I'm in business...almost!

I have the BIGGEST & BEST NEWS! I have been propelled into the 21st century! Thanks to the huge generosity of my family I am now a proud owner of a very snazzy digital camera! I know! I was shocked & overwhelmed too! I've taken a lot of pics of my 3 favorite subjects Mo, Canon, & Daphney of course! They're oh sooo cute!
At this point you may be wondering "well, where are the pics?" Good questions. The reason you see no pics is because as myself & my camera are part of the 21st century my computer is not. I have Windows ME on my computer & come to find out my camera requires Windows XP. Oh, well. As with everything becoming tech savvy is a work in progress & I'm one step closer.
Don't get to discouraged cause I'm going to see if Deb with let me upload my pics onto her computer so ya'll can see them as I know you're all so anxious to.

Waiting for Mo.....

Waiting for Moses Clloyd LaGrande Stevens:

He is due October 11th so all that we know is that he certainly WON'T be coming on that day! As the day approaches I've had to do a few things to prepare.

• Deb & I have agreed that she will ring me to let me know that I must start driving south when her contractions have become a bit regular but are still far apart. This is a good plan cause I anticipate it will take me about 3 hours to get to Deb & Jesse's house considering all the variables of packing, traffic & who knows what.
• I've made sure that Deb has multiple #'s to reach me at.
  
• I have a list of things I have to do once I get the call: Pack, get gas, & remember to drive safely!
  
• I put in my time off request from work months ago.
  
• I found someone to feed Canon & Daphney while I'm away. Thanks Sammie.
  
• I've tried to prepare by reading many books about how to be the best birth partner that I can be.
  
• Try to keep up on my wash & house cleaning for the next two weeks so I have enough clean cloths & Sammie can find her way into my apartment without inflicting too much physical or psychological pain on her. Side note on this one: I still have to do my wash & clean my apartment. :) I'm banking on the hope that Mo won't come today.
  
• I still don't have a camera but I don't think I'll be able to get one before Mo comes so I guess I can cross this one off. :( Plus I still don't know if I can upload pic onto my computer. I keep forgetting to ask the Geeks I know (Andy, Matthew, & Tommy). If any of the wifes of these geeks read this tell your husband to ring me please.
  
• And now we wait................
  

My summer vacation 2009!

Here it is! The post you've all been waiting for! Real non-camera phone pics of my fabulous weekend summer vacation. Don't get so excited that you're hyperventilating. Just channel all of that energy into fabulous comments. Enjoy!

I went to SLC Friday night, July 10th, so I could go to the yearly Hartvigsen Family Reunion early Saturday morning.

This is Deb & I before I heading to the reunion. I like to call this pic "bosom buddies" for obvious reasons. If it's not obvious to you then....mmm not sure what to tell ya about that one. :)

HARTVIGSEN FAMILY REUNION 2009

(Lion's pavilion)
My grandma Margaret Mina Hartvigsen Toman was 1 of 15 children. The decedents of those 15 children have a reunion every year in Utah up Springville Canyon at Kelly's Grove. This year it was at the Lion's pavilion. I've gone to this family reunion nearly every year of my life. Growing up we never had funds to go on extravagant family vacations so the reunion was our summer vacation every year. It was a huge deal to me. Something I looked forward to every summer. I recall making my list each year of things I needed to take in June! The reunion is usually held the second weekend of July each year! I still look forward to it just as much now, although I don't make a packing list a month in advance any longer! Over the years I became close to a few cousin in particular & look forward to seeing each of them every year. I tried to get pics of most of the folks on the favorite cousin list. Ok, now that I'm thinking about it I missed a lot of people but the memory card was full.

On Saturday we have a pot-luck lunch. Mmm my favorite!! This year I brought a yummy desert salad! It was a big hit with us Tolman's but not a lot of the other folks were brave enough to try it. Oh, well at least I like it. Delish!

This is my 1st cousin Tommy (Tom-Tom) & his way-to-cute son Carter.

