Of babies, movies and parties.

I sorta overslept a little this morning, but I still made it to Jeremy's by 6:30 to babysit Justus. Jeremy got a 5-day job so he'll be gone in the mornings. Anyway... it started out fine. But that's 'cause Justus was still asleep. When he woke up, that's how things got interesting. Justus is almost one, so he crawls quite well and stands/walks when he can hold onto something. Unfortunately, he also needs constant attention to keep him from screaming his head off. I was sitting on a beanbag on the floor... big mistake. That kid crawls all over everything and everyone. He crawled all over me - couldn't decide if he wanted up or down, screamed his head off, pulled my hair out, wouldn't drink his bottle, and insisted upon drooling in my face. I dread the "terrible twos." I don't think I could handle a kid like that for 24 hours a day. By the time he was ready for his nap, I was, too. I was out like a light until Jeremy came home at like... noon.

Then Mom picked me up. We went and got a little pre-movie snack (brownies and Dew). Then we hit the theatre and watched Prince Caspian. It was awesome. Again. Anyway, then we spent $124 on pizza, ice cream and soda for the party. In case any of you don't know the occasion, it was Ari's "congratulations, you made it through a year of school without being suspended or expelled" party. He hasn't done that since third grade. Really. Anyway. Party was fun. Tons of people came. Ate all the pizza, had lots of fun. We played football, frisbee, baseball (catch, really) and Jackpot (also called 500). My baseball disappeared in the course of the festivities, most regrettably. It was fun, though.

Obviously, I'm really, really tired now. And I have to be at Jeremy's at 6:00 tomorrow. Hence the end of this post. I shall write more tomorrow if I'm awake enough.

Good night!
--Anna Grace

A productive member of society, part 2!

Hm. Well, I didn't blog yesterday, so I suppose I'd better begin with yesterday's adventures, and misadventures. It began with fishing. We (Jason, Jeremy, Angie, Meghan, Daniel, Justus and I) packed up and headed down to Baker Dam Reservoir. Since I was the only one who had any idea where it was, I got to play tour guide. I kinda like doing that. It makes me feel like the knowledgeable local showing around the new neighbors. :P. Anyway. I'd forgotten just how beautiful this place was. Blue water... red rocks, tall trees, green grass, soft sand... a fisherman's dream come true. Except without fish. Well... there were fish - Jeremy hooked a dead trout (a big one, too) and Meghan hooked herself... but other than that, no one caught anything. Oh, and Meghan dropped her fishing pole in a very deep dropoff in the lake. It looked shallower than it was... Anyway, the bobber was still on the line, so we managed to snag that and I pulled out all the line, pulled the pole up, and thereby managed rescue Meghan's fishing rod. Then we went home. T'was tons of fun.

Anyway... about an hour after we got home, I ran into a little bit of stomach and chest trouble and had to go in for some medical attention. About a block from the doctor, I started feeling better. Great. Anyway... I possibly have a relapse of ulcers. They can't tell at this point, though, because last time I had ulcers I had H. pylori (nasty little acid causing bacteria). Once it's there, it never leaves, so they'll never be able to tell if I have ulcers by my blood tests again. Anyway... the doc decided to wait and see if it happens again before he orders more tests - partially because I have no health insurance. This, by the way, is a bad thing. I also missed city council meeting. Not much fun.

So this morning was good, though. I got a phone call from Turn Community Services. Apparently, I now have a job! Woot! Productive member of society, here I come! I am scheduled for job orientation on June 15th. Quite a bit of a later start than I wanted, but at this moment, I'll take what I can get. None of the other places even called back. Anyway, it will give me a chance to get my license. I know, I know... I've said that before. But I actually have a test scheduled on Monday, with the only guy that can put the final signature on my official little paper-thingy. I think this is a good thing. I'm going to fail parallel parking, I'm pretty sure, but hopefully that won't matter too much. Urg.

This afternoon I got the crap scared out of me, as well. Angie and Meghan and I were coming home from Karen's. When we got here, Jeremy and Jason were riding the four-wheelers. Daniel and Jason were on the girls' little one. Jason got off and was steering, running alongside the quad while Daniel drove. Yeah... almost two-year-old Daniel. Anyway, Daniel sorta fell off sideways, landed on the ground. From my viewpoint, it looked like the quad ran him over. Angie and I flipped out and jumped out of the car to see what the damage was. Fortunately, Jason had grabbed the back tire-rim of the thing and picked it up so that it didn't run Daniel over. Daniel is okay, although it certainly scared him, and he wouldn't go near his dad for a few minutes. The rims on the tire were sharp, though, and Jason's hand is good and sliced up. I think I can safely say it will be a while before Daniel debuts solo on a four-wheeler again.

The adventure continues!
--Anna Grace

The Misadventures of Moi.

Longfellow died. I'm not terribly surprised, but it's still disappointing. We tried so hard to save her! The others seem to be doing fine. Speckles didn't drink this afternoon, but there was nothing really I could do about that since I was in Cedar. I suspect that Ari didn't warm up the bottles like he was supposed to since no one was there to make him do it. Not that I could have made him had I been there.

