Infants: Blessing or Curse?

It is so wonderful to not be so sick any more! All week I was able to work and not feel crappy! Steven though is going through the bronchitis phase (from the sounds of his coughs) and hopefully will recover quickly from it. He too was able to work a full week though it was more exhausting for him.

Work went by quite nicely for most of the week. Monday I only had a half day since they were very low on kids due to President's Day. Thursday I got to fly a crappy kite which I was able to make fly after many failed attempts (and eager kids wanting to help). Then it was Friday. Thursday I had just been told I was cleared which means I can be alone with the kids now and not with another staff member. So Friday morning I come in and I am asked to be in the infant room. No sweat right?

Just one baby so far at 7:30am and one more on the way. Of course by the time any more babies come the infant teacher should be there. Nope. Baby 3 comes in around 9am. A few minutes later they all are beginning to cry. One of the them I didn't know why because he had been changed and fed very recently. The other I changed, but I knew he must be getting hungry. The third, I'm sure needed something like a change or food or maybe some cuddles since I didn't get cuddles in yet. Well, I'm trying to feed the one while the the other two are balling their eyes out. I set the one I'm feeding down to put the new comer into the swing. Of course while I do that the one who's still hungry is crying again. I get the swing going and the baby is still throwing a fit. I resume feeding the other and try to be patient and endure the crying babies feeling I was doing something very wrong.

My co worker pops her head in and asks how things were going. I tried braving a face (since tears were beginning to leak from my eyes) and said I was managing. She then says she'd be back to help me. Once back from finishing whatever it was she was doing she took over finishing feeding the one baby and said the one on the floor could be put in his crib. Then she said the baby in the swing was most likely hungry so I fixed up a bottle and began to feed the baby too and the room was once more restored to a calm and quiet atmosphere.

My co-worker leaves after finishing feeding the baby she had and I was left alone for about another hour before my boss walks in to drop off her baby. "Another one!?" flashes through my head for a split second. Thankfully she asks me how I was doing. I had already been contemplating why I was so stressed and overwhelmed for the past hour and replied, "I kinda feel like I was thrown to the lions." She chuckles and says that yeah it was a bit much to have had me in with the infants for so long and that they were gonna switch me out with another teacher. That was so relieving!

I believe I will be with the infants more (like every morning) but I shouldn't be in there for very long. Typically the infant teacher is there at 8am. Friday she had her car in the shop and was running late hence why I was with the infants for quite some time.

It was so nice that Friday night Steven and I had our game night! Jessica and her guy Adam went and saw Beauty and the Beast Thursday so we switched to Friday since Jessica happened to have the evening off. We ate delicious sushi (which I made), apple pies that Jess and Adam made inside of carved out apples, and played domino's, all of that making the stress of the day vanish.

Apple Pie inside of an apple crust :) Way YUMMY!

Saturday Amilyn and I got together to get our hair done! I chopped mine off and she got her's streaked with black streaks. Forgot to get her after shot, but I can promise you it looks good and more rich and dark.

Super excited about getting her hair colored!

Gonna miss my long hair

Or not!! I love my short hair!!!

Loving my new do. Steven and I just got home from church.

This morning was pretty weird. It actually was snowing as Steven and I headed out to church. It was kinda sticking, but in the time it took us to get to church, the sun came out shining bright with some blue sky peeking through the clouds and melted the snow in seconds. Oh well. I wish I had thought to have taken a picture or two to show the difference in weather in the course of about 10 minutes.

Twas a fast weekend. Time to prep myself for another work week. Here's hoping for continued health and being able to better handle the infants when I work with them.

<3

This Time I Really Was Sick

Man it's been a long week! Both Steven and I have been sick and are slowly getting better. Last week I had mentioned feeling a little sick because of the kids. Well what I didn't tell you was Saturday last week I had gone to the doctor for my TB test. While there I mentioned feeling a little sick. My temp already was slightly elevated (99.9) and so they prescribed me some medicine that should have cured me.

Sunday comes, I write my new post for you all to read and stayed home from church to rest up. Good thing because later that afternoon I had a 102 temp! And the cough I had then turned into a deep chest cough which began expelling all the wonderful matter clogging my lungs. It was so disheartening to been that sick. I didn't want to ask for the day off especially since I had only worked 8 days, but I did knowing there was no way I'd be able to work with my current condition.

After making the call and getting Monday off, I asked for my father to come over and give me a blessing. I know there's real power in the priesthood and I needed a blessing by my father so I could get back to work. Thankfully he and his home teacher were able to come to my home and give me the needed blessing. I wish I could say I was healed over night, but I wasn't.

Monday I got up and dragged my feverish body out of bed and to the doctors office. As my luck would have it, they were busy, busy, busy! I was in the waiting room for a good hour before I was finally taken into an exam room. I got my TB test results (passed) and then had to wait for the doctor. Thankfully they let me lay down and rest while I waited another 20+ minutes for the doctor to see me. He suspects I had the flu which developed into bronchitis. He then wrote me a new prescription and a note for the day and Tuesday off.

