You don't see that every day

Things have been entirely too serious around here.

This is the forth day Andy and I have been sitting around home going from the bed to the couches in the family room. I have bronchitis and an ear infection and he is suffering terribly with the shoulder surgery.

Check out these silly/funny Dorito ads created by some BYU students who had nothing better to do. Apparently they won some awards:

"The BYU Ad Lab has combined ferocious critters with Doritos-eating folks to win a Student Gold ADDY Award, one of the top advertising prizes awarded in the country for student work.

Students picked up their hardware Saturday in a ceremony in Orlando, Fla. The Ad Lab landed the ADDY for their creative work on an advertising campaign and commercial created for the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest."

Life is not fair, and neither is football

Things have been all aflutter around here over the last week. Not only have the medical problems listed below taken their toll (oh, and I have bronchitis and an ear infection to add to the fun) but we have pretty much had a not stop conversation about this.

Yes, we have an obvious bias around here as mentioned in previous posts. But this latest series of events is just about more than we can take.

It's fine that Utah got invited to the prom, but BYU should have been invited too.

I really do just have one question. I would really like an answer. What do those LDS members who are also Ute fans feel about the university that is supported 100% by their own religion (and tithing funds no less), taking it in the shorts, the obvious object of religious prejudice? Where is their outcry for fairness?

I love this quote from Westin H. - It's the City of Enoch watching Babylon get translated instead.

"Numerous sources who have had dealings with the Pac-10 hierarchy say the league's presidents didn't feel comfortable inviting BYU then, just like they don't now.

Why?

Publicly, Pac-10 officials have said they're not interested in BYU because it is a teaching institution rather than a research institution. Sources have told the Deseret News for years that this is merely a smokescreen. They say if "research" is part of the criteria, there are schools already within the Pac-10 that don't qualify by that standard.

Sources say Pac-10 presidents have blackballed BYU simply because of their biases against the school.

"It's religious prejudice masquerading as academic snobbery," one source has told the Deseret News. "They're trying to find an excuse to avoid the real issue, that they don't want a school that is tied to the LDS Church."

What not to do

Don't follow your instincts and put your left arm out to catch yourself when you fall. Especially if you're Andy. Terrible things can happen. You might break both bones in your left arm when you are snowboarding at the age of 15. You might dislocate your shoulder and tear the labrum while doing so while falling down some icy stairs in Mongolia while serving a mission. Over a year ago. Then you'd have to put up with daily pain until you could get back to the states to get it looked at. Yup, an MRI revealed a tear in the labrum. Unpleasant surgery recommended. Lots of pain involved . A nerve block kept him out of pain for the first 24 hours. Amazing how those work. Thanks to modern medicine, they put six anchors into his shoulder to reattach the labrum back to the bone. He'll be in a sling for six weeks. Can't lift or move his shoulder. Then lots of painful physical therapy.
Oh, and thank goodness for Percocet (carefully monitored.)

Feel free to give him a call and offer some encouragement and sympathy. He's a brave kid who has had his fair share of suffering.

Bad news at the Dr. today

This is what a normal knee looks like from the back view. See all that nice space between the femur and the tibia where the meniscus is? I don't have hardly any of that in my left knee.

My left knee is shot. Bone on bone. It's been locking up lately when it's been at an angle. It gets stuck and won't move until finally it makes a loud pop and goes back into place. It's not pleasant when that happens and it's been happening more often. Today an X-ray revealed bone on bone and bone spurs and arthritis. Yikes. The Dr. said that for all that is wrong with it, it's amazing I'm not in more pain. He's surprised that I can do all that I can do. He said to keep doing it, so I'll keep walking, exercising and just living my life but at some point I'm going to need steroid shots to control the pain and ultimately---a knee replacement. Shoot!

This is all because of skiing you know.

A series of unfortunate events has brought me to this point.

I broke my left femur at age 20 while skiing at Sundance

Traction in the hospital for six weeks, a body cast for six more.

Knee immobile in traction and the body cast. Cartilage was stiffened and my knee got welded in place from non use. Painful physical therapy loosed it up again, but at a cost to the cartilage. It became more brittle.

Skiing again at age 45 with the family for the start of the new millennium at Snowbird.

Fell (not even that hard ) and wrenched my knee.

Tore the meniscus (cartilage) between the two big bones in the knee.

Went along with pain on and off for five years.

After gardening one spring, it started to swell and I couldn't go on.

Got a knee scope and the Dr. smoothed out the torn meniscus.

(Also got burned in the process and got a nice settlement from

the hospital - that's a story for another day.)

Knee slowly improved.

It's been doing pretty well these last five years until now when it started locking up.

I really did enjoy skiing. I hope it was worth it.

My mother predicted this might happen back in 1975.

I guess she was right....

Parents of young children

I admire them.
I was one of them once, but you kind of forget.
The daily schedule is relentless.
The hours are way bad.

The payoff comes years later (usually)
although there are dividends along the way.

You have to go on faith and
work hard.

My belief is that parents of young children ought to have a plan.
Work at it as a team. Be consistent.
It's very important that both parents agree and
buy in on how to undertake this important responsibility.
It's should not be taken lightly.
That makes for the very best situation for a child.
This fact cannot be overstated.

There is no certification to become a parent.
No parenting license.
Maybe in some cases there should be
since effective parenting is probably one
of the most important factors
in determining if a kid will
have a true chance at succeeding in life.

There is work to be done, and done again, and again and again.
The daily schedule is repetitive and relentless.
Up early, to bed late, with interruptions during the nights.
Meals to be made and cleaned up again and again...and again.
Endless piles of laundry.
Not enough sleep.
Usually, not enough money.
Not enough time.

Patience is required...and a lot of it.

A sense of humor helps.

Sometimes, there is not enough training and know
how to get the job done well.
So often, young parents just do to their children
what was done to them.
This can be good or it can be bad.

But to compensate, there is unconditional love,
innocence, teaching moments, appreciation, kindness, laughter, joy.

There are a lot of things that have to be done that aren't any fun at all.

Another life is totally and completely dependent on you the parent.
Changing diapers, potty training, brushing and flossing teeth, breaking up squabbles,
setting limits and enforcing them, doing the bedtime routine,
wiping up spills, picking up the toys for the millionth time.
Changing the wet bed sheets again.

Listening to crying almost hourly.
There are so many things to be taught and shown by example.
And don't forget about limiting TV time,
keeping a constant outlook for their well being,
and the worst of all
Buckling and unbuckling those blasted car seats 35 times a day.

But, at the end of the day there is an overwhelming sense of love.
There is a little person staring back at you who looks like you
and
even sometimes acts like you.

So, you take it a day at a time.
You do the best you can.
You pray. Sometimes you cry.
And, you just keep on going.
Because you are a parent

and you have help from heaven to assist you in
the most rewarding experience of a lifetime.

I'm so proud of you young parents!
You amaze me.
You're doing a wonderful job.