Art Bohn

Well, today was the day. Finally all my husband's family made it in, so we went up to the hospital and said our goodbyes. Both Ellen and Sarah wanted to be in the room with Grandpa when he passed, so after talking to the doctor about what to expect, I agreed (although I told them they could change their minds at any time.) But Will woke up with a fever today, so he went out to say goodbye and then I took him home. He's been complaining of an upset stomach and I was afraid he would throw up.

Randy says the girls did fine and that it was very peaceful. He said once it was all over, everyone felt relieved and agreed it was the right thing to do. One of his cousins came to the hospital too, which was great.

Dad didn't want a funeral, so we're only having a grave side service on Thursday. His ward will provide a meal afterwards, which is great. My poor guy has been very upset, but today, he seemed to be able to rise above it and just cope. I know it my heart it was the right thing to do, but I am sure going to miss him. Ellen was regretting that she didn't talk to him very much lately. I think for her, she didn't realize how important Grandpa was until he wasn't going to be there any more.

! Soap box moment

One thing I really learned from all this is how important it is to have a will and a living will, or advance directive, and make sure that someone who loves you knows exactly where those are. Even better, that they have a copy. We still haven't found Dad's will, and we're not sure he has one. At least they found his funeral directions that he drew up a couple of years ago when his mother died. I asked my folks to PLEASE get their documents ready and show me and my sister where they are. We need to redo our will. The nurse told us there was another woman going through the very same situation as Dad, but she was only 50 years old. You just never know what can happen and this has been so hard on the family, not knowing what Dad would want.

! Soap box moment over.

And again, thanks so much for all the support and good wishes. It really has made a difference. We are blessed to have so many good friends.

Prayer Request

Randy's Dad is in the hospital in the ICU. He has pneumonia and isn't breathing on his own, so he's on a ventilator. His throat is totally blocked, so he's also on a tracheostomy, a breathing tube through his windpipe. And his heart has stopped three times already, once when Sarah and Randy were in the room with him. That was rough. Today Dad seems to be a little better and Randy's sister Sandra is flying out to be here. Dad has opened his eyes today for the first time, so that was a good sign. But he's still in critical condition and we just don't know what's next.

As you can imagine, we're all shaken up and very emotional. It's been a roller coaster, with ups and downs every day. I've cancelled everything this week that I can. We'd appreciate prayers. I think that's about all we can do right now. Dad is receiving excellent care - I've been so impressed by the hospital staff. But it's really up to Dad and the Lord right now.

Spring is here!

I think Spring is finally here! I'm so glad. Of course, this being Utah, that doesn't mean that it's stopped snowing for the year. But at least the sun is out and my flowers are up!

Happy Pi Day!

As my friends and family know, any excuse for a party is fine with me. So starting last year, we've begun celebrating Pi Day. You know, 3.14, or for you non-mathematicians, March 14th. Last year, we had pizza and pie. This year, we did it again!

I made up my own pie this year, but it didn't turn out quite the way I expected. It was supposed to be a chocolate mousse pie, but it turned out slightly differently. Yeah, it didn't look anything like chocolate mousse. The cold cream made the chocolate harden immediately into little bits of chocolate, rather than spreading out into the whole pie. So I made the best of it, and called it Dalmatian Pie. Here's the recipe:

Dalmatian Pie

1/2 c. chocolate chips, melted
1/2 c. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 baked pie shell

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the melted chocolate, a little at a time. The cold cream will make the chocolate chips form into little pieces of chocolate, spread throughout the cream. Fold in the vanilla and sugar. Pile filling into baked crust.

Book Review: Pillage

Pillage by Obert Skye

Beck just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Even after his mother dies and he's sent to live with an uncle he's never met, he finds a way to test the rules. He makes new friends and new enemies at his school on his very first day. On his second day, he gets sent to the principal's office - a new record for him, he remarks. And his uncle can't be bothered to come out of his room to meet him.

Maybe Beck's strange upbringing is the trouble - or maybe it's the weird vibe he's getting from his new home. Suddenly he finds he has new powers. And he can't stop himself from exploring the very places he's forbidden to go.

Beck was a real smart aleck, and I kind of wanted to smack him. Then again, I can see myself behaving in just about the same way. I could sort of guess where the book was headed (Clue: look at the front cover.), but once I did get to the conclusion, I was completely wrapped up in the story. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I had to force myself to read slowly, so I wouldn't miss anything.

