The earth isn't flat.....

..so I haven't fallen off the edge of it.

I've had kind of interesting fall so far so its been WAY too long since I last blogged. I appreciate my sweet cousin Mike for commenting on the fake blog I accidentally posted. Because I'm a dork.

Being Sick
Isn't really fun. I hadn't felt well for a while and my appetite was really poor. I had several incidents of MRSA on my skin since August and had been on antibiotics. I was supposed to see my nephrologist (the GREAT Dr. S!) during the first week of August but had to cancel because of insurance issues. The earliest appointment I could get was the last week of September. Then it got bumped to the first week of October. In the meantime, was tired, nauseated, vomiting and all sorts of other fun stuff. I knew something was wrong and I actually couldn't wait until I got to see my doctor again. Once I did see him, it was apparent that I definitely needed his advice. My creatnin (which tells how well your kidneys are functioning) was at a 3.2. I usually run around a 1.9 so it was obvious this was part of the reason I was feeling so bad. We were afraid that possibly it was a chronic rejection or my previous kidney disease returning. Dr. S had a feeling it was the previous antibiotic I was on for the MRSA. He told me to stay home from work for a week and rest. Having just started a job I was a little nervous about this but knew that it was the best thing I could do for me. When I was younger I just would go and go but now that I am older (and a little bit wiser) I knew it was the best thing to do. Thankfully my boss was very, very understanding. After some rest and some more meds (and less meds) I am happy to report that as of today my creatnin is down to 1.7 which is GREAT for me. Thank you to all my friends and family for your prayers and concern the past few weeks. They have really helped me. I love you all.

A new job
Thankfully I still have a job even though I had a rough spot earlier in the month. It is going along and I still learning the things that I need to do. It seems to evolve as the days go on. I am feeling more comfortable with my duties and those that I work with. I enjoy going every day and its different every day which is great.

Baby showers
My sister, Frau Bailey, is expecting their first child the first week of December so I have given one baby shower with one on the way this Saturday the 7th. The first shower was for family and it went really well. Margaret and Ben and baby Bailey got a lot of nice gifts. I gave her some things for the tub and a SPA for the baby. Seriously. It is so fun! Can't wait to see him or her in it. Getting clean. Hopefully, the friend shower this weekend will go as well. We are having an open house style and Mar will open presents 3 times during the shower. We are also having a cupcake bar..where guests will be able to decorate their own cupcake. If anyone out there has any ideas for toppings I am all ears.

Well, I guess that is about it for now. Love to you all.

Kansas City here I am!

Here I am finally in Kansas City and although it still feels vaguely like a vacation the newness is wearing off. I am starting to realize that I really actually live here. Its been so exhausting unpacking boxes and trying to figure out where to put stuff. But its been great to see old friends and hang out like I never left. Thanks to those who have included me back in their lives like I was only gone a week instead of 3 1/2 years. I love you all.

I have also realized that I have WAY too much stuff. Isn't that weird? I am typically a pack rat who MUST. HAVE. STUFF. at all times. I keep every little thing that anyone ever, ever gave me. They are now lovingly stored in the basement in boxes labeled Knick Knacks/Fragile. Really? I have 8 boxes of Knick Knack/Fragile? In my mind just too many knick knacks. As I sit here blogging I can very unemotionally think about all that stuff in the basement and think, "I really should get rid of it." However, if I were to go down there right now, open one box, unwrap one thing I would decide that the entire box must stay. It just must if for no other reason then to feed my inner pack rat.

When we put the house in Atlanta on the market everything personal had to be removed. I couldn't have my books nearby or my thousands of fragile knick knacks and I realized something. I didn't NEED them. They didn't have to be right there. I lived without them for six months. And the most interesting part? I liked it.

You heard me. I liked it. I liked having my dresser clear of the clutter and debris of my everyday life. Of course that doesn't mean that I don't have one of my dresser drawers full of "junk" that seems to have no other place to live. I liked having a place for everything.

Now that I can do whatever I want in my room I long for the days when necessity dictated that I couldn't have all my treasures on display for everyone to see. I want an excuse not to have those things in full view. Not an excuse for everyone else but an excuse for myself.

When I tread down to the basement and survey all of the boxes that are mine, I think how did I accumulate all this STUFF in a mere 34 years? There are some things I know I won't be able to part with but does there come a time when it is necessary? How long do I hold out hope that someone is going to ever want to play with my Cabbage Patch Kids? Or look at the ceramic bowl I clumsily made in Kindergarten? I have tears in my eyes just thinking about putting those in the box marked Goodwill.

