I am so incredibly busy for the next three days before we leave for California for spring break, but I just had to post really quickly about my birthday yesterday. It started off kind of crappy (excuse the term but it really fits) because the only ones to wish me a happy birthday were my husband and mother. Not even my kids. So I went to work knowing that no one would know and that was sad. I was waiting to open my email to make sure that my email card from my very best friend (Jan Gregory) for 36 years would get here. Sure enough, it was there!!! I really love her for that. She NEVER forgets!!!!

So I went through the day with nothing, till I got to grandma's from school and opened my presents Thanks to mom and dad for everything (especially the new computer) and an extremely heartfelt thanks to Tony and Becky for the AWESOME digital camera!!!! What a very generous, but much appreciated gift. I can't wait to figure it out and post pictures! Spring break will give me that chance.

Then I talked to Terry and my visiting teacher called and her family sang Happy Birthday to me over the phone, and the relief society counselor dropped by (I wasn't home) and then I went to kickboxing and called Tony and the bishop and his wife came by with a chocolate cream pie and they sang and I blew out the candles, and it turned out to be a very good day.

Now I have to run!

I guess Tony got here okay this morning. I'm still at work (I have a lab at 1 pm) but called Mom to find out he was at WalMart with dad. That's about the highlight of a trip to Thatcher! I finally got a new computer and cable internet hooked up yesterday! How wonderful! Now I'll be able to blog from home. Now it's wait for the tax refund to get the digital camera. Cameron has had a rough time bouncing back from his bout with the flu. I certainly hope that Lori feels better really quickly! We're lucky that no one else got it here (hear that? that's the sound of me knocking on wood!). Well, that's all for now. We'll enjoy Tony while he's here and see him and Kevin again in April.

We went to the doctor yesterday to find out that Cameron has influenza B and it is apparently going around the school. So he's home again today with Amy and PaNana, which really isn't too bad by his standards because school (actually the work part of it) is not one of his favorite things right now and he likes how Grandma takes care of him when he's sick. He says she's good at that!

We're looking forward to Tony's extremely brief visit on Friday. It may be short, but we're happy with what we get! Cameron is looking forward to Kevin's visit in April. We're still planning on unloading Cameron in Humble sometime this summer. Maybe the whole summer! Just kidding. I'd miss him too much.

Everything else continues to moving along at its merry pace here. Oh, I was going to comment on the jiggity-jig thing. I remember Jeffy used to say "home again, home again, jiggery-jig". I thought it was cute and now I like to say it! I see by everyone else's blogs that things are pretty good with the rest of the family, too. I'm very grateful for that. Heavenly Father has truly blessed the Hemming/Bryan/Gillespie (at least my part) families. Well, I have a faculty meeting now, so I better post this. Love to you all.

Today is sunny and typical of a SE Arizona winter. A very nice day. Cameron is finally back in school today after being sick with a bad cough and fever on Thursday and Friday. No church on Sunday, either, and he was getting really sick of being inside. We're still planning on going to the doctor after school today, though. He had a bad coughing spell in the night, and without any cough syrup to be seen, I had to make him some hot honey with lemon (just like I remembered Mom making for me in the night when I had a bad cough). Initially, it didn't seem to help any, so I asked him if I could go to WalMart and get some medicine. He relented, after complaining about how bad it tastes (that shows how he didn't want to be sick!), and I was off to Wally World at 2:30 in the morning. There aren't many shoppers in the store at that hour, you know? Anyway, I get home with Robitussin gel caps (what a great invention -- just like vitamin E capsules with cough syrup inside -- no more yucky taste if you can swallow pills!!!!) and Ricola (RICOOOOLLLLAAAA) to find that he's gone back to sleep with no more coughing. Too bad I couldn't! Morning came far to early, needless to say. So we'll see how he is.

I've been trying really hard to avoid my morning Cherry Coke ritual (especially when my weight goes up a couple of pounds), but I surely needed one this morning. Kickboxing really kicked me on Thursday. I'm just today feeling like my hamstrings are okay, ready to return tomorrow night for more torture! The things we have to do to get rid of baby fat. I'm tired of Amy's fat, she's three and a half, for crying out loud. But the upside is that everytime I got back down to my prepregnancy weight, I'd get pregnant again. So maybe this time I'll just keep it! No more babies for me! Except Cameron weekly begs for a little brother. He now wants to adopt since so many times I've told him I'm not having any more kids of my own. He's good with Amy (and still obnoxious with Missy, but getting better) but still feels outnumbered! Poor thing!

