Job Update

Aaron's interview went very well. The offer has not been made yet, as things will have to go through human resources before that can happen, but we'll just say that the interview was less of an interview, and more of a product and market familiarization. The market looks a lot better than the report Aaron got from the market analysis firm led Microboards to believe.

Mark told Aaron that he had 200 resumes on his desk for this position, and when he thought about having to interview all these people, none of whom he knows, he thought of Aaron. With Aaron, he would know exactly what he was getting, and although they could get someone else for far less, they'd rather have someone they know can perform who can jump right into the position. They did talk salary a little bit, and it would be hard to say no to what Mark is thinking they would offer. It is really a sales position, so it would start off with a nice salary, then decrease when commissions get built up a little. It has some great potential.

The only hard part about the whole thing, in my mind, is the travel expectation. It could be as high as 40% at times, especially for the first two years. My thought is that Aaron is currently so frustrated when he comes home from work that he isn't emotionally able to spend quality time with the kids. If he were in a job he liked, even if he is gone 40% of the time, there will suddenly be 60% more time that he is happy coming home from work, right?

This is going to be a hard decision for Aaron. He'll be giving up the privilege of coming and going as he pleases, friends he's had for 11 years, and knowing what to expect. On the other hand, if he turns down this job, he will go into Microboards hating it even worse the next day. I think he should go for it.

The Competitor

Last night at around 9:30pm, Aaron got a message from the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Primera, one of Microboards' top two competitors (Microboards used to be a distributor for Primera, but when Microboards bought a manufacturing facility and started building competitive products, Primera cut them off). He said he's looking for a Business Development Manager for Latin America, and thought Aaron was just the person. It isn't for their CD/DVD line, but a label printer line. Microboards briefly explored the market last year, but the president didn't want to put an investment into developing it, so it never went anywhere.

Aaron responded that he'd like to talk, and Mark emailed him right away to ask him if he was available to go to PACK Expo in June in Mexico City, and could he come over today or tomorrow to talk? Aaron emailed back that he is available during the trade show, and sure, he could find time to talk today. They worked out the details this morning, and Aaron has an appointment to meet with him at 4:30pm.

Aaron has a number of questions for Mark, so this isn't a done deal. Not only does Aaron not have any idea how much they will offer him, but he is wondering about the viability of the Latin American label printing market. This label printer is for food items, in particular items that don't have large runs, like specialty foods or local brands, where it is more cost effective to put a label on a package in-house. When Microboards explored the market, he bought a market analysis from a firm, and it didn't look like it was terribly huge worldwide. It was just a preliminary analysis, and not a terribly thorough one, so it is possible Primera has better information.

The company is in Plymouth, at the 494/394 junction. It is a 40 minute drive from here when there isn't traffic. Aaron doesn't like the idea of a long commute (neither do I), so we'd probably move to Minnetonka or Wayzata if he takes it.

Keep him in your prayers this afternoon!

The Interview *UPDATED*

Aaron had his interview on Monday. He and the Director of Marketing were very much on the same page. She asked him a lot of questions which allowed him to demonstrate his knowledge of the industry and his competence in marketing. After asking him some questions about how he would handle some lead-generating, she started taking notes, as if he were a consultant, rather than an interviewee. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he was more suited to her position than the manager position for which he was interviewing.

Along with that small detail, she is a 35-year-old single mom who looks like a model. He wouldn't feel comfortable burning the midnight oil with her. He does believe the company has the right culture and the right product. It just wouldn't be quite the right fit, most likely.

He is supposed to hear from her within the week. But, unless they were to come up with a different position for him (which was not discussed), rather than the marketing manager position they are hiring, he will probably not take it if it is offered.

*Update 5/20* Aaron got an email today, and was informed that they are going to continue interviewing other candidates for the position. Aaron is not surprised.

Random Stuff

Aaron's interview was postponed to Monday, so there won't be any news today.

