Tender Mercies and Other Randoms..

This week has been kind of crazy. Tuesday was my last day with Evan, and believe it or not, it was sad! When I left his house, I said, "We'll see ya later Evan!!" and he said, "Let's hope so!" SAD. Good thing he has Alzheimer's, so he's not going to be too distraught about me leaving, he won't even remember me the next day. But when I went to lunch with him that day, his daughter came with us too. I can't remember if I gave you a little background on Evan's family situation, but it's okay, I'll tell you twice. So Evan- totally loaded, right? He's got tons of land (6,000 acres I think?) Anyway, so once he started showing signs of Alzheimer's, 4 or his 6 kids totally went against him and wanted to put him in a nursing home so they could sell all his stuff and keep his money. It's all greed, and it's so sad. They don't even care about their dad, just about his money. If you want to read more about this, his daughter gave a more descriptive background here. Disclaimer: it's pretty long, so only read when you have time. Anyway his daughter Kathy was his main guardian. She lives in NYC so she can only make it to Utah once a month. She's one of the better kids, she helps her dad out whenever she comes down, and she's the one that had aides like me help him in his house. If it were up to his other kids they'd throw him in a nursing home so they could sell all his stuff and keep the money, like I said before. But with Kathy in charge, they couldn't. Anyway, long story short- Kathy gave up guardianship on Tuesday, which was my last day with Evan. She couldn't keep living the way she was. Her other siblings were harassing her and doing all that they could to get her to give up her position as Guardian. So she couldn't handle her siblings anymore and gave up. This means that they can do whatever they want to their dad. The first thing they'll do is put him in a nursing home, which means I would've lost my job. Can we say tender mercy!? I had a feeling I needed to find another job, and now I know why. This other part kind of scares me.. When I was talking to his daughter, she was telling me that they are going to have a hearing in court the 18th of August. She said she might need people to testify on Evan's behalf, and I might have to testify! I've never been in this kind of situation, and I don't want to get involved in this huge family crisis. But if it means that Evan will get the proper care, and won't be treated badly, then I'd gladly do it. It breaks my heart the things his kids did to him, and will continue to do when they take over.. Wish me luck if I have to go to court!

Also, I've been looking for some extra money. College fee's are due soon, and I've got nothin. I looked on craigslist today for some stupid ways to make money, and I certainly found the winner! This company just came out with this weight loss product, and they're looking for people to participate in their study. You get $1500 for a 3 week participation. Probably not healthy, probably a scam, but I replied to the add anyway! Haha! But seriously, making money and loosing weight at the same time?! Perfect, right? ....Yeah, almost too perfect. Definitely a scam.
I also started another way to make some money, this one is definitely NOT a scam. It's MELALEUCA! I gave my first presentation yesterday, and I'm getting enrollments too! Huzzzah, say hello to the youngest Corporate Director Melaleuca has ever seen! Haha, I'm pretty proud of myself.

I go to register for school next Wednesday! I reviewed my classes yesterday, and here's what my schedule looks like..
MWF- I have a Writing class at 7:30 am!! That's going to suck. But it lasts till 8:20, then after that I have a Psychology lab at 8:30. On the other side of campus! I'm going to have to book it to make it on time. But the lab is only on Monday's- so I only have to worry about that once a week. The lab ends at 10:30, I believe. Then at 11:30-12:20 I have an American History class, which I am so excited about. I love American History. And that's all the classes I have MWF. Sweeeet.
T&TH- At 1:30-2:45 I have Psychology 1010, also very excited about this one. Obviously because it's my major. And just on the first couple of Thursdays at 4:30 I have a connections class. Which gets you introduced to the school, and you do fun activities. I hear it's awesome!

There's a peek at my schedule, it might change when I talk to my academic advisor, not sure. But I am excited nonetheless.

I think that's about all of the excitement I have for this week. OH WAIT. There is a bonfire Saturday night with the ward. Totally excited about that! There are the cutest boys in my ward, and there's something about being outside, close to nature, that gets guys going. My roommate and I already have our game plan planned out carefully for that night. We're definitely going to score some hot dates! I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Farewell Evan..

Soooo I put in my two weeks notice. There's only so much I can handle with Evan, the shifts were way too long, and I wasn't getting paid nearly enough. Funny how my two weeks turned into like a month, though. My boss called me a couple days ago and said, "Laurel I don't have a replacement yet, would you be able to work through out this month, and your last day could be July 2nd?" UHHHHH... (this was clearly my response..) But I told her I would have to talk to my other boss and see if I could work around that schedule. ( I now clean cabins in Bear Lake for more money than I was making with Evan, plus my roommate does it too, and she loves to drive, so I just pay her for gas money and we carpool! Perfect!) Anyway, I know you've all been dying to see what Evan looks like, so here's a little taste.

