Flashback Friday! WTBM and Kelsie’s Kitchen.

 I know it’s Sunday.  . .  Last week had two rather big events so I am behind. 

About this time in 2018 (now about 5 years ago) a woman name Kelsie Nixon reached out to me on Etsy so ask if I would create a window treatment for the set of her kitchen on the food network! Her show was called Kelsie’s Kitchen. Of course I accepted! At the time we were the highest ranking window treatments provider on Etsy. I had the most sales and most 5 star reviews. It was an absolute honor to participate in this project and I am still very proud of it!

I sold the business in December of 2019. It was very satisfying to create a successful business from the ground up. I employed many people over the years. This is just one of many public successes we had. Some others include being in HGTV magazine, having window treatments in episodes of House Hunters and Buying and Selling. . .  My proudest achievement, though. . . . I never once in ten years took out a line of credit or had a business credit card! The business could always pay for everything from business funds! 

Every once in a while I think I miss it. But then Ashley writes me about something dumb someone is complaining about and then I remember what a depleting, soul-sucking responsibility it is to be a business owner. You’re the only one with all the answers, have to be available at all times. . . .I was good at it, but it I didn’t want that life anymore. So I sold it and now here I am! I am very proud of what I built though. (And Garren . .  I built this with Garren. He was very instrumental behind the scenes). The business is still running strong today and with many of the original seamstresses. They are who I miss the most. I wouldn’t be anything without them. They built my products better than I did! Amazing, talented women they are. I will hold them in a special place in my heart forever. I wasn’t always the most pleasant person to work for, but they stuck it out with me. I’m forever grateful to them for that.

Monday, March 20, 2023

 Last week was Spring Break. My mom took the kids up to the cabin on Monday. I worked on Monday night so I slept Tuesday during the day. Garren went out for dinner and then took Sugar for a walk. Then we we watched the Elvis movie, which wasn’t what I was expecting. It was good, but not what I was expecting. The guy that played Elvis was cute, so it’s all good. Didn’t like Tom Hanks in it. And that’s my review for you!

The turtles woke up from hibernation and then immediately did this:

Like they missed each other or something. Needed to be all bundled up together. 

Sugar was outside for a whole day again during the renovation and did this:

I don’t even know what to say. Again, here is what it looks like before she messes it up.

I drove up to the cabin on Wednesday. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground so we didn’t do much. I think that’s exactly what we need, though. We watched lots of movies, played games lie “what if” and Pictionary. We played slap jack and Sugar tried to play with us! She’d sit next to us and watch as we put the cards down. Then when we’d slap shed slap her paw on the pile too! We got it on video, but it’s on Miriam’s phone. I’ll have to get it from her and upload it here. Miriam and I crocheted, colored, and shopped! We found a gem store. Miriam is getting into astrology and that sort of thing. I went to my favorite store, Pinetop Olive Oil, and got new oils, vinegars, and a cook book! One of these days Garren is going to cut me off on the cook books! Well, maybe he won’t, but he probably should. . . 

Here is where we are at with the bathroom renovation. 

It’s going to be gorgeous! It’s taking a little longer than we ever imagined, so Garren had a “Come to Jesus” with our tile guy yesterday. He’s been here for two hours already this morning and has done a ton. So I think Garren got through to him. We decided to do a wood look tile on top of the bench so that it could tie in with the floor tile. We had him arrange it in a herringbone pattern like on the main floor tile. 

This tile is the same colors as the main floor tile. I was worried about the main floor tile not matching what we chose for the shower, but I think this will make it tie in nicely. 

Now for the upcoming week. I have a simulation today at school, which I expect to be spectacularly boring. Then grandpa’s funeral on Wednesday. Introduction to Electrolytes on Thursday. Yea.  . .  Then my first clinical at a long term care facility on Friday. Yea. Miriam has another swim meet on Saturday, though! That will be the highlight of the week!

As always, this post is brought to you by Sugar, the lap dog. 

