One Heartbeat Away

On Friday night I ended up in the emergency room. Again.

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The arrhythmia I've lived with for 12-odd years has taken a turn for the worse.

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I had a bad episode on Thursday afternoon, but it cleared up after 15 minutes and all seemed well for the rest of the night. However, the irregular heartbeat returned on Friday morning, worse than ever.
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By the end of the school day I knew something was really wrong.

I drove to the doctor's office after school and waited an hour to be seen. They put me in the red-white-and-blue room, one of my favorites. I got these pictures while I waited.

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All of Dr. Paxman's exam rooms have themes. My kids' favorite is the galaxy room. One full wall is covered by a life-sized photo of the moon's surface, and the rest of the walls and ceiling are dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars and planets. A 3-D alien peeks out at you from inside a frame on one wall.

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When my kids are there, the doctor turns off the light as he enters the room, revealing the glittering galaxy above our heads as he cries ominously, "Woo-ha-ha!" He's a riot.

4 EKGs later, I learned my formerly non-lethal PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) are now originating in the bottom half of my heart.

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It means that at any time my heart could just stop. I could black out and never wake up. Sudden cardiac death. Just one heartbeat away from meeting my maker.

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Unsurprisingly, I was sent straight to the emergency room, where I spent the next 5 hours.

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Back on the heart monitor and blood pressure cuff, plugged back into the IV and another EKG. This time a chest x-ray, as well.
By this time I was experiencing what they call bigeminy. As I told the nurses, "This is no fun, by jiminy!" (Pun intended.)

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A bigeminy means every other beat is a PVC. It feels like a little person is in your chest, continually kicking the inside of your breastbone. Not painful, but certainly uncomfortable.

They say my heart is still healthy, other than this electrical misfire. That's good. It means I'm less likely to die from it.
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It seems my potassium levels were at deadly levels. Normal is 3.5 to 5.0. Anything at or below 2.5 can kill. Mine was 2.8. I have a new potassium prescription.
Wyndie took this picture of me about 30 minutes before I was finally discharged. She was there for me throughout this entire experience, helping with my kids' schedules, making calls for me, waiting with me, and even bringing me the yummy salad you see here.

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Many other friends have added their prayers, well wishes, help, and hugs. These things bring the important things, like friendship, into clearer focus.

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Wyndie's husband and a member of our bishopric also dropped everything to come visit and give me a priesthood blessing.

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I am so grateful to everyone!

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I also have to mention my ER physician, the wonderful Doug Wright, and the amazing male nurses who entertained me for my entire stay. What more could a single girl ask?

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The crisis isn't over yet. We're having trouble adjusting my potassium levels and the arrhythmia continues off and on. I feel perfectly normal about half the time. The other half is a little bit rough. During the worst episodes, my heart isn't getting enough oxygen, which really wears me out.
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I'm supposed to slow down, avoid stress, get more rest. Hello? Single, working mother here!
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I have an appointment with a cardiologist next week, on September first. My birthday. Should be interesting.

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Thanks to everyone who has offered help and expressed love and concern. I appreciate the prayers offered in my behalf and hope they will continue as the cardiologist attempts to resolve the issues causing this problem.
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One heartbeat away... But then, aren't we all? Knowing of our human frailty is the reason we cherish the things that matter most in this life: our faith, our families, and our friends. God bless you all.

Return of the Banditos

Our rascally raccoon family has returned, and they're getting fat and sassy on the cat food we store on the porch.

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They came back a few weeks ago, but I've mostly been able to ignore them. Until last night.
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At 3:30 this morning I awakened to the sound of many heavy footsteps racing across the roof. They are chubby little critters. If I'm not mistaken, the two adolescents were wrestling directly over my head.

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I tried to go back to sleep, but my brand-new dolphin wind chime suddenly began ringing insistently. It went on for 5 minutes before I realized only 1 of my 7 chimes was ringing. The wind does not ring one chime and ignore the others!

I got up and peeked out the kitchen window. There was one of the young raccoons sitting on his haunches with the dangling dolphin between his tiny paws, batting it back and forth to make the chimes ring.

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At this time, Mama Raccoon decided it was time to go. She jumped from the rail to the nearest tree and chittered to her babies to follow, but they hesitated. It looked like they were afraid to jump.

