. . . One More

Our Little Flower

Specials

**You may not want to read this if you've never read the Uglies series, and want to one day**

I just finished reading the third book in the Uglies trilogy yesterday. I was disappointed in Specials and was up late pondering it. I could have thought of a great number of ways I would have liked it to end better than it did. I appreciate the way it ended, and I understand why it ended the way it did. BUT STILL!! Maybe I'm too much of a romantic or too much of a "pretty-head" but I wanted Tally to at least get rid of her pointy teeth and fingernails, and be with Zane! Or at least have one final scene with Zane to tell him she's sorry and she loves him and is no longer repulsed by him. . . then he could have died. It just kind of sucked. I like happy endings, and this one was a little ambiguous for me. Oh well.

I'm still going to read Extras, it came in the mail from Amazon the other day. I love Amazon, I've been buying used books for $1 and used DVDs for $2 on there. Shipping is usually more than the item, so that kind of sucks, but it still beats paying full price!

Jim's First Goal Playing in a Hockey Game

Well, he's from Canada, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Jim got his FIRST goal playing in a REAL hockey game. It was the only goal of the night for his team, so he was named MVP of the game, and got to take home the GOLDEN PUCK!

HOORAY FOR JIM!

Worst Case Scenario

Okay, the worst cast scenario is I won't have a front tooth for a while.

Now to explain. When I was young I passed out and fell down a flight of stairs. In the process I knocked my front right tooth pretty hard, and needed a root canal. Since that time I've periodically had the tooth whitened from the inside out. Three years ago I had it whitened, and a few weeks later an infection surfaced. The infection has been draining on its own (disgusting, I know -- sorry) so I've never been in any real pain. I just kind of hoped it would go away on its own. Then I got preggers with Tralee and didn't want to go to the dentist because they probably couldn't do anything for me anyways. After having Tralee, I was the kind of mom who didn't want to leave her first child for very long, so I put off the dentist some more. It's been three years of living with an infection, and frankly, I've had enough. I pushed my fears aside and went to the dentist today. I pretty much knew what he would tell me.

1. I could keep living with this infection, and have it eat away at my bone -- thus allowing the tooth to fall out, and leaving no hope for an implant/veneer. (Not gonna happen.)

2. I could go to an endodontics (spl?) and have him check it out. I will probably need another root canal to clean out the infection, and then go back to the dentist and have a veneer put over the remaining amount of tooth I have left.

3. I could go to the endodontics have him check me out and decide there's no hope for my tooth. Thus leaving me with the option of getting an implant. If I need an implant I would have a temporary tooth on a retainer while they wait for my bone to grow around the implant. When my bone is ready, they would screw in a porcelain tooth. I'm assuming the retainer could be removed -- thus leaving me with a huge toothless gap for a few weeks until I can get the porcelain tooth put in place. I'll be white trash! This is the worst case scenario, and I'm hoping it doesn't come to this. However, if it does I promised my brother I would post a picture of "White Trash Leslie" on my blog. He thought this was funny, I think otherwise.

Other than the possibility of being toothless -- in my front upper tooth no less -- the dentist and tech said my teeth looked great for not having gone to the dentist in three years. I was afraid they would yell at me, but they were very nice, and even let me watch TV (it was in the ceiling) while they worked on me. I also scheduled a cleaning appointment six months from now, and vowed (to myself) to keep up with my dental appointments, regardless how scarred I am.

I think once I get this whole front tooth fiasco over with, I won't be afraid to visit the dentist. I just have to make it past this hurtle. I called to schedule an appointment with the endodontic dude, but he's out of the office until the 22nd. The sooner I can get this over with the better. I go in to get my cavities filled on Tuesday.

Wish me luck!

Update

The weather has become really summer-like over the last few days -- I love it!

Father's Day was a nice day. We went to church, and then I made a delicious Father's Day meal for Jim. I asked him what he wanted to eat, and he choose a steak dinner. So we had steaks, red potatoes, asparagus, broccoli salad, and strawberry-blueberry tarts for dessert. Jim also got some really great presents. I wanted to give Jim his presents after his Father's Day meal, but the first thing he said when he woke up was, "Give me my presents!" I asked him if he was sure, because then he wouldn't have anything to open later on. He was sure. Tralee and I got him some clothes, DVDs, a craft Tralee made, and a one hour massage at the Y. I think he loved it all, and he's excited about the massage.

Tralee and I went to the park for lunch yesterday. For those of you that don't live around here, the main parks host a free lunch for the kids from around 11 to 1 everyday. It's great, and I can't argue with free! I took Tralee yesterday to the playground/park next to the Y. We got her lunch, and sat with some ladies and kids in our ward. Tralee was hungry up until she spotted the swings. As soon as she saw them she did a cute little scream and ran up to them -- all thoughts of hunger gone. I pushed her in a swing, and fed her her lunch. She ate almost the entire thing. Tralee also went down some slides, climbed, and threw wood chips around. It was a fun outing, and Tralee took a nice long nap when we got home. I think we'll be going to the park for lunch from now on, but not today. I'm going to babysit for a women in our ward while she goes to the doctor. I think Tralee will have fun playing with her kids.

