I'd rather be healthy

Isn't it strange how sickness hits a person? I got up on Sunday morning and dressed and went to church only to find that it was unusually cold in the chapel. Or was it? No one else seemed to be shivering like I was. I put my head on the back of Clare's neck and she confirmed I was feverish. I went home to bed and stayed there.

Since it was a holiday weekend there was no way to see or even talk to my doctor until Tuesday. By then I thought the fever had finally broken as I woke up in a sweat. But.....now Sammi was exhibiting the same symptoms I had. I called the doctor's office for a throat culture for both of us. Good news! No strep throat. Bad news, no antibiotics. A virus! How do you deal with that except ride out the storm? It hasn't been fun. I pray none of the others who live in my house or visit often (the Gourleys) get this nastiness.

Now that I think about it, I think perhaps Tom had this too as he was clearing his throat a lot more than usual and his voice sounds odd. He never tells me when he's feeling under the weather so unless he has a symptom that I can physically see, I can't help him out. Today he woke with a lot of crustiness in his eye. Could it be another stye? I didn't find one, but we'll see what Dr. Peterson finds this afternoon. When it rains it pours! Stay healthy out there!

What a long day!

I spent my day in Marion. You would think that would mean I was there for either a track meet or better yet, spending the day with the Gourley family. It was neither. I learned today that if you are a coach in Wisconsin, you need to attend a training about first aid and coaching philosophy before you begin your second year of coaching. Well, I'm in my 5th year but only my 1st as an employee of the Bowler school district. They pay for the training which isn't cheap.

From 8am until 1:15 I learned a lot about first aid and some about making tough decisions. We actually had a 30 minute break to go and get food and then continued until about 4:55. I can't tell you how hard it was to stay awake. I wasn't the only one struggling though. The 2nd part of the training is supposed to be 8 hours but our instructor wants people to still be sane, so she skips alot of the "put into practice" stuff.

The other thing that I need to do yet is take a test on each of those things that were taught today. It is an open book test so that's good, but I'm afraid with all the stuff crammed into my feeble brain in one day, I'll forget most of it. I need to score an 80% or take the test over. That shouldn't be difficult, should it?

Mother's Day

I suppose there was a day when I thought Mother's day was something really cool. Probably back when I was a new mom. Then back in 1993 when my own mother passed on, I realized how wonderful she was and how unappreciating I was. I'd go to church to have some well-meaning member of the bishopric remind us to go home and call or visit our mothers to tell them that we love them. They never gave me the phone number to the spirit world though so I was left with no mom to call or visit. I know, life's not fair.

Now it's just another Sabbath day spent with my children and visiting my wonderful mother-in-laws. I've learned, through experience that if my expectation is that of wanting my children to give something extra in the way of being kind to one another or worshipping the ground I walk on (j/k about that last part), that I will be disappointed and know that I'm a failure as a mother. Therefore, I just treat Mother's day as any other Sabbath day and then I'm not disappointed and the plus side is that I know I'm a good mom. With that in mind, I don't mind every other mom out there celebrating Mother's Day so I hope you had a good one.

Track & Ring-around-the-rosie

Yesterday we had a track meet in Keshena. Only part of our team was there due to the music trip to Chicago. Here's a picture of Erin long jumping. She jumped over 14 feet which is the best she's done this year.

Erin taking 1st place in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet.

Here's Erin in the triple jump where she jumped 30' 7.25" and also took 1st.

On Sunday we visited Brett and Sue. Christy was visiting over the Easter break with Brendon. Tony came for a surprise to check on his mom who had been in the hospital. It was a fun visit. Cami and Brendon sure loved playing together. Here they are playing Ring-around-the-rosie. When they got to the "all fall down" part, he didn't. Then he would stand over her and take her hands to get her to stand up and do it again. It's cute watching them play. It brings back memories of watching Clare and Tony play. And yes, Clare was that much taller than Tony.

Beautiful Weather & Other Stuff

For all of you who live nearby, you know that this week's weather has been terrific. Of course the weekend promises cold and wet so that makes me even more thankful for what we've had. Last week we finally had a track meet. It was so wonderful to see the athletes from the two schools make the transition into one team. Yesterday we had our Wildcat Relays. The girls did especially well getting 3rd place behind the two teams that tied for 1st. In fact they got 3rd by 5 points. That's impressive! Erin, Whitney and Katie took 1st in the high jump. Erin, Jenny and Rye took 2nd in the triple jump. Our discus team also took a 1st place. It was a fun day and I ran around doing a lot of things to help out. Eventually I ran the high jump. We got home at 8:10. A long day but way fun!

FHE Bowling

Last week for FHE we raked the yard. It wasn't exactly a fun activity but went really fast considering the many hands that helped. Afterward we played a game of HORSE and despite my lack of basketball skills, I won!

This week we decided to do something more fun. Bowling!!! None of us are spectacular bowlers but we had a lot of fun and encouraged one another. It's always nice when everyone gets a strike.

Not a great picture but who looks good bowling?

I love this one. Sammi was doing the between the legs and you can see Andrew's arm just after letting go of the ball.

Unlike Andrew, I don't look back. I know at the release of the ball if it's going to be anything worth watching. He got way better during the 2nd game.

My dad came over just before we finished and then we went to his place for ice cream. We watched the first half of the NCAA Final. I didn't have a favorite so it didn't matter to me who won, but you'd think that the game would've been closer. How did Michigan even get there? I don't care too much for a lopsided game. Anyway, we had a great time together!

Locks of Love & Shaved Heads

At Gresham school on Friday there was a special event held to raise funds and show support for one of the teachers who is battling cancer. An assembly was held for the last 2 class periods of the day. A whole lot of hair stylists came and donated their time to cut hair and shave heads. In all there had to be 50+ people who participated. I was surprised at the number of girls who donated 10 inches of their hair to Locks of Love. Some did it with no regrets, but there were others who had lots of tears during or afterward. It was a fantastic show of support!

Here's Clare with her 2 ponytails. She and Erin both went over by Ann later in the afternoon to get an actual style. The ladies cutting the inches were strictly there to take the hair and give you a blunt cut.

Tom and Sammi showed up for a few minutes. It was enough time for Jeana to take care of what little hair Tom had to begin with.

These two buddies both got in on the act.


I think Erin was the first girl in the school to bring back the permission slip in order to donate her hair. Way to lead the way!

I don't know if Andrew was dreading the shave or just nervous to do it in front of a lot of people. I think it was the latter. I do prefer him with a bit more hair. It will be interesting to see the young men at church on Sunday. Most of them were shaved so we should have some "clean looking" young men to participate in blessing and passing the sacrament.

I'm extremely pleased that my children are unselfish in such a personal way. In the evening there was a talent show. It raised quite a bit of money as well. A very fun and worthwhile day!