long time

I know it has been a long time and I definitely owe my readers an update but right now my left wrist is hurting so bad (for those who may not have previously known I have had 4 surgeries on this wrist) I am typing with my right hand only, which is a much slower process and also means I have been slipping more so more typo's which than need corrected. More typos means slower again.... So I am done for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be better but I kinda doubt it, so if nothing else maybe tomoorow I will opt to type through the pain... Afterall I do have lotsa I wanna share!!

Craigslist

So awhile ago I looked on craigslist for something. I don't remember when that was or what I was looking for, but I don't think I found it. Than recently a couple weeks ago I decided to try and look to see about a new computer desk. I discovered there is a lot of things on craiglist. I have found it to be kinda my new favorite website. I check it almost daily now in the "free" section. I did find my desk on craiglist. I bought it though it wasn't one of the things listed as free. But I got a desk I really like for $20. I am happy with it.

Anyway we have been living in this house for 29 years and a few months now... I don't know how new the house was at that time, but we still have the same oven and stove cooktop from when we moved in. The oven is pretty small and I guess the cooktop too. Our cooktop had 4 burners, it's gas and has a pilot light ignition. Several years ago one of the burner knobs was getting to be so hard to turn on and off and it was kinda hard to make sure it was completely off so my dad took the knob off and so we didn't use it anymore because we didn't want to risk any gas leaks etc. Than recently the burner we use most frequently wasn't really lighting very well and we were frequently having to use something extra to light it. So I was doing some investigating and found that the tiny tube thing that runs from the pilot to the burner had a hole in it. So as we would try and start it was leaking. I told my mom we should probably start looking for a new stove because I didn't want to risk any fire/ etc. I love my family too much for that. In the meanwhile I switched that burner with a different one that was used less frequently again for safety reasons.

I was doing some research online. I called the habitat for humanity restore and they only had one gas cooktop but unfortunately it was too small. I looked at Warehouse Discount Centers, Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears online. I found that of course the discount center was the least expensive, But they did have one matching one at Lowe's and Lowe's will price match. the one I found was a basic simple one very similar to what we had and the price was jsut under $250. I wanted to buy it for my mom but I had just paid bills and didn't have enough to do so. Than the thought hit me to look on craigslist. As I said it had just become my new favorite website! So I was looking and in Ventura county didn't find anything. I found a few but they were mostly too small. So I decided to take a chance and check in LA county. I knew that it was a risk and may be somewhere in the San Fernando Valley or I may find something way too far to go but looked anyway.

I was looking on Tues the 8th.... I found an ad that had been posted the week prior on I think the 3rd or 4th and it said they wanted to sell it that weekend. It was an ad for a 36" gas cooktop (which is what we needed) for $100. It said it was a Kenmore and had only been used about 5 months but they decided they are going to remodel their kitchen so they were getting rid of all the white appliances! I figured there was no way they still had it, it said they wanted to get rid of it that weekend which had already passed and stuff. It was in Downey which I knew was only about 50 miles so I decided to give it a shot. I called the lady and she actually told me she still had it! She told me there were some people that she was going to be calling back but than she told me she would wait until the next day at noon to see if I wanted it or not since I didn't live close. So I checked with my mom and dad and we decided we definately wanted to check it out! So I called her back and said I would come right than if she wanted (it was about 7:30 when i was talking to her) or the next day, we decided on the next day.

So on Weds my mom and I and my nephews drove down and we bought it! The lady whose name was Faith... or at least that's what she put on the ad and answered to when I called, but her voicemail on the phone said Diane... anyway she told both my Mom and I that the week before she got a bunch of calls for the stove and misplaced some of the numbers, and the ones she did call back she said they could come the following week to look at it but never set anything up or anything. She said that when I called she felt she wanted to give me a chance and not call any others back. We told her that our stove is at least 30 years old, that my dad is getting VA benefits and my mom is disabled and financially it was tight times, and that our stove was dying. We knew it was meant to be that we were the ones to get the stove from her! She was also selling a refridgerator and dishwasher... I guess she really was remodeling! She said she had the cooktop for about 5 months, it looked brand new, there was a little bit of dirt under the knobs, but otherwise didn't even look used! She had the installation kit and manual stuff still in the sealed package from when they bought the stove!!