My 1st cousin Emily but I've called you Em as long as I can remember & her darling daughter Maleah. Maleah was a huge fan of the salad I brought! At least I have one fan that appreciated my silly attempt at cooking!

This is my mom's 1st cousin Kristy, my Great Aunt Marda's daughter. I've always thought that Marda's daughters were the epitome of "beautiful." Isn't Kristy just gorgous? Exactly! Plus she has the funnest personality & the most amazing memory! Hmm, I'm just a bit jealous.

My Grandma's sister, my Great Aunt Shirley! This year she ended up finding out that I'm no longer a member of the Mormon church & she was totally fine with it. Gotta love people who love you no matter what! I wish everyone could be more like Aunt Shirly.

I asked Em to take this pic of me and my 2nd cousin Jason. In preparation of this pic Jason told Em to count to 3 and then take the pic. This is the moment that I realized Jason's big plan....

of getting rid of the pie in his hand by depositing it on my FACE! Yeah, I don't think so Jason!

This is after he promised to be nice.

My 2nd cousin Abbie & me. We're the same age and we've always been pretty close. Her and her husband Jeff are some of the funniest people I know! She used to blame me for her kids cause I would tell her that she was going to get pregnant & then she would! After this amazing psychic ability of mine worked with her 1st 2 children she told me I had to keep my pregnancy predictions to myself. Interestingly enough she still ended up with 2 more kids with NO help from me.

My 1st cousin Megan and her nephew Carter. Megan & I are super close so there are just way to many stories to tell you about her. To many to choose from. She is a pharmacist so she is my go-to person for anything medical. Thanks Megan!

Jenny, my 1st cousin Tommy's wife & Carter's mom. I've gotten to know Jenny quite a bit over the last year. I just love her. I'm so glad she is my cousin. She is a genius on holistic & alternative health care. It's so fun to talk to her about Deb's pregnancy since Deb really wants a no drug birth.

Tommy, Jenny, & Carter. Aren't we Tolman's just cute!

Sandi (left), Lindsy (right)

After pot-luck there is usually some sort of craft for the children to make if they're interested. Of course being the crafty person that I am I usually end up at the craft table for a bit. This year everyone was making bead necklaces and bracelets. As I was making mine I was visiting with my 2nd cousin Lindsy & getting to know her new sister-in-law Sandi. At one point Sandi set her beverage down on the table and immediately proceeded to dump the entire contents of her cup on both she and I. Funny! Even funnier was when she said there was a little "sommin sommin" in her drink. Of course I said "where is the bottle of this "sommin sommin", hook me up!" Lindsy, Sandi, & I then went and had our own version of a family reunion in Aunt Shirley's camper. Good times! Course it was amazingly hard for me to try to "act" sober after that as I'm such a light weight when it comes to alcohol. This whole situation created some great laughs and now is one of my fondest family reunion memories: "Remember that time Sandi and I got completely smashed and tried to pretend we weren't! Fun times!!" I guess I did a pretty ok job at acting sober, cause even Megan who knows me the best and has seen me drunk had no idea that I had 3 shots of vodka on board until I told her later. :)
Thanks Deb for letting me borrow your camera!

This post has inspired me to start a charity. I'm calling it:

"HELP HETH GET A REAL CAMERA FUND"

All donations can be sent directly to me. Hey, it's such a worthy cause. :)

Poor Baby D

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I've been told that my fans are anxiously awaiting an update on my "exciting" life. Well here's a story for ya'll.....
It's all about my little boy Daphney:

Friday morning I was standing naked in front of my shower waiting for the H20 to get warm when I heard the most horrid, deep male voice grunting behind me. Of course I was terrified that someone was in my apartment & had found me in my birthday suit. I turned round in a startle and only found Daph behind me. How can such a little body make such a horrid noise? I'm not sure, but he sure was. I guess he was unsuccessfully trying to vomit. I wasn't too worried cause on occasion he has been known to have stomach issues after eating to many treats or something of the like. Anyway, I was relieved that I wasn't being attacked, asked Daph if he was ok and proceeded to take my shower. Daphney left the bathroom so I thought everything was ok. When I got out of the shower I found Daph on my bed curled up & "acting funny." I'm not sure how to describe how I knew he as "acting funny." Just that I did cause I know my boys. As I was running late for work I asked Daph again if he was ok, resulting in a sad look from Daph, & I headed to work.

