Happy Birthday Christa!

I hope you have a lovely day :)

Good news!!

I got a new job! I'll still be at the clinic, but I'll be working with Dr Rhodes. He specifically asked for me when he found out that his receptionist now is leaving. The bad thing was I had to tell everyone that I was leaving. One of my doctors now, Dr Snihurowych, was not happy. And Gae, Dr Hanseen's nurse was very unhappy. Dr Snihurowych asked if I was leaving because of her. I told her no. Actually, I think what I said was, "Noooooo!" Because it isn't because of her that I'm leaving. I have two coworkers that I have had difficulty working with and my current supervisor I haven't had the best time working with. So with this new position comes a new supervisor. He seems very relaxed and will let me do my job without me feeling like he is waiting for me to blink wrong so he can write me up. (Yes there were times where I felt like that with Rita.) Also with this new position, I'll be working four 10 hour days. I'll work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with Wednesdays off. I'll work from 7 am to 5:30 pm. It will be tough to go back to a 5:30 shift, but I'll be working the exact same hours as my friends Janice and Heidi. So I'm sure I'll manage well. :)
Anyway, I had to share that with you all. I'll send out an email once I figure out what number you'll be able to reach me on. Until then, if you need to reach me when I'm at work call my cell phone. Because I'm not always at my "desk".

G minus G, G as G

Quint introduced me to a funny little comic called Garfield minus Garfield.  The premise is that if you remove Garfield from the comic strip, you get a whole new kind of funny showcasing just how sad and pathetic Jon is:

I love it!
Recently I found something just as off the wall.  It is called Garfield as Garfield.  Basically it removes Garfield the cat from the strip and in his place inserts our 20th president, James Garfield:

Oh the hilarity!

yay! multi-vitamins do work!

the stake had a blood drive today. i had enough of a notice to take my daily multi-vitamin...and i was able to donate! yay! i got it done in 4 minutes. morgan -former-greenberg from the ward works for arup and was the one who took care of me. it was great to be able to talk to her and catch up a bit. even though i really didn't know her very well when she lived in the ward. but she did a great job. i could barely feel the needle when it she put it in, and didn't feel it at all when she took it out. and she said that i was one of the fastest that she had done that day. yay! i finally have gotten back to the "fast donation".

Dry Basement

People who have never had a leaky basement don't realize what a headache it is.  We started to get water in the unfinished part of the basement almost right after we moved in.  We did some digging, broke up a slab of concrete and re-routed a drainage pipe and things were fine.  For a while.  Then we started having water in the finished part.  The carpet would get wet; we'd soak it up with mops and towels, rent a carpet cleaner and get really frustrated.  We tried keeping our gutters clear of leaves.  It still leaked.  We tried re-routing the drainage on this side of the house.  It still leaked.  We tried burying black plastic as a barrier.  Dixie dug it up and it still leaked.  We tried installing a French drain.  It still leaked.  We tried sealing where the driveway meets the foundation.  It still leaked.  Our last ditch effort was to hang an ugly blue tarp to try and keep the area dry.  It worked for a little while, but eventually the torrential rainstorms were too much for it to handle and... you guessed it.  Finally we decided to just pour cement.  We poured four large slabs and sealed where they meet the foundation.  Then we waited.  It seemed like a long time before we got a significant storm.  When we finally got a good drencher I tiptoed downstairs afraid of what I might find.  But to my utter delight, it was bone dry!  Hip hip hooray!  Now after several good storms, I declare it FIXED!  I no longer dread the rainy forecast.  I no longer quake at the sound of thunder (maybe just a little).  I am able to just chill and enjoy the fact that the plants are getting water.  It is such a blessing to have that finally resolved.  *Knock on wood*

New schedule - Better Days

I've started getting up earlier in the morning to have a little time for myself before the boys get up. I have a chance to pray, read my scriptures, and write in my journal before the day really begins. These are things that bring me down until I do them. It's amazing how doing them first thing in the morning really improves my day and I get more done.

Corwin usually gets up early too and will write in his notebook while I work. I have to remind him several times though that it is "my time" and that he needs to be quiet. He acts kind of sheepish about needing to be reminded and usually says something like "Oh, I didn't know." It's a nice time together for the two of us.

Corwin Starts Kindergarten

Again, a little late, but still important.

Corwin's first day of Kindergarten was on August 31, 2009. He was really excited and enjoys going. I push Alex in the stroller and we all walk to school to drop him off. His teacher is Miss Jensen. Corwin already knows most of what they are learning, but enjoys going. We've started going to the library too, so that we have a variety to read at least 20 minutes a day. Corwin even got his own library card.

Alex got stitches

It's a little late, but I thought I'd still include it.

On Monday, August 10, Alex had to have stitches in his forehead. As far as I can tell, he was upset that Corwin wouldn't let him play with him and had pushed him away. He was running to come upstairs and let me know his displeasure when he ran right into the door at the bottom of our stairs. I got to him as he was turning to come up the stairs and it started bleeding. Fortunately it only bled a little and I was able to get it to stop easily. It was very deep and there was no question that he would need stitches.