Tristin auditioned for a solo in "For the Longest Time" for his Spring Choir Concert. He got the longest solo in the song! He's really excited! That probably means he has a shot at getting into Show Choir for next year. Auditions for that are on the 20th of this month.

I'm giving a talk on the blessings of the priesthood on Sunday. There was obviously a lot in general conference to gather from, but if you have any talks or scriptures you want to direct my way, I could use more quotes.

I feel like it has been raining forever!! We're getting a little case of the grumpies in our house. Mommy included. I should take the kids for some playtime in the Lion's Den after lunch, before William's recorder concert this afternoon and let them run off some energy.

Job Interview

Aaron had a phone interview with Gov Delivery's HR screener last week, and got a call for an in-person interview for the Marketing Manager position. He scheduled it for Thursday at 3pm. We're not sure whether it will be a position he will really be interested in or not. The Marketing Director is actually less experienced than he is, so it might not be a good fit. She doesn't have an MBA, either, so it might be awkward for her to hire him.

We'd have to move to the St. Paul side of town if he got it, as it is in downtown S.P. Therefore, it would have to be a really great fit, as well as have a really good compensation package. Selling this house wouldn't be easy, and Realtor fees will eat up a lot of the equity we have left in the house in this declining market.

I was excited about this interview until I wrote about it. Now, it doesn't seem so exciting.

Puberty

I bet that, upon reading the headline of this post, you assumed it was going to be about one of the boys. Well, you were wrong.

I had my annual exam a couple of weeks ago, and I had been feeling a small, tender lump on my breast that week, so I told my doctor about it. He figured it was just a milk duct acting up. He didn't do a very thorough exam, like I have had in the past. He is a family doctor, not an OB/GYN, and he seemed like he was uncomfortable throughout the entire exam. So, when the lump got bigger over the following two weeks, I decided to go see an OB/GYN.

The appointment was yesterday. Dr. Freitas did a thorough exam, like I remember having in the past, and she could feel the lump. It didn't feel like a milk duct to her, so she set me up with a mammogram and ultrasound to explore it further. She said it was most likely just a cyst. While I was there, I also discussed my issues with my IUD and too much bleeding, and she offered up a possible solution. She gave me a sample pack of a low-dose birth control pill, and said that often just one month on the pill will allow enough estrogen to get back into the lining of the uterus that it will regulate and shorten my bleeding. If it reverts, then we can do it again after my next annual exam.

Anyway, back to the lump...

I went to have the mammogram done yesterday afternoon, which wasn't nearly as bad as I have heard from other people. Other than the part where I had to stand half-naked in front of a lab technician, it was not at all uncomfortable. There was a lot of waiting involved for both of the labs, but after two hours, I sat with the radiologist, who took the ultrasound from the lab technician, and showed me what we were seeing. He showed me that the bubbly-looking stuff was the normal layer of fat under the skin. He then showed me what normal breast tissue looks like. Then, he showed me what the lump looked like. He described it as a "knotty area," and it didn't have a layer of fat over it, under the skin, like the rest of the breast (which would explain the tenderness). This started to worry me, but then he explained that it was merely "prominent breast tissue." He couldn't explain why it was there, just that it was perfectly healthy breast tissue. It finally occurred to me what he was saying...

My breasts are growing. Hahahahaha! Maybe all of the pimples I've been getting over the past few months should have tipped me off. After 14 years of having babies, my body has decided to resume puberty at the age of 34. Hahahahaha!

Released

It's been a great six years, or year and a half, whichever way you want to look at it.

I've been involved in Cub Scouts as a den leader, committee member, committee chair, cubmaster, and then the committee chair again, as part of my calling as 2nd counselor in the Primary presidency. But today, our presidency was released, and I'm off the hook - at least for now.

