What's up Doc?

London hasn't been feeling too well, but we don't have a pediatrician out here yet and I kept telling myself she'd be better tomorrow. Well it got worse and worse, and as much as I try to avoid taking my kids to the Doctors office, I knew it was time yesterday morning. I looked up what I thought was the equivalant to an InstaCare, called an Urgent care here, and took her in first thing in the morning. I sat in the waiting room for about 40 minutes after filling out all the paperwork they needed on her, and was finally brought back to an exam room. A random assistant came in and asked what I thought was wrong and I told her I believed she had an ear infection, high temperatures off and on, a possible sore throat, and an obvious green discharge continually evactuating from her nose coupled with a cough. The diagnosis seemed pretty easy and I was sure I'd be out of there in a jiffy with a perscription for antibiotics. After another 20 minutes had past, a Physicians Assistant came in and asked me again what I thought was wrong with her, I redid the medical monologue, this time with the added drama of a groaning and crying child accompanying my descriptions. The PA turned and looked at me and said, "I've spoken with the other doctors here and none of us feel comfortable looking at your daughter since she is so young."
Yes she's 8 months old, but could you just look inside her ears please?
"I'm not a pediatrician so I wouldn't want to take any chances, and either would any of the other doctors here today."
Could someone have told me this an hour and a half ago before I sat in this place with a sick and crying child?
"I can try and find a pediatrician who will see her today."
Well I could have called a pediatrician and "tried" to get an appointment today. But that's not very possible which is why there are walk-in Urgent care centers. You mean you really won't look inside her ears with that thing-a-ma-bob hanging on the wall right there next to us?
"No, you'll need a pediatrician to do that. Maybe if she was two I'd look."
Maybe it was the crying baby, coupled with the hour and a half wait in a less-than-sanitary looking urgent care after a sleepless night, and that she hadn't nursed in over a day and I was uncomfortable anyhow, I wanted to scream, "What kind of doctors are you! What's wrong with you people! Look in my poor sick baby's ears!!!!!
She asked me to wait and she'd call a pediatrician she works with and see if he'd squeeze me in today. I waited another 10 minutes and then just left the exam room. I could call a pediatrician myself. That was not the point here. Does URGENT CARE not mean what I had thought? As I walked out with my wimpering baby, I wiped my tears away and told the lady at the front desk I would not be paying for my visit, and I would have appreciated being told an hour and a half ago that they wouldn't see someone so young.
As I got in my car, another front desk worker came running after me, "Ms Palmer, Ms, Palmer, I'm still trying to find you a pediatrician!" She had a phone book in her hand and was calling down the list. Again, something I could have done but I wanted to see a doctor TODAY. They weren't having any luck with their "connections" finding anyone who would take her today so I'm sure I wouldn't be so lucky either.
I went to pick up my other kids from Brad's office and ran into his business partner, Scott, and it was obvious I was a little emotional. I told him the story and he immediately got on the phone to his kids pediatrician, who was not taking new patients, and got London an appointment for 4pm when the clinic was closing. It was a long day but at least I had an appointment. Now, in fairness to the story, I was at that Pediatricians office for almost 2 hours because she got caught up at the Hospital and wasn't able to make it back to the office until 5:30. (I had people coming over to my house for dinner at 6!) She finally arrived and examined London. I really liked her and am glad she said she'd be willing to take on all my kids as her patients. Diagnosis: Ear Infection and a little bronchitis. She gave me some Tylenol and Motrin and a perscription for an antibiotic, (free here at the local grocery store!) and we were on our way. I was 45 minutes late to the dinner at my house, but was glad to have the beginning of the end on its way. Depsite her misery, this wonderful child still manages to smile at everyone she comes in contact with and tries to be pleasant when I know she's in pain. She is an amazing little girl and I love her so much!

Happy Birthday Rock! (Revised)

Yes this is kind of pathetic, but let me explain. My kids don't really like cake. They like the idea of cake and it's decorations, and the social aspect surrounding any event that includes a cake, and they like Birthdays, so a birthday cake sounds exciting. They like it on their plate and smooshed between their forks, but after about 2 bites they lose interest and move on. This, coupled with the fact that Brad and I aren't eating sugar right now and didn't want a tempting left-over cake laying around all week, led me to the decision to NOT get a full blown birthday cake for Rockwell today. Instead I went down to the local grocery store and bought just a piece of cake. (Now I just don't know what to call it instead of a Birthday Cake: A Birthday Piece, A Birthday Slice, a Birthday Wedge? Suggestions?) The boys didn't notice a difference because there were candles in it, and that really is the greatest thing about a birthday cake- and we sang the fun song, made a wish and opened presents. Now I know that this picture is going to come back to haunt me in 10 years, when he's saying he had an oppressed childhood and his parents didn't love him enough to even get him a Birthday cake so thats why he is the way he is. (To my brothers: Does that sound like about the right lingo?) But everyone got what they wanted in the end. And just so you know, between the three boys, there was still a several bites of this Birthday Sliver left after all was said and done!


