The Sabbath Day

As you all know, I have quite possibly the most boring job on the face of the planet. Not that I'm complaining, it pays well, and I love working from home. It's just really boring. And because of that, I listen to whatever I can to distract me from the work. Mostly music and NPR podcasts. And mostly RadioWest. It's an excellent show, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, today's segment of RadioWest had Craig Harline (a BYU professor of European history) talking about his new book: Sunday: A History of the First Day from Babylonia to the Superbowl. Basically they were talking all about Sunday: how people feel about it, how it came to be a day of rest, religious views of it, etc. It was a pretty good program. But the best part, in my opinion, was a story he told of a Utah farmer who decided to test the "Sunday is a day of rest" theory by planting a crop on Sunday, and only caring for it on Sunday. The results? Well, the crop actually turned out pretty good. So he put a sign over it that said, "This crop was grown on Sunday." Enter the "Hand of God," if you will. Lightening strikes the crop, it burns to the ground, and the sign is left hanging over it, now as a warning instead of a boast. Now that is funny.

"But I have to keep my feet on the ground!"

Last night we watched a cinematic masterpiece of the 80's that I had never seen, thus fulfilling my long-burning desire to see this film. We watched "The Neverending Story."

I remember seeing all the commercials as a kid, and wanting to see it pretty bad, but for some reason we never went. My family wasn't really the movie-going type growing up, probably in part because who wants to take Whitney to a movie and try and keep her quiet for 2 hours? And besides that, you never know when any little kid is going to be freaked out by a movie, and that movie did have some pretty freaky parts. Anyway, after all this time I still remember those commercials, and I was still wondering what that movie was all about, so when we found it at the library, we jumped at the opportunity and checked it out.

I wasn't disappointed. The 7-year-old girl inside of me was finally fulfilling the dream, finally finding out what a luckdragon is, finally seeing the childlike empress. It was great. OK, I'll admit, the movie is a little trippy, and there are some parts that, quite frankly, would have given me major nightmares as a child. And it was very 80's, all the music, the "special effects." But really, I liked it. I was a bit worried that it would be one of those movies you have to see as a child to appreciate, and if you see it for the first time as an adult, you'll hate it, but that wasn't the case. It probably helped that I wanted to see it for so many years, that I remembered the trailer for it, and that I watched it with Clark, who had seen it as a child. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble now, so I'd better go. I've got to find my luckdragon.

Music: The Universal Language

I happened upon an article in Sunday's paper that really got to me. This guy is compiling all the music he can find that was composed in WWII concentration and prison camps. The first thing that caught my attention: who knew that there was music composed in prison/concentration camps? You wouldn't think of that as the most nurturing environment for the creative process. Secondly: Who knew that there are volumes of this stuff? "The library, set to open in September at Rome's Third University, will offer scholars a repertoire of 4,000 papers and 13,000 microfiches including music sheets, letters, drawings and photos." That's a lot of music! And finally: Who knew that anything like this could survive not only the camps themselves, but the test of time. It mentions that at least one composer used mostly toilet paper to write all his music down. Toilet paper. The stuff that is made to decompose easily, right? How on earth has this stuff made it to 2007? Incredible, really. I just thought it was really cool, and I for one would love to hear some of these pieces performed.

Happiness is. . .

These:

Make me go like this:

Shannon and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Do you ever wake up just knowing it's going to be a bad day? That was me this morning. I'm just not in a happy mood. Which is funny because yesterday was fine, this weekend was wonderful. We got our taxes done yesterday, and we are getting a pretty good refund, which is awesome. And I really do have a good life. But today, I feel all mad at the world. Partly it's because of unsolvable problems, partly it's because of the headache I've got (I think it's the allergies), and probably the fact that I didn't sleep well has something to do with my mood. So the question I pose to all of you is: What do you do to put yourself in a better mood? I'm sure everyone has their little thing that makes them feel better. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Let me know you're out there.

Doh!