Speaking of which, mom got home tonight, and evidently was rather pissed off at a messy house. Dishes, apparently. However, Dad washed a humongous load of dishes yesterday. Like... a pile of dishes that would put a small restaurant to shame kind of thing, so it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. She then wondered "why we couldn't encourage Ari to do the dishes." Hello! I did that. Before he left for Cedar. I begged and encouraged and bribed and threatened his life. What Ari doesn't want to do, Ari doesn't do. Period. Not even mom can make him. If she says otherwise, I'd love to see her try. Problem is that even though Ari is slightly better behaved now, he still doesn't give a lick about anyone else enough to do anything.

I do feel sorry for Ari. He has reason to be a basket case. However, I don't think he can keep using it as an excuse. He's got his good spots, but at this point, usefulness doesn't happen to be one of them.

Bugger. I also went to take my drivers' test today. It didn't end up happening. I got to the DMV, had all the papers and what not, but apparently, one of them didn't have a signature on it. From three freaking years ago. So I couldn't take the test. I called the guy whose signature I was supposed to have, and he told me I can't take the test through the DMV, and I have to contact the other instructor to take the test and get the signature from him. WTF?!

Anyway. A bad day, to say the least.

More to come.
--Anna Grace

The Little Stove That Could... and other adventures.

I am pleased to report that Longfellow is holding on tenaciously. She still doesn't look very good. In fact, she still doesn't look like she has much of a chance. However, while she still draws breath, I'm hopeful. Skeeter still steadfastly refuses his bottle, so I've been tubing both of them. Hopefully mom has a little better luck than I have. The penicillin seems to be helping clear up the congestion with both of them.

This leads us to the story of "The Little Stove That Could." Because Longfellow has soremouth, everything she touches has to be sterilized. Yesterday, dad sterilized the syringe by soaking it in rubbing alcohol. That made the numbers come off the syringe. So then he decided it was a better idea to boil it. He did so, and forgot all about turning it off, thus blackening the pot, filling the house with acrid smoke and incinerating said syringe to a crispy little wisp of ash floating on top of the water. At least now we know the smoke alarm works... And it has inspired me to write the story of "The Little Stove That Could." It would probably go something like this...

Steve Stove was a very cold little stove. All the other stoves laughed at Steve because it was so hard for him to even boil water. One day, someone came and bought Steve from the appliance store. When he came out of the box, he found that he was in a house. Steve waited and waited for the man who bought him to give him something to do. Finally, the man came into the kitchen with a pot of water. The water had a syringe in it. "Oh boy!" Steve thought. "Boiling water for sterilization purposes! I'd better not let him down!"
The man set the pot of water on Steve and turned the burner up. "I can do it," Steve thought. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" The more Steve thought he could, the hotter the burner got. The hotter the burner got, the more the water bubbled and boiled. "I think I can!" Steve thought. "I think I can!" The water boiled furiously and a thin wisp of smoke began to waft up from the burner. "I think I can!" Steve shouted victoriously as the burner burst into flames.
At that moment, the man came back into the kitchen, coughing at all the smoke. I spied the furiously burning stove and gasped. He filled a pot of water and flung it in Steve's face, drenching the little stove and extinguishing the flames. When the fire was out, the man picked up the phone and made a phone call. "Yes," Steve heard him say. "I left the room for a whole minute and it was on fire when I came back!" Steve was proud that all his effort had paid off. He had proved the other stoves wrong.
Later that day, a truck arrived and some men put Steve in a cardboard box. "...obviously a manufacturing defect," one of them said. "We've brought a replacement." When the box was opened and Steve was shoved out, he realized he was back in the appliace store. The other stoves stared at his blackened burner. "I thought I could do it, and I did it," Steve explained. One of the older stoves spoke up. "Thinking you can... that's all well and good, kid, but when thinking you can puts you in overkill mode, that's when it proves you can't."

I'm still working on it, but that's my idea so far. :P In the meantime, I have my drivers' test today and I need to check my flower garden. Should be an interesting day!

More adventures to come!
--Anna Grace

Alas, poor Longfellow!

Last night (after my last post) Flip dropped off two lambs. One of them is fairly small and black to boot. The other, rather large, ungainly and funny looking, has soremouth. I isolated it and began treating the poor creature. Flip assured me they were both male, wherupon I named the black one Skeeter and the white one Longfellow. I discovered this morning that Longfellow is not in fact, male. I have decided to keep her as Longfellow anyway, and dad suggested that we can call her 'Longfella' to make it more feminine.

I hadn't been able to get her to drink, which was expected since she's a bit old to just be getting on the bottle. She'd been nursing her mom, previously, but as is the story with Skeeter as well, the ewe disappeared, leaving the lamb to fend for itself. They were both pretty weak when they arrived. I was able to get Skeeter to drink his bottle, but not Longfellow. However, since Longfellow is a bit older and was eating hay and drinking water quite well, I wasn't terribly worried.