I was told by the bishop that he has something in the works for me, so I can't count on a long break. In fact, I don't know if I'll really get a break at all. The new Primary president asked me to keep Cub Scouts running until she has her new 2nd counselor called, which could be a while. I'm okay with that, although a clean break would be nice.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,"

Thus begins the book I've just started reading, "In Defense of Food." It seems kind of strange to tell people to eat food, but the book pointed out that most of what is sold in the grocery stores today isn't actually food. In fact, from 1906-1973, there was a law that any food that was modified from its original form must be labeled as "imitation" food. Anyone for some imitation ham (processed, water added, etc.)? imitation sour cream (low-fat sour cream)? imitation butter (margarine)? Suddenly, you wouldn't be so quick to purchase that imitation milk (skim, 1%, 2%).

It is very interesting to me that as soon as the "imitation" label was removed from these foods, the country got fat.

Tagged

Lizzy tagged me on her blog to share my 1st picture folder's 10th picture. It is from Christmas Eve '08 at my parent's house. Dallin is the one with the cute expression on his face, and you can see Katie in her beautiful dress from England.

I'm tagging Emma, Melissa, Jessica and Nancy to do the same.

Decision Made

After a year of preparations, waiting, and combing through the finances, we finally made a hard decision. Aaron will not be enrolling in an MBA program in the fall. Although there was still a chance that July (yes, the website has yet again pushed out when the EFANN comes out) would bring about a financial aid package that would get Aaron through a year of school, we feel strongly that it isn't the right time for it.

Somehow, we don't feel like the time, energy and money was wasted. We needed to know, and Aaron needed some of the experiences he has had in the process. Now, Aaron will focus on two things.

First, he will try to make Microboards successful. Not that he stopped trying, but he will continue to do so. Recent developments when Kuma was in town last week made it so that he will have the authority to take charge of product development. Unlike the last time it was supposed to happen, Mitch is on board (which is a turn-around from the week before, so I speculate Kuma-san had a little chat with him).

Second, Aaron will keep looking for a new job. As much as he'd like Microboards to succeed, there will have to be some miracles in order for new projects to come together in time for them to make a difference soon enough.

Despite the peace we both feel with this decision, I feel a little bit disappointed. I was ready to sacrifice a lot in order for Aaron to go to school. I really wanted him to be happy in his employment. But, I wasn't the only one who would have had to sacrifice. The kids would have had to sacrifice a lot more, at a time when they should be taking advantage of opportunities in their own educations. With Aaron still working, they will be better prepared for their own secondary educations. Instead of us sacrificing for Aaron, he and I will make the sacrifice together for them.

Family-Themed Conference

If there was one thing Aaron and I got out of General Conference this weekend, it is that nothing is more important than our roles as parents.

Here are some of the things we were instructed to do:

Fathers need to use the Priesthood power in their families.

Mothers need to increase their capacity to use personal revelation to bless their families.

Mothers need to set good examples for their daughters by how they dress and how they talk and how they serve.

Parents need to have frequent and meaningful communication with their kids. Ask them questions, listen to their answers.

Parents can learn from their kids, as well as teach them.

Children are more easily rescued when they are young. Don't wait until they are grown to teach them the gospel.

All of the following should be routine in our homes:

Family Prayer

Scripture Study

Family Home Evening

Reading books aloud

Singing songs together

Family meals

Teach more at home. Become better-prepared teachers at church, which will make you a better teacher at home.

Pre-prepared family home evenings (like the stuff you make in R.S. activities or purchase from the LDS bookstore) are not normally the way to do FHE. They don't allow for the spirit of revelation to direct you to what your family needs to learn and do.

Beware of immorality in media. Run from it. It is getting much worse.

Separate yourself from people, materials and circumstances that can harm you.

Go to the temple as often as circumstances allow.

Love others as ourselves, don't confuse the sin with the sinner.

True love begets action.

Ask ourselves often, "What would the Lord, Jesus Christ, have me do?"

Follow the example of the Savior. It is appropriate to disagree with others, but not to be disagreeable. How we disagree is a measure of who we are.

Without pain, there could not be joy.

Fix the errors and merge the duplicates in your family history online.

A mother's influence is far-reaching.

Quit complaining.

Serve others.

Forgive others.

Standards of morality are eternal and have not changed.