Last night we went bowling with Jared and Audie Jacobs and their kids. I think everyone did pretty well. Tralee got a nice goose-egg on her head. She was bending down to pick something up and bashed her head against a metal cup-holder on the back of a chair. Poor thing. She's all better now, but had a rough few minutes right after it happened. Besides Tralee's head injury, last night was fun.

That's all for now. Nothing really exciting, I know. Just the norm, but that's ok for me!

Father's Day Photos

Happy Father's Day to all the men who read this. This year I'll just post some pictures of the Dads and Granddads in our lives and write something nice about them.

Let's start with my Dad, James Micheal Labiszak. He's always been a good provider, sacrificing his own happiness to insure the happiness of his loved ones. He's not the gushy type, but I always knew how much he loved me. I am his favorite daughter, after all.


My Dad was also blessed with the challenge of not only raising a silly and overly emotional teenage daughter, but also raising my severely disabled brother Todd. There's no other person in the world who makes Todd as happy as our Dad. We 're all grateful we can call him our very own.
How about my hot hubby? Is there anything more handsome than seeing your husband hold your child?

One of the reasons I married Jim was because I KNEW he would be an amazing father. I mean the kind of Dad who's never too busy to get down on his hands and knees and play with his kids.

Jim's one of a kind. I can't think of anyone else who can be infuriating and charming at the same time. I can't stay mad at him for the life of me. I want to, but he ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS makes me crack up right when I want to be the most angry at him. It's VERY annoying. . . and cute. DANG IT! Sorry, one last picture of Jim and Tralee. They're just too cute together.

Here's a picture of Jim and his dad Ross on the day Jim got home from Ireland. Jim and Ross have very similar personalities, which makes being around them, when they're together, a lot of fun. We love to go visit Ross and his wife Judy up in Canada. Actually, when we're up there I usually don't have a husband for a few days because he's so busy fishing for sharks, shooting gophers, playing golf, and doing other father-son activities with Ross. That's okay, I'm glad Jim and his Dad are such good friends.
Here's a two-for-one shot. To the left is Jim's Grandpa Jacobs and to the right it Jim's Grandpa Callister. Both of these men have passed on, but have left an amazing legacy for us to pass down to our kids.

Here's a family shot of my Dad's family growing up. The man in the lower right hand side of the picture is my Grandpa Eugene. I never met my Dad's dad, but hear amazing stories about his life. I'm excited to pass these down to our kids as well.

My Grandpa Stoehr is quite the man. He gives everyone a nickname, and never calls them anything but that name. I've been "Lessy" for as long as I can remember. My Mom (who's pictured with her father) has never been called anything but "Boom" or "Boomy" from this man. Grandpa Stoehr has always been a rough-around-the-edges farmer type. In fact, I remember him picking up a farm cat I brought inside his house, and chucking it outside when I was just a little girl. I don't think I ever brought another farm cat inside again, for fear of what he would do to it. However, Grandpa's rough facade could always melt away if just the right thing was said or done. For instance, he would pay me a dollar to brush his hair (or what was left of it). He would let me ride in the tractor with him, and he would always cry at the end of Hoosiers.
My Dad's Mom remarried before I was born, and I grew up with her second husband as my Grandpa. Grandpa John was quite the character. As soon as I hugged and kissed Nana after walking into her condo, she would say, "Go say 'hi' to Grandpa John." I obeyed and walked to the den where he sat in his easy chair. I can still feel his rough cheek, and smell the cigar smoke and aftershave. I must have kissed his cheek a thousand times. I'm glad I did, because Grandpa John faithfully accompanied Nana to every piano recital, choir concert, and play I was ever in. I'm grateful he was my Grandpa.


Jim's Mom re-married Jeff Larson. Jeff is a great guy, and we're glad he's in our lives. He's the first Grandpa that held Tralee. He also took her for a ride on his lawn-mower a few weeks ago. We appreciate all he does for us.


This last picture is of me, my brother, Great-Grandma Steinke and Great-Grandpa Steinke. Some of my favorite childhood memories include Grandpa Norman. He smelled of the earth, because he spent most of his time outside. He had one piercing blue eye, and one milky eye that was blinded in a logging incident. When he looked at you, it was as if he could see right through you. Perhaps one of my favorite memories of Grandpa Norman is of him taking me to Ruth Lake on the back on his ancient dirt-bike. I held onto him, and buried my head in his mossy jacket as he sped through the forest path to get us to the lake. He bate my hook, helped me cast, smiled when I excitedly reeled in my catch, and then took the fish off my hook for me. My only job was to have fun. When we returned back to his make-shift home, I sat on a stump or bucket as he scaled the fish and filleted it. We would usually eat my catch of blue-gills, perch, or rainbow trout for dinner that night. One time when we were fishing Grandpa passed some gas. He turned to me and said, "Oops, had to let one go, he couldn't pay the rent." Grandpa Steinke died when I was in fourth grade. He was a fun Great-Grandpa, and I'm glad I have happy memories of him to pass onto Tralee.

I couldn't find a picture of my surrogate Grandpa, Grandpa Lenz. He's a wonderful man, and was always present on my birthdays and other special occasions. I love him very much!!

Well, if you've read this far, thanks.