As we were unpacking I ran across a few photos my mom had taken of some items she had given away. They were things I remembered and probably would have told her not to get rid of. (I come by my pack rat tendencies honestly after all.) But really, looking at that photo made me realize that it wasn't the actual thing I missed but just seeing it and seeing the memories linked to the object. I asked her how she felt about getting rid of those items and she said she felt fine.

Maybe this is the answer for me? Maybe I could take pictures of some of the objects I am holding onto and then let them go? Am I strong enough for that? I don't know.

I've seen some programs on TV about people who are chronic hoarders and while I know I am not afflicted as they are I don't ever want to get to that point. I want to be able to let go but the first step always feels like a cliff.

Finally!

My sister Margaret finally posted the big news on her blog so I can squeal about it here. Her and Ben are expecting their first child this winter and I will be an auntie again. I am so excited to have another wee one to spoil. I just love being Auntie Kainty to all my friends kids and really anyone who will let me spoil their kid.
Congrats Mar and Ben! I love you!

Polling Along

A new poll on the sidebar and TWO new posts after this one. Please don't anyone faint. :-)

My life is full of stress...

Just thought you would like to know.

Work is crazy busy as everyone anticipates the closing of the center. Only 6 more days of crazy customers and then who knows how many days of packing and shipping back to SLC. It should be an interesting time.

We are planning to be back in KC by the end of the summer so the movers will come, pack up our stuff and we'll start driving. I am so excited to be home but at the same time so sad to be leaving people here in Georgia who have come to mean so much to me.

Our stake is changing here so we will have a new bishop and new ward boundaries for the last little bit of our time here. Change is always good but hard to leave the ones that you love.

I feel stressed but excited at the same time. It will be interesting to see what life has in store for me further down the road.

Kansas City Trip

On May 28th I flew out to Kansas City for a family reunion of sorts. My sister, Liz her husband Kyle and Little G had already arrived from Idaho. Margaret, Ben and Ken were already there of course. Dad would return the following day and our fun times would begin!



I was so excited to see my cute little nephew, my sisters, dad, brother and brothers in law! I love being around my family and being with them. It is always fun even though we can't make up our minds what we want to do.



Thankfully, Margaret made up a schedule of possible activities and we enjoyed doing so many fun things together. We went bowling, to a Royals game, shopping and just being together. We also celebrated Ken's girlfriends birthday the Monday before we all left. I am sure that our rendition of Happy Birthday was one she will never forget. We are blessed to have her in our family as well.

I truly love being around my whole family and I wish that we lived closer together so we could always do that. When I imagine heaven and being at peace there I imagine being with my family.

I love you all! Thanks for the great trip!

I am so tired..

of answering the question what will I do when I lose my job? What do people think I'm going to do? Sit on my couch and eat bon-bons? Maybe I should start thinking up good comebacks that I could at least say in my head.

Any ideas?

The Seminary party

I am sure all of you are waiting on pins and needles for an update about the Seminary party. Today is your lucky day! Here for your reading pleasure are all of the juicy details.



I got off work on Saturday, ran to Target to get some junk food and then ran home to get ready. The house really didn't need cleaning since we have to keep it clean right now but I needed to be clean after a long day at work.



Around 6:30 my first guest arrives and he helps me decide how many and what kinds of pizza to order. In hindsight, I ordered too many so I've learned my lesson on that one. We ordered cheese, pepperoni, sausage and one with lots of stuff on it.



At 7:00 the rest of the crew starts to show up and we talk and laugh and just enjoy each other's company until the pizza arrives.



7:30 The pizza arrives and the students proceed to eat lots and lots of pizza and I was glad because I didn't want any leftovers. They drank pop and ate M&M's.



8:00 or so we start our first game: Celebrity which consists of each person writing down as many celebrity names as they can think of. After you put all the names in a big bowl, you divide teams and each team takes a turn, using words, trying to get everyone to guess who the celebrity is. It was HYSTERICAL! We played girls against boys and the boys were so funny. Telling me they were "not competitive" and everytime they got one right, leaping from their chairs to do a happy dance around the room. I was cracking up. So cute.

9:30 We finally decide to start watching a movie and end up watching Serenity which is one of my all time favorites.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves, especially the part where mom and dad came home with a cake and all my students sang Happy Birthday to me a few days early. That was great.

Love those kids.

A talk on Sunday

I have been given the GREAT opportunity to talk about Why Seminary is important in sacrament meeting this Sunday. I am excited to have the opportunity to address this because I think Seminary is so important when the youth are going through High School but its amazing how many parents don't think so.

Here is where you, my dear friends, come in. If you went to Seminary, would you mind leaving a comment about how Seminary helped you or what you learned or what your favorite thing was about it?

That would be fab.

Thanks bunches and loves!