Poor Steven. When I told him I was taking Tuesday off too he decided to tell me how he planned on having flowers delivered for Valentines day. I was bummed too because that would have been really fun to have had done while I was working. Instead Steven brings me home a bag of heart candy and a beautiful bouquet of red roses. It perked my mood up amidst my suffering.

Then it was Tuesday, Valentines day! I was still coughing quite a bit and praying to my Heavenly Father that I'd be well enough to work Wednesday. I managed to go see my mother to get the humidifier from her to help with my bronchitis (which I think helped a lot!). After getting home I slept with it on for a few more hours. I work up to Steven calling and letting me know he's coming home. Then it was game time for me. For about 2 hours I cooked Valentines dinner for me and Steven. I don't know how I mustered up the energy for it, but it was well worth it for his happy face.

I, however, ended up vomiting my dinner up an hour later when a pill got stuck in the back of my throat and I ended up coughing really hard for a few minutes. Then it was bed time for me and again I hoped with all my heart that HF would have mercy on me and let me be well enough to work.

Wednesday was when I realized the blessing my father gave me had worked. I still had a low fever but my cough had lessened greatly. I made it through a full days work and didn't feel any worse. I was able to work the rest of the week. For those who don't know much about bronchitis, it stays with you for about 2-3 weeks. During this time you cough up flem because of the irritation and inflammation in your lungs. They say lots of rest is needed too. The fact I had energy enough to work and during the times I worked I never had to cough up a lung was a miracle for me. I didn't have to take a whole week off to recover. 

Steven unfortunately caught my flu bug. He took Thursday and Friday off from work to give himself a 4 day weekend to recover. Thankfully he hasn't developed bronchitis (yet). He and I are feeling better though we still sound very awful when we cough. We both made it to church today and got to enjoy the missionaries for dinner. Pretty soon we'll be going to bed and here's hoping for another productive week in which we're able to get enough sleep in for our healing bodies.

I hope you all continue to be healthy. I forgot how miserable being truly sick is and trust me, not fun.

<3

P.S. When you guys read my posts, some of the things I post I link with an image or another post I've made. Like in this one there's the Valentine's Dinner you can click on to go see what I cooked. Just wanted to make sure you guys knew what was up with all the random yellow words.

Valentine's Dinner

For Valentines, I cooked Steven bacon wrapped scallops, mac and cheese that had shrimp, artichoke and bacon, and dipped some strawberries in chocolate. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the strawberries before Steven and I ate them.

If you would like to try making the scallops yourself, this is the recipe I found online. It doesn't say how hot to heat the pan, so I heated my pan on medium high and cooked each side for about two and a half minutes. The left over butter and bacon grease had too much burnt particles that I decided to clean the pan, melt some more butter and add the garlic and lemon for the sauce to go on the scallops after they finished cooking.

Steven and I really enjoyed our Valentines dinner! Hope Valentines was a good one for you!

I Bounced Back Quick

In my dream last night Steven and I had gotten a divorce. I wasn't emotional or anything, just felt a little lost. Partly confused as to what had happened. Well in this dream Collin Firth (he's on the left) shows up and he looks like his character from Dorian Gray, looking like he was in his early 30's. I think he just had a divorce too and we bonded a little.

Next thing I know it is perceived that a couple of months have passed away and he and I have been dating. As we're walking in the same place we met I notice I still had my wedding ring on. I was surprised by it and took it off feeling silly I hadn't noticed it sooner. Collin notices me doing this and says, "Ah, looks like you're finally over him." He then turns to me, "I want this to be simple-" meaning he didn't want to go through the whole fiasco of proposing. With that he pulls out from his jacket a ring. It wasn't just any ordinary ring though. It was a bronze rose. In the midst of the petals was a big diamond. The stem of the rose coiled down. I spiraled the ring around my finger and interestingly enough it fit beautifully! My finger was even able to bend with ease.

As we stood there happy together it then dawned on my my grandmother hadn't met him yet and she said I couldn't get engaged again until she met him! In the dream my grandma was Sissy Spacek and she looked like her character in The Help. I said, "I suppose we'll hold off on telling everyone until she meets you. We'll do this over sushi... which I'll be making."

With that we head off to this open field and in the midst of it is what looks like a country club or some nice venue. Outside were many table with white table clothes. Lots of people were there I knew and foolishly I've left the engagement ring on. As we approach people start to notice the ring and point it out. They begin getting all giggly and I try to shush them. I can see my grandma begin to look around trying to see what all the commotion was. I try to slip the ring off, but she notices me, saying, "Don't you hide that ring from me!" She takes my hand and looks it over. She then look at Collin and smiles real big and gives him a welcoming hug. I finally relax.

The rest of the dream was a blur of horse drawn carriages and kisses. I think I suddenly was wearing a period dress at one point (like from Pride and the Prejudice- which Collin also starred in). But nothing more developed before I woke to myself needing to cough.

Little Kids Everywhere!

This week consisted of me adjusting to the new work schedule. 5:30am I'm up in the morning (yuck...) and by 9pm I'm in bed (yay!). The job itself is pretty easy and very physical as I'm discovering. For the past 6 years I've worked with 5-11 year olds in which I didn't have to chase after hardly, only worked 15 hours a week, didn't have to pick them up constantly, and most of all they weren't as sick.