When I got home from work Daph was still in the same place as he had been 8 hours earlier. While this may be normal for Canon it is not normal for Daph. The thing that really made me worry is that he didn't even get up at all for his after work treat which he loves. I decided to inspect him for any wounds from a cat fight. I found what looked like to me a hurt whisker on his right paw. It looked like a white hair that had been curled and had split ends. When I tugged on it Daph cried out in pain. I also found a small cut in the same area. I put hydrogen peroxide on the wound and hoped he would be ok.

The next morning Daphney was still not acting himself. I wasn't sure what to do. I had to work so while at work I asked by friend and fellow cat owner and cat lover Melissa Whipple what she thought. She said she had a bad feeling about D and I should take him to the vet. Course I hesitated cause I have no funds for such things, but I decided to ring the vet and see if they had any advice they could offer over the phone. The lady on the phone said, "well you should really bring him in. Can you be here in 10 minutes?" I was at that very moment in my car parked in the parking lot of my work. I said, "yeah." I drove like mad home, barged into my apartment, grabbed the animal carrier, threw Daph in it, & then drove like mad to the vet, & yes I made it in the required 10 minutes."

You must know that Dapheny hates the vet with every cell in his body. He spent a few days on dialysis a few years back at the vet because of complete kidney failure. It was the worse and most complete kidney failure that the vet had ever seen but as Daph is a miracle kitty and a fighter so miraculously he lived. As a result of this experience every subsequent vet visit is a bit traumatic for both Daph and I alike.

When we got to the vet the tech asked if I could take him out of the carrier to weight him. When I finally got him out he was completely sopping wet with urine, & I mean SOPPING! Daphney had completely emptied his bladder in his carrier as a response to the fear he was feeling. Of course I was also now wet as I was holding Daph! Fanbloodytastic!! There was urine everywhere, all over Daph, me, the carrier, the bench the carrier was on, the floor, and of course the scale I had to put Daph on. After we got a weight the tech stuck us in an exam room with the promise that she would clean up the mess that D & I had just made.

In the exam room I grabbed paper towels and tried to clean up some of the urine. The tech came in to find out exactly why Daph & I were there, took Daph's temperature and even offered to rinse the D's animal carrier off in the tub. I asked if I could give Daph a bath in the sink while we were waiting for the doctor to come in to examine him. She said yeah and she would grab a towel for me.

Poor Daph now had a hurt paw, was dripping wet from urine & fear, & now was being drowned in a sink of water by his only protection from all of this....me! The tech brought a towel in for me. As I was drying Daph off the doctor came in to examine him.

This doctor was new to me and Daph but she was great. She was very understanding of all the trauma that was going on and seemed genuinely concerned about Daph. She examined his paw. I showed her the "hurt whisker" & she said, "that looks like a tendon to me, do you mind if I shave his paw to get a better look at it?" Wait what did she just say....A SEVERED TENDON!! I said "that was fine" & off she went with my baby boy. While she was gone I realized how much pain Daph must be in and started to cry. To stop the crying I focused on the fact that I was covered in cat urine and now stunk. I look off my jacket and put it in a Chico bag that I had in my purse and waited for the doctor and vet to return. When they did finally come back Daph looked a bit different...
He had this huge white and blue cast wrap on his leg. I know the pic is horribly blurry. I'll tell you why this is the only pic I have of Daph with the cast in a bit.