Cultivate with the Holy Spirit a relationship of listening.

Teach the life and teachings of Jesus Christ to our children.

Memorize scriptures with children.

There are a lot of areas here where we are doing things right in our family. There are also areas where we need to improve. But, this conference didn't leave me feeling guilty. It left me feeling motivated. We are doing enough the right way that I just feel like I've been gently reminded of the other things I should be working on. I'm so grateful for prophets!

Katie's First Haircut

Katie definitely needed a haircut.

Aaron and I thought we'd take her to Kid's Hair. I brought some of the boys there once, when my clippers were broken, and it was a fun place. They have little televisions at each of the stations, and put movies in for the kids to watch. I thought it would be a great experience for Katie.

When we arrived, we found they had a 70 minute wait, so we made an appointment to come back after some shopping for Aidan's birthday. When we returned, we were told it would be just a few minutes. Then we noticed something. There were two hairdressers working. One of them, a kind-looking young woman, had just started a haircut. The other was just finishing up. She wasn't so kind-looking. In fact, she had black-dyed hair, shaved to a buzz on the sides, and a 4" Mohawk down the middle. Her lip was pierced, and she was sporting enormous hoop earrings to match.

Suddenly, I realized that this scary lady was going to be the one to cut Katie's hair.

Aaron and I quietly started discussing what we should do. Before we could make up our minds, she came to the counter and asked if Katie was ready. Aaron and I looked at each other, and Aaron said, "We actually need to get going now." Then, we bolted. I didn't look back. Aaron said the woman was glaring at us.

I'm sure they thought we were being intolerant. I briefly wondered if I was being intolerant. But all I could think was that I wanted my daughter to have a great first hair cut experience. This woman looked scary to me. Can you imagine how Katie might have reacted? Besides, I wouldn't go to someone who looked like that to do my hair. Why would I put my daughter's hair into her hands?

I don't understand why a children's salon would hire someone who looks scary to cut hair. I know that there are high-end salons downtown that have scary-looking hairdressers, but there is a different clientèle there. This isn't the venue for that.

Well, we left the salon, and headed toward Eden Prairie. I was pretty unnerved. We found a Great Clips. There were only normal, kind, neat-looking hairdressers there. Katie got in without a wait, and I calmed down pretty quickly.

Katie was a little timid about getting into this interesting chair.

But the lady looked nice, and she made Katie feel very comfortable.

When it was over, she offered to braid Katie's bangs to keep them out of her face.

The hairdresser put some hair in an envelope for me as a keepsake. Even though she took off two inches in the back, her hair still has beautiful curls. It looks very clean now, and the ends aren't scraggly anymore.

I had a very fun time with my little girl's first hair cut, despite the horrible start to the experience. Although I wasn't able to get any smiles on camera, Katie really did enjoy it. She kept the braid in all day, and wasn't too happy when I took it out for bed. I'll have to try doing it myself tomorrow.

All Tuckered Out

One night, a few weeks ago, I asked Aaron to put Katie to bed. She has him wrapped around her little finger, however, and he let her come in his office and listen to music for a little while first. Guess who ended up putting Katie to bed?

Joseph Picture

My camera's USB cable was missing for a few weeks, but now it has been found, so I am adding some pictures a little later than I had hoped. Previous pictures from Joseph have been compliments of friends who emailed their pictures to me.

This is William and me in my backstage dressing area before the show. He came back for me to put his blush on.

This one is Aaron, William and me after a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Spring Break

Katie, Brandon, William and Dallin in a cave near the Grizzly Bear exhibit

It is Spring Break for Waconia, which is kind of silly, since Spring doesn't arrive until Sunday, and then they go back to school on Monday. But, in any case, that's what they called it, so that left me with finding ways to occupy the time of seven children for a week.

The early melt-off in Minnesota meant that the first few days of break were too sloppy to play out in the grass. But, we got the bikes out, and the kids were able to ride. There were some really nice temperatures - in the 60s, even - during the week, so the kids enjoyed being outdoors a lot.

