Double the pleasure, double the fun

As our more devout readers may have noticed, there was a definite lack of update for the whole of last week. However, to prevent you from lying awake at night wondering what we could have done for an entire week that we didn’t want you to know about, I will include the highlights of both weeks in this entry. Don’t worry . . . I’ll be concise.

Monday, June 26
I honestly can’t remember a single thing about this day, which can only mean that we were abducted by aliens.

Tuesday, June 27
We set off bright and early (you know, about 9) for Isaac’s 2 week check-up. It took a horribly long time, and Isaac was quite hungry, but too busy being poked and prodded to have the chance to eat. Despite his interrupted meal time, we were satisfied to find that gaining weight is not a problem for our young child. Having gained 8 oz over his birth weight, he ranked in the 75 percentile. His head circumference and height ranked in the 75 and 95 percentile respectively. So, the basic idea is that we have one big kid.

After the check-up, Jordan set out to conquer the NCLEX-PN. He called me shortly after finishing the exam to say that it was not unlikely that he had failed his boards and would be kicked out of the nursing program and might want to consider an alternate plan for the future. While I doubted that he could have done quite as horribly as he professed, I chose only to say that it wasn’t worth stressing over until we knew for sure.

In the afternoon, I drove with my mom to North Ogden to check out a sewing machine that had been advertised in the paper. Through a decision of sheer folly, we wound up on Hill Air Force Base at the time of day when everyone is trying to get off the Base. A drive that should have taken less than thirty minutes, turned into a journey of over an hour. To add to the enjoyment of the trip, the power in North Ogden had been out most of the day, so traffic was frightening at best. The extended nature of our outing had me convinced that Isaac would be near famished and Jordan run mad by the time I returned to them. Luckily, my stress was enough for all of us and I found them both alive and content when I finally made my way home. Despite the bad nature of the journey, I got a sewing machine out of the deal, so all turned out well.

Wednesday, June 28
Upon completion of his morning class, Jordan took a trip to a computer lab to see if his status on DOPL (the people who license nurses and such) had changed. Since it still listed that he had a temporary license, the rest of the day was spent in much the same worry as the previous day had encouraged. In the evening, we were joined by my mother and sister, Emily, for an adventure in domesticity as we made (i.e. my mom and Emily did a lot of work and I helped in between bouts of fussiness from my dear one) strawberry freezer jam. It is quite tasty.

Thursday, June 29
While Jordan was out winning bread, so to speak, Isaac and I worked more on establishing our routine and practiced the art of sleeping. We’re not Masters, but our study is improving. In other news, Jordan found out today that he is officially a Nurse, and our worries in that regard ceased.

Friday, June 30
In the evening Isaac and I were picked up by my mother to attend my sister and brother-in-law’s softball came. We arrived to find that not only had Jordan beat us there, he could not stand to be left in the bleachers, but instead allowed himself to be recruited as Umpire. Apparently, numbers were sparse because my younger brother had also become an honorary ward member and was playing 3^rd base. Isaac and I were content to spectate with the rest of my family (including Angela and Chris on their last day in town) and try not to get dust in our eyes.

Saturday, July 1
Upon arriving to the Davis campus to take a test at about 3, Jordan was alarmed to find the entire parking lot empty save two cars and the front doors tightly locked. We hurried up to the main Weber campus to find an open testing center only to learn that during the summer tests are only available until noon on Saturdays. While Jordan wrote an email of appeal to his professor requesting a chance to take the now-closed test, Isaac and I “watched” the ducks and counted ducklings. Most mother ducks had six ducklings, but one fruitful duck had an impressive eleven ducklings in tow. All sorts of excitement. We stopped briefly at the Clearfield Branch of the Davis County Library (my continued but futile allegiance to the now-defunct Kaysville Library notwithstanding) to obtain cards and check out a few items, then spent the evening with Jen, John, & Lauren. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them, and the little cousins seemed to get along just fine. We adults swapped parenting tales and found much common ground.

Sunday, July 2
We could let you discover for yourselves through a grammatical/syntactical analysis that we have changed authors, but it may save time and confusion to advise you at this time that Alison has fled to the safe confines of the couch, baby in tow, and that I, yes I, the Great Jay and Double-You, will descend from my high tower and deign to enlighten the great readership of this noble blog regarding the events of the following week.
Also, if this wasn’t already apparent, the great cambiamento degli autori did not actually occur on Sunday, July 2. What did happen on Sunday, July 2 was that we had the privilege of entertaining in our apartment Nathan, Ashley, and ‘Drew Crookston. We ate some wonderful lasagna and shared some fun times. Andrew competed gamely for the title of Cutest Baby in the Room, but in the end gave up hope and ceded the victory to our Little Ike.