So that night I pulled out the old greasy grimey stove and Dad and I were doing some measurements and such. The next day after I got home from my morning institute class we went to Do It Center and bought some supplies we needed to install the stove. This one has a deeper base than our old one so it was going to hit the drawers we had in the cabinet so we got some wood and raised the countertop. Well Dad did that part while I went back to the store to by some adapter stuff we needed because the new gas line didn't fit our old gas valve. I had to go to several stores to find what I needed. The new cooktop has 5 burners. 3 are normal burners, one is a lower powered "simmer" burner and one is a high powered burner for fast boiling! It is a pilot-less electronic ignition. So we had to run power to it. Like I said Dad did most of the installation of the wood to raise the countertop, but I re-installed the counter as well as did the gas line and installation of the cooktop! We worked together to fix the drawer tracks since they were worn out so the drawers would work better. ANyway it took most of the day but it works! No leaks and it looks amazing! I love the new stove! It works great! I am so glad we were able to get what appears to be a brand new cooktop that is way nicer than the one I was looking at from warehouse discount center for less money! This particular one is a $650 cooktop at Sears!!!!! This is how it looks installed!

Old formula

For many many many many years now I have been using Pantene Pro-V 2in1 shampoo plus conditioner. I really like it and it works well in my hair. I have found many other kinds of shampoo's seem to me like they make my hair fall out more (It comes out in my hand while I am washing, I rarely have it happen with the pantene) and some (like Suave) leave me with a really itchy scalp. So I have used the Pantene. I generally bought the regular one and occasionally if they were out of it I would by the one for dry/damaged hair. I figured it doesn't hurt to add more moisturizer! Than a few years ago they changed their formula. The bottles were a little different it smelled a little different but I grabbed a bottle anyway. I didn't like it as much and since they still had the small bottles of what I now refer to as "the old formula" I woudl just buy the smaller bottles. Than i began to notice they were discontinuing them. So I would buy whatever I saw whenever I could find it and wherever. My mom even got me a few bottles somewhere! So we bought what we could find and I had like 5 or 6 small bottles. So now here I am a few years later (It's been at least 2 years.... probably like 3 years really) and I am almost out of my last bottle! It is very sad to me because I really don't like the new formula as much. I did buy one bottle of it recently knowing I am going to need it soon. I used it the other day I figured I would kinda try it out, and maybe work it in slowly like you would do if you are changing the brand of pet food you buy. I only used it that one day! I still don't like it as much! So I guess my plea is if anybody who happens to read my blog is in some little random mom and pop shop or somewhere and you find the "old formula" design bottles whether big or small size buy all you can!!!! Either the regular or dry/damaged! I will pay you back and pay for you to ship it to me! I have checked every grocery store and drug store and of course Wally World and Target in my area but they are all completely out of the "old formula" bottles! I have looked on amazon and ebay but in the searching I did I couldn't find any.... I may look again though! I have included a picture of the old bottle (the smaller size bottle with the blue label) as well as the new bottle (bigger one with the green label) if you do find any with the old design the dry/damaged one is a red label!! Anyway I really hope somehow I can find some more old formula bottles! If not I may have to do some shampoo testing again and see if by chance I can find something else I really like! But I have always loved my Pantene!

No Eggs....

I meant to post this one a long time ago... I have saved this box for quite awhile in order to post it and tonight I finally took pictures and am ready to write my story.... so one day (prob after Halloween last year since it is about that size candy box) I was eating some Sugar Babies. I don't really remember why but I was reading the side of the box.The edges of the box where you open it, it only says Sugar Babies. Than the front and back on the large sides also says Sugar Babies and has the picture. Than on the other two edges one talks about where they were manufactured Tootsie Rolls Industries... etc... than the last side has the ingredient listing. Of course sugar, corn syrup etc... all the normal junk you would find in candy that you probably shouldn't be eating. Than at the very bottom qiote randomly if you ask me it says "Egg may be present" now as I said it is a small box probably from Halloween so I did some measuring and took some pictures to show you what I found.... It's just my opinion and observation but I don't think an egg would fit in the box! :)

About me, and my room....