Evan and I-- Clearly not the best picture of me, but look how tall he is, and he's hunched over! He could totally take me. And I spilled a little water on my shirt, no big deal.

The only time he decides to take a nap is when we want to take pictures of him, imagine that.

Larissa came for a week to stay with me, she got the real Evan experience. BTW, he's totally not sleeping! Look at that sly smile.

Where's Waldo!?

Ahh, I thought this picture was so cute. Evan lives right by the hillside, so there's always little deer running around.

There ya have it- Evan in a nutshell. Now I'll blog about some tender memories with him..

-I'm totally going to miss Evan's dry jokes. He would say something, and I wasn't sure if he meant for it to be funny or not, but I'll know because he'll do a little chuckle and wait for me to laugh. It was kinda funny.

-He would always say the weirdest phrases for going to the bathroom. One time I asked him where he was going, and he said, "I've gotta drop a load." or something gross like that! Guys never change!

-I definitely won't miss his 'backseat driving.' I'm going 40MPH in a 55MPH area, and he yells at me to slow down..

-Okay this next one is a little explicit, so nobody under the age of 16 can read this.. I just had to mention it, because I laughed SO hard when he said this.. I told Evan he needed to change his pants because they were dirty, he thinks about it for a while, and said, "Well, I'm going to take a guess and say that you don't have any guys going in your pants?" hahaha! Where that came from, nobody will ever know. Maybe he meant to say something like, "Well I'm going to guess that you don't have any guy pants." Who knows, but funny nonetheless.

-This was cute, I was taking him to go to the retirement home to eat lunch, and there's like 50 widows there. He had just gotten his new 'teeth' and I said, "Evan you are going to look so sharp, all these ladies will hover over you!" And he said, "Should I run?!" haha, he was pretty funny when we wasn't so agitated!

Anyway, just a taste. I can't really think of any more. But this has been a good job for me. The best and the worst. He taught me to have A LOT of patience and kindness. Thanks for the good times Evan! Keep it real!

Updates

I've totally been slacking on my blogging duties. Allow me to catch up..

-I moved out of my apartment (KK20) and now I'm living with 5 new girls. I've had a whole month to get to know them a little better, and I like them a lot. Although, I do miss my old roomies.. nobody can really compare..
-Yes, I'm still hanging around good ole' Evan. He got his false teeth, and a haircut today. Lookin real sharp. I do need to find another job that pays a little more though, but I can't seem to get myself to quit. I hate being so nice all the time.. Why can't I say NO?
-I promised myself that I am going to start my melaleuca business TODAY. No If's, And's, or But's about it. I need money asap.
-I registered for classes next fall, and I'm super excited to start! I finalize my classes, and meet with my academic advisor on July 1st. Who knew I'd be going to college?!
-I've been in Idaho every weekend for almost a month! It's been a busy one; Mother's Day, Lana's had her baby, and Memorial Day.

Well, I'm pretty sure I've got you all up to date. I promise to be more faithful in blogging.
P.S. There's this boy....







Pssshhh, I wish.

Here's To Happiness.

This blog is inspired by Allie, who was inspired by someone else. But I loved it.

Ten Things That Make Me Terribly Happy:
1. Long drives in my car, but only if the gas tank is full/it's clean on the inside and out/and I have awesome music to jam out to.
2. Having conversations with little kids. Actually, just being with kids makes me terribly happy.
3. Going over to my grandparents house to watch Jazz games.
4. Disney Movies and Music
5. When everything fits together perfectly, and you feel like everything will work out finally.
6. Dance parties
7. Summer nights
8. Watching the sun rise/set
9. The song, "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles
10. Knowing I'll see my Grandma again

I love making lists about what makes me happy. It really puts things into perspective a little bit, and keeps me thinking positive. Almost like counting your blessings, if you will.

My New Best Friend

www.pandora.com <---- check it out.

My playlist consists of David Gray and N*SYNC. Awesome, right?
Also, the Jazz are playing the Lakers again tonight at home. I really wanted to go to this game, but I guess I'll have to settle for going to Iggy's and watching the game around the bar, jumping/yelling/screaming throughout the whole game. People will love me for sure. But if this game is as intense as it was on Thursday night, I'll have no voice tomorrow. :)

Good Day

Today was legitimately the sweetest day ever. Days like these get me so excited for the summer season. Anyway, I get a text from Cait (roommate) saying we should have a picnic today! I was totally game for that because it was so nice outside! Well folks, here's what was on the menu for tonight's picnic-
*Appetizer: Veggie Tray with ranch, so easy and simple, but so perfect for the occasion.
*Main Dish: Grilled Salmon with Pesto on Focacia (the store didn't have any Focacia bread, so we used French, an okay substitute.) Couscous with sun dried tomatoes, peas, and feta cheese. And a Fruit and Spinach salad with Raspberry Pomegranate Vinaigrette. (I prepared this dish)
*Dessert: Lemon Bars (I made them.. and they were delicious! Thank you Paula Deen.)