Monday, July 3
In keeping with a long tradition of not actually being able to follow through on my good intentions through no fault of my own, I arrived at the gates of the Lord’s House today to find them securely closed and locked. The bright side of the trip home was that I found another NPR station to listen to when KUER is playing something that does not keep my attention (are you reading today, Terry Gross of Fresh Air? Some of your interviews are interesting, but I’m afraid I rarely listen to KUER during the hours of two and three pm). It is KCPW FM, broadcasting from Tooele, and is found at 1010 am. I have yet to discover their program routine, but at least I can listen to NPR after 8 pm now.
Monday night, we went to the Lowes’ house for a barbecue dinner. I was disappointed to discover that several food items had not actually been barbecued/grilled at all, such as the baked beans, bread items, and several condiments. Nice try fooling us, Steve and Jean – better luck next time.

Tuesday, July 4
I understand that the 4^th was some sort of holiday for some folks. I really wouldn’t know, because I spent 14 ½ hours of the day at work. I finally finished, walked out the door to discover my phone near-dead, and my car completely dead. I went back inside to make a call for help (my father was dispatched to retrieve me) and returned outside to discover two police cars at the scene, their drivers making a bust in the parking lot. This was truly providential for me, because when I discovered that I had left my headlights on they were able to call in backup with a jump box. Dad followed me back to their house and loaned me a jump box of his own in case I couldn’t start the car again, and then I rode the brake with my left foot every time I had to stop on the way home so I could keep the engine running with my right. Meanwhile, Alison had had a truly stressful day at home alone with Baby. I arrived home at 11:15 pm and found her in bed. All things considered, the day could be called stressful. On the other hand, Alison finished the dust ruffle she has been working on for the crib. She and it are both sublimely beautiful works of art.

Wednesday, July 5 has been stolen. When we find out who took it and it can be recovered, we’ll let you know what happened. Or not.

Thursday, July 6
Alison had a WIC appointment today and had fun and dinner with my parents at Jessica’s invitation. I had my longest day of work so far at almost 16 hours. We have resigned ourselves to the fact that on days that I work, we will not see much of each other. But, I only work three days each week and we can afford for Alison to stay home with Little Ike. I still enjoy my job, especially now that the residents and I are getting to know each other. Plus, it seems that the medical benefits may be better than what we currently have with our current insurance company. That would be great news, because we are getting very tired of them treating us like we do not deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect. They rival King George III in their violation of contracts with us. This is not the place for a long treatment of the subject, but I am more than willing to rant about it in person for any who desire to hear (please, somebody, desire to hear – I really, really like talking about it).

Friday, July 7
Old Bessie decided to play a trick on us today, flashing her “Check Engine” light with the wanton abandon of a harlot displaying her wares to passers-by whenever she encountered a bump in the road. I attended meetings at Avalon while Alison went to my parent’s house to wait for me to arrive home on the bus (she was, as you may have guessed, not particularly receptive to Bessie’s advances). After my arrival, we got in the car to leave and – surprise! How we love surprises! – she wouldn’t start. So, we borrowed the green Saturn once again so I could go to work the next day. As of today (Sunday), we are still trying to decide what to do about the car – should we pay $70 to have it towed to our mechanic when the repairs may not be worth the cost this time? It is like a game of Russian Roulette in a way: which shot will end our poor Bessie’s life? We had already decided to pursue the acquisition of a new vehicle, but the timetable may have been moved up considerably. I think the Kidney Foundation may pick up cars for free…
Anyway, Friday night we had the pleasure of the company of Michael & Shannon, which was entertaining to say the least. We shared a good meal and good times. They also agreed to continue supplying our addiction to Smallville and The Pretender, a most welcome fix indeed.

Saturday, July 8
Once again, I spent the day at work. Alison took a journey to Provo for a family get-together, where she experienced the various wonders of dementia at an assisted living facility. Fifteen hours after I had left, we were joyfully reunited and finally found out what happened in the second part of the Season Premiere of Season 4 of Smallville.

Well, once again we leave you breathless with anticipation for next week’s update. We shall endeavor to publish an account of the coming week in a timely and appropriately loquacious manner.