I had quite the "Doh!" moment this weekend. We had purchased some cookies for the Millars' after-blessing extravaganza, and I thought it would be better to put the cookies on a plate and pretend that I had made them than to bring in the packaging from the store. So I found a paper plate at the Blockburger's abode, and some saran wrap. Saran wrap is always such a struggle. It sticks so well to itself that you have a huge ball of saran wrap that you have to untangle, and yet it doesn't stick to anything else, so it practically falls off the plate of cookies. I was struggling with just getting it out of the box, so Clark came in to give me a hand. He held the box while I rolled some of the plastic out, and then I made the swift motion to rip it off. Alas! Clark wasn't ready for that swift motion! I yanked, he held onto the box, but the roll of saran wrap came flying out, hitting me in the eye. It actually stung pretty bad, and I was in shock that it had come at me so fast. One minute I'm working on unfolding the edges, the next minute, WHAM! Right in the eye! But after about 10 minutes, I thought it was rather comical. So I shared.

The race! And blessing!

This weekend was the big race (as you already know). Clark ran (you can check his blog for those details) and Sabrina and I walked, with Adie in the stroller. It was a good time, took us about an hour, but we weren't concerned about time, as evidenced by my potty break in the middle of the race. But here are some pictures of the event. Clark wouldn't wear his new Rex Lee Run shirt because it was pink and brown. Flat out refused. Until Sunday afternoon when we were leaving for home, then he put it on. So I took a picture to document the occasion.It was also wonderful to see everyone, especially that little Adie. She has grown quite a bit since we last saw her, she's a little bit pudgy. I like it. Fat babies are cute. So here are some pictures of her as well.

It never ends!

As you know, we've been having problems getting our Deseret Morning News delivered. Usually we just don't get it, or we get it quite late in the day. Today, we got the Salt Lake Tribune. At least we got something, just not the right thing. And as a side note, this is the 3rd Monday in a row that we've had struggles with the newspaper. I wonder if someone different does it Monday, or if it's just as hard for our carrier on Monday mornings as it is for everyone else. Who knows. We should be getting our regular paper delivered soon here, but I'm not holding my breath.

Weekly Quote 3/26/07

Last week's quote, "Patience has ceased to be a virtue!" was from Anne of Green Gables. Excellent show. New quote up!

4 years

It's official: I feel old.

I went visiting teaching today. We got a new girl, her name is Ashley, she's my choir buddy. Anyway, there is a certain amount of introduction that happens when you get a new visiting teachee, where are you from, what do you do, etc. So we do all that. It's good. A while later, we're talking about how we need to get our taxes done (yeah, I know, we live on the edge by waiting until April, it adds excitement to our lives), and Ashley is an accounting major, so she tells me about a volunteer student tax help group that can help you do your taxes. Great! And she says that if you just have W2's, it's pretty easy and pretty quick. Even better! And then I made a comment about how Clark was in school last year, and I couldn't remember if he got a grant or not for that last semester, but perhaps that would have to be factored in, just an offhand comment. And Ashley asks me, "Oh, did you go to school?" It was then that it hit me: I graduated almost 4 years ago. 4 years?! That's like enough time to go get another bachelor's degree! So I relay this sad fact, and my companion looks at me and says, "Whoa, 4 years? How old are you?" 25. "Really? I guess I just feel like everyone in our ward is the same age. I just assumed you were like 21." Which, really, I think there are a lot of 21-22 year old women in our ward. I'm just not one of them. It's a sad but true fact.

Don't worry, I know that I'm not really that old, I've still got a lot of life in my. It was just a harrowing moment to realize that I was 4 years older than the other 2 people in the room.

Scripture Power!

I have never been the best scripture reader. I just forget, and I get caught up in other, less important things. I mean, really, here I am, I work part-time from home, and I take care of our house. Surely I have time to read scriptures, but I just don't. I work, and then I clean, and then it's time for dinner, and then we watch TV. Yeah, TV. We need to watch less TV. Anyway, Clark and I have been pretty good about reading scriptures together, but I have been sadly lacking in the area of personal scripture study.

