New Calling...waiting for the panic

So...no pics for this one but I think I can officially let y'all know my new calling in our ward. I'm the new Primary pres. This whole president thing is WAY different than just being a counselor. I keep thinking I should be feeling this anxious butterfly feeling in my gut just like had when they called me to be Primary chorister. Afterall, president should be way harder than chorister right?

Happy Birthday to me!

New Pool toys! Christmas presents from the Tenney's. It is now warm enough to play in the pool so we opened them up and tried them out. Fun huh?



Yes, why yes it is my birthday today! And I have the BEST husband ever! Frank planned (apparently for months) a surprise birthday outing for me. It started by trying to plan Memorial Day activities with the Tenney's but they are so busy it is hard to get them to commit (sorry Susette but you know it is true) and they had said they couldn't come play until Sunday night MAYBE. So Saturday Frank and I were hanging out, thinking of fun stuff to do instead of cleaning house (but maybe I should have been tipped off when he actually vaccumed without me asking him too ..hmm). I suggested we go shopping (hmm another tip in that he didn't argue with me about this) and he said ok, he would drive because he needed gas (hmm. another clue with his new job he doesn't like to drive on the weekends...boy, I really am clueless aren't I?) So as we are driving back on the I-10 we pass our exit and I ask him where we are going. He suggests that since we missed our exit that maybe we should go out to Mesa and spy on the Tenneys to see why they were too busy to come play with us. The next 45 minutes of driving was spent arguing whether we would be stalking them or spying on them (according to Frank the difference is having a mission) and whether or not I should call them to let them know we are on our way. (which I didn't). So we get to their house and I ring the door bell but Frank decides to just walk in. By this time I am so anxious I can't get past the front door. He actually wanders around their whole house and finally comes back to me saying there is no one around despite the fact that the TV is on, the lights are on, etc, etc... So he calls on her cell phone, and Susette peeks her head out. She does not seem the least bit surprised to see us (hmmm... another missed clue?). So as we are just hanging and talking, Frank FINALLY spills the beans that this was planned and we had reservations to go out....

BOWLING!!!!!!
I really enjoy bowling! and we never get to go enough!
How could you not love bowling? They have such fun colored balls now! And the scoring is all automatic and how can you beat the shoes?? (BTW mine are the white ones :-))
But that was not the end of it! After dinner at Outback we then went...

Miniature Golfing!
I had so much fun ALL in one night! And then Sunday happened....
Let's just say (for now because it is not yet official) that I spent way more time in the bishop's office than I wanted...and while we were in the bishop's office, we kept getting calls on our cell phones. Thinking it was the Tenneys, who were coming to our house, we kept ignoring them until we got done...only to find out that yes the Tenney's had called BUT so had the alarm company because they had gotten an alarm call and were dispatching the police to our house. Luckily we were able to cancel the call before the cops got there.
Whew! All this in one weekend. What next?

I know I promised pictures but....

