What Is Glenda Up to Now?: A Long Time Coming for a Grandma!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

A Long Time Coming for a Grandma!

I can't even begin to describe the feeling of actually holding little Stella in my arms for the first time. It was such a surprise, I had no idea when I went to the hospital tonight that I would be leaving with memories like these. She and I were the only ones there tonight (Tawni is going over later at night these days). I rocked her, hugged her and kissed her on her tiny little head. The tears welled up in my eyes several times as I held her and thought about what a delight she is going to be in our lives.
She is now bottle feeding regularly and Jason said today that they told them that Stella may be ready to go home in about 3 weeks. They are going to Las Vegas this weekend to pickup her crib.
I dream of being able to be the same kind of Grandma to Stella that my "Nanny" was to me. There wasn't much I couldn't get away with, but when I did cross the line, she could be heavy-handed...at least for 5 minutes. Making new memories is something I have loved to do with friends and family for many years. Now a new chapter of memories begin...Stella's Chapter and I hope to be the best Grandma I can be for her.

Guess Who Won the Men's Basketball Tourney Competition at Work?

You guessed correct! Of course I only entered as a joke because I know NOTHING about college basketball. As I started choosing down through the brackets, I chose for reasons like: Memphis: Beale Street BBQ is awesome! Kansas: Glinda The Good Witch of Course! Xavier: because I liked that it started with an X! You get the pattern I'm sure. Not only did I beat the group at work, I was in the 98.3 percent of over 3 million people who participated! What did I win you ask? One 20 oz soda from the vending machine (thanks Clark) and bragging rights! HA!

That's not all! I'm still ranked 6th out of 28 in the Fantasy Nascar League! Brad warned me against smack talk so early in the season, but hey, there's no time like the present!

Wanted: Office Assistant!

Well as Sylarus is growing it's time for me to recruit an Office Assistant. Olivia, I want you bad! Sharon are you ready to move back to Utah yet? And then there's Colleen, come on girl, grab orange cat and hit the road! Rena, have you grown tired of the hurricanes in Florida yet? I've been so lucky to have worked as a team with women of their caliber. If none of you are willing to come to St. George, then send me someone else just as good, will ya?

I have been the Office Manager there for almost a year, but now we are growing so much we are reorganizing a bit. My primary focus will be Human Resources and Purchasing, but I will oversee the Office Assistant who may eventually become the Office Manager. All I know is no matter WHO I hire, they will have to be absolutely amazing to be able to be as good as you guys were to work with. I miss you all!

See the link below to Sylarus just in case you want to apply. Ha.

http://www.sylarus.com

March 7, 2008

I hope to see Stella again this weekend. I've been working my tail off so haven't seen her since Wednesday. My new Townhome/Condo is going up fast! It's been fun to watch as they build it. It's a good thing I'm watching though as they decided to remove a wall that I was actually quite fond of! Needless to say the wall is back and this week I will be busy choosing cabinets, carpets, tile, counter tops and paint! It's so much fun yet I don't feel like I'm very good at choosing that stuff very well so I have recruited Tawni's mom Sharyl to help me. She is an amazing decorator! I'll post Stella photos soon but can tell you she is still doing great! Her two month birthday is March 11, but the doctors consider her age to be minus 3 weeks as her due date is still in the future! Love you all!

Monday, February 18, 2008 - PRESIDENTS DAY

Meet Buddy, my new Best Friend. I had a wonderful day in Kanab, Utah at the Animal Sanctuary. I picked Buddy up around 11:00 a.m. after spending some time at Madison's final resting place in Angels Rest. The snow on the ground here made everything look very different, but the snow had receeded on each marker just enough to reveal all of the items that have been gently placed at each marker.

