Birthday Transformation

Happy Birthday Adrienne! Today Adrienne turned 18 years old. Look at her in the morning while she is still 17.... And look at her after the magical time of her birth...1:23 Quite the transformation huh? One of her gifts was a haircut and color, a manicure and pedicure. I dropped her off at the beauty school in Aloha and she spent over 4 hours being beautified! And for the first time in her life, she signed her own waivers!! I don't think I have shared the story of her birth, so that is soon to come. We will see just what I remember of that miraculous day 18 years after the fact!

I Have the Greatest Calling....

So for two months of bliss(oh yes, my life has been ever so blissful lately) I did not have to worry about making phone calls, preparing lessons, blocking out time during the week, or any other duties pertaining to a church calling. I am very grateful for that time off, but when the phone call came for an appointment with a member of the bishopric, I knew my time was up! I worried a bit and pondered what calling I would get. Life is so chaotic right now that I was really scared I wouldn't have the energy to give a calling. But I went to the appointment anyway and was asked about my past callings. Then I was asked if I have any experience with special needs children. No, not a lot unless you count having raised one!! I explained my personal experience with my autistic son and of course he was shocked to learn this about Jake. Most people are.

Well the Lord does work in mysterious ways. I have been asked to be an assistant to an 8 year old severely autistic boy in the ward. I will spend one to two primary hours with him each Sunday. We will stay in the primary room, or if need be, I will accompany him on walks up and down the hallways. I could not be happier. This is just what I need right now! What a coincidence! NOT! I know the Lord is very aware of my life and my feelings and I know that is the reason I have gotten this fabulous calling! I really am thrilled. So I met him yesterday. We sat in the back most of the second hour and he snuggled up to me some of the time, leaning up against me. Towards the end he started to cry, which I am told is not normal for him. So his father came and got him and they went home a little early. What a sweet spirit this dear boy is. I am grateful for the chance I will get to spend time with him and hopefully get to know his family!

After church the missionaries came over for dinner. I made Hawaiian Haystacks, with the help of my veggie cutter Richard. What would I do without him!? Not only does he not mind cutting and prepping food, but he seems to enjoy it! Awesome! So the kids were very excited for the Elders to come eat with us. Joseph sat in the window and watched for 20 minutes. When they arrived he yelled down to them, "missionaries, missionaries", just so we would all know they were here. Jake got to ask them questions about being a missionary and they will be taking him out with them very soon! This is great! Last Sunday Jake told me he had read the scriptures that morning and felt the spirit. He also told me he feels very strongly that he will serve a mission. Isn't that great? So, how do Mom's do it? How do you let go of your handsome dishwasher unloading sons knowing you will not see them for two years? I have heard many stories of the blessings that come while a family member is serving a mission, but will I be strong enough to say goodbye for two years? OK, I'll just try not to think about it!

Ohhhhh, speaking of Jake, on Friday I took him to get spacers! They are driving him crazy! On the way home I stopped in the church parking lot and turned the van over to him for a while. It was his very first time behind the wheel. He did well. He was nervous but not terrified and it was nice when I gave him the option of pulling over or doing a few more laps, he chose to keep going. I did have to remind the two lil ones to be quiet and stop giving him advice(can you imagine, advice from an 8 and 4 year old?) because he needed to concentrate! He took the permit test a few weeks ago and passed on his first try. He may be the only teenager in the history of Oregon to actually read the drivers manual cover to cover! And for the last year, when we have been in the car together he has asked very practical questions. He will be a great driver!! I am so proud of my son!

Working up to working out

So I have finally taken advantage of my gym membership at the Tektronix employee gym(weren't they generous to include the spouses?). I signed up about a year ago, but it never fit into my schedule due to the 25 minute drive there and then back again. But now it is conveniently located just a few miles down the road, so I really have no excuse anymore!

I got there at about 8:45 this morning and the place was empty, completely empty! Oh joy, the ENTIRE place to myself!! So I jumped on the elliptical for a while and got my heart rate into the range of a 30 year old, yes I was feeling proud since if you are not aware, I am actually 36. Feeling good I pushed a little harder and got my heart rate to that of a 20 year old.....ummmm, yeah....after picking myself up off the ground and defibrillating my heart, I hopped back on and slowed into a nice easy(HA) rhythm. I had forgotten how much I love the low impact movements of the elliptical machine. It was then that I noticed the small print below the heart rate read out. It says, "Stop exercising if you feel pain, faint, dizzy or out of breath..." Well, there you have it! Life Fitness, the health equipment company has single handedly caused the health crisis we here in the US find ourselves in. I mean...really?? Here I am huffing and puffing and trying to see past the pain that IS exercise and I read this little notice that says STOP!!! BEFORE YOU DIE!!! Ok, I am being a tad bit dramatic, but I did have a good but brief laugh, which is not easy to do when you are pretending to be 6 years younger than you really are. Next time I see my doctor I am just going to say, Sorry about the weight thing, but the pain and shortness of breath due to working out might just kill me first!!

When my time was up I did something I rarely dare to do....I did the weight circuit trying out all the machines(except the one that turns you into a human pretzel) and working on my muscular physique, yep, I have a long way to go. I always avoid those machines since I can only imagine what I look like trying to figure out how to use them, but with no one else there I had time to look at the directions and try it out and actually contort my body into the shapes necessary to lift weights like a pro.

After my invigorating workout I headed for the shower room. There is a private family shower room, but since I was the sole person utilizing the facilities, I opted for the changing room showers and the complimentary blow dryer. I turned the water on and proceeded to wet my hair down in the trickle that emerged from the shower head. I put shampoo in and then dialed the nozzle from shower to jet... which in reality changed the dribble to a drip. Now, I have a lot of hair, it is not as long as it once was, but it is still fairly thick. I began to envision myself running to the car looking like an old lady with white hair piled on my head. Thoughts of cutbacks at Tek began filling my head and I could almost see the memo going out about water consumption and how rationing it carefully would save the company in these trying economic times. Could they not have posted signs stating, "wash hair at your own risk"? Wait, maybe they felt that would be an unnecessary expense. Well what is the use of having an entire army of showers at your sole command if you are afraid to use them? I streaked to the neighboring shower stall and wah-la, a pressurized gush of hot water!! The rest of the story is fairly boring, the locker room remained empty, the blow dryer worked great, I parted my hair on the usual side, sadly the scale was recently calibrated making it appear that I had gained weight since my last visit. Or maybe it is just all the fat being replaced by lean, heavy muscle??

This was actually my second time using the Tek gym, but it most certainly will not be the last. I love the way I feel the rest of the day, it always invigorates me and inspires me into activity where I would normally just sit around blogging....like I am now....hmmmm.....