You wanna guess what our lesson in Relief Society was on Sunday? That's right: Scriptures! So I've turned over a new leaf, I've decided that I really can't afford not to read the scriptures. Life is just better when I do. So I pulled out my old scripture markers (for some reason that helps me, to have the markers there), and started afresh yesterday. I've decided to read the New Testament, since that is what the Sunday School classes are doing this year (I'm in the Marriage and Family Relations class right now, but someday we'll get to the New Testament). I'm excited about it. Anyway, with this renewed effort, I've decided I should keep track of what I read each day, in the hopes that I'll stay on top of it if I have to record my readings everyday. Thus the new blog feature: Scripture Reading of the Day. It's at the bottom of the page, don't worry. Really, it's just for me, but I thought I'd give a little explanation of it.

And just so you know, we did get the newspaper this morning. And there was much rejoicing.

Case of the Missing Paper Part 21

I'm rather perturbed by this whole newspaper mess, in case you couldn't tell. We didn't get the paper yet again today. Yes, I called them 3 times yesterday and never received a paper. And yes, I called them about 3, maybe 4, times today with no paper. But the people that I actually talk to on the phone are very sympathetic, and helpful. The problem lies with the people in St George, I believe. In my most recent phone conversation, the customer service representative gave me credit for the non-delivered paper today (don't worry, we got credit for yesterday as well), and she mentioned that the manager down here is required to re-deliver a paper if you call in before 10 (which I did). She gave me her name, and told me to call in the morning to let her know if I got today's paper or not. How kind and thoughtful?

This just in! The paper arrived! Only 9 hours late, but at least we got it. So Part 21 of this saga is closed, but will there be a Part 22 tomorrow? Only time will tell.

Hot Date!

I guess this speaks for itself.

Case of the Missing Newspaper, Part 20

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we have major problems with the Deseret News Newspaper Agency. First off, they were about a week late in starting the paper, and then we got the wrong paper for another week or so. And then there are multiple days where we just don't get the paper, and a lot of other days where the paper comes at about 10am. I realize that, living in St George, there can be delays and we might not get the paper at 7:00am, like those in the Salt Lake Valley do. I generally don't care too much as long as we get the paper. Our paper carrier has come to our door before, twice actually. She came one night to let me know that, "I did deliver the paper, so someone must be stealing it. I really can't do anything after I deliver it." I found that paper in the bushes about 3 weeks later. You might not be able to do much after you deliver it, but when you are throwing it you can make sure it doesn't land in the bushes. The second time she came by to apologize for the paper being late one day, as she was sick. We had quite the chat then about how it can be late, and she just has so many papers to deliver, and how she is so dependable, I'll always get my paper, I don't need to be calling in and complaining, she'll get them to me. And I told her that I just didn't know when to expect my paper, and you have to call in before 10 or else they can't give you a new paper. And she basically said, "Well, I'll always get it to you." LIES. (Imagine Dolores Umbridge's pen: I must not tell lies.) Just a week ago, we didn't get the paper. I called in at about, oh, 4 or 5pm, and the guy on the phone said, "I wish we could do something, but you need to call by 10am." I mentioned to him that I realize that things might be delayed because I live in St George, to which he responded, "Yeah, but it should be there by 10." And I also told him about my paper carrier telling me that she'll always get it to me, and he said, "You should never feel bad about calling us - if you didn't get the paper by 10, you didn't get the paper. And if there is a problem, we need to know about it so we can fix it." I was pleased with that, he was quite helpful, and made me better prepared if that crazy lady comes to my door again.

Fast forward to today. No paper. I called at 10. They said they'd send one out. It's 1:30. I called again. They said they'd send one out. I'll be totally ticked if we don't get it. And they will hear about it.

