Category: Reminiscing

My how time flies

Eight years ago today, I was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was a part of the Chile Santiago West Mission.  I was living in this apartment*, with my companion Hna (Flavia) Franovich, and two other sisters. Hna (Kerry) McBride, and Hna (Michelle) Affleck.  We had all moved into this apartment a week before.

I got up to shower, in this bathroom.**

I lit the califont (water heater).  The pilot light went out.  I was in there for about half an hour.  The other sisters began to worry that they had not seen or heard from me.  They knocked on the door, no response.  They knocked harder, still no reply.  Bathroom door was locked, so Hna McBride ran at the door and broke it open.  I was passed out on the floor and not breathing.  I understand I was not flesh colored at this time, nor was I my normal size.  They got me covered up and made calls to get help for me.  Elder (Ryan) Williams and Elder (Jeremy) Jeppson arrived and I recieved a Priesthood*** blessing at the hands of Elder Williams.  I am told it was a very short blessing and to the point.  And I started to breath.

I was taken to multiple hospitals seeking treatment.  Each in its turn rejecting me as being gone, and unable to do anything for me.  Until I was taken to a military hospital, where I was placed in a decompression chamber.  I remember slipping in and out of consciousness.  There was a VERY attractive man**** sitting in the chamber with me trying to keep me calm as I would come to and panic.  There was a window where I was able to see President John C. Hadfield.  The next thing I remember is coming to in a MRI machine.*****  Here are pictures of my brain.

top view sliced down the middle I think it looks like lettuce I appear to have a head like Homer Simpson my face is kinda scarry looking with out the front of it, makes me think of something from Star Wars Yoda-esk “tell ’em Large Marge sent ya”

When I really woke up, I was in a different hospital, and I believe it was the next day.  It was a really nice hospital with great care. The hospital tag line is “en las mejores manos” “in the best hands” and it is true.  The diagnosis was Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

I was incredibly weak.  It felt like the fork weighed 20 pounds.

When I was admitted they apparently had a hard time finding good places for IVs.  Here are bruises from different places they attempted to sick me, in the end they found a spot on my right arm mid-way from my wrist to my elbow, on the other side.

much better with a whole face

Hermana Lexine Hadfield had brought me roses and candy.  The candy I ate-I love Toblerone, and the roses I dried/pressed.  I still have them.  5 days later I was released from the hospital, and we moved into a brand new apartment-no califont in the bathroom. And a great view from our 16th floor balcany.  This was my view when I woke up the first morning.  I will forever love the Andes.

I had regular check-ups.  I took lots of medicine for a while.******  I ended up having sinus surgery to correct damage done there.  I can breath, I still get headaches, have to be careful and eat regularly, and I struggle with memory issues.  But over all, I am doing well, and am happy to just be alive, and hope that I can be of service to others.  I am very grateful for all the people that were there to help me recover from this.

*My companion and I chose the room with out bed frames.  It was nice having the mattresses right on the floor.  And it is odd, I know, but I kinda miss the milk in a box.  And on top of the fridge is an empty bottle of Show -the best apple soda ever!  I do not miss cooking on the hot plate.  You can see that some one’s mom sent a package and had peanut butter.

**The sink is to the left of the shot.  Picture taken in the doorway. Dates printed on photos are only good if they are the correct dates, these pictures do not have the right dates, at least not all of them.

***It is the very same priesthood power that the prophets of old held.  Of Moses and Noah.  That same priesthood power of Christ’s mortal life, and that the apostles held even after His crucifixion.  That same priesthood was restored to the Earth to Joseph Smith.  Miracles have not ended.  I know this to be a truth.

****I don’t remember exactly what he looked like.  He had a beard, I think he had red hair,  he wore green scrubs.  I have a pair of green scrubs that remind me of the positives of the event.  I remember being quite surprised that I was alone in a small “room” with a very nice looking man, then I realized that he was in scrubs and that, combined with my discomfort indicated to me that I was not dreaming, and that I was probably in a hospital.  He tried to explain what happened, but I think I passed out again.

*****If you have never been in one of these, I do not recommend it.  They are loud and I heard echos of it in my sleep for at least a month later, and for a while after when I was awake too-it made me feel so crazy when people would answer that they did not hear any pounding when I complained.

******I am pretty sure at the highest medicine intake point I had 12 pills in one day.  And people wonder why I don’t like to take meds.