Buddy and I went out into the cedar trees and walked a 4-wheel drive access road. Although wet, muddy and snowy, the temps were perfect and the sun was shining. We pushed out a group of 10-12 deer and some wild turkeys. We then walked along some of the other Octagons which house hundreds of dogs at Dogtown. A couple of pictures here are of the Clubhouse Octogon but it is hard to see the Vicktory Dogs. There is one red Pit Bull laying on a cot that you might be able to see. We aren't allowed to photograph them yet so this was a covert operation that didn't work to well. The picture of Buddy and I together was taken in the Best Friends Clinic by Michelle, one of the caregivers. She is from Long Island New York and moved to Kanab to work at Best Friends a few years ago. At the end of my day I drove home through Zions Park. Those are the photos at the end of of slideshow. You'll also see a couple of pictures I took of what we always called the Pink Cliffs when I was growing up. This exact location was where my family reunions took place for many, many years at the home of a grand-aunt. It's in Glendale, Utah. It was bitter-sweet to see it again as the ranch house has been replaced with very modern cabin and the ginormous oak tree has died and has been cut down to just a big stump on the side of the road. The last stop I made was in Grafton, Utah which is just West of Zions Park. It was where the original Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed. I couldn't get all the way back into the canyon as the road was impassable in my Maxima. I'll head over again after the Spring melt is over. My family claims that my great-grandfather used to provide horses to Butch and his Gang, what a rebel! All in all, it was a fabulous day in a spectacular area. I hope you enjoy!

63 Degrees of Hiking Fun! Sunday, February 10, 2008

Meet some of my friends from work. We all got together to hike Johnson Canyon in Snow Canyon State Park today and it was beautiful! This area is just outside St George about 10 minutes and has everything from Lava Rock flows to Red Rock Sandstone Bluffs. The hike was probably 5-6 miles in total. It is so nice to be enjoying the great outdoors in February!! First we hiked up to an arch near the end of a box canyon then took another trail up to some caves that were amazing. Everyone was laughing that it reminded us of the movie Goonies from a zillion years ago! Although you see some snow up in the higher elevation and even some on the side of the trail, it was short-sleeve weather out there today. Simply wonderful!

A Piece of Heaven - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Best Friends is a NO KILL animal sanctuary about 45 minutes from St. George and is an amazing place. You may have heard about it recently as they were sent 22 of the 40+ pit bulls that Michael Vick has been found guilty of abusing. I volunteer here as often as possible and have made many 4 (and some 3) legged friends. If going for the weekend I usually rent one of the cabins on the property and then after working all day walking dogs, grooming cats, mucking horse stalls or whatever it is that they need, I go to Dogtown and pick a sleepover buddy. You do a report card on your buddy so that when potential adopters inquire about a dogs behavior, they have alot of good info on hand. I fell in love with Sidney. She has never known a home other than a dumpster as a puppy and her run at Best Friends. She missed out on her chance to go out on the puppy adoptions because she was slow healing from her spaying operation. Now, because she's a "tween" (between puppy and older dog) she doesn't stand out. She is a WONDERFUL dog and anyone who adopts her will have a friend for life. In only a few short minutes she became MY friend for life. If I could have dogs where I live, Sidney would already be here with me. If you or someone you know is looking for a great pet, let me know. Best Friends also has Angels Rest, a beautiful pet cemetary which is where Madison, our Ultimate Border Collie is buried. The slide show includes pictures of Angels Rest and the beautiful gates going in. If you get the National Geographic Channel on television they just started a new show on Friday nights called Dogtown. It's all about dogs at the Sanctuary and is SO worth seeing, especially if you are an animal lover. Here is the BF website, http://www.bestfriends.org/ please take a look and when you come to visit me in St. George, plan on taking a drive to this amazing place with me!

A Frequent Flyer Fish Tale!

A Frequent Flyer Fish Tale!

Our nemo fish came about while all of us were visiting the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey a few years back. We made a pact you had to keep both fish and that the only way you could get rid of them was by taking them to visit us. Once you are "tagged" by the nemo fish, you immediatly start planning your vacation! Of course we all live in different states. Since then they have traveled to Maine several times, Pennsylvania several times, Texas several times, Utah and Montana. I thought they were safe in Texas when Cortney and I stopped in Pennsylvania to see Kip and Gail during our cross-country move to Utah. NOPE! I couldn't have been more wrong. Karli had brought them from Texas to Pennsylvania the week before just so Gail could send them to Utah with us! They sat in the back window of my car for the duration of the trip. Realistically, our Nemo buddies have also been in every state I-70 travels through between Maine and Utah as well! With help from Kips brother Kirk, these little fellas made an appearance at Kip and Gails wedding rehearsal dinner in Billings, Montana!! They are now living in Austin, Texas but I know I haven't seen the last of them!