Weekly Quote 3/19/07

Last week's quote was indeed from Shrek. I was just telling Clark that I needed to update my quote, and he said, "Are you going to pick one that Al won't get in less than 3 seconds?" I was tempted by the thought. But then I thought of this really great one, and I know that Al will get it in less than 3 seconds, but it's still so good. Anyway, it's up, let's see how long before Al posts the answer ;).

Emerald Pools

Clark mentioned that I'd give you more details about our hike, so here they are. We went back to Zion (it's a our new favorite place) and hiked to all 3 Emerald Pools. It was a nice little hike, not too steep, and it's always nice when your hike has a destination. And it wasn't deep sand! It makes it much easier when the earth beneath you doesn't slide around. I particularly liked the part where we walked under the waterfall, and the tree growing in the rocks (I call it my "Tree Grows in Brooklyn" tree). We plan to go to Zion as often as possible, it's beautiful up there.

Oh! And we got a park's pass! So now we can go to any National Park we want to! Happy Late Birthday, Clark! (It was my birthday gift to him, but I didn't want to buy it before his birthday, since it's only good for a year from the date of purchase, so we waited until we were actually going to the park and paying for ourselves to get it. Complicated, I know.)

Ward Choir Strikes Again!

I forgot to post this on Sunday, so I'm posting it now. We had choir practice after church on Sunday afternoon. Now, I'd like you all to remember that Easter is April 8. The week before is General Conference, so there will be no choir practice then, and the week before that is Fast Sunday, and they don't like the choir to meet on Fast Sundays, so no practice that week either. This means that we have 2 practices before our Easter program. Right, we saw the song the choir is singing on Sunday. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it was a hymn or something, but we are singing "This is the Christ," which is a tricky little song. If you've heard it before, you know what I'm talking about. Lots of funny intervals, weird notes, etc. It's tricky. We have about 9 people in our choir, and about 3 of those say they don't know how to sing. Excitement galore. This is on top of the fact that we don't actually have a choir director, the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric just thought we needed a choir so he started one up, but he has meetings after church on Sundays. So he's in and out, running around, trying to take care of all his duties. The first week we met, he explained that he is the "temporary" choir director, and they are looking for volunteers of people who want to lead the choir. Volunteers? Nobody is going to volunteer for that job, let's be honest. If they called me in and officially extended the calling to me, I'd do it, but I'm certainly not going to volunteer.

So we're trying to figure out parts, singing our song, Bro Robbins comes back in to help us out, and he says, "And this is where Shannon is going to sing." Um, apparently he had signed me up for a solo section without actually telling me that. I'll do it, it's fine, I've sung the song before so I know how it goes, but he made it sound like we had talked about it before, and we most certainly had not. Just another example of people in the church burdening the music people. It happens all the time ("Can you play today for RS?" "Oh, we switched the hymns on you today, is that going to be ok?" "We need a pianist for tomorrow, can you play this song that you've never heard before?"), so we aren't surprised.

A little advise. . .

Some advise for all you visiting/home teachers out there:

If you make an appointment for 7:00pm, and then call at 5:45pm the same day to let them know, "We're going to be a little bit early. See you at 6:30!" that is alright. But you should come at 6:30, not 6:50. And you may or may not think about the fact that some people have dinner at 6:30, or the fact that calling at 5:45 doesn't give them enough time to make dinner and eat it before 6:30, but you should consider it. But even if all these things happen, it's alright, we'll forgive you, we're all just doing our best. However, if after all of that, you are there, talking away, and your host takes dinner out of the oven, it's generally frowned upon to stay for another 20 minutes. And especially when your host isn't even the one talking, you are talking about yourselves.

Just so you know.

Basilia's

Since my parents were in town, we went out to dinner last night. We went to Basilia's Mediterranean Cafe, which is about a block from our house, and I've been wanting to go there for quite some time. They did not disappoint. It's got a great atmosphere, very laid back, nice furniture and decor. It's got a very artsy feel to it. And the food was great as well - they serve Greek, Italian, and Middle Eastern food. I got the gyro, and it was excellent. But they really do have a wide variety of menu items, and I hope we go back sometime to try the baklava. Yum!