{Warning! This is not a happy post and may contain information that our viewers may find disturbing! Parental discretion is advised. That and it is very long}
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am posting from our old desktop. And by old I mean, ancient! It is still running on Windows 98 which was beyond it's time when we first got this dinosaur. It has USB ports but they are all in the back and don't seem to recognize anything other than a printer (which isn't working) and the scanner. But I am feeling compelled to share the reason for the "bah humbug" although part of me right now is also feeling "why be a downer? who cares anyway?". So it is mostly for me to vent and hopefully drop my blood pressure down before I go in to the see the doctor on Friday.
So Bah Humbug reason #1: It is Christmas and we have no money, which means no presents beyond necessities which is bumming my husband out. However, he wants to be stoic and not let on how much of a bummer it is. But because I know him, I can tell how bummed he is. Therefore I am bummed that he is bummed which makes him even more bummed.
Then Bah Humbug reason #2: The Sunday after Thanksgiving, our somewhat decent although in need of upgrades and repairs of a laptop decided to succomb to what the Data Doctors call "Blue Screen of Death" in which it decides to not boot up at all. I then realize that the Christmas presents I was working on ( you know more personal than expensive) are all lost in the throws of the computer death. We try to whole "lets just see how much it will cost to get it back up and running versus a new computer" but the Geek Squad (said with endearment) inform us that the repairs would be WAY more expensive than just a new laptop. So after much discussion, Frank and I decide to dip into the credit card that should have been paid off next spring and order the new laptop. Great the Geek says he will do the data transfer to our new laptop for free! ($200 savings right there, whoo hoo after spending $1200 its a drop in the bucket) BUT the kicker is that we won't get the new one until hmmmm oh maybe Christmas eve. So much for the Christmas presents, on to plan B.
So Bah Humbug reason #3: My Mom and Dad (don't take this wrong, love them to pieces and all) decide they are coming to visit for Christmas DESPITE the fact that not only is Frank working Christmas day to earn more money BUT his regular job which requires one Saturday a month anyway, decided to schedule him to work on Dec 26th! Bah humbug that he has to work.
Ok really Bah Humbug reason #4: Because my mom and dad decide to come visit, we decide we should decorate. We have our front living room filled with boxes and all the outside decorations. IT was a disaster. Our tree was up and decorated but the rest of the room was a major obstacle course. Well, since I was asked to fill in for our new ward pianist for Dec 20 and Dec 27, I thought I should actually practice (novel concept I know but it is rare that I actually get advanced notice to play at church-thought I'd take advantage of it). Well after I had made my way to the piano, over several boxes and around a table, I heard rustling noises coming from behind me. I turn to see what it was and who do you suppose had decided to investigate the smells from behind the tree? ....That's right, SADIE! She thought she would just take a sniff and a look out the window behind the tree. As I tell her "Get out" she realizes she is in trouble and decides to move a lot more quickly and less carefully to get out than when she went in. (Do you see the slow motion movement of the tree in your mind?) The tree (all of it) came crashing to the floor. Lights, ornaments, even our tree topper Santa landed on his head. In the mess, the tree stand was broken, it landed on one our outside polar bears which broke off a hinge that helps it move its head, but the only ornaments that broke were four of Frank's very special dragon ornaments. (amazingly brittle for things that are not made of glass).
This is what actually prompted the first posting as I thought, great what more could go wrong? Plus I have pictures of the great disaster of '09.
Well for all of you with tender hearts, just safe to say that Sadie survived the fall as well as the wrath of the Big Dog when he got home.
You would think that would be enough to satisfy all the criteria for a "Bah Humbug" kind of holiday right?

But....

Yesterday we had the finishing touch to our holidays, I'd even say the icing on the cake but I like icing....

And this is not like icing, Not in a good way at all...

Yesterday morning we had to take Katie-dog in and send her over the Rainbow bridge. She had stopped eating Friday night and by Saturday night, could no longer get up or stand on her own. By Sunday morning she had lost control of her bowels and had labored breathing. We couldn't watch her suffer any more. I feel so guilty that we couldn't do more for her last years.
So...
Can we just skip this holiday season and start over for next year?
Thanks for letting my vent. Sorry there are no pictures but I can't figure out how to upload them to this computer. Sorry if I bummed you all out. And I have to go blow my nose now because apparently crying is not good for my sinus cavities.

Bah Humbug!

Just wanted to say that.
That is totally how I am feeling about this Holiday Season.
Bah Humbug!
Can it just go away and be done with it? Maybe try again next year?
Pictures to be posted later

It's official!

Ok so as I got on to blog my "It's Official" news, I realized that I have been slacking and not updated any news since July. So in a nutshell to update... Frank got the job with Freightliner. He delivers truck parts to mechanics all around the Phoenix valley. He is absolutely LOVING it! He gets to work normal hours (8a-5p for now) which is really weird for me and has taken me 2 months to get used to. At least that is the assumption that I am now used to it. But he gets to drive around in a brand new truck, with a/c and no one he has to baby sit. He comes home happy and has energy to do things after work, like go grocery shopping and such. I love that! The pay rate sucks and I am trying to figure out how to make ends meet with less coming in but keep fingers crossed, it is so far so good. Update for my job, I started working full time at the clinic now and that is also taking some time to get used to. I don't mind the clients but I'm now gone from 9-10 hours a day for most of the week so I feel like I've lost a lot of my own time.So I just had someone (Jill) tell me that blogs are just not the same without pictures so here is one of the rainbow that accompanied Katie S's wedding.
So the offical news it that I have been released from the RS pres. After 2 years, 10 months, I am no longer in the presidency and am feeling a bit lost and in limbo because I don't have a new calling yet. We joked for a long time that we needed to be released but honestly my hope was that the release came with ward boundary changes that would result in us being able to attend the new church by our house. No such luck. But good luck to the new presidency and here's my chance at "flying under the radar" for some more weeks :-)