Flash Back Friday Spring Break 2020 The Day Disneyland Closed for Covid

 We were at Disneyland i for Spring Break in March 2020 when it closed for Covid. Covid had become an issue that we started taking seriously a few weeks prior to our trip. My mom asked us not to go to Disneyland. It was my family, my sister, Ashley, her boyfriend (at the time, Daniel, who would propose to her on this trip) and Daniel’s daughter and niece. We debated whether or not to go, but decided to risk it. It was very strange. Disneyland usually has smells when you walk down Main Street, like cookies baking. But it smelled like hand sanitizer! It was so weird. Very un-Disney-like.

Many people canceled their trips because of Covid, so the park was empty. We went on the train that goes around Disneyland and we were practically the only ones. 

There were no lines for anything. It should have been great, but in reality it was unsettling because you knew it was because a deadly virus and fear were keeping people away. It made me wonder if I should be scared. I recall that I was concerned, but I didn’t feel scared.  . . Yet.

All the Disney cast members were wearing gloves. Even though they were white and looked innocent, it was unnerving. 

They were installing signs in the bathrooms while we were there: “Wash hands for twenty seconds.”

We tried to have fun, but it was all so un-Disney-like. The water in the water rides like Pirates and Splash Mountain smelled like chlorine. We still had a good time, but I think inside we were all becoming very worried. 

Only Miriam’s hands. Haha. She’s a thrill seeker!

It rained on our second day. We bought four day tickets, but if I recall correctly we only planned to go for three. I got some kind of deal and getting the four day ended up being cheaper than three day.

Joshua finally rode Space Mountain! He doesn’t like these types of rides. 

We got to experience Star Wars Land for the first time. It was very well done! Oddly enough we ran into Joshua’s friend from school (Kayden). So Josh and I went with Kayden and his grandmother on the “rogue” ride (I forget what it’s called). I think they was nice for him to get to experience that with a friend who shared a similar “like” of such things. Then we went on the other new Star Wars ride together as a family. They were both incredible! Well done!

Josh doesn’t like Splash Mountain. So I went with Miriam, then Garren went with Miriam, then Ashley went with Miriam. Haha!

I got Cinnamon this cute Minnie Mouse collar. She wore it until she died. 

I can only ride one fast ride a day because it make my joints hurt. So I rode Space Mountain. Miriam really wanted to do the one that goes upside down in DCA. So Garren, Ashley, and Daniel went with her. 

Josh loves the Autopia. I think he and I did that one about 6 times! When The others went to DCA to do the rollercoaster, Josh and I went on Autopia. Those were the last rides we did at Disneyland. They had announced earlier in the day that they would be closing Disneyland due to Covid concerns. So we knew it was our last day. We only used 2 of our 4 days. 

These pictures were from earlier in the day, but we rode it for the last time at night. The others were on that ride in DCA and it shut down while they were on it!!! Like, way up high!! So they all had to exit the ride by going down those sketchy looking stairs! In the dark! And it had been raining all day!! I was glad I wasn’t there. I probably would have peed my pants. 

This was Disneyland as it was closing. They had to cancel the fireworks show because of wind. But they still did the show they do where they put up video projections on the buildings on Main Street. It was very sad and emotional. All the characters, and I mean ALL the characters came out and lines Main Street and were blowing kisses to everyone as they left the park. I’m even crying right now writing this. It was so sad! And scary! 

The next morning, Disneyland was a ghost town. So strange to see it “sleeping.” We walked around for a bit, I think because we just didn’t know what to think, how to feel, or what was to come. 

We drove home that day. Since I booked through Disneyland we got a refund for the hotel. I opened to keep the tickets though because we thought we’d use them later. They anticipated being closed for two weeks. They ended up closing for a year. We didn’t know that at the time. We thought Covid would die out over the summer and we’d go back over fall break and use our remaining two days on our tickets. Little did we know. . . . 

I think for our family this is where our Covid experience began: The Day Disneyland Closed. 

Sunday, March 12, 2023

 This past week was uneventful, until last night. . . when Grandpa died. . . . 

This was the last school week of Labs. We had our final practicum which was catheter insertion. I practiced on Joshua’s monkey stuffed animal. Poor monkey. . . 