And on a completely unrelated note, I discovered today a town called Battle Mountain, NV. Apparently the Washington Post named them the "Armpit of America" back in 2001, and Battle Mountain capitalized on it by creating the "Armpit of America Festival." And who sponsors this event? Why Old Spice, of course. And it takes place in a pit mine. But perhaps two of the greatest facts about Battle Mountain are these: 1) It was named for a battle between settlers and Indians. A battle that, apparently, never happened; and 2) They have a mountain with the town letters on it (much like many Utah mountains). Unfortunately, their letters are "BM."
It just cracked me up.

Call me Zig. Zigmo.

I'm just a blogging fiend today, but I just thought that Rob and Amber getting out needed a post all on its own.

My parents came down last night, and they brought with them a box full of my old books and things. I thought that it would be more like textbooks and novels and stuff, but it turns out that it was children's books, and my old journals, yearbooks, etc. I love strolling down memory lane, remember what it was like to be a kid. Good times. Of particular note is the fact that I found my old old journal, the one my mom wrote in for me, starting when I was 18 months old. I had thought it was lost and gone forever, I hadn't seen the thing since I was about 15. Anyway, it's interesting to look back and remember all sorts of things. And not remember things. For instance, I always signed my journal, it was kind of like an Anne Frank thing, like writing a letter to the reader or something. Anyway, there are a few entries from June 1994 where I signed my name, "Shannon Anderson, alias Zig(mo)." So I'm sitting here trying to remember where on earth I got the name Zig(mo) and who even called me that. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I certainly wouldn't have remembered it if I hadn't read it. So if anyone out there remembers me being called Zig(mo) and has some insight, I'd love to hear it. But since the chances of that are slim to none, I'll just have to keep pondering it over here.

Rob and Amberexia

Last night a momentous thing occurred. We were watching The Amazing Race (as usual), and hoping for Rob and Amber to get eliminated (as usual). But you see, Rob and Amber are actually quite good. They play dirty (which is why we hate them), but the also play hard. The first three legs of this race, they came in first. This means they have an automatic headstart on the other teams before the race even begins. Add in the fact that they are really good at racing, and it just seems impossible that they will ever come in last, and thus be eliminated. But last night, they kept falling further and further behind. We thought it would be close, but we just knew that in the end there is now way they could be eliminated this early on. We're only on leg 4, they'll pull it off somehow. Not to mention the fact that they were continuing to play dirty, which makes people hate them, but unfortunately it works. They trick people all the time, which is completely to their advantage. So we plugged along, continuing to not like them, thinking there was just no way they'd be out of the race.

Imagine my disbelief when they came in last! And imagine my joy at hearing the words from Phil's lips: "Rob and Amber, I'm sorry to tell you you have been eliminated from the race." Oh, there was much rejoicing at our house. It was wonderful. I just had to share.

Weekly Quote 3/12/07

"It's like living with a 6-year-old." The Three Amigos, a fine piece of cinema. New quote up!

Zion, again!

Well, today we went to Zion National Park with our friends the Porters. We hiked the Sand Bench trail, which, according to our park information, is a horse trail in the summer and a hiking trail in the winter. It says right in the description to hike this trail in, "Late October to March, before the trail rides begin for the season. It's possible to avoid horses by hiking before 7am or after 5pm the rest of the year." However, we did see a few horses on the trail. I guess by "October to March" they really meant "October to March 1." Oh well, there weren't too many horses, and it was a fun trail. Lots of sand. Hence the name. And here are some pictures! My foot is in the deep, deep sand, just wanted to capture that. And the people you probably don't recognize are the Porters - Brandon, Danielle, and Laneah (one of the cutest babies I know). And who doesn't want to see a picture of a baby sucking on a backpack, really?

