when I would call him, or that he knew when I was having a bad day and would come sit by me and purr to distract & comfort me, the way he purred so loudly with such a peaceful calm look on his face, his eyes-- oh those eyes were an amazingly gorgeous shade of emerald green, his funny fangs that made him look goofy, his game of flop and roll, the way he would sit on my lap in a protective manner if I had a boy over at my parents house (there was only one boy he left my lap for, which I think meant Tilly approved), or the way he'd sleep on my chest and purr the whole time... He was a special cat and I miss him still but I cannot wait to see him again, yes I do believe our Heavenly Father lets animals into Heaven because it wouldn't be worth going there if our pets weren't there with us. I know some of you don't understand the love people have for animals and it makes me sad that you don't feel that way but I am grateful that I can fall in love with animals. They're such great companions and friends even if their lives are short and I'd never trade away any of my memories of Tilly or any of the pets I've had or will have in the future.

Today was a pretty day outside. It felt calm and peaceful, the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. I liked today for following yesterday.

when it rains it pours... no literally it does.

I'm going to start with my list because the rest of this is going to be whiney. I am sorry, but I am warning you now so if you want to ignore the whining you can skip this.

1. Having friends that I can say this to, "No way, you too? I thought I was the only one." Making me feel slightly less crazy and weird and a teensy bit more normal.

2. Seeing how excited Scout becomes when she sees me at my parents house on an "on" Sunday when the whole family is there and it's chaotic and crazy. She'll spot me, come over for some reassurance, then go hide again but all the while knowing she's okay because I'm still there to protect her.

3. My dad leaving popsicles at my house the other day.

4. Sunshine.

5. Knowing I get to see the Atlantic Ocean this fall.

6. Having a roof over my head....(pertains to my whining)

7. The smell of my house right now, I made cookies earlier and the house still smells homey.

8. Music, and people who love the same music as I do.

9. My sister Deb, she took Scout & Callell on a walk today.

10. Dave, for being the best roommate and brother a girl could ever have.

So here the whining comes. Saturday I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing... thinking really it's too early and hearing my mom, who sounds very upset, on the other end. She asks for my brother, I tell her I will let him know and that I'm sorry and sad to hear her news. I then think, did Scout revert to being a naught puppy and pee on the carpet? Yes, I did bend down and smell it, I also looked at my socks to see if there was any color to the fluid they had absorbed while I was standing talking to my mom. Nope, no pee smell or yellow on the socks. She is the good potty trained dog I love and adore. I notice that the carpet is squishy in that spot. I then look for other sketchy spots and find quite a few, I look for a sight of entry the walls weren't bubbled out or looking like they were having problems with water seeping in so I was baffled. Now Dave had taken off by this time and no one at my parents house would answer any of the calls I made, cell/home/office all went to voicemail. Finally I was able to get ahold of my mom and tell her what was going on and she gave me some good advice, tell Dave (see great roommate, being my go-to fix it guy). Turns out a sprinkler head outside one of my windows was broken, not sure how, but it was just gurgling water out, which ultimately led to it seeping into the old old cracks in the foundation of my very old old house and into my room. My dad came up to help my brother figure it out and work on some other plumbing/sprinkler system issues at the same time. My dad is a rock star!

I tried soaking the water up with towels, which didn't work to well. I moved furniture and I'll have you know that the room in which I live is well stocked in furniture. My aunt and uncle had furniture in there when I moved in so it's a pretty crowded room full of miss-matched pieces, I like to say it's eclectic, but every wall spot is covered with a chair, dresser, end table, etc so moving pieces away from the wall and into the center of the room is not the easiest of tasks. I am too embarrassed to post the photos I took tonight to show you the utter chaos my bedroom has turned into. It went from being cozy and safe to looking like an atomic bomb blew up in there. Today I went into Home Depot and rented one of the carpet fans to see if that'd work. I did attempt to pull the carpet up but I'm pulling the girl card and admitting that I couldn't do it. Dave was successful tonight and now my room is even more chaotic. The dress that was against the wall, i had moved to fit snugly against the end of my bed, is now on it's side between my bed and my desk (and that is not a big space) in order for the carpet to have been pulled up and rolled up. That dresser I've learned was soaking up the water because the base is slightly warped and you can tell it's experienced some water damage.

My windows are opened, which is the first and probably the last time they'll ever be opened as long as I'm living in the room. Sorry basement room with windows that look out into ivy vines just is a bad situation with the spiders and I'm not about to open the windows so they can crawl right on in .... gooo! The carpet fan continues to do it's job (I hope). And I am now bedroom-less. I have dresser drawers stacked on the floor in the safe zone, I have a chair pretty much blocking the door, a dresser and another small piece of furniture on the other side of my bed. Both blocking Scout from being able to get into her kennel or to her toys. I have books and decorations covering the other pieces of furniture and my bed because of the dresser that is currently on its side trying to dry its bottom and to save space. I am grateful that this house does have an extra room for my aunt and uncle, who own the house, because I would be sleeping on the extremely uncomfortable couch in our family room other wise. I am grateful for a friend whose family is in the carpet business and helped with the tip on how to get the carpet up from the floor. I am grateful for Scout being a trooper and not minding the new sleeping situation until our room is back to normal. The ultimate bad news though, I'm just about to start a 3 night shift in a row and my cave of a room is not really a cave. It smells like an old musty mildewy beach house that's been standing on the beach for the last 70 years. It makes me think of the times when my family went to the East Coast for a family vacation and the first scent I would smell is that humidy/mildewy/coastal beach house smell that if is in a beach house is perfectly fine, but when it's in your bedroom in the middle of a dry hot heat there is something wrong. If I cannot run out to the ocean and swim when the room where I'm sleeping smells the way it does, it's just not right. The next problem would be the windows, I have had them covered for the last 2+ years with my ghetto version of some curtains to help make the room darker so I can sleep during the day for work, those have been removed to allow as much airflow as possible and it is now a bright regular bedroom. The final problem is the utter chaos and mess, I can't sleep when there is stuff piled up on the chair and furniture all around me. I feel like Sarah in the movie Labyrinth, with David Bowie {What you haven't seen it?! You must rent it now or borrow it from me because it's the best thing that came out of 1986}, when she is lost in the junk yard area and she finds her old bedroom but it stuff just keeps falling on her. It makes me all very claustrophobic and I don't like it.

This is getting really really really long and redundant, sorry. I hope your sprinklers never ever break and gurgle water down to your foundation that may have cracks in it thus flooding but not really flooding more like soaking your carpets a bit at a time until it makes a cluster cuss of a mess.... Hope you liked that run-on sentence all you grammar fanatics.