So we sat on our deck and ate this wonderful meal while blasting Bob Marley music, also perfect for the occasion. People would look up at us and be so jealous that we were eating such a perfect meal, while they were going home to fix em up some tomato soup.. We don't eat like poor college students at KK20, we eat like Kings and Queens. Jealous?

Awesome Roommates and Good Times at Burlington

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this earlier!! When I went to Salt Lake with my family for Spring Break about a month ago, we took a little stop at Burlington Coat Factory. We've basically made it tradition to go there every time we hit up SLC. Sometimes they can have really cute clothes, accessories, and shoes. Then there's times where you find nothing but weird, trashy, outdated clothing. For some reason, every time we go we hit the bad day. Instead of focusing on how ugly the clothes are, and how pissed we are that we won't go home in something cute, we focus on how to make a bad situation better. We play a game.. The rules goes as follows:

1. Each person has to pick out THE ugliest outfit. (Shirt, Pants, Jacket if needed, and shoes.)

2. Leisha has to try on the winning ugly outfit. (She likes the photo op.)

3. We take pictures of the ugly outfit.

So this years winner for the ugliest outfit was me! I definitely picked out the nastiest clothes ever. Leggings included. See pics below..

Dressing Room lady wouldn't let us bring the shoes into the dressing room. They were bright colored pumps. It had patches of animal prints on them too, I believe.

***Now allow me to blog about how awesome my roommates are***

When I told them I got the scholarship they were almost as excited as I was! These girls are so encouraging. When the other girls got accepted into their major, we all did cute things for them to congratulate them. So this is the special treatment I got, when I received my scholarship. P.S. When I got my scholarship letter, I read a little closer.. it's actually like $9,000 I received. It keeps getting better!!


I came home from a crappy day at work to see my door all decorated! How cute!

A Lisa Frank handbag, or a pinata?! BOTH. This was my favorite ever. We're going to have some fun with this baby.

They also made me a cute card, and wrote a short message. I absolutely love my roommates, they are the sweetest, and I'll definitely miss them when we all move out in 2 weeks. :(

Good News and Goodbyes...

I've never been so positive and optimistic about what my future holds, until now! My mom called me yesterday with good news! I applied for a 'Needs Based' scholarship, where I just wrote a couple of paragraphs on why I needed this scholarship, gave a list of references, and my goals. Seriously the whole application took about 15 minutes. I put a lot of thought into it, but it wasn't a big deal at all. Anyway, my mom called to say that I received some scholarship money from that specific scholarship. She asked me how much I thought I got, and I said, "Uhh, $2000?" (thinking that was pretty high..) She said, "How about $8,000!!"
WOW! Some might think that's not much, but that will pay for my first year tuition, out-of-state! I was so stressed about paying for school, I had no idea how I'd be able to afford out-of-state tuition, and I almost backed down. Talk about answered prayers! Once I'm eligible for in-state-tuition, I should receive enough grants to basically pay for the rest of my tuition during my sophomore, junior, and senior year. It's almost like going to school for free! Hopefully, that's how it all works out. I'm just glad the out-of-state tuition is taken care of! YYEAAAHHH!

Also, yesterday was the last Utah Jazz game of the season.. Bittersweet. I went over to my grandparents house to watch the game with them, and the Jazz were totally putting up a fight! They played so well! After half-time, the power went out, and we couldn't watch the rest of the game! I was SO mad! Today in the newspaper, I found out that they lost by like 12 points or something like that.. I know they lost because I wasn't able to cheer them on. They always win when I'm cheering loud, also when I sport my Korver Jersey they do really well too. DANG, why didn't I wear that last night?! Oh well, GO JAZZ, I wish you the best during the playoffs!

OH! And I am definitely going to get tickets to the Playoffs, if anyone wants to go with me, let me know! As of right now, it looks like I'll be cheering for my boyfriend alone..

Why do I always get screwed in the job department?!

If you thought my other blogs about my other job (Melaleuca) seemed pretty weird/crappy... oh boy. This job puts the icing on the cake. Terrible.

Story Time: Once upon a time, there lived a girl who had no job, but was desperate. She took the first job she could find as a caregiver. She thought it would be pretty easy taking care of an elderly man with Alzhiemers. Doesn't sound that bad, right? Well, she was in for a treat. After she'd been staying the nights there she'd gotten to be more confortable around this elderly man. Then one day, when Laurel wanted to be left alone to watch an episode or two of The Office, the man said something to her that COMPLETELY changed her, and will continue to haunt her forever. He had the "DTR" talk... Yes folks, Define the Relationship.