"If this was my career, I'd have to throw myself in front of a train."

I've been meaning to post for a couple of days here, but nothing truly exciting seems to happen, so I've been putting it off. Let's see. . . what's been going on lately. . . oh yeah! Nothing.

Well, OK, yesterday I borrowed the first season of The Office from our neighbor. I've just heard so much about that show, and I've only watched a few episodes. And they are pretty funny. So I watched the entire first season yesterday. Now, before you go thinking that is an incredible feat (or really that I watch entirely too much TV [which is probably true]), there are only 6 episodes in the first season. 1/2 hour long show, cut out the commercials, so yeah, it was really just over 2 hours. More like a movie, actually. And it was enjoyable. Now I'll have to borrow Season 2.

The other thing I did yesterday was start the cleaning process in preparation for the Andersons coming to visit. Yeah, my parents are coming down on Sunday night, and then they'll be all over the place hiking, but we should still see them at night and stuff. They are actually heading over to Death Valley, apparently there are awesome wildflowers there in the spring. We'll have to get a full report from them.

Well, that is all. Over and out.

Let the cutting begin!

Last night was the first big sewing adventure. I'd like to point out that still nobody called me to remind me, but oh well, I had called around and found out the date and time, so we were good. It was "cutting night," they just wanted everyone to get their material cut out, and if there was time we'd do the sewing. Don't worry, there was no time to do the sewing. And I really don't know how every girl is going to be able to sew everything in just one more night, but whatever. There were probably 6 girls there, and their leaders (the non-sewers), and then 3 of us outsiders. So they thrust the patterns at us and we were off - the mass chaos began! I seriously felt like it was a whirlwind of a night. They have to make an apron, bloomers, a bonnet, and a skirt. The first three are all from a pattern, the skirt has no pattern, they are just sort of figuring it out. It was tricky, but I think everyone got everything cut out.

I was working with 2 girls. One of the girls was really cool, I liked talking to her and she seemed, while not entirely excited about being in the wilderness for 3 days, at least like she'd have a good attitude about the whole thing. The other girl kept leaving. She had to "get a drink." Yeah, she was totally going out in the hall to talk to some boys. But here is the funny thing. She was not what you'd call excited about this pioneer trek, and she was especially not excited about wearing "dorky clothes" in front of the boys. She was very concerned about this. And yet she was cutting her stuff out really fast (so that she could go get another drink), and let's just say it didn't turn out quite as straight as it could have. I wanted to tell her, "You know, the less time you spend here, the dorkier you look, and then all your 'drinks' will have done you no good, cause you'll look like crap." Of course I didn't. This was also the girl who asked, "So, are we staying in log cabins or what?" Um, log cabins? No, try sleeping on the ground under the stars. I think the trek will be tough for her, what do you think?

Editorial

Those of you who subscribe to the Deseret Morning News should go look at the Readers' Forum of your paper. Those who don't (or are too lazy to go get the paper) should go check this out:

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660200823,00.html

4 inches?

On Saturday, I got my haircut. It was long overdue, really, seeing as the last time I had my hair cut was Memorial Day. And that time I had gone in to Great Clips because I donated my 10 inches to Locks of Love and they give free haircuts if you do that. Let's just say that it was most definitely a free haircut, nothing fancy, nothing exciting. And my "stylist" didn't even speak English very well, it was not the greatest of experiences, but it's all good. I am not so picky about my hair, and since it was a simple cut, we were good.

Anyway, back to Saturday. I got all shampooed, back in the chair, we are ready to go, and she mentions that it looks like the back is a bit shorter than the front, but that is apparently somewhat normal, especially if you haven't cut your hair in a while. Some parts just grow faster. I thought that was weird, but understandable, no big deal. She starts cutting. And then she has this look on her face like, I don't want to freak her out, which of course makes me wonder what is going on. She says, "Um, there is a really big difference from the front to the back, like 4 inches." 4 inches?! You mean to tell me I've been walking around with my hair 4 inches shorter in the back?! OK, I wasn't quite that upset, but I was starting to feel embarrassed, like I'd been walking around with crappy hair for months. But she mentioned that it really didn't look like that big of a difference when I came in, and it looked fine. So I felt a bit better.