Monday night for FHE we went on a field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota. We all enjoyed the omnitheater movie, Arabia. It even kept Katie's attention for almost the whole hour. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit was a big disappointment. We were expecting to see Dead Sea Scrolls. Instead, there was a lot of pottery, other scraps, like rope and hairnets, an audio tour, and a lot of displays with maps and charts. As far as the scrolls went, we got to see three very small scraps, and that was it. I think some of the kids got something out of it, but if we had realized that they weren't going to have the scrolls on exhibit, we wouldn't have paid the extra fee for the exhibit. The rest of the exhibits were a hit, though. They weren't ready to leave when we needed to head for home, which is a good thing, as we purchased a year's membership. The price of getting our family in was awfully close to the membership fee, anyway, so it made sense!

Unfortunately, I had a stomach virus relapse on Tuesday, and was not up for anything for two days. It was rainy outside on Tuesday, so the kids mostly played video games. On Wednesday, they did get to go outside to play for a little while, but it was mostly a repeat of Tuesday.

Thursday, thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Pratt's Grandparent pass at the Zoo, we had another field trip. Grandma brought cousins Timmy and Andrew along, so it was two on nine. Thankfully, three of the nine are old enough to be helpful when they aren't fighting with each other. After that, I came home and crashed, while Brandon took a few kids on a bike ride to the nearby park.

We've been taking it easy indoors today. I've given four of the boys hair cuts, and we've been cleaning. Those boys who are done with their chores have been playing video games, as it is back down to 40 degrees again, so they don't feel like playing outside.

I'm afraid Spring Break isn't as fun as the kids would like it to be. If you ask Brandon, 95% of kids go out of town for the week. Mostly to Hawaii or Disney or some other warm place. However, I have seen plenty of kids around the neighborhood. We even ran into our good friends, the Drays, at the Zoo yesterday. So, maybe we aren't as abnormal as my kids think. Although Hawaii would be nice.

I Cannot Go to School Today...

Sick
by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today," Said little Peggy Ann McKay. "I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash and purple bumps. My mouth is wet, my throat is dry, I'm going blind in my right eye. My tonsils are as big as rocks, I've counted sixteen chicken pox And there's one more--that's seventeen, And don't you think my face looks green? My leg is cut--my eyes are blue-- It might be instamatic flu. I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke, I'm sure that my left leg is broke-- My hip hurts when I move my chin, My belly button's caving in, My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained, My 'pendix pains each time it rains. My nose is cold, my toes are numb. I have a sliver in my thumb. My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, I hardly whisper when I speak. My tongue is filling up my mouth, I think my hair is falling out. My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight, My temperature is one-o-eight. My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, There is a hole inside my ear. I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what? What's that? What's that you say? You say today is. . .Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

About two weeks ago, William came down with a stomach bug. We hoped to keep it from spreading throughout the household by quarantining him in his room, and moving Aidan to the living room couch overnight. Unfortunately, Benjamin started complaining of diarrhea, and then told us he'd thrown up the next day. Aidan followed suit and threw up a couple of days later. Then, it was Dallin's turn.

Benjamin asked if he could sleep on the couch, rather than sleeping on the bunk bed and being by Dallin. We told him he had nothing to fear, as he'd already had the bug and couldn't catch it again. Two nights later, he covered his bed, the carpet, the wall, and a good part of the bathroom with puke overnight. The next morning, coming out of my slumber, I had a revelation: Ben had lied to us to get out of school the first time. I mentioned it to Aaron, who ran downstairs to ask him. Sure enough, he admitted playing sick to get out of school. If only he had stayed away from Dallin, he might have been safe. Unfortunately, while Ben was home from school, Dallin, after he'd been eating well and looking fine for 36 hours, threw up in his classroom at school. That was a fluke, as we'd had evidence of Dallin's previous puking.