I can't believe I have a 6-year-old! Rock has been a joy to have as a child since the day he was born. I am so blessed to have him as my oldest because he is such a good example to his little brothers and helps me to the fullest extent of his abilities with his little sister. He is kind and respectful and full of love. Tonight, as expected, he asked to go to his favorite type of restaurant, a Teppanyaki Japanese steakhouse. There are several types of this kind of restaurant here in town, but several locals have pointed us toward the best one. We'll also take him to Disney World next week as his big present, which has an added bonus of having his cousins from Washington there.

The Youth and the EtiQuiz

Last night I was in charge of my first activity for the all the Young Men and Young Women in two wards. I had three days to plan it and was told the theme was etiquette. I would have loved to do some big shin-dig of an etiquette dinner, but time was not on my side. So instead we played a game show that was a mix of Jeopardy and Family Feud. Instead of earning money on the Jeopardy board, they earned the components to their banana split at the end of the activity. It went pretty well and I think the kids enjoyed it.
Here are my two favorite answers from the kids last night:
When asked to give two examples of someone you should give your seat up for on a bus a young man buzzed in and responded, "Um, the President and, um, maybe the... Vice President?" From the back of the room I hear another young man say in a tone that probably matched all our thoughts, "What bus is he riding on?" Another favorite was when the question was from the "Table Manners" category and asked, according to proper etiquette, where would you put your fork once you had used it. Again I hear a voice from the crowd in all seriousness, "In the dishwasher?" That one gave me a good chuckle for awhile. They were good sports and made the best out of an activity on etiquette. It really helped me learn to love these kids right from the beginning.

"Enhancing With the Stars"

Last night while going to sleep, Brad and I turned on the TV to find "Dancing With the Stars" halfway over. (To all you Westerners: It's on later out here on the East coast, so no we weren't going to bed at 8pm.) This has always been a show we've enjoyed watching throughout the last several years and this year we have a favorite: Melissa. She's the poor little thing that got dumped on "The Bachelor" this year that CBS felt so bad for they found her a partner 2 days before the show premiered this year and are letting her be one of the "stars". She's actually pretty good and we think she could play Marie Osmond if they were to do a TV movie on her.

(This photo was from last week.)

While watching it, our conversation always seems to go toward the question, "Why has America embraced with such enthusiasm a show about famous people learning how to ballroom dance?" It just seems like an odd winner in the reality category, but hey, we watch it too! Well this question was answered for us last night by Drake. He walked into our bedroom well past his bedtime, like he usually does, and started a random casual conversation with us to try to distract us from the fact he should be asleep. This is almost a nightly occurrence and since we were watching tv we let him stay. It just so happened to be in the middle of Melissa from the Bachelor's routine. When it ended and she was standing there talking to the hostess, Drake profoundly answered the question about this show's popularity, that has probably been at more dinner tables than just ours:
"Mom, she does not have any clothes on! Her is naked!" Well he was mostly right. He was definitely noticing some very near naked things! And her costume was no where near the most naked! (It reminded me of the time I sat next to my little nephew years ago at my sister's dance concert, where all the girls were wearing skin-tight black pleather unitards. He leaned over to me in an embarrassed whisper and said, "They're naked!... with clothes on!") So kids seem to notice the thing we tend to overlook, or should I say look over, and that is the costuming. I think it is fabulous sewing and sparkle and the designs fit the women like a dream, and I admit I watch the show in part to see what they're going to wear. But I would have never thought to keep my little boys from watching it until last night. Even things that seem so innocent to me as an adult, through a child's eyes was shocking. No, I'm not putting "Dancing With the Stars" on a Black List or anything, that's not what this rant is about and I will watch it tonight, it's about me having better judgement as a parent about what I'm going to let my kids watch from now on. Thanks Drake for opening my eyes because yours should have been shut.

Fathers and Sons Campout

Last night Brad took the two older boys and went camping at a Stake Fathers and Sons outing in Ocala National Forest.

Rockwell is showing off the fish he caught in this picture.

Here the boys are posing in the lake.

Trying to find critters... specifically alligators.

During all this, Melissa took Drake and London to a Mary Kay party she was invited to. Drake was fascinated and participated in the party as if he were invited. He applied his own facial cleanser and lotion as well as foundation. (Oddly his foundation color was the same as mine.) His skin looked perfect afterwards. They could have used him as a poster child for their skin care line his skin looked so soft and smooth!

?3*@!*

Can't think... need sugar... will post later...

