That's SO "Heather"

Well, I guess I'm finally facing reality. I am an EXTREMELY forgetful person. My family always tells me that, but I never saw it till recently. Well today it hit me like a ton of bricks....and then it depressed me. Let me explain...

I've been working full-time for about six weeks now. I've been catching on pretty well, especially since the office I work in has been so patient, and generous enough to have given me several training days before I took the entire full-time patient load. My biggest struggle is timing. I'm sure it's no secret that Hygienists that are fresh out of school don't exactly have speed as a strong point. I struggle to keep to the schedule with almost every patient. And if they don't floss (which honestly is like 90% of my patients) it's even MORE work for me. I guess they just pounded it in my brain at school that it's better to be thurough than fast. I can't leave the job undone, and it takes me an average of 40 minutes to clean a mouth. Ten minutes for x-rays and health updates, and ten minutes for the Dr.'s exam. That's exactly one hour. Five minutes to change barriers and set-up for the next patient puts me an average of five minutes behind. If there's any delay with the Dr. getting over for the exam, or if I have to do perio-charting.....most of the time (not always...sometimes I get lucky) it puts me even MORE behind. With this CONSTANTLY on my mind, there are times when I tend to get quite spacy. If I'm running behind AT ALL, I almost always forget to do something important, like give my patient a new toothbrush, or schedule their next appointment in six months, or FLOSS THEIR TEETH! I can't tell you how many times I get in a hurry to get done, I quit polishing and then sit them up.

Then, if I have any sort of patient that demands a different attention energy level (such as children, or a grumpy old person) then I get so caught-up in making things right and comfortable for them that I'll forget something important. Then there was today.... Parker and Caleb came at lunch time to see me. I was THRILLED to see them. I was so excited to introduce them to everybody at the office, that I forgot to clock out for lunch. Okay, everybody forgets that once in a while. But when I told the front desk that they'd need to fix my time-sheet.... she informed me that I forgot to clock out for a lunch YESTERDAY too! Whenever a child is in my chair, I almost ALWAYS forget to give them fluoride. Luckily, I usually remember the things I've forgotten, but it's after I should have done it in the proper order, so people think I'm like a chicken running around with it's head cut off.

Maybe this doesn't sound all that bad, but after an entire day of forgetting this thing and that thing, I felt like everybody in the office was like, "Heather....screw your head on tight!" Now, nobody's said anything to me, but I'm SURE they've noticed (especially the front desk). She's alwasy the one to set me right when I forget something. Anyway, like I said....after an entire day of this, it gets pretty dis-heartening. And I just wanted to kick myself for being such a space-cadet. I was REALLY upset at myself. And it's SO true, it's "so Heather" to be forgetful. My sister was absalutely right. I guess I need to go through a mental checklist.....but I'm just trying so hard to do things on time, I forget everything else. I hope they don't all hate me by the time I'm supposed to leave....I really do love it there.

One last thing, on a brighter note..... today I finished this patient, and as I was sitting her up she looked at me and called me by name and said, "Heather, that was BY FAR the best cleaning I've ever had. Thank you." I was FLATTERED. I love to hear things like that. See people, I really am a good hygienist.....I just get a little spacy sometimes.

Red vs. Green

With Parker coaching the Burley boy's JV basketball team, we've been going to A LOT of basketball games.

Caleb LOVES going to ball-games. In fact he asks about it just about every week, "go ball-game?" Well, some of you may know that Burley High school has a BITTER rival: Minico High School. And they've played each other three times this year. Now, the most recent game, I decided to write on Caleb's face. And Claudia got caleb this nice green jacket to wear to Burley games (cuz goodness knows we go to a lot of them)....cuz once basketball is over, we'll be going to baseball games! It NEVER ends!

I also decided to post a video of Caleb at the ball game. He's gotten pretty good at cheering for those bobcats!



Go Burley!

Valentine's Day

Just so you know, I created like five postings and saved them as drafts, and now I post every couple of days, so people THINK I'm getting better at blogging, but really, I'm just more efficient during the weekend. So here's some late news.
Once again, I know it's late.....but I didn't have my camera card reader, so here's the valentine's day post.

Jayne's husband, Alex, went to Mexico for a week and so since it happened to fall on Valentine's day, she was kind enough to watch Caleb so Parker and I could have a night out. We went to Twin Falls. We started off with lunch at Applebee's. Then we did some shopping. I got a new pair of tennis shoes for work, and the cutest necklace and matching earrings.
These pictures are taken at the canyon in Twin Falls. Next to Sportsman's warehouse. Those fence-posts take good pictures don't they?!

