Frustrated

        Recently, I have been frustrated because I have had some back pain. It all started around early march, about my spring break. My back started hurting and it was annoying. I had a project due for my animal behavior class the week after spring break. I had to watch an animal and document it's behaviors. Since my back hurt I kept putting off going out to find an animal to watch, hoping that I would feel better the next day. I never really felt better and I finally realized that I should probably just tough it out and go find an animal to watch. I decided that I wanted to watch some ducks, that sounded like fun (apparently I am my grandfather's grandchild). I then thought, "How cool would it be if I got a video of ducklings following a momma duck around?" So I drove to Tempe Town Lake convinced I was going to get an awesome video of some ducks.
         Once I got to the lake, I looked around and I couldn't find any ducks, so I walked over to a pedestrian bridge to see if I could find some. I was walking around and I saw a duck, which I later learned was an American Coot and not really a duck at all, swim under the bridge. This was kind of frustrating, because I couldn't observe it while it was under the bridge. Then four coots swam out from under the bridge and I followed them around for a while as they did normal coot/duck type behaviors, and some kinda funky behaviors. Of course I couldn't get video of them doing anything super cool like dive bombing other coots, but I did get enough observations to write my report and make an accompanying video; however, there were no ducklings (cootlings?) following their mama in a cute little line.

     I finished the project and turned it in and went about my business. At this point my back was still hurting and I was getting more and more frustrated with it and trying to decide whether or not I needed to seek medical advice. By the time Friday rolled around, I was sick of my back hurting. I woke up and realized my back didn't hurt anymore!! I was extremely excited. I went to school, and then on the way home I stopped to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. As I got back into the truck after picking up the prescription, my back started to hurt in a completely different spot from where it had been hurting. I was extremely irritated, but the pain wasn't too horrible. Fast forward to that Saturday night, I stood up to go to bed and I felt a massive pain in my back. I got to the bed with Christy's help and decided to call it a night. On Sunday morning I woke up with my back hurting so bad I didn't think I would be able to get up. My dad came over and took me to the emergency room. They said that I had a lower back strain, probably a compensation strain from subconsciously changing my movements when my back originally hurt. They gave me some drugs and told me that was all they could do. That night my dad and a Steven came over to give me a blessing.
     I hurt for a couple of days, and then went to my doctor who gave me some stronger pain killers. I finally thought that I was going to be able to get back to my normal routines when I fell in the shower, and made everything hurt all over again. I was feeling very frustrated.
      Fast forward to Wednesday of this week, I had started feeling better over the weekend, and was excited that the back saga was finally coming to an end, when my back started hurting in a completely different spot from the other two times. Now I was extremely frustrated. I just wanted my back to feel better.
      That all led to this morning. I had a genetics test so I didn't want to take my powerful painkillers, cause they tend to make my head fog. I was annoyed that my back was hurting again, and I didn't really want to walk across campus and back multiple times, but I knew I needed to take the test. This morning as I said my prayers, I asked for help to just make it through my test and to feel less frustration over the recurring pain in my back. The test went by really quick and I had about forty five minutes before my next class started. I went and found a chair near my next class that looks out into this little pond area. I sat there and thought about my test, and my back, and school, you know just life in general. I was getting more and more frustrated just thinking about getting through the day, when I saw this...

      It was too late for my animal behavior project, but it was just at the right time for me. I was able to forget about everything else I had been thinking about at that time, and just focus on something that made me smile. My back still hurts, but I know that my Heavenly Father showed me a tender mercy today.

Homework...

Haha, most people who see this will probably faint in astonishment that I have actually posted something, or nobody will ever see it because people have probably stopped checking to see if I ever post anything. For one of my education classes we received a homework assignment to write a poem. The poem had to follow the format of a poem that the teacher read us in class. That poem follows, and then I will share my creation after that.

 Where I'm From

  by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening,

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,

from Imogene and Alafair.

I'm from the know-it-alls

and the pass-it-ons,

from Perk up! and Pipe down!

I'm from He restoreth my soul

with a cottonball lamb

and ten verses I can say myself.

I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,

fried corn and strong coffee.

From the finger my grandfather lost

to the auger,

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box

spilling old pictures,

a sift of lost faces

to drift beneath my dreams. 

 I am from those moments--

snapped before I budded --

leaf-fall from the family tree.

It is kind of a weird poem, and the teacher gave us a template to use to create our poems, which looked very strange. However, I did follow the format and I came up with a poem of my own.

Where I’m From

By Jaron Johnson

I am from wiffle ball,

from Legos and Disney.

I am from the trampoline without a cage.