DIE-et

So I decided it was probably time for me to shed the fast food pounds gained in the 5 weeks of nomadic living when we first moved to Florida. I also have the added excuse of "baby weight". But you can only hold on to that excuse for so long. So today starts the next couple of weeks of no sugar, no carbs or any hope for culinary joy. Okay, it's really not that bad. We actually branch out and try new recipes so there is some excitement. But man, I miss my sugar. I'm already missing my most recent bad habit: the handful of chocolate chips. But I always feel better at the end of a couple of weeks of good eating and my clothes fit better. The good thing about this time around is that not only is Brad going through this with me, but his business partner is going to get on board, as is a friend of mine here in Gainesville. It's always so much easier to do this with a friend. Maybe because you have someone to whine to, and maybe it's because there is one less person tempting you with the seven layer chocolate fudge cake that takes so long to make they only make it once a year and people come from 3 different counties to enjoy it and you have to graciously say, "No thank you" to what could be the greatest day of your life.

But as my friend and I were talking about this yesterday we both decided it was time and that we could do this... so our husbands have no choice, they're in. Wish us luck!

Old House, New House, Good Friends, Dead Mouse

I am finally getting around to posting pictures of our new dwelling on the blog and telling you a bit about it. First, I 'll recap: We got here on January 9 and realized on Jan. 10th, we were homeless. We were in a hotel in Gainesville for 6 days, then Key West for a week. Back to a Gainesville Hotel for 5 days and then Tampa for 5 Days. Back to another Gainesville Hotel (I use the word Hotel loosely...) for 5 days and then a big blessing came along to rent a partially furnished home from a family who had already moved to California, but their house hadn't sold yet. We stayed there for 2 1/2 weeks. It was so much better than a Hotel!



Here are the kids in front of the sweet little house we lived in before we finally got settled. It was kind of in the Hood, but Brad's car only got broken into once, and I was only propositioned once.

Finally on February 17th, we moved into our Gainesville home. It is just a rental for now, but we really like it and would love to be able to stay here awhile. Here are some pictures of the house.

The boys love the palm trees!

But the palm trees aren't nearly as cool as the pool... and when I say cool, I should probably say FREEZING! But they keep asking to get in it. I guess they keep hoping one of these days it will be warmer.


Here's the master bathroom. When the boys first saw the Master suite they asked if they could have this room and if we would sleep in the room set aside for them. They honestly sounded like they thought it could happen.


This is looking at the kitchen, while standing in the family room. It's a nice layout.




Here's the living room with the infamous green couch and Zebra rug.


The dining room is fun and fits our big round table. We got really lucky with the paint color of the room. Since it's a rental we can't change wall colors, but the color of the dining room is the exact color of the pillows on the the green couch of the adjacent room. When you have a pistachio green couch with rusty coral pillows, paint color is crucial to the success of the look. It looks like we color matched the walls with the pillows! (Mom, it's best we went with this color scheme and not the peacock blue and brown look!)

And here's Drake and Rhett riding around the house. Drake said he needed his goggles for safety.

As for the rest of the title of this blog: We had so many wonderful people come and help us move in. The ward missionaries, other great men from church, and Brad's business partner and his family. We really have been welcomed into the area with open arms. Already we have made some good friends which not only make us less homesick, but oddly more homesick at the same time. We ache for the companionship and fun we would have with our close friends and family in Utah, but can already tell that we can have those same wonderful relationships with people here. It's amazing how you can click with certain people quite quickly. So here's a shout out to our wonderful friends and family that we miss so much in Utah, and a thank you to our new friends here in Florida that are making our transition so much more enjoyable.

Oh, and we found a dead mouse in our garage as we were cleaning it out. It had been here a while and hopefully doesn't have any local family.

Now Brad wants to punch a girl...

Warning: for this next posting to make sense, you need to first read last weeks post on Rockwell's second first day of school. Read that first, then come back.

On Friday Brad took Rockwell to school and I asked him to also go into the office and sign Rockwell up to be able to start taking the bus on Monday. He got all the paperwork filled out without incident, and was given a piece of paper he was supposed to immediately take to Rock's teacher so she would know his information. The paper said what bus number he would be on, the address of the bus stop, the approximate time the bus arrived, the bus drivers name, and her phone number. So naturally, Brad asked if he could get a photocopy of the information. The infamous office secretary said no. Brad, forgetting my previous experiences, thought maybe she was joking and smiled and played along by saying,"Why not?" Then all the memories of my previous experience came back to him as she said, "Because I don't know what you're going to do with it." Well I think it was pretty obvious what he was going to do with it: know where when and what his child would be doing on the school bus. He tried again, "No really, I'd like a copy of that information."
"Sorry, can't do that."
"What harm can there be in copying that information for me."
"You could try and get another kid on the bus that's not supposed to be there."
What?? Like there's enough time in life to plot the secret passage of an unknown student to our bus stop? So Brad asked since he couldn't have a photocopy of the paper, could she at least write the information down for him so he would have it. With a great display of inconvenience, she finally complied.
If this were a secretary or front desk personnel at a company, this type of behavior would probably make her lose her job. But just because she works for the school district, and we're not paying clients with much of a choice where to go, we're supposed to put up with it?

Do I write a letter?