Alex was acting and playing normally, so I took him to the urgent care. He didn' t like it when they poked him with the needle to numb the area up and then he really didn't like it when they put the surgical screen over his face so that only the injured area was exposed. Once the doctor decided to remove it, Alex calmed right down and actually went to sleep while he finished. It took a total of 10 stitches, both interior and exterior.

The stitches were removed a week later and it had healed very nicely. I later found out that the doctor that did it was one of their best and typically works at a different location, but was filling in that day. I agree that he is very skilled and did a great job.

Corwin lost his first tooth

Corwin's bottom front teeth have been loose for a while. Well yesterday he lost the first one while eating a cookie.

He wrote a note to the tooth fairy and left it under his pillow last night. First thing this morning he came upstairs to wake Luke up and show him what he got. I saved him from waking Luke up and he showed me instead. He had asked for 5 different things, so he got a penny, a nickle, a dime, a quarter, and a small notebook. He was very excited. I helped him to fill out his first tithing slip and get it ready to pay on Sunday.

I was hoping that he wouldn't lose his teeth until after school pictures, which are today. It probably won't make a difference because when I tried to take a picture showing his missing tooth, I had a hard time.

Sunday, Sunday here again

We are having a nice Sabbath day today. It didn't start out that way; we were both tired and slept in a bit and got there late, just as the Sacrament hymn was ending.

I almost ended up teaching another primary class but the teacher came at the last minute. Alex does not like going into nursery, but he cheers up after a couple of minutes. It is really cute how he will cling to me and then wave frantically at everyone else, as if he is saying, nice to see you, now I am taking off.

Also, Luke will always say I don't like this church as we are pulling up. He started doing that when the ward split and hasn't let up yet.

I read all the cabin histories during Sunday School (I stayed out in the hall because I was late). It was very pleasant to read and see all the different view points.

I had a wonderful lesson in Priesthood about Temple blessings. I love going to the temple and serving there. This all rolled up with several experiences I have had this week. Examine your lives and see if you can serve in the Temple more, it is worth it!

bah!!

it's amazing how just having to reschedule a doctors day can take a lot out of you. now try and do that for 3 doctors, in 2 days. yep. that's what i've done at work the last two day. yesterday, i was asked to help reschedule dr. rhodes schedule for thursday. his father passed away and the funeral is thursday. i only had 1 person out of the 26 that i talked to get mad. (no, i was not able to reach all his patients. he had 39 on his schedule for that day.) anyway, this patient got mad because i had to reschedule the appointment. then she kinda snooty asked why i was rescheduling her and said, 'i hope it isn't anything bad.' i replied, 'well, his father passed away and that is the day of the funeral.' yes. i did get permission from him to tell his patients why he was needing to be off that day. she immediately felt bad and said she was sorry for giving me a hard time. i hadn't taken it personally and told her that, and then appologized again for needing to reschedule her. if i remember right, i may have gotten her in before thursday. so, that was monday morning. and just calling the patients the first time took me a little over 2 hours. then i was working on that pretty much the rest of the day. now, before i go on i have to mention that on mondays and tuesdays i get off work at 3:30. so around 2:50-3:00, one of my nurses told me that we had to bump one of dr hanseens days because he has to do an emergency surgery for a patient. and this patient that is needing the surgery has to come in on thursday in order to do her pre-op for monday. i looked at her and said i would be happy to do that for her, and asked if it needed to be done today. she said no, and that i could work on it today. so when i got in to work this morning i had that to work on. and the first phone call i got this morning was a patient yelling at me because he doctor didn't call him back. so that didn't help my mood in the morning. but i was fortunate enough to watch dr. snihurowych do an epidural injection on a patient. and that made me forget all about the jerk on the phone early in the morning and i was able to finish rescheduling dr. hanseens schedule. as i was going to lunch at 11, dr. snihurowych came out of her office and said that i wasn't going to like her. she said she needed to leave and asked if i would reschedule her afternoon appointments. i told her that i was heading to lunch, but i would be more than willing to do that for her when i got back. but by the time i got back, my nurse-shelley-had already called the patients and let them know. and i only had to call them back to reschedule them. it was nice to have someone step up and do that for me. so at the end of two days, i am exhausted! not to mention mom, dad and i went to the fair last night in the rain. mom got three ribbons for her three entries. she got 1 blue, 1 red and 1 white ribbon. she was hoping for more blue ribbons. but to get three ribbons on your three entries is amazing.
leigh...have i mention how great an idea this blog was? no? well, it was a great idea! i'm glad you've set it up. since you haven't gotten on facebook yet. *hint. hint* kidding. love you!
i hope my randomness wasn't too difficult to follow. if it was..sorry. like i said, i'm exhausted. :)

