Buy a Goat; Be the Goat

I'm officially kicked out of the LV ward. Also everyone who had a major calling (besides the bishop) is gone. But I'm actually really impressed because that man was doing work post-fireside and within 24h he had already called people to fill them. I met with the new (unsustained) YWP on Tuesday to try to dump my brain. She does have 1 of my counselors still working with her, so that'll make the transition easier. AND she loved my journal design and wants me to order more of them so the leaders can have them. (Which is a relief since I already ordered them for the girls and I was going to feel a little bad otherwise.)

Giving Machine options

Monday, I stopped at a light en route to my first patient and my car died. There was no shoulder because it was the off ramp from the highway, so I pulled onto the sidewalk. Then Roger's cop BFF happened to drive by. He did not help, but he did make fun of me for parking there. We got it towed surprisingly fast and by then it was fine - drove it onto the tow truck, drove it into a parking spot, and our mechanic found nothing wrong. We're guessing it's related to the MAF sensor again, but who knows. 

I was there. 

I had a mandatory date night request for Rog since the church's Giving Machines were in town for 2 weeks only. We ate at his favorite pizza place and donated to some local charities. I wanted to walk around for a while since nobody was there on Thanksgiving's Eve and it was surprisingly warm - but Rog almost pooped his pants so we had to hustle out of there pretty quick. He owes me. 

Christmas lights downtown except with a bad camera

Roger's fam was in town all week so we spent a few nights hanging with them and having some good chats. Then we chilled at Grandma's for Thanksgiving. We brought the sweet potato casserole (obv, I am very particular). It was chill, unless you're Roger's siblings trying to eat your own meal peacefully. He is a food thief. But he also knows that food is no game to me and the consequences are life and death. 

Then I got sick. Fever, sore throat/swelling, some body aches. I was handling it pretty well (aka sleeping and drinking water all day) until Roger got sick too and decided to take a shower bath at 4am. When he finally woke up the next morning, we tried to go to urgent care, but they were all closed. So we bummed some Mexican antibiotics off his aunt and binged Wednesday on Netflix all Sunday. We enjoyed it. 

Kicked Out

It's been a crazy week for work - and this was a full week! I can't imagine what's going to happen when I have a day off for Thanksgiving (this week) and then TWO days off for a wedding (the next week). Basically nobody could see me-  but all cancelled last minute, so then I'm scrambling trying to fill the schedule with whoever I can all while driving back and forth across the state. What a mess. 

Flagstaff Fall

Finally my new friends Jess & Chris were available for volleyball, so we showed up at the time the YSA has reserved and were surprised by a ward's chili RS meeting. The lady in charge handled things poorly and was a real jerk about it. We left and played at the Institute building instead. 

The YW finished up our sewing project - stuffed bears to donate to the hospital. It was a crazy time where ALL of my counselors made it and most of the girls. Grandma came to donate her machine, and then babysat the kids the whole time. It was a good chance to see everyone and also talk about this journal we've been making for the girls on Amazon. The consensus was: buy the books, spend the budget, and worse case, we'll get them to the girls in their new wards. 

Fluff bears. 

Because our stake got re-divided via a fireside Sunday night. To reiterate - I think this is another thing that was handled poorly. They basically said 'show up to your new ward prepared to do your old calling and good luck to all the bishops'. Which will provide chaos for the next month at least. Cheers to that. 

Becky and I went to a boxing class at my gym. If Rog ends up with a membership, I can also include her in my 'family' pass. We met up with Rog, Brandt, and the kids at BW's for a BOGO deal on boneless wings that only took a few hours to come out - but we had a good chat in the meantime. 

FOUR hours later. 

Friday Rog and I got ice cream and Rog wanted to watch a movie. He couldn't find a good one, so I pulled up one we both said we wanted to watch and he was excited. But not too excited to fall asleep halfway through (like 730pm, guys). I woke him up and he was glad to catch the rest of the movie. This was also the day I got such a bad bloody nose that my car and groceries were covered in it and some girl handed me a tampon to stick up there. 