Suddenly, this afternoon, both of them took a dramatic turn for the worse. Longfellow did not eat or drink, and was too weak to even stand. Skeeter, although he could stand, did not drink his bottle, or even eat the hay that I gave him. On my mom's advice, I called Stephanie (a good friend who's good with this stuff) and asked her to help me tube them (feed them by means of a stomach tube). We did so, and put them both on penicillin as both of them are showing signs of pneumonia as well as everything else.

Skeeter is livelier already and managed to run away from me fairly quickly as I went to put him back in the pen. Longfellow, however, is not. I'm really worried about her, and from the way she looks, her chances aren't looking too good. However, where there's life, there's hope, and sometimes you get pleasant surprises.

Also, dad gave me his old cameras for my photography class. As long as they don't have to be digital, I'm in good shape. The Minolta just needs batteries (and I'd like to get a wide angle lens for it) and the Olympus needs the shutter fixed because it sticks and I'd have to take the lens off to fix it after every shot. Other than that, all I need is film and it's good to go.

Dad and I also drove the Parowan loop today, to give me a bit of driving practice. That was fun.

Hm. Yes. More updates tomorrow.
Alas... poor Longfellow!
--Anna Grace

Of lambs and snakes and other things.

So... I got up this morning to do chores. I was out of the house by eight (lots later than mom does them, but lots earlier than dad would have...) and noticed that Africa (big, huge ewe) was getting ready to have lambs. I finished up with the chores and watched... and waited... She was definitely taking her time about things. Finally about two hours later, I realized that the lamb was probably turned the wrong way and went in to get my dad. We tried to catch her so I could fix things up, but Africa wasn't having any of that.

So... I ran to get the lariat, only to discover that it wasn't there anymore. Upon which discovery much frustration ensued. So then, Ari and I tried to lure her behind the gate with some corn. That didn't work either. She did snatch and grabs with the grain. That was about when we realized that (quite accidentally) dad had left the gate open, as it was our plan to trap her behind it. Unfortunately, she went in front of it instead and got out.

After a bit more chasing about, frustrated yelling and attempts to catch this angry, pregnant, 350 lbs ewe, we finally got her cornered in a fenced off space between two pens. Whereupon we hauled forth a humongous lamb that was stuck backwards. By 'we', I mean 'I.' I'd thought dad would at least hold her... he was pretty good at watching, though. Anyway. Huge ram lamb. And it's head and the back of its ears were bald. Funny-looking little critter. He kicked me all the way out...

Anyway... we moved them to a cleaner, wind-free area and waited. Before too terribly long, we had another. A girl. She came on her own, thank goodness. The next real challenge was getting them food. Africa's a great mother in all other respects. She doesn't like to feed her babies. However, both of them are happily up and going, now, with full tummies. Their names are Zulu (the boy) and Botswana (the girl). They weigh probably close to 15 lbs apiece.

After all the excitement, dad happened to find a little snake hidden underneath a board. Poor little fellow. Probably hiding from all the rotten weather. Anyway. He's a cute little fellow. We've detained him as a temporary pet. We'll have to get rid of him when mom comes home. She doesn't like snakes. Especially not in the house. Then Ari found a humongous lizard outside. We turned him loose. He was a vicious little biter.

Anywho... I've also decided that Ari's fingers must be incredibly heavy. Because he can't even lift one to help anyone do anything. He's leaving this afternoon for someplace. And the dishes will be waiting for him when he returns. I sooooo did not come here to be anyone's maid. I can quite happily wash my own dishes, thanks. But I came here to take care of the animals, not to watch Ari lie around the house and expect me to cook and clean for him just because I'm the nearest female. Dad at least cooks for himself (and us, really) and mostly cleans up after himself. I just think it's about time Ari weaned himself off his wetnurse. He fantasizes about moving out early, but he couldn't handle life without someone to take care of him. Urg. Frustrations.

Anyway... more news as it happens!

--Anna Grace

A discovery...

Today was exceedingly cold. Far colder than it has any right to be in nearly June...
I was planning on planting mom's veggie garden today, but it didn't end up happening. I pretty much did chores and hauled my butt back inside. I am a little worried about Gourdo (a lamb), since he isn't drinking his whole bottle. Not much of it, in fact. I know he was just learning to get on it by himself, so I even tried to help him with that. Alas, the poor sweet lamb has not been blessed with the brains that God gave a turnip.

Anyway... it was cold! As a result, I spent most of my day surfing the net, finding really awesome Israeli music. I even made a playlist of my finds on Youtube. I was already a big fan of Ofra Haza and Moshav, but I've now added to my list of Israeli musical adorations: Sarit Hadad, Haim Moshe and Idan Yaniv. I found an absolutely beautiful song by Sarit Hadad called "Sh'ma Israel (Hear, O Israel)." More importantly, one of my favorite songs I just found an English translation for. "Yerushalaim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)" has always been one of my favorite Hebrew songs. It's more traditional than contemporary, but my favorite version is sung by Ofra Haza. The lyrics (in English) are very beautiful and provided a lot of insight to me. I thought I'd share them.

Yerushalaim Shel Zahav
Jerusalem of Gold

The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.

And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children
And of the last poet

For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold...

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A shofar calls out on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

Shalom al Israel.
Shalom al Yerushalaim.

--Anna Grace