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To help nudge them, I jiggled the doorknob loudly and opened the door noisily. Diego burst onto the porch, ready to make raccoon stew.
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The babies hadn't jumped. One huddled on the rail while the other hid inside a hole in the bench. He peeped out now and then to look around (top picture).

He came out and joined his brother while Diego was out in the yard barking at their mom in the tree.

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When Diego returned to the porch and saw the youngsters, the crazed snarling and snapping of all parties began, but I quickly called off Diego and brought him inside.

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Once the door closed, the young ones decided they'd had enough excitement for one night. They made their way to Mama's tree, where she'd been been crying for them all along.

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That was enough excitement for me, too. I turned off the porch light, locked the door, and returned to my bed for 2 more hours of sweet slumber. I hope Mama and the boys were able to do the same.

The Anniversary

56 years ago today my parents, Myron and Jane Butler, were married.

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They planned an October 2nd wedding, as you can see in the announcement at left. That would have been 3 days after Mom's 16th birthday and 4 weeks after Dad's 19th birthday, but they just couldn't wait that long.

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They eloped to Reno, Nevada on August 18, 1953. They took their parents and one of Dad's sisters, Aunt LouDene, along with them.

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There are some errors in the newspaper clippings. Dad's middle initial is T. not P. and Grandpa Haley's name is spelled Loyd, not Lloyd.

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The date at the top of the left announcement is in Mom's own handwriting.

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I love how they describe all the ladies' dresses. You don't see that anymore, unless you're attending the Oscars!

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I only wish I had pictures of my parents on their wedding day. I've only seen one photo of my mom in her wedding dress. I hope my dad has it somewhere. I need to get all the old photos from him and scan in the ones I don't yet have.

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I'm sure when they sent out these invitations they had no idea that Dad wouldn't be able to attend his own reception, due to his boss refusing to give him time off. What a Scrooge!
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This is Mom 4 days before her 16th birthday. With her at the reception are her brand-new in-laws, my Dad's parents Lawrence Edward (Ed) Butler, age 61, and Myrtle Van Ausdal Butler, age 58.
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On June 1, 1968, my parents were sealed in the Oakland, CA Temple for eternity. Here they are on the temple grounds. Dad was 33 and Mom was 30 by this time, and all 6 of their children had been born.

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Mom only lived long enough to celebrate their 48th anniversary, but I hope today she was able to pause in her heavenly work and smile at the memories of that day 56 years ago. I know she always cherished it in this life.

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Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Raining Ducks and Geese

I knew first thing this morning that it was going to rain today, big time.

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No matter how much I worked with my bangs, they curled every which way. That kind of humidity can only mean a major downpour.

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I don't mean raining cats and dogs. I mean raining ducks and geese!

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It was about noon today when the heavens opened.

Rain ran off the schools' roofs in thick sheets like wild waterfalls. Heavy, rushing streams nearly a foot deep raced across the parking lots.

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Naturally, I had to be out in it to attend meetings in other buildings.

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Teachers huddled against walls. Students screamed with laughter and gleefully stomped through every stream.
It reminded me of another downpour 4 years ago, August 2005.

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The first 3 photos were taken on New Year's Day 2007 at a pond a few blocks from our house. My sons often go fishing there.

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On that occasion, my kids walked there with their visiting cousins to feed the ducks. The pond hadn't frozen over yet.

It was a completely different picture in August 2005. As the kids and I drove home from school that day, the rain was so heavy we could barely see the front end of the car.

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This was the sight that greeted our eyes when we turned into our neighborhood. The pond, at left, was spilling across the road and into a neighbor's front yard. Fallen pine trees floated across our path.

In this shot you can see how the creek now extended into the yards of homes across the way.

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Up the road, my friend Wyndie's family had to sandbag their kitchen.
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Ducks and geese from the pond swam serenely across the road and frolicked about in peoples' yards.

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We had to take an alternate route home.

While I snapped pictures, some of the geese waddled over to our car and honkily scolded us for interrupting their play.

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I love storms, so I found all this exhilarating.

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And that's why, when I'm caught in a rainstorm, I now think to myself:

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"It's raining ducks and geese!"

Souvenir Stampede

Check out the cover of this month's Destinations magazine, which is published by our vacation club, WorldMark.

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When it arrived last week, the kids and I got a big kick out of this photo from Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede in Branson.