Our story

Marcia decided that we are going to start keeping a family journal.  I think this is a great idea, except she keeps insisting that we can’t actually start it until I write my version of how we met and fell in love and got married. Every time I sit down to start writing that story (and while she won’t believe me, I have started many times), I realize that there needs to be even more back story, and I give up and scrap what I’ve written.

So tonight, I decided to take a different approach and instead of writing a novel, I started writing it in the style of a children’s book. Marcia rejected it for inclusion in the family journal, so here it is:

How we Met

One day in church there was a pretty girl named Marcia.  We skipped a church dance together and walked around outside.  I liked her.  We went back to her apartment and…

…

played cards.

Then I went on a mission.

Then she went on a mission.

Then I got back.

Then she got back.

Then we dated for like 5 years.

Then she moved away.

And I missed her.

So I asked her to marry me.

She said yes.

And we got married.

And I liked it.

THE END

I wouldn’t look for it in the Scholastic book catalog any time soon.

My First Icee

I had never had one of these (29 years old and never had one before!).  I met up with a friend who invited me to lunch.  I was not hungry, but I was thirsty, and had never had one, and saw the machine, and so I had to have one.  How is that for a run-on scentance?

So the camera decided to focus on the brick behind my head and I was not in the mood to keep taking pictures, so this is what you get.  Me “enjoying” my first (and probably last) Icee.  Unless I find myself in urgent need of sugar without caring how it tastes.  And you can sort of see my cute haircut, one side of my head anyway.

We got gas

A few years ago, when gas prices crossed $2.00/gallon, I decided that gas cost too much and I was going to save money by buying a bike and riding it to school and for other transportation around town.  Of course, I discovered that I really enjoyed riding the bike, and became a pretty hardcore cycling enthusiast.  I bought a nice racing bike, have discovered the wonders of spandex cycling shorts, and have legs that are disproportionately strong when compared to the rest of my body.

But I digress… The point is that yesterday, more than 3 years after $2.00 gas prices prompted me to make a major lifestyle change, we filled up our cars for $1.93/gallon, a price unseen since early 2005.

Here’s how:

We have a local grocery store that has an associated gas station.  If you buy items at the grocery store, you get a discount on fuel from the gas station.  The discount is progressive – spend up to $50, get 3 cents off; up to $75, get 5 cents off; up to $100, get 8 cents off; and if you spend more than $100 at the grocery store, you get 12 cents off of each gallon of gas.

What enables this whole plan is that the grocery store’s customer service counter will accept payments for our gas/electric company.  So yesterday, we went to the grocery store, paid our utility bill (which was well over $100), and got our reciept, complete with 12 cent gas discount.

Gas prices have fallen pretty dramatically over the last few week.  The going rate for the cheap stuff in town was $2.05/gallon yesterday.  $2.05 – 12 cents is $1.93!

So we, filled up both cars for under $2.00/gallon.

One Month Ago

Cher had 71 babies. 53 are surviving as far as I know. That is how many babies there were when I let them out of the confining smaller floating tanks into the big tank to “swim free”. I have been checking the filter to make sure no babies have been sucked up, and I have not found any in there yet. I also have not seen Sonny or Cher eating any of the babies, so I can only assume that there are still 53 babies in the tank. I also have not found any dead ones. The babies are growing pretty well, and swim out there with mom and dad.

I finally returned to the project of putting the birthing video together. This is only a few of the babies coming out. Some are born faster and some go slower, I guess it just depends on the size of the baby fish. In part of the video we can see dad hanging around trying to get to the tasty little fry.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IwjSXejMN8[/youtube]

By the way, Cher is pregnant again. I can see little baby eyes in her, and guessing on the size they are and how big she is not compared to last month, I do not think she will be having 71 this time. Good for her.

Update May 19th: I woke up this morning and she had her babies, there were 8 of them and I think only 5 will make it.  So, now is the chance for anyone to speak up if their little one wants to name a baby fish.  Noah, what do you think?

Love & Compassion

I was working at the preschool today, and there are stories to come later about that. When I got home and looked at my inbox, I learned that a very dear man passed away yesterday morning. His name is John Hadfield. He was my first Mission President. Most of you don’t know him, so let me take a stroll down memory lane.

When I arrived in Chile, he greeted me with a smile and a handshake, and his lovely wife took me in as if I were her daughter. The first place we went after the airport was the big hill with the huge statue of the Virgin Mary. There was a beautiful view as we could see Santiago from up there. He gave us some loving words up there and we headed to the mission home to prepare to meet our companions. Elders upstairs, Hermanas downstairs for showers and naps. I insisted I was not tired, and the Hermana told me I would be, and to take advantage of it, as it would be my last opportunity for 18 months. I had no idea just how true that was at the time. They told us they love us and sent us off with our trainers.

