Doctor, Doctor!

Guy started coughing again, quite hard on Thursday night. It has continued off and on throughout the day. Yesterday I got a peak inside his throat while he was laughing and his tonsils appeared swollen and I thought I even saw a white spot on one, indicating that it is infected. I suspected Strep Throat.

I had plans to take him with me to a barbeque and swimming today, at the guy's house that I met in the park. Instead, I had the joy of taking him in to see the Dr. at a med clinic. I am crossing my fingers that they will reimburse me for the out of state visit under my insurance.

I tried to prep Guy of the fact that we would be going to see the Dr. because he has been coughing. He did not begin to freak out, as I expected him to. In fact he even started up a conversation with Kari about his last visit to the Dr. "Doctor go my bum." ...to take his temp. Kids!

He was calm as could be until they called his name to come back from the waiting room. He began to whimper, but he did not fight me. He was even still to allow the nurse check his oxygen and listen to his lungs and look in his hear. I didn't have to request assistance to help me restrain him. He barely put up a fight, although he continued to whimper. The Dr. suspected that it could be Strep, too. They took a culture, at which point we had to lay him down and I held his arms above his head, but he did not attempt to kick the nurse in the chest while she was getting it. I was utterly amazed at his behavior.

He has made so many improvements since we have moved. It's almost as though he is out of his comfort zone and he feels a need to grow up, some. He has sat on the regular potty a few times. He even volunteered to do it himself. I suspect it was a retreat from the bathtub, but I was still tickled at the fact that he was sitting on the potty. Nothing went into it, but if you knew what it has taken to get him to do a simple thing such as that, you would understand my excitement.

He will even take his medication willingly. I no longer have to sit on him and pray that he doesn't choke on it as I force his mouth open and squirt it in only for him to spit it back out all over. It is such a relief because I was having to give him the antibiotic 3 times a day for the Pneumonia and now this strange concoction of Maalox and Benadryl every few hours to soothe the latest virus he has. Something related to Hand in Foot Disease, with fewer symptoms, not including the rash on the hands, feet or the white mouth.

So, after chilling at home with Guy all day and missing my latest big chance to get out, I decide to check out a couple of LDS chat rooms. I was in the room when this guy comes in. I glanced at his picture and saw that he lived in the same town that the guy I was supposed to see today lives in. I will name him Parker now, because we met in the park. I take a look at his profile and wonder, "That would be funny if it were Parker." I continue looking at his pictures and I see his little girl too. It was unmistakably him. I went back into the chat room and attempted to bring it up to him, but he was already gone. I wonder if he saw me. Should I send him an email bringing to his attention that we are both on the same site? I'm sure I will, cause I'm tacky like that.

The Joys of Unemployment

It's a shame there isn't a demand for a professinal dater. I think I would be highly qualified. Plus I could kill two birds with one stone.

My plan when I got here was to go to work for Comfort Keepers part time while training with the Medical Transcription company. It turns out that the office in SLC hasn't even opened it's doors to business yet, so they won't have work for me for another two weeks at least. He has my resume and my old boss called him to talk me up already...Now if he would just pay me the 17.5 hours that they have shorted me from the time I have been working for them because they have no idea what they are doing when it comes to keeping track of the schedule and payroll...Angst!

Not only that, but I will have to take some medical terminology training before I can work at the software training, which will be free, but I am expected to afford the books, $200. If it's not one thing...

I did some searching for jobs and I had an interview with a fashion design company that designs and manufactures bridal gowns and bride's maids dresses. The position was for a customer service postion, taking orders from shops, answering emails, following up with and taking oders for dresses, etc... I thought it was right up my alley with my fashion education and all my office experience. She said a few times in the interview that I had the qualifications they are looking for.

That was on Wednesday, and I still haven't heard from them. Looks like Monday I will be hitting the temp agencies. How I loath job hunting.

Bachelor # 2

I have been talking on the phone and chatting with this guy I met online. He moved to Washington a few months ago from Utah. He is here for a few days to visit. He is a member of the church, and about the time he moved to Washington, he decided to become active again after 15 years of doing his own thing. I made conversation with him because I noticed that he likes salsa dancing and it went on from there. I'll give him the name, Vincent.

