I wonder where she gets its from?

My mother, Irene:


My niece, Amelia Irene:

My Remodeled Master Bathroom

This summer when I came home from Europe, I noticed that my shower drain was leaking and had even caused damage to the ceiling in my kitchen. "Great," I thought. Well, it actually did turn out to be a great thing. It spurned me to remodel my entire bathroom - something I'd wanted to do since I moved in. I liked my bathroom before, but it was pretty standard and I thought it had some odd spacing choices. Luckily, Randy Williamson, the owner of Colton Cannon Glass & Finishing, lives in my ward and was able to give me a very reasonable estimate for the remodel. I have been extremely impressed with the work that was done and highly recommend him!! If you are considering any remodeling in your own home, give Randy a call and have him give you an estimate. I promise, you will not be disappointed!! Anyways, here are some before and after pictures:

Before - The bathtub

Before - The Shower

Demo - Randy removed the dividing wall between the tub and shower.
He also removed the fiberglass shower and the surround from around the tub.

He then tiled the floor, built and tiled a shower bench,
and tiled the surround around the bathtub.

He also tiled the shower walls.
Ah, I love this brick pattern!!

Finished Product -
The bathtub with tiled surround and tiled shower bench.

Finished Product -
The tiled shower with decorative tile border,
tiled bench, and Euro glass enclosure.

Surgery Saga

Frankenstein Foot

Recovering

So I'd needed foot surgery for awhile now, but I'd put it off. I put it off for several reasons, but the two main reasons came down to inconvenience and expense. I finally decided I couldn't put it off any longer especially when I learned about a pain medication study that would pay for all related medical foot surgeries. "Well," I thought. "If that is the case, expense will no longer be a deterrent."

I looked into the pain medication study and found it to be a legitimate, trustworthy study. All participants receive a free medical foot surgery, including all pre-op and post-op visits, as long as they participate in a 48 hour post-op pain study. In addition to paying all medical costs, the study would also pay each participant $650. Participating in the study seemed to offer a lot of positives. The only negative aspect of participating was the possibility of receiving a placebo pain medication during the 48 hours following surgery. "So what?" I thought. "I'm tough and have a fairly high pain tolerance. I can go through two days with a little pain."

Needless to say, I signed up and had the surgery. Everything went well during surgery and the first few hours after surgery. The medical researchers had me record my pain levels in a pain journal every hour following surgery. The first few times I gave my pain relatively low ratings (1, 2, 4). But after several hours, the medication from surgery had worn off and I began feeling it. When I finally listed my pain level at a 6 out of 10, the researchers began giving me the study "pain medication." It was given through an IV and I was told to let them know when I felt any relief. After 15 minutes, I had felt no relief. In fact, my pain was still increasing. After another hour, the researchers gave me another dose of the "pain medication." Still, I felt no relief and my pain continued to increase.

By this time, I knew that I had definitely received the placebo. Now, I thought I was pretty tough, but I guess when a surgeon saws the bones in your foot in half and reattaches them with screws, it hurts more than I expected. I'm not a whiner or a crier, but I was on the verge of tears. After two rounds of my "pain medication" and a round of ibuprofen, the researchers said I could opt to go "off study." The researchers said that going "off study" meant that whatever they were giving me for the study (the placebo) wasn't working so they'd record those results, stop giving me the study "pain medication" and start giving me Percocet. I told them that I'm not a quitter and I don't like quitting. They laughed and said that it didn't make me a quitter. They said that whenever a patient gets the placebo, this happens - that it's pretty standard.

With that reassurance, I decided to go "off study" and start taking the Percocet. What a difference actual pain medication makes!! I still had to stay my 48 hours to be monitored by the researchers, but instead of taking their fake medicine, they regularly dosed me with sweet, sweet Percocet. I'm home now and am recovering quite nicely. I should be getting my $650 next week and will shortly be purchasing a new iPad. Yes, I experienced 5-6 of the most painful hours of my life, but I got excellent medical care, saved my $1000 insurance deductible, and even made $650. Well worth it.

School Stuff

Last week while Zack was playing with his DS, Louis was watching him and making fun of him because he wasn't doing very well. After Zack made some foolish gaming mistake, Louis stated, "Come on, Zack! What are you doing?" Zack replied, all frustrated, "I know. My brain is so full of school stuff, I can't concentrate." That's right, school stuff is interfering with his gaming abilities. Stupid school stuff.

Making Change

Last week I was at my grandma and grandpa's house when my cousin, Zack, walked in the front door. He lives a few houses away and saw my car in the driveway so he thought he would come over and solicit me for money for his school's jog-athon. He came straight in, ignoring my grandparents, and said, "Mandy, would you like to give me some money?" I just thought he was begging for money so I replied, "No." He continued, "But, Mandy, it's for my school's jog-athon and all the money will stay at the school." Well, I'm a sucker for school fundraisers, so I gave him 5 dollars.

My grandma then turned to my grandpa and told him to give Zack some money, as well. My grandpa got out his wallet and pulled out a 10 dollar bill. He told Zack, "I'll give you the 10 and you give me the 5." Zack snatched the 10 dollar bill from my grandpa and said, "How 'bout I have $15."

I started laughing. Apparently he knows all about adding money, but has yet been taught how to make change.

Great Weekend

Once upon a time (May 26, 2011), I wrote a post titled, "Mixed Feelings." You can go back and read it, but it basically stated the beginning of a hope - a hope that the Diamondbacks would win the National League West Division. Well, on Friday, I was at Chase Field to witness that hope become a reality. It was awesome!! After finishing on the bottom of the division for the past two years, the Diamondbacks surprised everyone (even their most die-hard fans) by not only taking the entire division, but reigning close to the top of the entire league (they are currently in third place, but can move into second place with tonight's game). No one thought this was possible. In fact, after spring training, experts believed they would finish close to the bottom, again. They have truly been the surprise of MLB this year and I've loved watching every moment of it!! Here's a great video of the team celebrating after clinching the division:

Celebrating AZ style . . . by jumping in the pool.

Mom's Birthday @ The Melting Pot

On Tuesday we went to the Melting Pot to celebrate my mom's 54th birthday. Here are a couple of pictures from the celebration:

My Mom and Dad

Jackie and Adam. Doesn't Adam look happy?

Louis, Mindy, and Dad
Now those are some happy faces.

Me and my beautiful mom