This book was a lot of fun. It would be appropriate for just about anyone, and I think it would be a fun one to read aloud. I'm glad I finally got to read it. It's written by the author of the Leven Thumps series, but this one is a stand alone title.

Our Anniversary Getaway

Randy and I had our anniversary last week and decided to celebrate by having a little getaway. So Friday night, my mom came over to keep an eye on the kids (and spoil them a little!) and we drove up to Salt Lake.

Of course, once we got there, we realized that we had left the camera at home! But he got a few pictures on his cell phone, which I may add later. But the rest of these pictures I found online. Hooray for the internet!

We stayed at the Hotel Monaco, a funny little building downtown on Center Street and 200 South. It's a tall, narrow building, as you can see, and it used to be a bank.

When we pulled up, the first thing I noticed was the valet parking. Very nice in Salt Lake, not to have to worry about finding a parking place.

Here's the cool sign. And notice the little carved faces on the building.

This is a picture of the lobby, complete with fireplace and lots of comfy couches. They also have a pet friendly policy, but I really couldn't see our two cats enjoying a trip! If you left your pet at home, they have some goldfish you can borrow and enjoy in your room. But Randy and I figured we'd be fine on our own!


This is the very fancy couch right inside the front door. Wouldn't you love one like that? I can totally see our cats enjoying it. Hmm. Maybe we'll keep our plain couch.

This was what the rooms look like. Ours had only one bed, of course, plus a little sitting area.

When I was exploring where everything was, I opened the closet to find their own leopard print clothing line. Yes, we could have matching leopard print terry cloth bathrobes, sock, and boxers or nightgowns (for a fee, of course). How swell! But again, we decided to decline.

After checking in, we headed to the Gateway to the Clark Planetarium. Did you know that admission is completely free, all of the time? The only thing you have to pay for is the movies, and those are optional. We did want to see a movie, so we got tickets for the "Under the Sea in 3D" movie. It was really fun! Except I didn't really care for the sea snakes swimming right at my head. But the sea lions were very friendly. One even blew us a kiss!

You can't visit the planetarium without checking out the pendulum.

After that, we were hungry, so we looked around the Gateway for someplace yummy. It was Friday night, and every place we went was crowded, with outrageous waiting times. So we were relieved to find The Counter.

It's a burger place. The smell alone was enough to bring us in. I was starving! I was very diligent on my diet all day so I could indulge when we went out. We got a seat at the counter. When you place your order, first you pick your patty - beef, ground turkey, chicken, or veggie - then you pick the size. Then you get to pick out your toppings, your cheese, and a sauce. Randy went for horseradish and avocado; I went for ginger soy and pineapple. See the picture? They really are that tall. Then we got an order of sweet potato fries to split. They gave us a TON of fries and they were super good. They serve them with the horseradish and it is just fantastic.

The next day was fun too, but I'll post more about that later. Anyway, we had a great night.

Getting serious about this weight thing!

As I've mentioned before, I am trying to lose weight this year. You see the counter down at the bottom of the page? The one designed to keep track of all the pounds I lose this year? Yeah, well, it hasn't moved. And if it had moved, it would have moved the wrong way. All I had to do was decide to lose weight this year and I gained 10 pounds.

So it was time to get serious. I am now counting every calorie (just about) that goes into my mouth. The exception is fruits and veggies, which I figure are good for me and I don't need to worry about them. And sometimes I have to estimate, because it's a mix of things. But I've been pretty good about it. I started on Monday and by today, I have lost 5 pounds!

I'm pretty excited about it. I'm planning to allow myself a treat this weekend when Randy and I go for an overnight trip for our anniversary. I'm trying to stay under 1800 calories a day, and so far, have had no problem at all with that. In fact, yesterday I was around 1100 calories, which might explain the headache I had by bedtime.

I still need to tinker with it a bit, to make sure that I am eating enough. And I've also been tracking my fat grams, sugar, fiber, and protein. I can tell that I am not getting enough fiber, but since I'm not counting fruit and veggies, it might be closer to ideal than I think.

Best of all, today I got my formerly tight jeans on without a muffin top! Still haven't tried my really tight jeans, which fit fine last year. But I think I'm on the right track.