Three months later, less than a week with my second companion, and I had an accident. Carbon monoxide poisoning put me in the hospital. (At some future point I will write more about that.) I was in and out of conciousness, but the first face I saw that I knew, was Presidente. It was a scary time for me, I did not understand what was going on or really even where I was, but I saw Presidente and Hermana, and the love and hope I saw on their faces gave me strength. They brought me three roses when I was recovering. I kept the roses have and dried them and have them laminated in my album as a special reminder.

Almost two months later Presidente called me to let me know that my Grandpa had passed away (and some other bad news). He had me come into the office and gave me a blessing and told me to call my family. The compassion he had for me and my family was immense.

A couple weeks later we had our final Mission Conference with Presidente and Hermana Hadfield. They had served a beautiful mission with us. And we all love them dearly. As his final act of love for his missionaires, Presidente shined our shoes and gave us each a blessing and a hug. I will always look up to him and the memories I have of him and Hermana.

Living in the Midwest doesn’t really give me many opportunities to see people from the mission. However one day when I was at the Nauvoo Temple, I turned a corner, and what do you know but Presidente and Hermana were there. It was a delightful surprise. They called me by my name and gave me a huge abrazo. A year had passed since I had returned home, (and at least two since they had returned), and it was as if time had not changed anything. The love we shared in Chile is the same love we shared in 2003 and it is the same tomorrow (if not stronger). That was the first time I had run into anybody from the mission and since then I have only had the fortune of seeing one companion, Kathie (Slade) Longmore (in person-so if anyone else wants to come and get a tour of Nauvoo, let me know).

Time, There Is Never Enough Time

There was an episode of Saved By the Bell where Jessie was on speed and that was her “melt-down” line. I am not sure why, but that is one of the random facts stuck in my brain.

As part of my new calling, I get to clean out the Primary closet. This is a great way to exercise my obsessive-compulsive abilities. In doing this, I am finding some great stuff, and then there is stuff from the early 1980s. Why on Earth is there stuff from 1981 in that closet? OCD to the rescue. 1981 to the dumpster!

Don’t get me wrong it was a decent year. The musical Cats began its 8949 performance run on London’s West End. Simon and Garfunkel performed a free reunion concert in New York City’s Central Park attended by over 500,000 fans (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1981_in_music&oldid=184211809).  Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female judge on the Supreme Court. (http://www.multied.com/dates/1980.html#Anchor-35829)

However, garbage from 1981, that does nothing for me.

All Caught Up Or Information Overload

I have been keeping a list of things I needed to post about, and the location of pictures to go with said posts for a long time now. Today I finished posting them. Now I can get back to a regular routine of posting. That means on Monday the Quiz is back!!!!

Today we got a Christmas 2006 card in the mail, from Kansas. I love you! This brought back fond memories. Thank you for the card.

Merry Christmas

We started off the day by running an errand**, and then heading over to Jacob’s parents’ house.  I think everybody was pleased with everything they got.  I got cool soup spoons.  For those who don’t know, I love spoons.  I love to eat cereal with soup spoons, and I love to eat any other creamy thing with a tiny spoon.***

We then proceeded to Iowa for festivities at dad’s house.  Where Ronda made it known that they are expecting G4!  We had a lot of fun.  I kissed Jacob  while he was holding Geneva and she grabbed on to his shirt and pulled herself up to his face and puckered.  Geneva and Gretchyn are mimicking a bit now, and they like to mimic laughing.  Only I think they sound more like dolphins.  Listen for your self.  Gretchyn was not too interested this time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54L_-Ks1e58[/youtube]

From there we headed over to Galesburg for Christmas over there.  Everyone was extremely pleased with the project Karen has been working on.  Good job Karen, all the hours paid off, even if they don’t all know how many hours you put into it.****

*I am writing this after the fact as though it is current, and pre-dating my post. As it is my site, I reserve the right to do so.

**If you know, do not say anything about it, please.

***some people call this a baby spoon, I call it a dessert spoon.

****Karen got a hold of Grandpa Carl’s slide from over the years. This whole years she has scanned them in to make digital prints,  put them in order and cleaned them up to made a DVD for her mom and brothers and sister.  It was a lot of work, and turned out great.