He came over last night after going to a party at his friend's house. He invited me to come up, but I didn't have anyone to watch Guy, so I invited him here instead to "watch a movie". Well, it was 2 AM before he had his fill at his friend's party. I let him come over anyway, like the pushover that I am. I knew what was going to happen and I was prepared to have to be the one to keep things in line. I was comforted in knowing that my brother and wife were home this time, although asleep they could be awakened.

He confessed that he had a couple drinks at his friend's party. As soon as I started the movie, he leans over and begins kissing me. "I just had to do that," he says. I have no idea what happened in the movie and I'm a little baffled by some of the things he said to me. He said things like; "You're the Bomb." "You would make the perfect wife." "If I came back in a few months, would you go to Vegas with me?" "I have never felt this way before." etc..

I honestly could not concur. I was turned off by the fact that he had been drinking, and by his persistence in having his way with me. I tried to console him and encouraged him to work at being active again. He feels like his greatest weakness is being morally clean and that getting married would annul him of this. I asked him about drinking. He brushed it off and claimed that he only drinks because he is so bored. ????

Will I be throwing in the towel and eloping to Vegas this summer?...I think not! I have sacrificed too much already in my quest for a lasting temple marriage to just throw it all away to become someone else's scapegoat and fulfill his fantasy.

Cheesecake With Chopsticks!

I went on a picnic with Raymond, yesterday. We went to Liberty Park. The weather was perfect. The sun warmed us up and the zephyr cooled us down. I picked a spot next to the pond, in the grass, on the side of a hill. We had fresh mango with salami and mozerella sandwiches on french bread.

I told him I had a surprise for him after. He asked if it would do him bodily harm. Then he thought for sure I was going to give him the book The Miracle of Forgiveness. I laughed. He said he has about 6 copies of it at home. The surprise was that I made some cheescake for us.

What was even more surprising was the way we had to eat it. I forgot to bring forks, so I stopped in this Vietnamese market near the park to get some...well silly me, they use chopsticks! So, I figured they would do the trick. Turned out, he had never used chopsticks before. I showed him how to use them. He managed to get the cheescake to his mouth, and we were cracking up about how we were eating cheesecake with chopsticks!

How Do I Break This Curse?

I saw Raymond again on Friday night. He came over and we watched an extremely uninteresting black and white DVD from my collection. It claimed to have Peter Sellers in it, but he wasn't in the first 45 min, at least. So, we spent most of the chatting and getting to know eachther better....and yes, we kissed.

We have many common interests, views and similar personalities. I find it extremely ironic that he claims to be looking for someone who is not a member of the church, while I am looking for someone who is.

I have yet to crack the case as to why I have never even been on a date with an active member of the church. Wait...I take that back. I did go on two dates with Christophe. Oh, dreamy, French Christophe. Otherwise, the rest have been either inactive or non-members. What is it about me that says, "Every one except those whom I am looking for, apply here."?

Contestant # 1

I went on my first date last night, after being here 3 days. I didn't know if or when I would be able to get away because I attempted to find a sitter for Guy, but the few girls I could get a hold of had dance or tumbling class. I'll have to do some networking on Sunday at church to find out who is available on what days.

He wanted to go out last night, but I told him how I couldn't find a sitter. He told me later that he didn't mind if I brought my son along with me. After my date with Jeff, (who didn't care for the idea of Guy hanging out with us because he was afraid that people assumed that he was his son) I am impressed with guys who are ok with it.

We met up at the Mayan for dinner.

I guess, HE needs a name....we shall call him Raymond. This is also the name of my 6th grade crush. I met him on the Utah Swing Forum, which I joined a few weeks ago. He is a combination of something like, French, Spanish and get this...Inca. He speeks Spanish and French, too. He is 33, a part time computer technician and he just started his own business...which he has yet to fully reveal to me...something to do with smoothies.

His parents moved to Utah when he was 7. They joined the church shortly after they moved, but only remained active for a year or so. He doesn't claim any religion of his own. He has taken the discussions a few times and read the Book of Mormon twice, but never jumped in. He has also researched a few other religions.