Well I was just reading through some of my friends blogs and I realized even though I have posted twice this week they weren't much about my life! Things are a little crazy for me> I guess they generally are but maybe it's a little more so than normal right now. I don't recall whether or not I ever posted anything about it but there are currently 10 people living in my house! Half of which are kids... ages 11, almost 7 , almost 4, 3, and 17 months. During the day from Tues- Fri from 8-5 there is also a 8 month old.... so of course things can be a little loud and hectic. School started last week which is nice because it means the 11 and 6 year old are gone most of the day. So that's a bonus. But during the summer look out for fights. Well look out for them still. in the mornings, in the evenings and basically any other time there is more than one kid present in a room at a time!

Luckily I do still have my own room. It is usually kind of a refuge for me. I can read, I can go online to chat with friends, I can email and blog and occasionally I even watch TV or a movie, my music is available to me. Basically I can do anything I want in my own room... well even that depends. I have to usually ask myself a couple questions before any of that comes true.... 1) did I remember to lock my door when I came into my room? 2) Even if I did lock my door was I noticed to have left and come in here? I frequently get visitors to my room, they knock and knock and tell me to let them in. If I don't answer they don't always go away. If it's an adult they just use the key outside (hanging out of reach of children on my door) to open it. Or I find little tiny fingers wiggling under the door. Sometimes I let them in. Other times I ignore them. Sometimes I tell them to go away and they cry but eventually I have peace again. Such is my room!

Anyone who knows me well or for any length of time, usually also knows I am a frequent furniture mover. I like to re-arrange my bedroom furniture somewhat frequently. If it wasn't for my knee injury it would happen a lot more than it currently does. Well I had finally gotten to a point a month or so ago where I couldn't take it anymore and I switched it. But with the desk I had I was having difficulty finding a good furniture layout in my room. It was annoying but I made it kinda work. I wasn't completely happy with it but I was content because it was a change and it worked. But in the meanwhile I have been looking for desks if I drive by a garage sale. I have been wanting to go to the good will and see what I could find. I wanted to find a desk that was not a corner desk so that it would open up options for my room. I started looking on craigslist. Well the other night I finally found one within a reasonable price $20 in Thousand Oaks so it was close enough to get as well. It was small like I wanted (for space) and even has a hutch/shelf on top which was a nice addition because it gives me a space for my printer. So last night I got a new desk and did a slight rearrangement to my room. I am still kinda re-organizing now and looking for space for some of the desk stuff from before since I have a little less storage room now but I am overall really happy with my new/used desk! Woohoo. Maybe I will post a picture sometime! I gotta finish the organizing first :-)

I have been sick for over a week now. It started last week on like Mon or Tues as what seemed to be a sinus infection. By Fri I was coughing and occasionally sneezing. The sinus is mostly clear now but it's been nearly a week (Thurs) and I am still coughing! I really hate it! I am almost debating going to the Dr to get checked. Maybe it would be good because I can get some cough syrup, do they still give prescriptions for the bubble gum stuff? At least I am not waking up with the phlegm anymore! Yuck! I just can't seem to ditch the cough though!

I cannot believe I am turning 30 this month! I have mixed feelings about it really. I do have a lot of friends near my age as well as some younger and a couple that are a little older. But generally I feel kinda on the old side. I know 30 is not old but it's hard to imagine I am going to be 30 since I pictured my life a lot different than it is right now. I imagined being married and starting a family. I imagined being debt free or a lot closer than I currently am. I guess being on disability and unemployment don't help much with that. I know that those things will come and I know I have to be patient I guess it's just hard when something like a 30th birthday is coming up quicker than you expected!

I applied last week for the California Highway Patrol. I am hoping to hear back soon that I get to test for a dispatcher position. I am really hopeful and excited for this potential opportunity. It would be really great in my life right now. It is a full time job with really great benefits. It is a desk job, so my knee could continue to heal and it pays well so I would ideally be able to get out of debt a lot quicker. Than maybe I could find a place of my own. The only downside I can see for now is the application process. It is a timely process. I have applied to test, the final filing date for testing was today. than if accepted to test the test will be in Oct or Nov. Than from there depending on the score of the test I would be put on an eligibility list. Than based on that list they do interviews and what have you. Than I think maybe an orientation and then if I am liked I go into a background check. Which is all a waiting game! So it's a great opportunity but depending on the time for each step I may not be hired for several months still. So I have also applied for the city of Santa Barbara, and have been looking online for other options within the dispatch world. I found an ambulance company in the valley I may apply for, as well as life alert. So I guess my options are not completely limited but I would love to be in dispatch so that I can still feel like an EMT in some sense!