The 1-4 year olds I work with are crying, sassing, spitting, sick, runny noses, running away, and so on. I also get to work with them full time. I am so grateful my back is so much healthier! I've been lifting toddlers and pre-schoolers regularly and boy bed time can't come fast enough.


On top of all the excersize I've been doing with these kids, I've caught something from them. Probably the common cold. I've done great avoiding the real pit fall on the illness all week, but now I'm probably at my worst. I am hoping it's all up hill from here because with me being on a 2 week trial, I really, REALLY don't want to take a sick day.


Anywho, that's the new job. Steven thankfully hasn't caught what I've gotten, but it's only a matter of time... For his week, he was able to have guys over to play magic 3 days in a row. It was pretty awesome. One of the days I was able to enjoy some Sequence with my friend Jessica while most of the guys played.


Steven's also been excellent on making sure we stick to our new sleeping schedule. He goes to bed and gets up with me :)


This week I continue adjusting to the work schedule. I hope to get better real quick too. And here's hoping Steven or my friends and family don't catch what I've got.


<3 Meri

This is how I feel. The Pokemon's name is Koffing. I really hating coughing so much...

Chemistry Homework Assignment (Really!)

My Junior year at Tacoma School of the Arts (SOTA), my Chemistry teacher wanted us to draw a picture that told a story. I cannot remember why it was relevant to the class.

How Busy Life Can Be

The first part of the week was a breeze. Monday and Tuesday I began to work on waking up early, but that was proving more difficult to do when the internet was down and I had nothing to do at 6am in the morning. I also took advantage of my last day of no work by cooking a turkey! It turned out amazing! Here's the turkey.

Wednesday I went into work for my afternoon shift since that was all they wanted me to come in for and got to do a bunch of paper work. With that I found I have a uniform to follow and was on a 2 week trial run. I also had a bunch of guidelines and rules to read through and with that felt somewhat overwhelmed. That feeling of second guessing my capabilities were creeping into my head. But they were kicked out pretty quick. By the end of the first day I was getting good feed back from the teachers I worked with saying a was quick to get involved.

Thursday did the same afternoon shift again. I was put into a different classroom and again received good feed back from the teachers I worked with. Of course I was eating it up, but then there's the part of me who says, "Meri, don't let it go to your head. You're not officially hired yet."

Friday I went in a bit earlier than I had for a 6 hour shift. Whoo that was a long day. I had kids to run after and deal with their sass. I also got to stack a bunch of food into the storage closet. And cleaning up at the end of the day is a slight work out too. But one thing that I get to look forward to now at the end of the day is picking Steven up from the Link Station. Saves him about 30 minutes of travel time.

Then Saturday comes! Oh man was that a busy and fun day! Steven and I met up with a high school friend and went to the Point Defiance Zoo. I hadn't been to the zoo in quite some time and it made for a fun date with Steven. Plus it was a really nice day!!!

Us being cute <3

Steven took my picture, then I took his. Thank you photoshop :)

These fish were really cool. They burrow in the sand. They would pop in and out of their hole and spit out sand or shells.

The Sea Lions were so cute and active. It was so touch getting a decent picture of them with my phone.

After looking at most of the animals, Steven and I had to zip off to the cannery to help with dry packing. My parents asked us if we'd help in return for some food storage. We said sure and good thing too since they ended up leaving to go see my sister, Holly, and bro-in-law, Jess, to bless their little baby. It was nice seeing members from my old stake there. It definitely made the dry packing lots of fun working with friends. Thankfully it was a quick session. About an hour long.

Then right after that it was off to my mother's clinic to finish the mural. Steven worked on laundry which for once was finished before me. But 8 o' clock I finished cleaning up everything and took pictures real quick to show off here (the finished Mural). Then after such a long day, Steven and I treated ourselves to the Mizuki Buffet. Oh man! It was amazing. Delicious sushi (though Steven said it was okay) and a nice variety of other tasty entrees and desserts.

Bed was well welcomed as well as this Fast Sunday. Tired bodies and full bellies :)

Wishing you all a great week :)

The Mural.3

I finished the Mural! I'm so glad to be done. It was pretty crazy how much time it took up. But it's really cool I have some art up on public display ^_^

SUSHI!!!!

This picture unfortunately doesn't not do the sushi much justice. Steven and I have been without internet for 4 days and I have had little time to spend at the library. Plus it is somewhat difficult to tell if the photo I took on my phone was any good until I see it on the computer. Anywho...

I made 4 different kinds of sushi but the only one I think is obvious from the photo is the Salmon Nigiri. The others were salmon, cucumber and tuna-crab-cucumber rolls. I didn't add quite enough water to the rice, but while fresh, the sushi was quite good still (after refrigerating them, the slightly under cooked rice was VERY apparent).

I hope my Japanese friends approve. I wish they were here for me to share. But for now, I think I did pretty darn good for by myself (and some help from a Sushi Cook book).