Most of the crew. 

Rog and his whole family joined us for Zac Brown Band at the baseball stadium in Phoenix. It was really good, although I don't enjoy the solo stuff as much as the songs because all they have are bangers. We got nice shakes and Meixcan prior and made it home by 230am. 

The Working Week

I made dinner every day this working week. You're welcome everyone - and by that I mean mostly Roger and also the missionaries one day for soup and grilled cheese. (Rog did the grilled cheese though.) Always a good time with the missionaries. 

My friends Jess and Chris have been wanting to play VB with the YSA kids but something has come up for them or me every week for two months now. I was pretty set, so I decided to go play a few games on Tuesday without them and check out the scene. It wasn't great. There is a huge disparity of skill levels that is frustrating and my knee was still not up to jumping, but it was something. 

As far as projects go, I'm making progress. Grampy's songs are now available (or will be so imminently) on all major streaming platforms. I know they're on Spotify for sure, but that's the only one I use. My business mailbox and actual LLC are approved and now just waiting until Nov 21 to go live so I can set up a business account. My dress has made no progress, but I did take apart the entire machine so I could superglue a piece of plastic holding the bobbin winder in place - so now I can make progress. And I'm still getting good feedback on my YT channel. 

We had a service YW activity making stuffed bears to donate to the hospital newborn unit. The girls actually seemed to really enjoy it (even the 9y o). And I got to hang out with Roger's grandma, who brought her machine to help the girls. I'll count it a success (part 1). 

Becky and I only made it once to the gym so we destroyed our arms. And then I went to boxing class later. My other physical highlight was doing the whole 90min of P90X yoga without even sweating it. Usually I get 20min in and want to die, but I think it was a good mental break for me. Which apparently I needed, because Saturday I did literally nothing. But Roger, who has been terribly ill, went hunting. Go figure. 

The other drama is that our SP is redividing all the wards in our stake. I have thoughts on this and on them. I have also been spreading the rumor that they're creating a new branch that's just my neighborhood and I'm the Bishop. Maybe if they hear about it they'll just decide to tell us what's going on. It's like a bad YA novel plot device - unnecessary lack of communication until they decide it's a good time and then it's too late and there's chaos. 

I was going to mention my best friend, but she hasn't cleaned her room yet. 

Camping in 12B (Freezing our Noogies Off)

I can't tell you the number of projects that I have right now, but they're all in progress. Still working on a dress (almost done). Setting up a mailbox so I can set up a business so I can sell some PT parody shirts. Working on a YW journal that better helps the girls set and keep goals (just ordered a prototype). PT programs out the yahoo for myself and everyone I know apparently. To name a few. 

Because Rog didn't think I could.

Becky and I started working out 2x a week. She's paying for me as a guest at her gym as her 'trainer fee' since I don't want to give my gym up and am still unsure how consistently we'll be able to work out. Still feeling my patellar sublux this week, which led to a few poor compensations and luckily nobody else could go play ball on Friday so I didn't worry about it. 

I did take Tuesday night to make some pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I'm not in love, but Roger is. I think they're a little too cakey for me. I also taught the YW how to make some applesauce - which I then made them drink (since they always make fun of me for doing that). And we had rave reviews on the recipe. 

"The Move"
Best quote of the weekend: I am not your friend. I am your god.

Rog left Thursday to go to his happy place, 12B on the Utah border. I met up Friday after work and brought all the warm clothes I had. We had 30 people up there because 1 person had a tag. Too many cooks, if you catch my meaning. We had warm fires, roasted dogs, and the best dang grilled cheese (with cheesy jalapeño bread straight from my new favorite bakery), and only 1 kid threw up. Rog and I bummer around with Brandt and Becky shed hunting, looking for deer and arrowheads. It was fun, but 1 night was enough - what with the puking child and tiny bed Rog and I shared in the camp trailer. We came back late Saturday.