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We returned from our Missouri vacation just 2 weeks ago, and we miss those carefree days already. Thank goodness we have hundreds of pictures to enjoy in years to come, remembering our good times together.

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We also have some cool souvenirs to remember this vacation by.

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Of course we each received a souvenir boot-shaped mug at the Dixie Stampede.

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The challenge was finding cupboard space for these 4 mugs after we got home, since they don't stack! But they'll be great for Family Home Evening treats like root beer floats and homemade blizzards.
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Jacob was very picky about choosing a souvenir. Sarah and Dylan chose these carvings (see below) of their names at Silver Dollar City, but Jacob didn't like how his name looked.

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We searched every kiosk and shop, but nothing caught his fancy.

Sarah bought the starfish bracelet from a by-the-inch gold display in Silver Dollar City's waterside area.

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While at Darryl and Tamera's, Tamera showed Jacob and Dylan a box full of shark's teeth and jewelry, and she gave them these two shark's teeth necklaces.
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They're extra-special since Tamera's sister in Florida collected the teeth and made the necklaces herself!

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This wind chime was my souvenir from Silver Dollar City, also from a kiosk in the waterside district. I just love the blue dolphins and glittering, etched-metal cylinders.

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I guess it's odd that Sarah and I chose souvenirs with seaside themes during a vacation in Missouri, so far from the ocean. Yet when we think back, my kids agree that the water rides in that area of the park were the best memories of our time there.

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I hung these chimes in my bedroom for 2 weeks so I could enjoy them up close for awhile. When I'd turn on the ceiling fan, they would tinkle quietly while I slept.

Then this weekend they joined the rest of my wind chime collection along the eaves of the front porch.

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We have lots of breezy and windy days here on the mountain, and I adore the random music of wind chimes. The big pipes on the left have a wonderfully rich, deep sound to compliment the variety of tinkling smaller chimes.
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Dylan had his hand cast in wax at Silver Dollar City just as we were leaving on the last day. He chose the colors, and I think it came out so cool!
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I was so nervous about getting it all the way home without crushing, cracking, or melting it in the car. We wrapped it and cushioned it inside a tupperware and put it inside a box, which we hauled inside every hotel room and checked each night.
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We got it home safely, and it is now displayed proudly on top of the cabinet in his bedroom (see below), beside his name carving.
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As it turned out, the shark tooth necklace was the only souvenir Jacob brought home from the trip.

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They are both still hanging on the doors of this cabinet in the boys' room.

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Two unexpected souvenirs we brought home with us were the garter and bouquet which Dylan and I won at Tanya's wedding reception!

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Dylan is very proud of his prize, as you can see in this picture. He keeps it on the post of his bunk bed, right next to his pillow!

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I gave the bouquet a place of honor on a dresser in my room.

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Tanya's mom, Tamera, had to go all the way to Florida to find the tiny blue silk flowers Tanya wanted, and Tanya made the bouquet with her own two hands. That makes it an even more special memento to me.

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My favorite souvenirs have always been the ones that feature my family, so to me the best of the best are those found below.

Here are my 3 treasures--of course they are WANTED, by ME! Dylan is 12, Jacob is 18, and Sarah is 19.

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A photographer at Dixie Stampede shot these 2 pictures of our family, then sold them to me separately for a pretty price. But how could I refuse?

And my most FAVORITE of all, taken at Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum...

Don't you love it? Sarah looks so sexy, Jacob looks so dashing with a beard, and Dylan looks totally like his Uncle LeRoy (if LeRoy shaved his head)! As for me, I just look old and bloated; talk about art imitating life!

Ahhhh, those were good times!

Sunday Services

Dylan met another rite of passage today as our ward's newest deacon. He passed the sacrament to the congregation for his very first time. He did a great job and looked so handsome in his white shirt and tie. (Dylan isn't much for dressing up.) I was a proud Mom!

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Another duty of the deacons is collecting fast offerings (which support the Church's welfare system) on the first Sunday of each month, and Dylan has already participated in that responsibility twice. However, our very long vacation last month prevented his passing the sacrament until today.

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Good job, Dylan!
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As first assistant to the bishop, Jacob was the leader of the priests' quorum for a year, but he was released just before our trip. Now his main focus is preparing to serve a mission in about a year, after he turns 19. Tonight he'll start attending the missionary prep class.