Brandon has not gotten the bug. He has stayed away from sick people, and slept on the couch while others who share his room have been sick. Katie fared pretty well until yesterday, when she had a lot of diarrhea, but she hasn't hasn't thrown up, which I am very grateful for. Tristin and I, however, both had rough nights last night. Aaron just developed the cold sweats while I've been writing this, and has started the "cleansing" process. Let's just say, you don't want this bug.

I keep typing words that I know I can spell wrong and having to go back and correct them. My brain seems to be suffering, along with my stomach and aching head and body. Aaron just asked me what time it is, and it took me a second to figure out how to answer his question (duh, he asked me because there is a handy little clock on the bottom right of the computer screen).

Well, I'm sure I've uplifted everyone with my post. I am getting tired, and need to get this laptop off of me. I hope all who read this are able to escape this bug.

After-Show Letdown

Eight performances later, and our run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is over. I started to get sad after the Saturday night performance, even though there was still one show left. I didn't bawl yesterday afternoon, but I got a little teary-eyed a few times.

The show was very successful. We had a number of sold out shows, and some great audiences. Our Friday night audience this past week was one of the best. They stood up and clapped along with us when we got to the "Go Go Go Joseph" part of the Mega Mix (the curtain call), and were engaged and enthusiastic throughout the show. You wouldn't believe how much an audience that responds appropriately loudly during the performance can fuel more energy into the cast.

The thing I'll remember the most about this experience was the people I met and became friends with. My fellow Canaan Chorus members will be missed, especially Brenda Patterson, Ginny Fogg, Becky Salita, Martha Keenan, Vicki Turner, and Carol Thomas. Bill Coldwell, our director, Joan Nelson, our vocal director, Drew Hasty, our orchestra director, and Katy Jarvis, our choreographer, all left great impressions on me, and I'd be enthusiastic to work with any of them again. Connie, one of the stage hands, became a friend throughout the performances. She and I always chatted before the opening scene while we waited, and we figured out we knew a few of the same people.

One other thing I'll certainly remember about this experience is how important it is to follow promptings. I really felt good about auditioning for this show. I was excited when I got cast. I had to overcome fears that it was too much time away from my other kids in the evenings. That was hard. But, once I saw how good it was for William, and also how much it helped Aaron, giving him a creative outlet during a particularly stressful time, I knew I made the right choice. Participating in an organization like this is good for getting through a long Minnesota winter, too.

I'll probably be auditioning with CVFT again. This summer, they are doing a musical melodrama, written by one of the cast members from this show. In it, villainous Drake Foulweather tries everything, including marriage, to get control of the land left to Mary Goodhue by her father. In the end, Mary's goodness saves the day and leads to a happy ending for the heroes and a well-deserved comeuppance for the villains. Doesn't that sound fun? It will be held in the Chaska Community Center, which is only a 15 minute drive from my house, rather than 25 minutes, so that is really nice!

They are also having a week-long DragonFly Arts Camp (day camp) for kids in June. William is very interested in this, and I think we'll let him do it.

Aaron fell in love with the keyboard he used in the show, and it has motivated him to start thinking again about getting one for his composition hobby. I'm encouraging it.

There's plenty to look forward to, so I'm not going to let this show's end get me down.

Strep Overtreatment

My kids used to get strep throat a lot. And my first instinct when more then one of them came down with it was to get the entire family on antibiotics as quickly as possible. My old family doctor went along with me a lot of the time, too. He was very concerned about our family's health, and wanted everyone to feel good. After a couple of times of strep outbreaks in our family, where we would get everyone cultured and treated, he started prescribing antibiotics for any other member of my family who I told him had symptoms if we had one child test positive.

With our change of medical insurance last August, we started going to a new clinic. We now see Dr. Johanson. He has proven himself to be caring about our family, too, but in a different way. Benjamin was complaining about not feeling well a lot last year. He didn't have any severe symptoms, and Aaron and I were pretty sure he had a case of hypochondria. Ben had a checkup with Dr. Johanson, and he was in good health. A few weeks later, there was strep going around, and Ben started complaining about every symptom in the book again. I had another child at Dr. Johanson's office for a physical, and I asked him whether I should bring Ben in for a strep culture. He asked a few questions, which are very important.

