From Whence I Came

So my Emma, being an old soul like she is, has suddenly taken to the idea of finding out more about her ancestry. I, being basically repelled by the idea of genealogy, tried my darndest to keep putting her off. She asked if we could go to the family history library that just opened up near our house. Lucky for me it was closed during Christmas break. Then she asked again last night. I was pretty sure it closed at 5, but I looked it up for her anyway.

To her delight, and my chagrin, it was open until 9.

So we loaded her up in the car, Maggie tagging along, and she brought her papers with some family names from Grandma's side of the family.

We walked in, and it felt so, like, well, a library. It wasn't like I thought it would be. I had envisioned a musty dimly lit room with decrepit old men hunched over old dusty books with their beards dangling into the words, with their canes and walkers perched nearby. There were no old men like that, just so you know.

We had a super nice Sister Missionary come and help us get started, and she told Emma she began having an interest in her family history at about Emma's age. We searched and found quite a bit of information, which I won't bore you with here. Emma was starstruck. She wants to go back tonight. I think we need more info before we go again, but she doesn't care. She just wants to keep searching and searching.

I find it completely astonishing that a girl as young as Emma could have such a vision to want to know her ancestors. I always knew about mine on both sides, but after doing so much searching, I realized she doesn't really know her great grandparents on Grandmas side. Knowing how special Grandpa Hashbarger was, I find a renewed importance to let Emma understand that she comes from an amazing past.

I always knew my kids would challenge me, but I never realized they would teach me more than I could teach them.

What A Weird Couple Of Days

My Facebook followers already know this story, so if you're one of them, feel free to bag out of this post now. I won't feel bad, I promise. {sniff, sniff} I won't. Go ahead. {wiping nose with back of hand}

For those of you (my real friends) who stayed to read, here it is. What a weird couple of days. Holy cow.

Thursday night we stayed up in Midway. One advantage of having an unemployed husband is taking advantage of killer midweek rates at local resorts. We had a lovely evening of good food and a fireplace. Ahh. But I wasn't feeling great. Boo.

We turned in early, and despite a magic sleeping pill, I tossed and turned all night, not really able to pinpoint what felt bad, I just didn't feel good.

Friday morning we had an early tee time, so we got up, ordered breakfast (free with the midweek deal! Woot!), and started getting ready to get our golf on. Well, I couldn't eat anything for breakfast. Not because I physically couldn't like normal (my lap-band is tight in the mornings, so food is hit or miss early in the morning), but because I was nauseated and achy. I thought maybe I was catching a cold. I worked through the ick, and headed out on the course.

The first few holes were fine. I actually had a great couple of drives, and a pretty good chip on to the green (golf clap here, thankyouverymuch). Then hole 5 came around. We were sandwiched between 2 foursomes, so we had to wait for them to clear the fairway. I teed off, and it was good one. Problem is, I tried to cut the corner, even thought the GPS on the cart specifically said not to. Oopsie. I hit a house. {Head bowed in shame}. Don't worry, though, I had a phone number all ready to give the owners in case they popped out. It may or may not have been 867-5309. (Do you get it? Do you? Ha, now you'll be singing that song all day!) Don't worry, it just hit the roof, and the way this economy is, I'm pretty sure that house was empty.

Right after I hit the house, and I'm talking right after, the aches and pains I had been feeling for the last 12 hours localized in my lower back. That Karma, she's a bitch. So I told Sean I'd have to take a couple of holes off. Since we were still waiting for the foursome in front of us to tee off, we had quite a wait ahead of us. The pain was getting worse. I was pretty sure at this point that I had another kidney infection. We just decided to head home. I didn't argue.

We started driving down Parley's, and at about the Quarry, I could literally feel the pain move from my lower back, around my side, and settle in just under my bellybutton. It was like a hot knife was twisting inside me. It didn't feel nearly as good as it sounds. By the time we got to I-215, I was crying in pain, and told Sean to take me to the ER.

Sure enough, a temperature and elevated white count confirmed the diagnosis, and my appendix came out about an hour later. Luckily for me the surgeon on call was a family friend who has done several surgeries for us. That made me feel better.

I spent that night in the hospital getting the best rest of my life (note the sarcasm), and came home early the next morning. Really, I can't believe all that happened so fast. I still can't believe it's Tuesday. It's like I missed 4 days of my life or something.

So that's that. One adventure after another around here. I swear, if we could just catch a break for a minute it would be a miracle. For now, though, I'm steering clear of Karma. You just never really know when she'll strike.

Ch ch ch ch Changes

Things are gonna change, I can feel it.

Okay, that's 2 song lines in 3 blog lines. I should probably get some of my own material, huh?

So I have some changes coming. Good changes, I think. I hope. I've been marinating this idea around in my head for a while now, and finally it's coming to fruition. I know it will be tricky, but this isn't the first time I've jumped off not really knowing where I'll land. It's probably not a big deal to the rest of you, but it's a pretty big deal to me. It puts me in charge of what I want to do, no more worries about the little annoying things.

I know I couldn't be doing this without Sean around. He's the computer guy, the technical guy, the voice of reason when the business end of things gets to be too much for me. When in doubt, he'll make me up a spreadsheet so I can understand just what the heck I'm actually doing. I'm adding that to the "reasons to not get a divorce" list. There are more reasons on that list, and one day I'll publish it, but for now, that's a little preview into how I'm managing to make it day by day. It's been a rough patch.

Seriously, though. Losing what we've lost, nearly losing our family, and trying to make the best of things is hard enough. Now I have this, and I'm kind of freaking out. But it will work. Or so I'm told. When it's time to tell you what it is, I will. But for now, just keep your fingers crossed for me that it will all come together.

Things I've Learned Since Living In The Midwest

• How to avoid dead racoons on the road
• How to prove residency for everything
• You're likely to be the only Mormon in your town
• And probably the first one most people have met
• The true meaning of "wind chill"
• How to use a dehumidifier
• That you can't pass on the right.
  
• Game days are religious holidays

But most importantly, I've learned a lot about myself.

• I can do pretty much whatever I set my mind to
• I'm more self sufficient than I ever thought I could be
• I enjoy discovering new places
• I'm stronger than I ever thought I could be
• I appreciate my family, both near and far, for the efforts they put in each day

I love living here. I love starting a new adventure for my family, and I love knowing that wherever we are, whatever the situation, we will always have each other.