Anyway, she evened it out, and gave me a very cute cut. She kept worrying that I would not be happy because it is too short, but not at all, I love it. And it's not even that short, I've had it much shorter. It's cute, I like it. I just thought I'd share the 4 inches adventure.

Weekly Quote 3/5/07

"P.J. I like that, do you know I do. Hiss, put it on my luggage." was from Robin Hood. I know, I've quoted that one quite often, but it's just so quotable.

New quote up!

Ahhhh, much better

Everything is much better today. I think those antibiotics are doing their magic, now that I've figured out I need to take them with food (you'd think I would remember that I have a sensitive stomach when it comes to medications, and thus whenever the bottle says "May need to take with food," I should just do it, but no). Fever seems to be be gone for now. I just generally feel better. And I was able to go walking today, which just puts me in a good mood.

I also tackled the medical records problems we've been having, and we seem to have worked everything out. The St George doc finally signed the test results, so those are sent, and we signed a release form for the SLC office, so that should be good to go as well. I just feel so much better about it all, life is good.

And it's a beautiful day today! Sun is shining, birds are singing, it's just a beautiful day. And it's a Friday to boot! I'm just a ball of optimism today. If you have anything you need to ask of me, today would be a good day to do it, I'm just in a great mood.

Red Tape

I hate doctors.

No wait, that's not entirely true. I hate the people who work for doctors.

I hate the insurance people. I hate the medical records people. I hate the fact that no one is helpful, and they all seem to be rude. I feel like all of the office staff thinks I'm out to cheat the doctor of some money, and so they are rude. And I hate red tape. We moved down here when, September? Right. So then we had to wait for our insurance to change. And then we had to wait for the new year so that we wouldn't have to pay 2 deductibles within 3 months. So I finally go to the doctor down here, and it's a complicated process getting all my records down here. But we are here, records are here, things are settled. Until now. We've got to send those records to yet another doctor, and there are 2 problems.

1) I had an appointment on February 7, and the doctor still hasn't signed the chart for that date. But the results of that appointment are crucial, in fact that is when she mentioned going to this other doctor. Yes, it is March 1. I have no idea why it takes a month to sign a chart. You'd think there would be laws about that, having to get it done in a week. In fact, when I worked at the PT clinic, I think there were rules about that, and they did have to get them signed within a week. Dumb.

2) Apparently when I had "all of my records" sent down from Salt Lake, not all of them got sent. Yet another crucial test result is still in Salt Lake. And they can only send it down to the doctor they sent all my other records to. I thought, ok, we'll just have them pass it along. But come to find out the St George doctor can't just pass it along. Once they get the results one of their doctors has to sign it before it can be passed along. So now I'm not really sure what to do. I could try and fax a signed release form, and get the SLC doctor to send the results to the new doctor, but I don't have a fax machine, or the form for that matter. What I would really like to do is just get the results for myself, then I can always have a copy of them and I can show them to whoever I want. But I don't know how to get that, because, again, I don't have a fax machine. Will they let you receive faxes at the local copy store? These are things I don't know.

But I do know that I'm totally ticked at the medical profession right now. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I just went to the Urgent Care center for my sore throat, spent 2 hours there, and in the end didn't really get a "diagnosis." My actual time with the doctor was this: "What's going on today? Ok, let's take a swab." (He leaves, and comes back in about 20 minutes) "Well, it's not strep, here is a prescription, good luck." I guess you don't need to say much else, but you know, he didn't even tell me what the prescription was for. I got some pills and some cough syrup, who knew he prescribed cough syrup? I'm just all bothered. Maybe the cough syrup will knock me out, and then I won't be stewing about it anymore.