Living in Utah, it happens that he has only dated LDS girls. All the relationships eventually ended because of his not being a member. He said himself that he agrees with the teachings of the church. I asked him what it is that is so unatractive to him about the church and he said it is more of the culture of the people that he dislikes. I couldn't agree more, but all that crap mostly comes out of Utah, not from the Gospel. There is no doctrine that states that you cannot hold a garage sale because you should be donating it all to DI. And no Prophet ever said that the non-member kids on the block should not be invited to your child's birthday party.

All in all....I like him =) He is open, honest and understanding. He has style...instead of jeans and a T shirt, he wore a button up collared shirt. Mmm, he has thick, dark wavy hair, tan skin, a nice voice and body. I have yet see him dance or dance with him, but if he is volunteering to assist in a Lindy class at a Jr. High, I'll assume that he can quite well.

We agreed that neither of our pictures did eachother justice. He told me I have nice hands and feet. I thought it was interesting that he would notice such a thing. He also said that he likes Guy's hair and the way I dress him and that he seems well behaved.

He has already sent me an email and a text message today saying that he was impressed with me and how much of a good time he had. I hope I can see more of him soon.

A Hot Cake Birthday!

Tuesday was my birthday! I figured Aaron and Kari were clueless, so I mentioned it to them Monday night. When I did, they looked at each other in surprise.

Aaron has to be to work early in the morning, so the two of them came in at 7am and sang happy birthday to me. They got a McDonalds Hotcake Meal and stuck a candle in the center through the styrofoam lid. It was a trick candle, so Guy got a chance to blow on it too. They confessed later that they did know it was my birthday, but they pretended as if they were clueless.

I had a couple of birthday wishing phone calls from some friends. Shucks, somebody cares.

I spent most of the day at home with Guy, but we took some time out to go to the park for a bit. Guy wasn't feeling so great, so we sat up at the top of the slides where some kids were playing and watched them. I was checking out the ring fingers of the dads there. Surprisingly, the cutes of them all was not taken.

I had hopes of going dancing later that night, if Guy was in bed, but after sleeping all day, he was ready to go again at 10pm. That's ok, I had a good day anyway.

Happy 28th Birthday to Me!

The Anticipation is Over

We made it! We are here, in Utah. Not without challenges, though. We decided I could leave before the Pontiac sold and leave it here for my mom to take care of. We bought a 2001 blue, Hyundai on Friday. It required a few repairs including new brakes in order to pass a safety test. So, it was in the shop all Saturday and we found out that one of the parts would not fit correctly, so they would have to order a new part, which would not get in until Tuesday or Wednesday. I thought I was going to have to stay another week. I thought I might go mad at the thought of it.

We discussed our options and figured I could take my mother's car out and she could drive the Pontiac or the Hyundai when it was done. So, that was the plan Saturday night.

I figured I would get in one last chance to dance, so I went to the Blues dance and performance at the YWCA. I even got there in time for the last half of the lesson. There were not enough leads as usual, so I gave it a try and did ok. I stayed for part of the dance and met some really great dancers. Wow, Blues can be very sexy!

I talked with and danced with the instructor during the dance and found out that he has been dancing the blues since he was six. It was the first type of dancing he learned and he has done an array of other types since. I have danced with him before and I could tell he was a fabulous dancer, and that just made him that much more desirable.

When I returned home, Guy was in bed with Grandma and Grandpa. He had a cold a few weeks ago and the cough lingered. I thought he was coming down with another cold and he ran a slight temperature that evening. He also layed around in bed for a coulple hours Saturday eveing, so I knew he wasn't feeling well. My mom said that his breathing is very shallow and quick. She suspected that he has Pneumonia and suggested that we take him to the hospital.

My dad wanted to leave early Sunday morning. Early meaning 4am, early. We realized we better take Guy into the Emergency first thing instead. We got to the Hospital around 7am.