Turns out Daph did indeed sever his tendon in a fight and the tendon came through the wound and was poking out. Poor little boy! The doc cut the protruding tendon off, put some antibiotic ointment on the wound, & wrapped his leg up. She gave me some oral antibiotic that I have to give Daph for the next few days to prevent infection. I also have to take him back in 5 days to make sure he is healing ok. As I put Daph back in the carrier, grabbed all my urine drenched stuff and prepared to go pay my bill I wasn't sure who was more traumatized....Daph or me. This whole visit cost a mere $100! Ouch!! Good thing I wasn't laid off last week with the majority of my co-workers. Looks like I'll be visiting Harri's house a lot in the coming weeks for nourishment as I now have no budget to actually buy my own food. Although I am glad that I took Daph in even if it did cost a lot cause a severed tendon seems pretty bad and quite painful. After I paid the bill Daph & I headed home.

As a side note after D & I got home I rung my friends Melissa & Andy Spencer. We had plans to go to Anggie's for a late birthday lunch for me. I told Melissa about the new & not so popular "perfume" I was trying out & told her that I needed to quickly jump in the shower before I met them. I did finally make it to Anggies smelling much better & absolutely starving after this little adventure. Before I left for Anggie's I took the above pic of D with the cast on his arm but realized it was way blurry and figured I'd just get another pic to post after lunch.

While at Anggie's I of course told Melissa & Andy all about my morning. The best bit of this whole thing is that when I told them the white hair turned out to be a severed tendon Andy nearly passed out right there at Anggie's!! When he came to he said that all noise went silent, and everything turned to black! Funny stuff! Note to self..."never say severed tendon in Andy's presence." :)

After lunch I went home to check on my boy. I found him in the window and about 6 inches in front of him was the cast! He had managed to get it off his leg! When I said "Daph what did you do?" he just looked at me with the "it was annoying me" look on his face. Silly boy!

On a positive note Daph seems to be doing ok today. He is limping but other then that he seems like his old self.

My birthday week!

I was born April, 16 1976. That means that this past week I completed my 33rd year of life. As always I was completely spoiled & felt very much loved and adored. Here are the high lights from the week of celebration.

Please don't be to harsh regarding my picture taking ability.

• 1st I'm not a master or even an amateur photographer.
• 2nd The only camera I have is the one on my phone.
• 3rd and most importantly I was completely drunk while taking most of these pics
  

Thursday was the 16th and my birthday. I went to work but about an hour into my shift Harri had the most brilliant idea ever.....

(Harri at Angie's. When she sees this she is going to be pissed...no makeup!)

Birthday breakfast at Angie's Restaurant! We told our managers that we HAD to go, & off we went! Thanks Manda & Janet for not firing us! :) Angie's is the absolute best diner in all of Cache Valley. If you're ever in Cache Valley and need some grub this is the place to go. Don't forget to order some hot chocolate. Angie's hot chocolate is a must...don't pass it up. It's the best I've ever had!

(Me at Angie's on my BDay.)

I was showered with gifts & warm happy birthday wishes all day on my birthday. Thank you everyone for making me feel so special!

Of course the real partying started on Saturday the 18th. This was the day of my much anticipated BDAY BBQ!

Deb, Jesse, & MoJo drove from SLC. They were a bit delayed due to the SLC marathon mile marker #22 that was stationed right in front of their apartment! Funny stuff! Rather then waiting for all 7000 participants to run past Deb pleaded to the officer of the law that was stationed in front of their apartment. She informed him that they had to get out. His response was "good luck with that!" Followed by a laugh! Seriously!! After Deb stood there long enough to make him realize that she wasn't taking that as an answer he finally conceded to help her and Jesse get on their way.

They made it to Logan in good time....Jesse drove! :) We even had time to make a trip for some breakfast to....you guessed it....Angie's!

Then we made a stop at the liquor store and got some beverages for the BBQ.

The BBQ was at Harri's house. She went all out for it. Of course the decorations had a purple theme & there was more food then even a small village could eat.

