2011 Coming to a Close

I’ve tried to write at least once a month in my blog, but I see that the last time was in the summer!  I can find extra time now to write when there’s nothing else to do at work.  This is quite long, however, and I don't seem to be able to add any pictures right now.  Has anyone had this problem and how did you fix it?  Will keep trying.

I got a job as a receptionist at Air and Sea International Freight Link since the end of August.  I found the opening on-line and applied, then they called me, and the next week I was interviewed and started work.  It’s surprising how quickly you can get a job after trying for six months!  It was nice to get off of government unemployment,  but I felt that I deserved to take advantage of it since my previous employers have taken it out of my paychecks over the years.  The company I work for is a freight-forwarding business.  It is a medium-sized company that has been in business for 40 years and run by a family.  They make arrangements (mostly over the phone) to move freight of any type to/from anywhere in the world.  I sit at a desk by the door where I let visitors in, answer phones, get the mail and Fed-Ex’s ready, do some of the invoicing, filing, water plants and anything else they need me to do.  I’m also on the monthly luncheon and birthday committee with another lady.  The office has to be locked due to TSA (Transportation Security Administration) requirements.  There are about a dozen import/export men and women that have made me feel welcome.  I like that I don’t have to start until 10 AM and leave at 4 PM.  (Six hours Monday – Friday)  I hope to just stay at home someday and be able to do the wife/grandma thing and putter on projects. 

Right now the Tabernacle Choir, which I sing in, is in the middle of preparing for our Christmas Concerts.  They always make the holidays seem more exciting for me, but I have a hard time doing all the things I would like to for others.  It does make it more stressful.  Thanksgiving will be here next week and I look forward to having our family over for a delicious meal.   We have to Skype with Lee and Spencer’s families most holidays but everyone else will share in bringing the food, so I’m sure it will be great.  It’s nice having married children now so I don’t have to do it all myself.  Our kids in Utah come over on Sundays when they can for meals and time together. 

Since I last wrote on the blog, Bruce and I had two more grandchildren.  Sarah and Denys had Aleksandr (we call him Sasha) on August 15 and Diane and Dallon had Ellison on September 15.  Jared and Candace have Adele, born in June, and Andy and Hope are expecting a little boy in February.  That makes 12 grandchildren for us!  We had a great time at our family reunion in July.  Twenty-two of us met at a cabin at Bear Lake in Garden City, ID.  Even our Washington families were there and we brought Bruce’s mother with us from Orem.  It was a lot of fun for all!  Next year we are looking forward to the Garrard Family Reunion that will be held in Alabama and will count that as our Howard Reunion also.  My sister, Kathy, is working hard at making arrangements for it.

At one point on my blog, Bruce and I were working to get in better shape physically.  We went to a gym close to where we live and went on walks, etc.  Life got really hectic which slowed us down.  We decided to stop our membership at the gym and get a treadmill.   So we have one and a recumbent bike and we need to be better again at getting the exercise we need.  We have to keep recommitting ourselves to eating better and exercising more.  I know it’s hard during the holidays, but it can also be the best time to do better by avoiding all the goodies. 

I have been seeing a holistic doctor for a number of years with hypothyroidism issues.  This is one of the reasons I struggle with my weight.  But Dr. Cameron put me on a bioidentical hormone that helps me feel normal.  However, that is not the end of it.  After awhile the medication has to be adjusted because I start feeling worse again.  Right now we’re in the middle of re-evaluating how much T-3 medication I need to take.  Unlike a conventional doctor, he has me take my temperature every morning and take my blood pressure on occasion and report into him so he can take everything into the equation.  I also get blood tests so he can measure what is happening in my body.  The thyroid is a complicated endocrine gland that is responsible for sending out the hormones our bodies need to function properly.  I think this disease runs in my Mortensen family.  My mother and sisters all take medication for it but I am just trying to go with a more natural method of treatment than Synthroid.  I took Synthroid for a period of time about 10 years ago, but didn’t like how it made me feel.  I heard about Todd Cameron and his success in treating thyroid problems with natural methods.  He treats himself for the same disease.  I would like to know from others in my family or from anyone that has had thyroid issues, what their experiences have been.  You can learn a lot about the disease simply by “googling” it.  I wonder how we ever got along without the computer!

OK….I will end this book entry now.  This is what happens when I don’t write for so long!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS (if I don’t write again by then)!!!!!                    
     Jeri