Family Reunion

so, today was the davies family reunion. and for the first time in who knows how long, i didn't leave in tears. it was nice. when i first got there, i walked into the cabin to get keys to go back and get my car in through the gate. katie saw me and gave me a huge smile and said, 'aunt julie!' and then started to jump up and down with excitement to see me. that made me feel really, really good. and then there was a time where katie was crying because brenda said she wouldn't carry her down the road. brenda needed someone to walk down the road to help count birdhouses for the scavenger/amazing race that mom set up this year. so, brenda, brendan and i started walking down the road when i heard katie crying behind us. dan was walking with her in his arms and she was crying with her arms held out saying, "aunt julie! aunt julie!" again...it made me smile. i have never had a little kid crying saying they wanted me. especially when that little kid is in his dad's arms. and the rest of the day, wherever i was, katie wasn't too far behind. we'll see if that holds up for the next time i see her. i'm just going to remember today is the day that she was excited to be with me. and when i'm feeling blue, i'll pull up this memory and it should help me get through whatever i'm going through.
and now that i'm home, i feel like i've got a fine covering of dirt all over. and i smell like a campfire. that's always fun. anyway, i missed you leigh and jake. i wish you could have been here with us. on the bright side, hopefully, in a few years you will be here with us. :)
love you!

Quint Stuff

Another day of going through payroll (and it looks like the rest of the city and me will be paid).

I have been working tonight on posting items on eBay. It looks like I have gotten 24 items listed tonight, bringing my total up above 200 again. I also need to re-list a bunch of items that didn't sell this past period.

The boys have been having fun together. Corwin was pushing Alex around in the stroller tonight when I got home from work; I took a video of him doing it and it was funny watching them react to the camera (hamming it up).

Uh, where's the wrapper?

Jake is working nights again so we like to do things while he is home during the day (if he isn't asleep).  Today we went to the new sculpture garden that recently opened in downtown St. Louis.  We only saw a few sculptures before Wyatt spotted the water fountains to play in.  Off came the shirt and shoes, in went the kiddo.  He was having a great time running around as the water was shooting up all around him until he saw a pool-ish area with kids playing in it.  I lifted him in and let him play until I saw a sign that said "no dogs, no diapers, no diving."  Aw, shoot.  We did not bring a swim diaper.  So we had to drag a screaming Wyatt out and because nothing could replace to the pool of water, we ended up going home.  He sobbed most of the way so I suggested we stop for ice cream.  Wyatt has eaten ice cream cones before, so I just handed it back and thought "well, at least he's not wearing a shirt so clean-up will be easier."  When we got home, I went to get Wyatt out of his car seat and clean him up (it was a spectacular mess; I wish I had taken a picture).  As I was mopping him up I saw that he'd finished the cone and realized that the cone wrapper - that little piece of paper they put on the bottom so the guy who scoops your cone doesn't actually touch it, that thing - was nowhere to be seen.  I asked Jake if he had picked it up.  Nope.  I'm pretty sure Wyatt just chomped the whole thing down.  I guess there are worse things for him to eat than an ice cream wrapper.

Baran Family 9/8/2009

Corwin is on his second week of Kindergarten and loves it. He walks to school with Mom, Luke, and Alex (who love that too) and then goes back home with a neighbor friend and Mom.

One of his assignments is to read 20 minutes a day with a parent. I read part of The Lion King with him tonight. Then Emily took Corwin and Luke to the library while I played Burger Time with Alex (well, he watched me play).

OK Wyatt, now put that pea shooter down!

Today was Liam's first day back to preschool. His class is going to be a whole lot larger this year than last. Nearly double, as a matter of fact. And it is a 3-4 split instead of just one age group. Not too sure about that, but there's not much I can do about it. I have already submitted my "notice of objection" to the district about the not having two separate classes, but I doubt that it will make any difference at all.

Today was only a partial day, referred to as an Open House, and parents were not just requested but required to stay the whole hour. Not a problem, although we are not sure if I will be helping out in the classroom much this year because of how Liam tends to act out when I'm there and after I have been there. Chelsea, one of my friends, looked after the twins while I was gone and I really appreciate her doing that. I hate having to rely on Mom to do it all the time.

There is another little boy in Liam's class that is also named Liam. His last name is Moore, so his name collar (which all the kids wear during class) said "Liam M" while my Liam's said "Liam N" (of course). Well, Liam was there first, and he wanted the Liam M name collar because his middle initial is M. I had to convince him that the Liam N was his. I think that the class will have some interesting times ahead!

Wyatt says: "Post on the blog or suffer the consequences!"

The Baran Family Blog

I wanted to set up this blog so the family has a place to post pictures, share stories and just keep in touch. Jake's family has had a blog for several months now and it has been a really great way to keep up with everyone being so spread out.

I thought it would be best to make it private (only members of the family will be invited to view and comment), which means that we'll all need to create Google user names and IDs. Let me know what you think.