Of course he did not cooperate with the nurses. One would have thought that we were sticking him with a hot branding iron, by the way he was screaming and crying. Nurses would come by the room and say that they could hear him at the opposite side of the Hospital. He had a temperature of 103 and his oxygen was low. They took an X-ray of his lungs and discovered that he does in-deed have some Pneumonia. The Dr. Prescribed an antibiotic and an inhaler. We told the Dr. we had plans to be driving across the desert to be moving today and we asked if we were safe to do that with him. We were releived when he told us that he should be fine now that we will be giving him medication.

It was actually kind of nice that he was so tired. He was content to sleep most of the way, instead of being restless and wanting out of his seat. My dad shared war stories from his experience in Viet Nam with me. There are a few that I have heard him repeat a few times. But this time he shared ones that I have not heard before.

We arrived at our new home at 11:30 pm. Aaron and Kari greeted us. My dad stayed over for one night and flew back on Monday afternoon. The weather was nice all day until I dropped him off at the airport. A terrible storm came in. Aaron called me from his cell phone on the freeway. He was on his way home and he told me that he had just passed four semi trucks that had been blown over. He could feel the wind picking up the tail end of his truck, too! Thankfully, he got home safely.

Neither Here Nor There

I feel like a ghost in this town. I have been telling people I am moving next weekend for about a month now. When I see them the next week they are pleasantly, )thankfully) surprised to see me still around. I never knew how many friends I had until I started telling them goodbye.

I went back to work for the elderly man from Florida until I leave. They sent one or two girls to replace me, but he wasn't happy with them and turned them away. He kept telling me how he is going to miss me. What really touched me is when he said that *I* am the best thing about California.

I was waiting to get my car sold and we have a couple of ads that just went out this week. In the mean time we found a Hyundai to replace my car and we bought it today. It looks like my dad and I will be leaving as soon as the breaks are replaced and some other maintenance is done on the Hyundai. Either Saturday afternoon or Sunday. We will just take my new car with a luggage carrier on top and my dad will fly back the next day.

I am soo looking forward to getting on with my life.

I have decided to take up an opportunity to work for a company doing medical transcription from home. They offer free training, but I still have to invest in the software. As soon as I can afford that, I will begin the training.

I am also looking forward to meeting new friends. I hope that I can prevent my mind from being warped by the backwards views of some of the members there. I need to remember to keep an open mind and not be judgemental of others. I have always tried to live my life this way. It is hard for the members in Utah to see past the nose on their face sometimes.

The Breaking of the Bank

Both my parents were out of town for a few days. I have been low on funds since I got back from Maui and I got called into work all the way down in Elk Grove. My car managed to make it to Guy's daycare on an empty tank of gas in time to pick him up. When I got there, I didn't think I would be able to make it to the gas station, so I asked if she had any gas I could borrow to make it to the gas station. I used what was left in her can, and a good portion of it was leaking out onto the ground.

I had already spent my last change on gas before I left Elk Grove. I figured there might be some more gas in a can at home. I was on my way home when Betty called me and asked if I was still coming over to bring her the pictures from out trip. I was just around the corner from her house, but I didn't know if I would make it there and then home. I told her I couldn't at first, but she acted like she needed them right away.

I was still able to make it home, but to my dismay my dad had already taken the gas can to Utah with the mower. I remembered that I had a piggy bank for Guy that was full of change that I could turn in to get some gas. The bank was glass so I had to drop it on the concrete to bust it open.

That bank had over $40 in change in it!

It's a Dirty Job....

I didn't get to go to church on Sunday because I was called into work. It was the first time I have worked in a few weeks and I could certainly use the money.

I was sent to the home of an elderly couple. She is pretty much immobile and she was constipated so I had the priveledge of helping her with suppositories and an enema. I suddenly didn't miss work as much as I thought.

Although, my boss is sure going to miss me. I spoke with him briefly the other day and he wanted to offer me a room so that I could stay here and work for them. He said they would adopt my son as their grandson, too. I guess his grandson just moved to Florida, so they rarely get to see him.

I contacted the Comfort Keepers in Kaysville and told them I am moving to Pleasant Grove and I would like to work for them. I would be quite some distance from them, but I figured they probably have accounts over a large area. They refered me to an office in Salt Lake that is just getting started and even suggested that I start one down in Pleasant Grove. I don't think I am prepared to do that at this time, though, or ever.