Well I think for now that is my update! I hope this finds all my readers well! Life is crazy but I do love a good roller coaster so it's worth it right??

Finding Prince Charming

I had another fun converstion with Elijah again today. This is what happened this time, Elijah was in the playpen which is currently filled with toys, I was sitting in the recliner nearby. He found a frog stuffed animal....

Me: If I kiss that frog will he turn into my Prince Charming?

Elijah: Yeah

Me: Can I try?

Elijah: Yeah

...he tossed me the frog

... I kissed the frog and nothing happened

Me: It didn't work, where is my Prince Charming?

Elijah: In the TV

Me: He is in the TV? How do I get him out?

Elijah:Go in the TV and get him

Me: How do I go in the TV?

Elijah: Oh (and he looked at me as if he was thinking "Good Question" Than he kind of laughed and said "go in the TV"

Conversation with a 3 year old

I was in the kitchen telling my mom about going to the Hollywood Bowl on Sat... this is what happened.... it may be a little bit off from the actualy conversation but you get the idea.. my nephew is so darn cute sometimes!


Me: Mom I am going to the Hollywood Bowl on Sat with S and a dozen other people to see a John Williams concert.

Mom: Are you sitting in the grass?

Me: I don't know where we are sitting.

Mom: You can usually bring a picnic lunch

Me: Yeah S said to bring a picnic meal and sweater because it gets kinda cold sometimes

Mom: I don't know how cold it will get

Elijah: (3 years old) my mommy got tickets

Me: She did?

Elijah: Yup

Me: Ok I will see you there than

Elijah: Mommy get you tickets

Me: Oh she got me a ticket too?

Elijah: Yup, two tickets

Me: Oh she got me two tickets? So I can bring a date than?

Elijah: Yup

Me: Ok good, will you be my date than?

Elijah: Yup

WOOHOO I have a date!

3rd times a charm!

So several people gave my nephew Isaiah gift cards for his birthday. My sister asked for that because she wanted to purchase a large swingset as a birthday present combined for both my nephews once it got closer to Elijah's birthday. So that she did. I scheduled a time with the elders to come and help with assembly. Day 1: There were 5 elders plus myself. Since there are currently 5 kids living in my house we didn't want to open the boxes of swingset stuff because we didn't want parts to go missing. I got up early that day to prepare for them to come and went through the supplies. Some of the bags of bolts had gotten wet and were corroded :( So because we had to call the company and request replacements we couldn't do too much to start with. They got the glider and the ladder/rock wall assembled. We had worked for about 2- 2 1/2 hours

We waited and the following week we got the fed-ex package for the new bolts. We had 4 BAGS of bolts that were no good (there were a few more that were kinda messed up but not as bad so we used them), we got a package with exactly 4 bolts in it! So we called again and this time they next day air shipped them to us. We got all the bolts we needed. But with all the shipping time it took over a week before we had everything we needed to work again. The next week just two of the elders returned and we worked some more.

Day 2: Elder's Walker, Hall and myself worked for about 3 1/2 hours. I got the slide assembled and we got a good start on the fort/tower thing. They also got the a-frame and swing beam part done.

Day 3: We waited about another week for them to have a day to come back again. They were back on Thurs. They brought the other elders again so there were 5 of us working together again. We spent about 3 1/2 to 4 hours again in the smoldering heat (over 100 that day) and we finished it up! It still needs to be staked to the ground and my mom wants to get playground chips to place around it but otherwise it's done~ I have about 90 pictures in all from the total assembly process. If you are interested in seeing more, just let me know!