(Frantic, bouncing,

it felt like flying.)

I am from the rosemary bushes,

the orange trees

fallen oranges sailing into neighbor’s yards.

I’m from the pioneers and perseverance,

from Gardell and Dianne.

I’m from the shop-til-you-drops

and the TV box brigade,

from Clean your room! and No you may not!

I’m from choose the right,

and enduring to the end.

I’m from Provo, from Vikings and Native Americans,

Indian tacos and sandbakkels.

From the Purple Heart my grandpa would

have received except for his honesty,

and the sleepwalking of Great-grandpa Cheever.

Bins placed upon bins, overflowing into shoeboxes,

memories stacked in a corner.

I am from ancestors past and generations to come,

A family spreading throughout eternity.

I actually enjoyed writing this poem a lot more than I thought I would when it was first assigned.

Hair Today; Gone Tomorrow

So Christy and I were trying to think of something that we could do rather than just sit around. Christy's standard answer is well you need a haircut. That's true, but I want to do something fun!!! So we talked and discussed options. Finally we decided that I could get my haircut, but that Christy had to let me do something with her hair if I went and got mine cut. We were getting ready to leave the house when one of suggested, we should take before and after pictures, and then we could blog about our experience. This was exciting, because we always feel like we don't have anything fun to blog about so, the before pictures...

This is my long hair..

You can tell that I have quite a bit of it.

A view of Christy's hair

From the Back. Christy hates the natural curl to her hair. In this picture it is wet, but when it dries she feels that it is too frizzy.

Then we have the after pictures

yes, a lot of my hair disappeared

In this picture it looks like I have a weird Mohawk, I don't.

Quite the difference from before.

This is what Christy let me do to her hair.

I didn't braid far enough to the end apparently

This hair is fun to swing around!!

So there we have a very fun day, it looks like we both lost some hair, although I definitely lost a lot. I think that dreads are a fun summer look, it jut looks like her head would be a lot cooler like this, and when it's over 100 degrees, cooler is always better.

I love the rain!!!

I know that I probably live in the wrong place, but I absolutely love the rain. I was so excited, when we went out to feed the cats, and the wind was blowing and the rain was gently flowing from the heavens. The crashing of thunder also sent waves of excitement through my body!! I love the rain.

I also love the customary siren accompanying Arizona rain. We as a state are not the most rain worthy drivers...

Accountability, Responsibility, etc

So, as I am coming to the end of yet another semester of college, my mind is recalled to some of those wonderful things that I have learned in the past. Things like accountability and responsibility... I remember in it seems like kindergarten learning I need to take responsibility for my actions. I can remember the teacher telling us that those were big words, but that she was going to help us understand them. She told us that when we make choices, we sometimes make mistakes, but that it is ok to make mistakes. She told us it is important when you make mistakes to learn not to do whatever you did again. Now this was kindergarten, and the whole spiel ultimately led to share things with others, be nice to others, you know the drill. As I look back on that day, I think that some people must have missed that day of kindergarten.
          This semester, I am taking two science classes. Anatomy and chemistry. Both of these classes require accompanying lab courses. Lab courses are great fun, they give the opportunity to explore the things that you are lectured about in class. They give you the chance to learn by trial and error. Sometimes, yes, things blow up in your face (ok so it was more like a slow overflow), but you get the point. In these classes, you get the wonderful opportunity to work in a group setting. I have never had a problem working in a group setting, I have always received that plays well with others notation on my report cards, but this semester I caught a glimpse of why so  many people have issues with group activities.
          In my chemistry lab, the first day of class, the instructor informed us that each group was responsible to turn in a single lab report. It was up to the individual lab groups how it got accomplished, but it did need to get done.  I was in a group with three young ladies, we discussed several methods to accomplish this lab report task. We could divide the lab report into sections, and each person is responsible for a section. "No that would be too confusing." one girl says. We could take turns writing lab reports, there are eight reports due over the course of the semester, and four of us. We can each write two lab reports and that way it would be fair. "I have only lived in America for 15 years and my english isn't very good, so I cannot write lab reports." says the Korean girl. You spoke pretty well there... However, who are we to determine the extent of a person's lingual skills? Ok so we will divide writing eight labs between three people, somehow that will be fair. "Well I'm not going to be the person that has to write an extra lab report." says the last girl. Ok, so my group is off to a fantastic start. Good thing none of us are whiners. So I volunteer to write the first lab report. "No, I see what you're doing you're trying to ensure you don't have to write extra at the end of the year. I'll write the first report" says the last girl. Well it's settled then. Fast forward to the middle of the semester, the third lab report is due, the girl who is supposed to be writing it sends us all an email "I had to drop the class, attached is the portion of the lab report I have finished." Well at least she's not leaving us scrambling to finish the report. I open the attachment and find
                     Using Hess's Law to Indirect Equations