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Meanwhile, Jacob is still a priest and he assisted in blessing the sacrament this morning. I loved seeing my boys performing these ordinances together.

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Even more sacred was being present to watch as Jacob ordained his little brother to the office of deacon back on July 5th. A moment I'll never forget.

Sarah continues to faithfully fulfill her calling as the Sunbeam teacher in Primary. She has been working with her sweet 4-year-olds for over a year now and still loves it. Looks like I caught them at snack time this morning!

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As for me, I've been the Primary secretary for 18 months now. It certainly keeps me busy every Sunday morning!

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It is so rewarding to watch my children grow in faith. I hope they will always find joy in service!

The Senior

As difficult as it is to watch Dylan growing up, it's even harder to wrap my mind around the fact that Jacob is a high school senior.

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Here he is in my classroom at the high school this morning, the second day of the new school year. Six feet tall, 18 years old, still president of SADD Club and a Big Brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program--he's just way too grown up! Where did the years go?
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Jacob 's school career began early. He actually began attending Tiny Tots PreSchool in February 1995, when he was only 3-and-a-half years old.

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This is Jacob at age 4 on the preschool steps, Aug. 17, 1995.

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When Jacob had turned 3 the previous summer, he suddenly developed a terrible stutter even though his language development had been perfectly normal until then. It was so bad he could barely force any words out.

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So he began attending the preschool and receiving speech-language therapy. He received therapy for 6 years, with 100% success. Today there is no hint of the stammer, and Jacob is totally comfortable speaking publicly, even before large groups.

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A huge THANK YOU to his speech-language therapist, Linda Beste!

Jacob started elementary school on Sept. 9, 1996 at age 5. We started late due to major construction going on at all 4 schools in the district.

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Here he is in front of his kindergarten classroom. His teacher, Mrs. Fuller, did not do well with Jacob. She got it into her head that he was mentally challenged and treated him differently than the rest of the class. This resulted in Jacob being teased mercilessly for his stutter, which stressed him out, which increased the stutter.

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In December Jacob was placed in the class of wonderful Kim Lahner, where he bloomed. He completed the entire kindergarten curriculum 3 months before Mrs. Fuller's students finished it.

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Mrs. Fuller moved away after that disastrous year.

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Aug 14, 1997: Like Dylan, 6-year-old Jacob took out a year to attend pre-1st (Jump Start) with the amazing Eileen Thompson. Despite his academic success, we wanted to give him time in a smaller, more protected setting to undo the damage done in kindergarten.

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In pre-1st his stress was eased, he could focus on his speech therapy, and he learned to love school (and Mrs. Thompson!).

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Aug 13, 1998: Jacob is now 7 and starting 1st grade in Brenda Penrod's class.
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Brenda had been Sarah's 1st grade teacher 2 years earlier, so I knew she was an excellent educator who would help Jacob be successful, and she would accept no nonsense in how he was treated.
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He had a very positive year.
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On to 2nd grade, Aug 12, 1999: 8-year-old Jacob was assigned to the classroom of Don Hotz, a strong teacher I've come to know well over the years.

Don is very nurturing for a male teacher, and he connected well with Jacob. During this year we began to see real progress in Jacob's language therapy.
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3rd grade, Aug 24, 2000: Jacob, age 9, in front of the classroom of Vickie Aylstock (wife of our then-superintendent). She was such a sweet, soft-spoken lady. Jacob adored her and still has fond memories of her.
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By now, Jacob was doing so well that we discussed the possibility of exiting him from the speech program. The stutter was almost entirely gone. However, since he would be moving from the elementary to mid-school for 4th grade, I suggested that we wait one more year to see how well he made the transition. I wanted to be prepared, in case the stress of a new environment caused a relapse.
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We didn't need to worry. Jacob was stammer-free for well over a year and it has never returned. We removed him from the speech program during 4th grade.

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Jacob was assigned to the classroom of Kay Locke, one of the most awesome teachers I've ever known. Like Mrs. Penrod, Kay had been Sarah's 4th grade teacher 2 years previously. Sarah and Jacob both loved her dearly. She retired just a few years after Jacob was in her class.
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Here we have 10-year-old Jacob with Mrs. Locke on Aug 20, 2001.
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Mrs. Locke is the only teacher we ever photographed with Jacob. Back then I never asked the teachers because they were usually busy greeting students as they arrived.