Aside from finishing assembling the swingset this week, last night I went and got my haircut again! It has been so hot lately and I have actually been enjoying wearing it down more since my last cut that I decided to lighten it up (by a cut not color)a bit so I can continue to wear it down frequently without feeling as hot! Don't mind the lack of make-up in the picture, I have also had a sinus infection most of this week so I wasn't feeling 100% well either but it's a fairly cute picture of the new do and it's shorter length. I decided to stick with the layered look for now! The picture was also taken on my phone and not the regular camera so the quality isn't as great either, but maybe that's a good thing considering the make-up free illness look! :)

Euflexxa Part 2

... Well Mon was my third and final Euflexxa shot for this round. I am hoping it is my final knee shot period.... but we shall see. This time since Adam was out of town (he is visiting family in Wisconsin for his parents anniversary) Dr Davis gave me the shot. Sorry for the disappointment but there are no pictures. I can say however that it hurt a lot. It was again a super strong pressure and I think as he injected me I made a sound and he questioned me. I told him it was because fo the pressure but I really thought I was going to cry. As I left limping (like normal) I barely made it out of the dr office and across the hall to the bathroom. I got inside and paused a moment. I took a few deep breaths and went to a stall to take care of business. I think I managed to not cry although I was uncomfortable. For the most part it settled down a little while later and that evening although slightly uncomfortable I wasn't in as much pain as last week which is good~!

ANyway my next follow up appointment is on Sept 21st. It is 6 weeks from the 3rd injection. In the meanwhile I went on Weds for a new knee brace. They had one that fit me but it wasn't the complete kind Dr Davis wanted so they ordered that size but with the hinged sides. It came in today (technically yesterday since it's after midnight) but I was in Ventura at the fair. So I will pick it up in the morning. It's not the brace I've been told about for activities post acl reconstruction but it is a support brace. I had asked Dr Davis about that activity brace and he said he wanted me to wait more. I asked him about getting a new neoprine brace, I told him mine was pretty worn out and the velcro didn't hold anymore. I assured him I wasn't wearing it frequently but usually just if I knew I would be doing more walking since that is what aggravates it still. So that's what it is. Except it's got "hinges" on the sides of the knee instead of just the support bars. So I hope it is not too awkward and uncomfy! I will need it for Sat! :) Well I should be getting to bed soon. I have lots to do tomorrow.

Euflexxa

Last Sept I had gotten the Euflexxa injections in my knee. It was to hopefully help make it feel better and I was hoping it was going to be successful. The Euflexxa injections are a series of injections. It is one injection a week for 3 weeks. Obviously it didn't help long term because I had surgery again this year in Feb.... so anyway as I am recovering from the ACL reconstruction I had back in Feb I am still having some problems. On the 4th I had a major issue with it. I had gone in the morning to the car show in Fillmore with some friends. I had known that during classes and such I was getting sore more regularly and so I prepared myself. I brought my cane with me, I took a pain pill before we went and I put on my knee brace. Than after I went to lunch with some friends and came home packed by swim stuff and went to a pot luck pool party at a friends house. I spent a lot of time in the pool and jacuzzi that afternoon/night. I didn't think much of it because it felt fine and I know that in the water there is less resistance. So I figured it was actually good for my knee.

Later on around 11 or so I was getting ready to leave. I had said most of my goodbyes and as I was heading to the door a couple of my friends S & K were sittin on the stairs chatting. I ended up sitting and talking with them for a bit and was sitting sideways on the step. When all of a sudden I got a sudden sharp pain in my knee, it literally felt like someone smacked my knee with a hammer!! I think I kinda made a sudden gasp noise and then just kinda stopped and then started crying almost immediately. It was so bad!! My friends noticed and didn't know what was wrong. The pain basically ended as quick as it came and I was sitting there and it just felt odd. I was afriad to move or to get up because I didn't want to trigger another pain. I was able to kinda explain what had happened to S and K after the initial shock wore off. Around that time one of the guys R from my ward came over and S said "she might need a blessing" I said I felt I was ok but I just wanted to wait to get up. I did turn around though so I was facing the other way on the step to have more knee support. More than anything else after the shock was gone was I was scared. I had never had a pain like that before and I didn't know why it was happening than! Than another friend K walked over. I think he could tell something was not right and was kinda looking at me a little odd. I told him to stop looking at me like that as I was wiping away some final tears. Several minutes later I decided it was time to go home. I planned to ice my knee when I got there and S said she would walk me out to my car. She took my bag of wet clothes so I wasn't carrying it and as I was slowly walking down the steps in front of the house towards my car it was hurting a little bit. We got to my car and I asked S if R and K were the only priesthood holders left. I also knew M was there and I asked if my home teacher B had left (He had) she said "do you want a blessing now?" I said "yeah maybe I should" and she said she would get R and K for me. I said I would come in the house too because I wasn't going to have them do it in the street or in my car. We went inside and she found the guys. Unfortunately though nobody had any oil. So we decided to drive to S& R's house. We caravaned there. K and R gave me a blessing. It was incredible!!! I remember it being incredible and being told what I needed to hear. I also remember during it R telling me to listen to the Dr's orders and obey them. I don't remember much else but that really stuck out to me because I can be pretty stubborn sometimes and I tend to over-do it a bit. After that we turned on a movie, I was pretty tired though and said I was and that I would likely fall asleep. I kinda did. While there and movie watching S gave me a bag of frozen broccoli for an ice pack on my knee. Since than it's kinda a joke between us that whenever we are watching a movie she gives me broccoli!