After all the shopping, we went to Outback steakhouse. Now....I really don't care for steak. I know call me crazy, but I told Parker we could go there, cuz he really wanted to. He got steak and king crab. Parker and I LOVE crab! So we shared the crab, but I got something a little different. It's not even on the menu yet! We saw it on their menu online. And when we asked about it they said they just hadn't printed new menus yet. Here's a picture of what I got....

Lobster-topped tilapia! It was AMAZING!! I don't know what spices they put on that fish, but it was GOOD! And I'm not a fish person. I mean, yeah I like fish but I don't always eat all those trout that Parker brings home in the summer. But this thing was great! And the lobster-sauce stuff on top was amazing too! I recommend this dish to Everyone! Parker ate all of his food, and then finished mine cuz it was so good (and I was FULL!)

Anyway, it was a nice day. Parker and I don't get to go out very much. Thank you Jayne!

Full of Surprises!

One thing about having a two year old, is that every day is full of surprises. The other day, Caleb was asking me for some milk. I was downstairs, and I said, "Okay in a minute." A few minutes later, I couldn't find him and so I went upstairs and this is what I found. You'll see Caleb sitting on a stool by the sink, but look closely.....you'll see a cup with a yellow base (which he got from the dishwasher...which is still open) and the jug of milk sitting next to it.....CAP OFF. Now, thankfully, the one thing we DON'T see is spilled milk on the floor. But I was STILL shocked! He tried to get himself a glass of milk! Man you've really gotta watch this kid!

A few days later, I opened the fridge and found this....

just so you know, it's NOT normal for eggs to be on the top shelf of the fridge....on the edge.....not in a carton. The eggs go IN THE CARTON, in the fridge door. You guessed it, Caleb decided to re-locate the eggs, and then close the fridge and not tell anybody about it. Like I said.....full of surprises!

Girl's Day in Logan (three weeks ago)

Well first of all, Jayne and Katelyn.....I just have to say that since you think you're SO hilarious, playing with my camera every time I'm up to bowl....you wouldn't mind if I displayed those lovely pictures for all to see here on the Lyons Pride. :) LOVE the faces!

I didn't know they took these pictures till a couple days later. Don't they just have the most beautiful faces?

So for girl's day in Logan, we started the morning off at 6:30 am with a two hour drive to get to Jayne's house in Logan. Then we went to this restaurant for breakfast. We were STARVING!! But man it was good! Strawberry-topped belgian waffles!

Then we hit the mall and did some shopping. All of the pictures you see are of us in our lovely new clothes. Katelyn found a sweatshirt that was SO cute the rest of the day was spent with Jayne BEGGING her to let her buy it from her or trade her for something else. Silly girls....I know I wouldn't sell that sweatshirt if I had it!
Then we went to the movie theatre and saw "Bride Wars" ....which all four of us loved. Very cute show, I actually think I might wanna buy this one when it comes out.

After the movie we went to "The Olive Garden" for dinner. YUMMY!! We called Robyn while we were there and told her how much we missed having her with us. This is a picture of us waiting on the couches for our table.

Lastly we went bowling. I think I got the worst score. Mom was winning almost the entire time, and then at the end Jayne got a turkey and ended up winning the game. She was good! I don't know what happened, I USED to get pretty good bowling scores. I can't remember the last time I got over 100....oh yeah I can...my high school graduation party. That wasn't THAT long ago right?

Wouldn't you know the pictures are totally backwards. But you can figure it out. The shopping pictures happened first, so naturally they're at the end of the blog. I just have to say something about this outfit that Katelyn tried on. It was mostly a joke, I think they're pajamas.....they remind me of the pajamas that Caleb wears. Looks good on you Kate! I tried to tell you you should've bought it!

Girl's day was a blast! We had so much fun together. The only thing that would've made it better was if Robyn could have been there. We miss her lots. But don't worry, we'll do it again and we'll ALL be together.

Sorry this post is so belated. But I just had to show off these silly pictures. I am so glad I'm part of this family. I ALWAYS wanted a little sister growing up, and now I have TWO! I love you so much Jayne and Kate. I hope we can always stay close.

7 Things Tag

Well Anna tagged me. And, I don't know how good this will be because I've done several facts about me posts before. So sorry if you hear a repeat. I'll try to be creative.

1. Apparently I'm forgetful. I never thought of myself that way before, but my family sure seems to think so. Let me tell you when I DO forget things.....when I'm leaving the house. I don't really think I forget to do things....(or do I? Mom would know I guess)...but I do forget to grab things....sometimes important things, when I'm in a hurry.....but don't we all. That's okay. I guess I am forgetful. But....it's not like I can't remember things! I almost got straight a's in the dental hygiene program....THAT'S not forgetful.