Okay, time for class. Make it a good day!

I wish things would stop dying in my life! Last week with the snow and the cold and everything our oldest (and most beloved) chicken, Fluffy, caught a cold and cough (Rob noticed on Saturday) and Sunday morning before church, he went out to find that she had passed away in the night. We came in and told the kids, Missy cried but Cameron just said okay. After church, Cameron went out into the alley to bury her and Fuzzy ( so that the dogs in our yard wouldn't dig them back up again). Rob went out to see how he was doing and to take him Fluffy and when he saw her in the box was when he finally let go. Rob asked him if he'd like to say a prayer and after a minute (during which time Rob said the tears were just running off of his nose and down his cheeks) he did. He thanked Heavenly Father for her and our memories of her, and then asked that she be happy wherever she was now. Bless his little heart!!!! We're having struggles with growing up right now (11 going on 15) but times like this remind me why I love him like I do. Cameron is such a wonderful, tenderhearted, young man. I just wish that he would lose some of the bravado!

By the way, I love everyone's blog, just don't find much time to respond. My life is so very hectic. Pinewood Derby was a success, now I have basketball games tonight, kickboxing last night and tomorrow night, stake baptisms and Cameron's baskeball game on Saturday. And trying to find a time to go see "The Queen" with Nana. I'm not even sure what lies in store for next week. I'm afraid to see! Make it a good day!

SNOW!!! We have SNOW!!! Again, I wish I had a digital camera, but maybe later I'll post some pictures. Anyway, Sunday afternoon it started to snow and snowed all night and until about 3 yesterday afternoon. All schools were cancelled, so we played all day in the snow. Cameron was out for almost a straight 8 1/2 hours (only potty breaks prevailed). We also helped shovel snow off of driveways and got out the 4-wheeler and pulled the kids behind on an inflatable boat. We all had a really good time (but I'm sore from shoveling--I'm sure Terry and Kay are very buff now from their shoveling efforts this winter). We got about 6-8 inches yesterday, maybe more, haven't seen an official amount. The snow is still around so I really feel like I'm back in Calgary. That's all for now, meetings await.

Sadness abounds in my life right now! A couple of days ago I got in touch with a friend from graduate school and she informed me that Dr. Van de Graaff had passed away. She didn't know until much after the fact, but it's been a year now. Since it's new to me, though, it's as if it just happened. Dr. Van de Graaff and Dr. Tolman were the two most influence men in my professional and collegiate life. I am where I am today because of their love and concern for me. When I told Rob about Kent's passing, he said, "wasn't he the one that got you into graduate school?" That was just one of the many things he did for me. Most importantly, however, he taught me how to be a good teacher. My students often tell me just how much they enjoy my classes. But it's only because I'm copying him. He has a tremendous legacy, however, because we in the same profession all credit him with our successes. I am truly blessed to have been a friend, and not just a student that passed through his class one semester. For that I will be eternally grateful.

Then, last night, our beloved Fuzzy Butt the Hamster died of complications relating to old age. He was such a good hamster, never bit, let everyone (including Amy) hold and play with him. Cameron took it really well. He is very sensitive with animals and that's why I think he'll end up becoming a veterinarian. He has wanted to be a paleontologist ever since he was 3, so that's okay, too, if he still wants to be that. We've talked about career opportunities ever since he was small, and we know it will be something biology related. Takes after his mom, I guess.

It started raining pretty hard in the night and only stopped in the last ten or fifteen minutes. We love rain because we hardly ever see it. And snow, well, it looks nice from a distance on the mountain. But if the clouds go away (which I doubt because there's no wind and they're pretty thick) and the kids see all the new snow, they'll want to go up and play in it tomorrow. We'll have to see. We went up just after we got back from Christmas because of the snow that fell on our way home, and discovered that some mice (wild ones, not some of ours) had taken up residence in our padded snow boots. So we wore them and then threw them away. So now we have no boots. And I doubt that Wal-mart will have any. We lost our PayLess shoes, so Wallyworld is the only game in town and I don't want to make a trip to Tucson just for boots.

Well, I guess I better get ready for work. Make it a good day.