The Conversation Goes As Follows:
Evan: I just don't think this can work out. I don't think we're very compatible. I think I'm a little too old for you.
Laurel: Evan.. I am not interested in you. (The lady in charge of the care giving told me I had to stand my ground if he ever said anything like this.. I wasn't going to sit down and giggle when he thought I was actually there to date him.. awkward.)
Evan: Now, I think we both just need to think about this a little bit. The guys back in town told me I need to be careful. They said I need to get to know the girl first, find out what she likes, before I say "I Do."
Laurel: Evan, I have a boyfriend, I don't like you. I'm here to take care of you because it's my job.
Evan: All I'm asking is for you to think about it. We can make it work. I just have to be careful.. The guys back in town.... (he repeats himself regularly).
Laurel: EVAN, I AM NOT HERE TO MARRY YOU. I HAVE A BOYFRIEND.
Evan: Yeah, You have a boyfriend, this is why it probably won't work. But we need to think about it before we rush into things. (He contradicts himself regularly as well..)
Laurel: Evan I'm married. (I gave up.)
Evan: OHHH WELLL I just can't beleive you. You lead me on, I thought you liked me, I thought we had something going, I took care of you. The guys back in town told me to be careful! (wow.. I lead him on? He took care of me? )
Laurel: Evan, it's time for bed.


There ya have it. Evan thought I was here to marry him. It makes sense, why else would a lady be over at his house 24/7, feeding him, getting him into bed, taking him places, and staying the night?! I don't think he's forgotten about it, because its still a little awkward between us, to say the least. I try not to talk to him a lot, for the fact that I might be 'leading him on'. I'll give him a book and let him do his thing.

I've gotta tell ya though, that night when I told him I was married, it was IMPOSSIBLE to get him into bed. He wouldn't let me look through his drawers to get his pajamas, he refused to take his meds, and he wouldn't let me help him get into his pajamas. He slept in his fancy clothes, and needless to say, both him and I got no sleep that night. So I ask, WHY do I always get stuck with these jobs where I have to work with awkward men? Story of my life..

What has two thumbs, and is totally exhausted right now?

Answer: THIS GIRL. (You would only get the punch line if you watch The Office..)



WOW. I am barely able to blog due to my lack of sleep and all of my 'caregiving' I did last week. I forgot to mention that I did get a job, thank goodness, but holy cow.. I didn't expect it to be like this. I'll give you a detailed description of what my duties are, and examples of my days..

Job Description: I care for an old man with Alzheimers Disease, by cooking him meals, providing transportation, getting him ready for the day/bed, and basically following him everywhere.
Examples of a typical 24 hour shift: Yes, you read right. I work 24 hour shifts, and on every other weekend it's 48 hour shifts. But I drive 35 minutes or so just to get to Evan's house. (Evan is the man that I 'babysit'). My shift starts at 9 am, so I'm usually here a little before that to review with the other care giver what Evan has been doing, and what needs to be done today. Normally he's still in his pajamas so I'll have to FORCE him to change. He feels he doesn't need to take showers or change his clothes. Getting him into the shower is usually a 2 hour process, he is so stubborn. Once he's all cleaned up, I'll take him to a retirement home and go eat lunch with him. It's a very nice 3-course meal, so I'll try every day to get him to go there. About 20 minutes into lunch, he'll complain that there's things that need to be done, and he'll freak out if he doesn't get home right then to go pull some weeds. He used to be a farmer, and is used to HARD work. Rarely will you see him relax and sit to watch a movie/tv, which sucks. I'm chasing him all around the farm, because I can't let him wander and get lost. He'll be outside for hours on end, and I'll call him in for dinner. After dinner is the part that I have a hard time handeling. Like I said, he is so stubborn. He doesn't like to change clothes, my first night he actually wore his overalls to bed because I couldn't get him to change. It takes about an hour to get him into pajamas, then I'll try to get him to bed. Once he's all settled and in bed, he'll wake up about 3-4 hours later, wander around for 2 hours, go back to sleep for 30 minutes, wake up and wander around for another 2 hours, go back to sleep for another 30 minutes, wake up, go back to sleep, etc. 7:00 is when he'll wake up for the day. (Keep in mind, everytime he's up, I have to follow him to make sure he won't go wander outside.) As you can tell, I get no sleep. The other caregiver comes at 9 the next morning and releives me of my shift, and I get to come back the next day!

Ahhh, I have worked 96 hours last week, and I am dying! I'll talk to the lady in charge of schedules and tell her that's just a little too much for me to handle right now.
But I need a nap, I'll blog later..