2. I am GREAT at jump-roping. It dates back to Star elementry school. My best friend, Kaila, and I did a lot of jump-roping during recess. And our school had competitions too. I'm not sure why I never did them, but I had friends that did....and we practiced together. In High school, I set the school record for most jumps in a single minute, OVER 200! I probably couldn't do that now....but I did once.

3. I can only watch an hour and a half of tv MAX in one sitting. I can't stand to sit and watch tv all day. Even if I have hours and hours of my favorite tv shows recorded on the TiVo, I can only watch maybe two. Even if there's no commercials. I start to get irritated.

4. I am NOT the sugar-nut that I used to be. I used to be powerless to chocolate or ice cream or Dr. Pepper. I love all these things, but I've noticed in the past year or so.....if I'm offered one of these things I refuse more often than not. Now I'm not saying I won't eat or drink them. I had a Dr. Pepper yesterday......but I don't CRAVE these things anymore, and I don't snack all day. It's not even that I don't like to.....I just don't. I'm kinda proud of myself for that.

5. I get cold after I eat. EVERY MEAL, NEVER FAILS. I'm not always cold, but you can count on it that I'll be cold after eating. The blood all goes to the inside to digest, and I have to go find a sweater and socks......and a blanket.

6. My new favorite cereal is "Quaker Oatmeal Squares". I've had a lot of cereal in my life, but after I tried this stuff, it was all down-hill from there. I never get sick of it.

7. I color-code EVERYTHING. My closet is arranged from dark-to-light. If I'm playing "ticket to ride" and I'm the card-flipper-over-person.....I'll arrange those cards dark to light (or rainbow order ROYGBIV). People probably don't even notice, but it's true. If something can be color-coded, you can guarantee I've already taken care of it.

Forgotten things....

Well, I know you've all been waiting for my post about our girl's day in Logan....two weekends ago. (that sounds really bad when you say it out loud). But here's what happened....I went to Boise last weekend and I started uploading pictures onto the computer. Well, I got halfway with all the pictures put onto my mom's computer...and then it was time to leave again. Only I did something really stupid. I left the memory-card-reader chord AT MY MOM'S!! ALONG WITH CALEB'S MOST CHERISHED BLANKET! Well, naturally we noticed when we were half-way to Boise that the blanket was gone. S0 I called my mom and asked her to mail the blanket to us. Well, it wasn't until a day later that I realized the memory card reader was still there too. Only, in her haste to return Caleb's blanket to him as soon as possible, by the time I remembered the memory card reader...the blanket had already been boxed up and mailed away. Sigh. So no pictures for two more weeks. We're going to Boise on February 20th because Parker's got some thing for some sport, that I don't remember....except that it's in Boise. So I'm very sorry. Especially to Jayne and Katelyn because I know they have been dying to see those pictures. I promise I WILL still make that post once I get them...no matter how belated it might be.

So, as I said....we went to Boise last weekend. Parker REALLY wanted to go to Bogus basin (the ski resort near Boise) and go night skiing with me. It's been FOUR YEARS since we hit the slopes together. Then when Melissa told me that Chevron gas stations give you a 50% off voucher for night skiing if you show them your recipt....it sealed the deal. Night skiing (which starts at 4:00 pm) for ten bucks a pop! We're in! We were gonna do it for twenty, just cuz it's been so long. But hey....we'll take it for ten. We also brought Parker's little brother, Garrett, along cuz he's been getting pretty good at snowboarding, and he wanted to come too. YES I did bring the camera. We got to the top of the lift, and saw the beautiful mountains and valley below...and I pulled out the camera to take my first picture. I turn it on.....and it turns back off. I turn it on again.......it turns back off. That's right. Dead battery. In my attempt to upload the girl's day pictures earlier that day, I had successfully drained the battery to complete deadness. So here I am. No girl's day pictures. No skiing pictures. I know I suck.

This weekend's valentines day. Yes, we're doing something fun. No I don't know what. And no you won't get to see any pictures....at least not for a week after that. You know why. But we're excited to see Jayne. She's coming home cuz her hubby's outa town for a while. So she's chillin with us. Thanks in advance Jayne, for watching Caleb so me and Parker can have a night out.

Well there's my story. Caleb's blanket came yesterday. Fast eh?!! I know! I was surprised. I've just been working lots. I'm really enjoying it though...and I'm getting faster too. The assistants tell me almost every day how much faster I'm getting. I'm kinda proud of myself, I'm not gonna lie. Work's been great. And I've managed to weasel in an appointment for Parker to get his wisdom teeth pulled. YES!! Spring break. I'm NOT cleaning those stupid things. VOTE 'NO' FOR WISDOM TEETH!