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Jacob, age 11, at the 5th grade classroom of Donna Maksimuk (you can see her inside the room), Aug 15, 2002.

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Donna is another gifted teacher, and I could barely tear Jacob away from her room. Her son Adam became one of Jacob's best friends that year and remains so to this day. In fact, their friendship is the main reason we'll be vacationing in Colorado next summer, where they now live!
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Finally, Jacob becomes a 6th grader on Aug 14, 2003. He was 12 years old, exactly the same age his brother Dylan is today.

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His teacher was Denise Thomas, who, again, was also Sarah's 6th grade teacher 2 years before. Denise was a very organized and tough teacher who believed strongly in accountability. Jacob was a boy who'd learned early on that he could get away with most anything by shining those big, innocent green eyes at his teachers. They had their battles, but Mrs. Thomas really helped prepare Jacob for junior high.
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And now here we are. Six more years have passed and Jacob hovers on the brink of adulthood.

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We do our best to prepare our children for this time in their lives, but too often we forget to prepare ourselves.

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Let's cherish every moment of our children's lives, whether newborn or middle-aged. The years fly away and cannot be recalled except in memory. May we each build a lifetime supply of precious memories!

First Day Blues

I'm a little sad today.

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My back-to-school tradition has been to take a picture of each of my children in front of their new classrooms on the first day of school, from kindergarten to 6th grade.

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This is my final "first morning" picture. Today Dylan started 6th grade. Here he is this morning with his new teacher, Mrs. Damita Temper. What a nice lady!
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Today, 12-year-old Dylan is as tall as his teacher (5'3")!

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He wasn't always so grown up, though. It all began with this photo on August 15, 2002. Little Dylan was just 5 years old when he stood proudly outside the classroom of his kindergarten teacher, Wendy Hamm.
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I let him wear my classroom keys around his neck to give him courage. He was nervous on that first day!

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What I want to know now is why we started school in mid-August just 7 years ago, and now we start on August 6th!
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August 14, 2003: Dylan is now 6 and attends the pre-first program known as Jump Start. His amazing teacher was Eileen Thompson, who had also taught Jacob 6 years earlier. She retired a few years ago.

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Dylan was doing very well academically, but we'd recently discovered the anger issues related to the continual discomfort caused by his skin condition. We decided to take an extra year while he attended anger management sessions and learned some coping skills. After the first few months, he had a wonderful year.

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August 12, 2004: Dylan at age 7, standing outside the 1st grade classroom of Terry Hurst. Does he look a bit impatient with Mom's ever-present camera?

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Dylan and Mrs. Hurst really connected and he had a hugely successful year.

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Here is 8-year-old Dylan with his 2nd grade teacher, Brian Whatcott, on August 10, 2005.

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At this time things were deteriorating rapidly for Dylan's dad, and Brian was a great friend and role model for Dylan.

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Dylan still admires Mr. Whatcott, who now teaches Spanish at the junior high. Dylan can't wait to take his class next year!
August 8, 2006: 9-year-old Dylan with his 3rd grade teacher, Pam Trainor. Pam had also been Sarah's 3rd grade teacher 8 years earlier.

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Dylan continued to blossom under Mrs. Trainor's care. She told me many stories about what a compassionate friend and fine gentleman he was in school.

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Dylan particularly loved this class because Mrs. Trainor was the sponsor of the Jumping Jackets jump rope club, to which Dylan belonged. He learned a lot of cool trick jumping that year!
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In 4th grade, Dylan moved over to the mid-school, which used to be for grades 4-6. After the new school opened last year, the mid-school became the intermediate school, serving grades 3-4.

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This is 10-year-old Dylan on August 8, 2007, with his 4th grade teacher, Phil Galbreath. Mr. Galbreath was another great role model for Dylan a year after his parents' divorce.

And, finally, last year's picture: August 6, 2008 in front of Betsy Peck's classroom. Dylan was 11 and joined the first 5th grade class to attend the new middle school (grades 5-6) in the brand new building.
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Our little ones do grow up as the time whizzes past. I'm so proud of the young man Dylan is growing up to be.

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But I'm still just a tiny bit sad...