Not to mention more "beverage" then I could consume although I gave it my best effort! One of my co-workers gave me a fabulous recipe for tasty beverage that will totally do the job in getting you completely fucked up. I can testify it works!

*Fabulous BDAY BBQ Beverage Recipe*
(The BBB)
2 liters of Squirt soda
1 packet of blue berry Kool Aid, other flavors can be substituted
1 pint of Everclear 100 proof alcohol!!

Poor out about 3 inches of soda into a glass to make room for the Kool Aid and alcohol. Add Kool Aid packet & Everclear to remaining Squirt in 2 liter bottle. Quickly put cap back on bottle. Be careful when you open the bottle cause it will fizz all over the place. I suggest opening it in the sink. Poor BBB over ice and enjoy! Good times ahead! Here's the best part. You can't even taste the Everclear!!

I would like to think that since I ONLY invited my closest and dearest friends that I won't forever hear about my ridiculous drunken behavior, but alas these ARE my closest and dearest friend so I can pretty much GUARANTEE that I will never hear the end of what an ass I made of myself. Fucking love you guys!

Clay was in charge of the actual BBQ! He is an amazing cook so of course everything turned out perfect! He cooked BBQ beef and pork with my favorite "Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce." The meat was so tender. Yum!!

Harri's youngest daughter Ashlee was there to eat and laugh at me of course! Cute girl! She's my fave & she shares a birthday with my sister Lisa. Cool huh?

My manager and good friend Manda came. She made this fantastic pasta salad. It was delish!

She also showered me with fabulous presents! My favorite was the purple flip flops of course. They even have purple glittery sparkle on them. And as any former fag hag knows glittery sparkles goes with ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! Well done! Thanks Manda!!

Course my darling Amber Brown was there. Her husband Julius even made an appearance but I didn't get a pic of him. Amber gave me the most fantastic present. A "Grow your own hermit crab." It's a hermit crab that you submerge in H20 and in about 10 days you have a fabulous "Herriette the Hermit Crab" pet for your very own. She was orginaly "Hazet the Hermit Crab" but I took the liberty to change her name to "Harriette." Much better don't ya think? After the 10 day bath Harriette will be 600% larger then she started out as! Wow!! Here's the best bit. If you take Harriette out of the water she will shrink down to her original size & you can grow her over and over again! Fab!! Love it!

Painting done by Deb

As I've said already I was completely spoiled & showered with birthday gifts. All of which I appreciate but they're are a few gift that mean especially a lot to me. I received 3 paintings & a 1 book of original poetry! I have such talented and gifted friends. Now don't forget the the pics of the paintings are pathetically taken with my camera phone and don't even pretend to do justice to the real beauty of the paintings in real life.

Reprint of painting by Janet Hall

Tulips are my favorite flower. My former manager gave me reprints of 2 paintings she had done. They are stunning in real life. The red tulips was turned into a greeting card by my friend Melissa from work. She got all of my co-workers to sign it.

Reprint of painting done by Janet Hall

The purple tulips Janet just gave me. It is so stunningly beautiful in real life. I'm for sure going to frame it and hang it on my wall. Gorgeous!!

Deb also gave me the first copy of her 1st book of poetry. Deb is a gifted and talented writer and poet. I feel so honored that she would give me such a gift. I know that for those who are artistic their art is part of them. Janet said that giving her art away is like ripping her part of her heart out. Wow, that is intense! I don't really understand this emotion as the only poem I've ever written was just the other night and completely inspired by a bottle of wine. I appreciate those who do have talent and who have chosen to share it with me.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SO FABULOUS! I LOVE ALL OF YOU DEARLY. I HOPE I CAN RETURN SOME OF THE LOVE & APPRECIATION THAT YOU HAVE SHOWERED UPON ME THIS LAST WEEK!

Why I don't have any pics on my blog:

FYI: my blog isn't super visually interesting on account I don't have a camera to take pics with. Perhaps I'll make a goal to get one in 2009. Course my posts are so witty and intellectually stimulating that the lack of pics really isn't missed....I wish!