I passed the practicum even though I had the hardest evaluator. And I kept making stupid mistakes. But I’d catch myself and correct it. I kept saying, “I broke sterile field, so I would get a new kit and start over.” I probably went through 18 “imaginary” kits. I just didn’t want to fail over something like sterile field. Glad it’s over with.

I did have the teacher evaluating me who is notoriously hard on students. She was very nice and I didn’t find it difficult to perform in front of her. Well, aside from the jitters I would have had with any evaluator. The students in my class are hard on this teacher. They often complain about her teaching style and methods, but I don’t have a problem with it. She gives us all the information we need to prepare for her lectures before class starts. But the other students act like they are walking in blind and leaving completely uninformed. That just isn’t the case. Maybe she needs to make it more clear that she gives us the class preparation guide before class begins. They all prefer our other teacher’s teaching style, but I don’t. The teacher they are hard on isn’t the most ‘lively’ or entertaining teacher, but she knows her stuff and has many years of experience. When she tells me something I know I can take that for the “gospel truth.” Our other teacher is fun, young, and energetic. She shares a lot of experiences and stories. That’s what the other students like about her. Honestly, it takes up a lot of class time and she doesn’t finish her lectures. She ends up having to go home and record more lecture for us to watch later. But I can’t ever watch them because the time I have for lecture is just the time that I am in lecture! So, I appreciate that the other teacher is able to stick to that schedule and get all the information in. I do like both teachers. Their methods and styles are different. 

Our bathroom remodel is coming along. Here’s where we stand currently. Our remodel guy is very slow. I knew that going into it as he did our kitchen backsplash. We made a schedule when we started this for progress payments to give along the way. We finished those progress payments a week ago and the next payment due was scheduled for when the project was complete. We are no where even close to complete because he is so slow and only works 4 or so hours a day. So on Thursday he was getting ready to leave and said, “Smaller progress payment tomorrow. Maybe $2,000?” I said, “Not according to our agreement. We don’t owe you anything else until the project is complete.” He gave me a look and said, “I’ve gotta have something.” I said, “So do I. I need a bathroom.” Then I said I’d talk to Garren and see where we’re at and get back to him. On Friday he worked a little faster and even had some things in progress on Saturday with the plumber and electrician. So I guess he’ll work a little faster now that he knows he doesn’t get paid again until he’s done. He’s probably about 3 weeks out! That’s my guess.

Last night we went to my dad’s office for our yearly tax meeting. We buy him dinner and have a meal together then we do our taxes. While we were there my Uncle Mark called Dad and told him that my grandpa had died. My dad said they were expecting it and he had gone over the day before to give him a blessing. He didn’t think it would be so soon though. I was glad we were with him when he got the call. We stayed for an extra thirty or so minutes to just chat and try to comfort him. 

This is a picture of me and Josh with my grandpa and Dad and Uncle Mark. I took my kids over a few times to do puzzles and games with him so they could get to know him a little bit. I’m glad we had that time together. I am very grateful for my Aunt JoAnn and Uncle Mark who had Grandpa living with them for the past few years until he went to a group home. It is challenging mentally, physically, and emotionally to be a caregiver. 

Unfortunately, I don’t have many memories with my grandpa. He lived in Hawaii and California and didn’t visit often. But from what I experiences I did have with him I know he had a strong testimony of the church and he was great at family history. When he would come visit he would always show us what progress he’s made on the family tree. Dad said he had made comments recently that if he wasn’t useful he didn’t want to linger. So now he can go and be useful in the Kingdom of God. As Grandma Joyce said, “On to new vistas.”

Joshua gave a talk in church today. The subject was “Love Thy Neighbor.” I recorded it for my parents. Ones of these days I’ll be smart enough to upload it on here. He did such a good job. He made eye contact, he spoke clearly and confidently. . . most of the time, and his talk was focused and concise. It was very good. Until I figure out how to upload it, here’s a picture of he and I. 

And, finally, here’s a picture from this week of Sugar thinking she’s a lap dog.