I already had a scheduled follow up dr appt for the following Mon. I told Dr Davis at that appointment about all that had been happening. I told him I was getting pain still going up/down stairs and how I was still hurting if I walked a lot. I especially told him about my experience on the 4th! He suggested I get the Euflexxa injections. He said that they couldn't do cortisone because it would destroy the graft which was still healing. He said that the Euflexxa would help with inflammation so that may make it feel better and he said it would also actually be good for the graft. I asked him about getting the brace I would be able to wear to be active again and play stuff and he said he wanted me to wait still to get that one. He told me that one thing that would really help my knee would be weight loss. I told him I am trying as best as I can to watch my eating., it's just hard when I cannot exercise much with it. After that appointment knowing I had been through the injections before I looked back on my previous blog post about them. I knew I had some swelling and pain issues when I got them but I couldn't remember the specifics. I started them again this time around last Mon. When I got the injection that day I immediately felt a strong pressure in my knee! It hurt so bad! It was a lot worse than I remember it being back in Sept. I thought I was going to cry, but I stayed strong! The pressure lasted for several hours and then slowly started to dissipate. I was mildly uncomfortable for a day or two and so it wasn't too bad. Than yesterday I went in for shot 2... I told Adam about last week and he said the feeling of pressure is common because of the thickness of the gel and that if the joint is already inflammed it can make it worse when you inject the gel in. So he went for shot 2. It was a strong pressure again but not quite as bad as last week. I left the office limping again. I went to take care of a friends dogs and then to lunch and it was starting to wear off fairly quickly compared to last week. I was actually feeling alright within an hour or so. I was a little uncomfy but mostly not too bad. I thought things were ok. Than in the evening I went to Wally World. I was walking around to get a few things. I wasn't even there that long really because I only looked at stuff on the list and I was getting some small increased moments of pain. It made me shop a little faster and came home. I helped finish dinner and went to FHE. While there I put my leg up on a chair. When I got there because I had been getting a little bit of pain I took a pain pill. I put my leg on a chair and several times during the lesson I was getting iuncreases in pain still. I was kinda trying to breathe through them i guess you could say. When they came I just kinda took a deep breath and clenched my fists a little and waited it out. After the lesson as people were getting close to my leg I was getting nervous. I was afraid someone would touch it and S noticed. I even started to cry a little. I took another pain pill shortly thereafter. A few of us went to the house where S is dog-sitting and were playing games. As we were there S was noticing I was doing my deep breathing again. She was noticing that it was increasing and knew I was in pain. Eventually she kicked me out and made me come home and ice my knee. (well she wasn't here to make sure I did ice or broccoli it) but I did come home and put ice on it. I also took another pain pill because it had been 4 hours from the 1st one. (I can take 1-2pills every 4-6 hours as needed) I usually don't take many pills at all but last night I was SORE!! After about 2 hours with the ice and the 3rd pill I was finally starting to feel better! Thankfully. I think I need to go back and check again what my reactions were last Sept. Because if I recall correctly the 3rd was the worst of them all and if so I am not looking forward to Mon! Anyway at my 2nd injection appt yesterday I took this picture.... it is not for the weak hearted... it is the needle in my knee while Adam was injecting it....