           Wow brilliant start, it's the title, and it doesn't even make sense... I finish the lab report and turn it in.
           So we are down to two people to write the remaining six labs. Well at least now the math is fair...
The teacher tells us "I am no longer worried about due dates for labs. You can turn them in whenever you want as long as they are completed by the Friday before the last lab class." Well, that takes some pressure off. Fast forward two weeks before the last lab  class. The other lab partner, who actually speaks english, is not in class. I text her that evening. Missed you in class today. Are you alright? She replies forty five minutes later. I was really sick today will be there next week.  I reply Feel better soon. Just a reminder the lab reports are due by Friday next week. She replies Thank you. I am almost done with the ones I'm writing.  Sounds good, everything is going to get done...
            The following lab period the girl doesn't show up again. I text her Are you ok? 
She replies Still sick
That's too bad. The lab reports are due on Friday do you need any help finishing them?
Nope I got it.
Thanks! Feel better.
            Next day at school I see the girl on campus. "You're looking better."
"I feel a lot better!"
"I'm glad. So you are ok with getting the lab reports turned in on Friday?"
"Yup, I'm just finishing them up."
"Great see you next week."
             Friday rolls around and I figure I should make sure she got the reports turned in. At about ten I text her everything get turned in alright?
              No answer...
              6:00 P.M. I try again just wondering if you got my text earlier?
I just saw it, I'm at work.
Oh ok, sorry to bother you at work. Did the reports get turned in alright?
You didn't bother me. Gotta get back to work.


Hmmm, so that didn't really answer my question. So on Saturday around 5:30 pm I text again Did the reports get turned in?
No answer.
Sunday 2:15 pm I try again Hey, I'm not trying to annoy you, but I really need to know what's going on with those lab reports. Please.
NO ANSWER!!

Monday at noon, I am sitting in my chemistry lecture class. My phone vibrates.
Sorry I didn't reply to those last texts, I just saw them. I started feeling sick again on Sunday and now I am in the hospital.
After class I respond Can you email the lab reports to turn in?
They're not done.
Email me what you have and I can finish them up.
No response.
Needless to say I am a bit peeved about some people not taking responsibility for their actions right now. However, to end this blog on a lighter note. My experience in my anatomy lab was very pleasant. I had a great group. Our last project before the end of the semester was to create a video describing how muscles contract. We had a good time putting our project together, and although it's a little hokey, we accomplished what we needed to.

        
               
   

Choices, Choices

I signed up last year for the rewards program at a local theater. The reward benefits include free upgrades on certain concessions, and $10.00 in rewards for every $100 you spend. So I let my dad use my rewards card also, and between the two of us and our significant others, we finally earned the $10.00 reward. Well, I then received an e-mail notifying me that my reward was going to expire on April 13. So Christy and I decided that we needed to go to the movies so that we could use our reward money. Unfortunately, we didn't know what movie we wanted to go see. Nothing that was showing jumped out to us as something that we had to see. I would like to eventually see the Hunger Games, however, I feel like Christy should read the book before we see the movie. We finally decided that we would just go see Mirror, Mirror. This as a movie based on the story of Snow White. I wasn't sure what I expected of it, but decided that it would be worth seeing.

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought it was entertaining. I really enjoyed the dwarves, I thought they were quite funny. I also enjoyed watching Julia Roberts play the evil queen. For a quick afternoon out at the movies, I thought that it was a good choice. Christy also enjoyed the movie. I was however, quite worried when one of the characters was turned into a cockroach, I thought I might find my wife hiding in terror under her chair. Apparently one cockroach is not as frightening on the big screen as it is in your own bathroom.

The Easter Bunny

This morning, I got a text at about 7:00. The number was not one I recognized and I figured it probably wasn't important. I looked at the message and it said, "I think the Easter bunny came. Check you patio!!!" I told Christy it was a wrong number and we didn't need to worry about it.

Once I was up and about I figured I would glance at the patio so I could laugh at how there was nothing there. I looked out the window and there were easter eggs and ziploc bags full of candy. So Christy and I went out and collected all the candy. After that I became a little obsessed with trying to figure out who easter bunnied our patio. I never found out, but this experience made Christy and I so happy. We were thrilled to feel like little kids collecting eggs, and to know that somebody cared so much about us.

So wherever you are Easter bunny, thank you!!