Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Another Day in the Heat



The flooding saga continues. These photos show the back of the chapel and then my little hideaway from the heat. I sit in the wing backed chair facing the flat screen. I watch movies, eat my lunch, crochet, and today I assembled the Universal Identification System Tags we put on our deceased people. Ya, they don't come assembled. That used up a lot of time and I finished all of them.  I also practiced the piano for some Christmas songs for our Sacrament meeting program on Christmas day.


The disaster clean up guys were in the building again today. They keep moving the fans and the dehumidifers around so I have an obstacle course to the bathroom. These photos show the downstairs hallway. A temporary wall has been put up to keep the heat working on the wet parts and so people won't see the mess if they come downstairs to view the caskets. However, our family meeting rooms are in a mess so I don't think we'll be meeting with families at my location until the whole thing is cleaned up.  The last photo is a view looking up the first set of stairs from downstairs. You can see that they've covered the dry carpet with plastic and tape to protect it while the workman are going up and down. There is a dumpster in our parking lot and everything is still very messy and VERY hot!!!

Don't worry...I'll be hanging out in the chapel.


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Oh the Rain Came Down and the Floods Came Up!



Well....I had a GREAT Thanksgiving weekend...and then I went to work on Monday. As I was passing the mortuary to pull into the parking, I wondered "Why is the glass on the doors fogged up?" And when I unlocked and opened the door...SURPRISE!!! FLOOD. Sometime over the weekend, the float on a toilet in the women's restroom decided to break. The water was shooting up like a gyser. The water blew off the lid on the back of the toilet and shattered it! There was water EVERYWHERE!!!! My shoes were soaked all day. Then I went downstairs to put my lunch in the refrigerator and the water had gone through the floor and soaked furniture and computer and telephone hardware. The modem is fried. Oh my gosh!!

So my manager called Utah Disaster Kleen up and they came over and worked until 7 p.m. I just locked the door and told them to shut it behind them. I had no phone or internet. Then they turned the heat up to 90 degrees besides using the heaters and fans they brought. I got phones back around 2 but I cannot do anything.

Today it was so hot and I had to find a place to be so I went into the chapel. It was cooler there. I forwarded my phone to my cell and read a book. Then I hooked up the DVD flat screen monitor so I could watch movies. Some of the wing backed chairs were moved into the chapel so I sat in one of those and watched "The Cowboys" while I ate lunch and crocheted a wash rag. Then I finished my book. I have to use the men's restroom right now but it locks so that's okay.

Anyway, not looking forward to going to work tomorrow.  Can you say BORING? But I'll be prepared with more books and movies.

Friday, November 25, 2011

The Deceased and the Spiritual

I am on call Thursday and Sunday evenings from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. the next day to pick up deceased individuals for our mortuary and take them into our care. I decided to to it because I thought it would be interesting and also to supplement my income. It's not a given but last paycheck I earned a lot of extra income. So it can be helpful. This information is just for background but the real reason for this post is to express some feelings I've had when I pick up these loved ones.

I prefer to pick up a person when their family is present because I LOVE seeing the expressions of love and care for their deceased family member and how they say good-bye. Recently I picked up a gentleman at a care center where he was only there for comfort care. When my partner and I arrived to pick him up, his wife and some of his children and grandchildren were present. He was also a veteran and I'll get to that later.  What was so wonderful was watching the wife touch her husband's cheek and talk to him. His daughter helped us get him on the cot. We encourage the family to help as much as they would like. Then, with his face still uncovered, the wife and children said goodbye. We put an American flag over the quilt covering his body. His wife was so touched by this respect for his military service. We told the family we would take good care of their loved one and asked for permission to cover his face after we passed all the family members and were near the door. All of these little considerations mean so much to family when they feel so powerless at the loss of their dear one.

I find that this experience can be very spiritual and I feel priviledged to be a part of this intimate scene. Call me weird but there is something in the fact that the spirit world and our earthy life are intertwined and very close to us.

Love you all!!!

Twin Love

Wondrous things can happen at the most unexpected times. I was holding the twins in the late afternoon on Thanksgiving day when I looked down and Wyatt had grabbed onto Ethan's thumb. Look at the size difference! They are sweet boys!

P.S. The pie was GREAT!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

New Twist on an Old Tradition


Here are the berry pies. I also baked a pumpkin. I tried out a new pie crust recipe that they use in the Lion House. I'll let you know if it is YUMMY!



The rolls ARE YUMMY! Natalie, Hailie and I tasted them! I have a NEW recipe for rolls!!! SO GOOD!

The cranberries are on the stovetip boiling down. I'll never go back to canned sauce. Fresh berries mixed with water and sugar and then boiled down are THE BEST!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

All Roads Lead....

When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and be a mom. It's kind of sad that I didn't have bigger dreams because now I'm divorced and without an education. Life is a constant struggle to have the necessities of life. I sometimes think working more is the answer but my health isn't good enough to make that a reality. Recently I had 4 night calls to pick up the deceased and by the time I picked up the last one it was 6:15 a.m. and I had time to shower and get ready for another full day of work. I realized I'd only had 4 hours of sleep. It took me several days to feel human again.

I'll do the old "what if" for a while thinking that "if" I had gone to college right out of high school, but the truth is that the way I was raised didn't allow for that kind of thinking. It wasn't even on my mind. Work was on my mind and it was reinforced by my parents.

I still have time to do something different; to go to school. I'm still afraid of it and that's what keeps me from taking the leap.

I want to make this blog post worth something. The reason I am sharing this blast from the past is so you don't make the same mistake I made. I'm so proud of those of you who have and are going to college! Even if you don't end up working in the field for which you studied, the fact that you made the effort to get a higher education speaks volumes! It says to future decision makers that you have the stuff it takes to hang in there and do something with your life.

Life is hard and there are NO guarantees. It's nice to have a spouse to get through it with you but you cannot wholly depend on them to take you to the finish line. All kinds of challenges can turn your life upside down. You can't fret or worry about that but you CAN prepare yourself for any eventuality and one VERY important one is to educate yourself. Don't let my lack of preparation lead you in the same direction. Be better than me!

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Last Time for Wisdom Teeth Removal

November 18, 2011 marks the LAST time I have to take my children to have their wisdom teeth removed! Here is Taylor just after having receiving his medicine that makes you "silly."

Why is it that my children, except for Adam, insist on talking all the way home from this procedure? Besides the incessant talking, the only funny thing he did was yell at a car whose driver was coming into our lane.

So happy that Andrew came along for the fun. It was very helpful when we were walking back into my little abode. I don't think I could  have picked him up if he had fallen without a lot of difficulty!

A few days of soft foods and pain meds and it will be in the history books.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to me! November 15, 2011 marks 1 year I've been working as the office manager at the Holladay-Cottonwood Memorial Mortuary.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful!!

I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!!

A view outside my condo to the back yard on Saturday!!!!


This week has been VERY cold but we're warm inside! Here we go again!


Bring on the Cat!

I went to work on Monday, unlocked the overhead bin by my desk, and lo and behold---I have a MOUSE!!!


It had opened a cough drop and licked it because it was sticky. See the mouse poopies???  YUCK!!