Book Review: A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

So I'm working on the 999 reading challenge and I decided to read 'A Doll's House' by Henrik Ibsen for my New Author category. This is a copy of my review for the 999 site, but I wanted to post it here too. If you're not familiar with the play, it's about a wife and husband and was first performed in 1897.

When I was a student at BYU in my last semester I took an American Lit class. Looking back, I should have taken almost any other class available. I was a newlywed when the semester started, and by the end I was expecting my first baby. So what did we study that would go along with my life's lessons I was learning at the time?

Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. Edith Wharton. Sarah Orne Jewett. Just about any depressing story written by American women, we read it. That class was not a lot of laughs.

The play, A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, would have fit right in with those writers if only he had been American. It's got all the right elements. Restricted setting - check. Slice of middle class family life - check. Deceptively innocuous beginning - check. Desperate woman struggling with her own identity against a tightly ordered society and family life - double check.

The difference is that for me, 18 years after the first class, is that now instead of making me depressed, it made me angry to read this. Angry with Nora, and the way it took her so long to protest the way she was treated. Angry with Helmet, for treating his wife as an inferior creature he had to humor. Angry with Christine, for putting up with years of unhappiness just so she could devote her entire self to taking care of someone. And then going after what she really wanted only because she was helping her friend, and further, because she set up the expectation that she would again be 'taking care' of someone.

Most of all, angry with society, that this was accepted as normal. I read that when this play was first performed, the audience was shocked. But not because of any of the reasons I mentioned. No, because women were generally supposed to be perfectly content to be treated in such a way.

Looking back at that class, I am not a bit surprised that I found it so troubling. There I was, just barely started on this marriage thing and shortly about to take on motherhood. And what did I get to read about? Any healthy models of what family life could be like? No. Literally, everything we read that dealt with marriage or motherhood was telling me how restrictive it was, how demanding, how degrading to my personhood, how I would have to sacrifice my very self to be successful in my new roles. No wonder I had a hard time!

So a little perspective is valuable now that I read this play. I know from my own experience that marriage does not have to be like that, and that motherhood is a source of great joy and fulfillment, as well as a challenge. Yes, I know that society was different 100 years ago, but I have to believe that even then, not every marriage was one of dominant/submissive. There must, even then, have been relationships that were based on a more equal footing. There must have been women who ENJOYED being a wife and a mother, and didn't just do it because they needed security.

And maybe I'm just a little spoiled, because I am living in the 21st century, when women are busy in so many different things. Maybe. But to say that I can't judge people from that era means that I'm supposed to accept that they are not as capable as I am of fixing things that don't work, and that they are not as bright at seeing what makes them unhappy. I don't believe that. Yes, it must have been more difficult for women of that time to express their true selves, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't get angry when I read about a woman who is a doormat, and ask myself why she put up with that.

What did I think of this play? I can't say I loved it. But it sure brought out a strong reaction in me. On that basis alone, I have to give it 5 stars. I think that every couple ought to read this play, or even better, see it together. And so should every therapist or clergyman. Single people too should read this and learn from it to set up some solid boundaries before they form a partnership.

I think that so far this year, this is the book that got me the most emotionally involved with what I was reading. So I have to give it 5 stars. However, read or see this with the knowledge I didn't have as a newlywed. Not every relationship demands this self sacrifice from the woman. This is how it is NOT supposed to be. Once you know that, you can ask yourself if you need to adjust anything in your relationships so this doesn't happen.

In Our Ward

Now that we are (almost all) feeling better, it was so nice to be able to go to church today, with the whole family! I noticed a couple of things this week. First of all, as I was watching Will and the other boys pass the sacrament, I realized how much thought and work this must take for them, the first few months or so. The older men make it look so easy, but I know Will has got it all thought out ahead of time. For some of the boys, this must be kind of hard and even stressful at first. But I am so proud of the way all the young men in our ward do their part.

Next - I can sing again! Last week I made it to church, but neither Randy nor I had any voice at all. I could have maybe managed to sing tenor, but not soprano or alto. It was actually a little hard to listen to everyone else singing and having to just sit and follow the words. I really missed being able to sing. So I still didn't sound great this week, but I was able to sing all the hymns today and I was so glad!

And finally, please keep Will in your prayers and your thoughts. His swollen tonsils are really giving him a hard time and I'm going to take him in to the dr. tomorrow. I know Emilee just had her tonsils out (hope you're feeling better!), and we may have to do the same for him.