OOOOOO and I almost forgot. EXCITEMENT! The prophet announced a new temple to be built in the old homestead of Brigham City. I was floored, in shock and excited all at the same time and much to the bafflement of my dear sweet husband who could not generate enough enthusiasm to match my excitement. So all you reading this (Britt and Catie, because I don't think anyone else is ;-)) be excited with me!!!!!!!

But wait...there's more!

I can't believe I forgot the most interesting tale of the job hunt that we've had (so far). By interesting I mean, frustrating, irritating, down-right wrong, baffling, confusing, and a tiny bit funny now that it is resolved.

Ok, so if you follow Frank on FB you already know this because he vented there.

Last week, he gets a lead on a possible job (good company, great benefits, easy work, not that great pay but better than 0) as a driver. All he needs to do is fill out an application, look nice, and have a clean driving record. No prob we think. He goes to the DMV (or MVD here in AZ because this state is wierd!) website and prints off his driving record. He hasn't had any tickets except from photo radar and everyone knows those don't count on your record. But wait there's more! Apparently on his record there shows a DUI AND that his license was suspended.

Now...we all know that Frank had his wild side way back when BUT not in 2006 in Tempe!!!! So now he is frustrated because he can't just hop down to the job with a clean driving record. He needs to get it straightened out. So he calss the DMV who tell him, sorry we can't change it unless you get it cleared with the Tempe police. SO he calls the Tempe PD and they say "Hmmm we don't have any record of it but maybe the superior court does, call them." SO he calls the court and surprise surprise they have no record of it. They tell him to call the "justice court", which he does and they say "Hmm we don't have any record of it, you need to call the MVD." At which time Frank has been on the phone for about 4 hours and is ready to shoot someone!

After getting him calm enough to actual speak, he gets back on the phone with the MVD. After waiting an hour he gets someone who says something with the gist of "well, we can't access that file to make any changes, you will need to call back on Monday"

Needless to say, we headed to the indoor gun range that Friday night.

So come Monday...Frank calls the MVD and a very nice person finally tells him "you need a letter of clearance from the Tempe PD" (when he tells me this I ask "why couldn't the lady tell you that on Friday?" for which he had no answer because remember its the DMV backwards!) He contacts the Tempe PD AGAIN! and finds out he needs to get a request for a records search which can take up to 14 days but no sooner than 5. Fine, he puts in the request and waits.

Frank is not as patient as he may seem, so Thurs he calls the Tempe PD (if you are counting Monday to Thur is NOT 5 days) and they say "Why yes, we just finished and it is waiting down here for you" At which time he jumps in the car and drives down there to pick it up. And heads straight to the MVD. Gets in line and the nice lady says "There isn't anything on your record but if you want us to print a new one you will have to get back in line and wait" At which time Frank with the steam coming out of his ears says "no thank you I can print from my home".

ARGHHHH! (Warning! political soapbox now...Can you now see why we are not thrilled to have government run healthcare or car companies!)

So now the driving record is clean and he can go for an interview. Keep us in your prayers we hope this works and that the delay was Heavenly Father's way of saying "in My time not yours"!

update

Do they look comfortable or what? I loved the poses so I just had to share.


So update. Frank and I had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday. I got him a membership to the indoor shooting range so he can go shoot his Glock in the a/c whenever he wants. Then BAM! Monday after his birthday he gets the call that laid him off work, no more position with the temp agency. Blessing in disguise, we think he might have actually been supposed to get the call the Friday before which would have made for a totally rotten B-Day. So we are now in the hunt for a new job. He has some applications out there but I think he might be battling frustration and discouragement. Keep us in your prayers. We are trying to figure out how to manage without his income and STILL pay for health insurance privately. If any of you have answers send them our way because we are coming up blank. We are also looking for creative ways to stay positive and have fun without spending money. Any one want to come play at our house?