1) Does his throat look red and swollen?

2) Does he have a fever?

3) Does he have any other symptoms, such as a raging headache, or something else debilitating?

The answer to all of these was no.

Dr. Johanson then explained something to me. First, overtreatment with antibiotics is causing resistance in organisms that are more potentially dangerous than strep. Second, the body is perfectly capable of fighting off strep infections in most cases. The risk of not treating it is that a case of rheumatic fever can occur a few weeks later, which has a potential for damaging a heart valve. However, new studies show that rheumatic fever only occurs in 3% of untreated cases of strep, and only after a strep infection that comes with a high fever (over 102 degrees F) for several days. Therefore, the only time he wants me to bring my kids in for a strep culture is when they have a fever with a sore throat, or if they have other severe symptoms that I would keep them home from school for, such as a very red sore throat and headache, and I think they have been exposed to strep.

I was a little surprised. I had thought that strep was something that we just shouldn't allow to exist. I didn't take his word for it alone. I decided to look it up online. Guess what? What he said is considered best practice in medicine by all of the reliable sources I could find online.

I found out something else when I researched this that I found fascinating, and which explains why some of my healthy children would come up with positive strep cultures every time they were tested.

First, many people are healthy carriers of strep bacteria (meaning they don't have any symptoms of illness), and the likelihood of them spreading strep if they have no symptoms is considered minute. In fact, a strep carrier will probably have a positive strep culture every time they are cultured, even when they are feeling completely healthy. No amount of treatment will make it so that they quit being a strep carrier, as when they are exposed to strep again, they will probably not get sick, and will again be a healthy carrier. So, unless they get symptoms that are related to strep (sore throat, fever, headache) and not viruses (such as a sore throat with a runny nose, sneezing, or cough), they should not bother going in for a strep culture.

I also found out more about the connection with rheumatic fever. The shortest time that it can onset after a case of strep with a fever occurs is 9 days. Best practice in medicine is that there is no reason for a doctor to treat an unconfirmed case of strep where there are not overwhelming signs of strep until a positive strep culture is confirmed, or if there are special circumstances which call for immediate treatment.

I asked my doctor what to do with a child with a mild sore throat who has been exposed to strep. Do I keep him home from school? His answer was no. If they aren't sick with a major symptoms, the likelihood of spreading it is minimal. And, if they have a throat culture that hasn't grown out positive yet, the bacteria isn't developed enough to be getting others sick. I even wonder about treating a healthy child whose 48-hour culture turns out to be positive, if he no longer has signs of strep. It seems to me if they aren't being affected by symptoms, they probably beat it themselves.

I'm glad I found all of this out. I will be spending a lot less on doctor's office copays and prescriptions in the future, and my kids won't be staying home from school quite as often.

Showtime!

We are down to one rehearsal. Tomorrow night is it, and Thursday we open "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." In many shows I've been in, we've felt like there's no way we're close yet, but this one is different. Nearly every scene is rock-solid. The only struggles we are currently having are with the tech aspects of it. Not all of the blackouts happened when they were supposed to tonight. Some of the scrims didn't appear when they should have. Microphones weren't always turned on when they were supposed to be. But, that's what these last few rehearsals are for. I'm going to pray that they work themselves out tomorrow.

The organization has had an order out for a new stage keyboard, and it finally came today. It is for Aaron to play. It is a fabulous sounding machine, and with it also came a really nice amplifier. However, with only one more rehearsal, it puts a little pressure on Aaron to get the feel for it, as the touch is different, and because the sounds aren't organized the way the other keyboard's were. Plus, the conductor asked Aaron to add the full violin part on top of what he's already playing, which means he will probably have to read two scores in order to do it. Every minute of his extra time tomorrow will end up being devoted to marking his music with the new changes, I'm sure.

I've really enjoyed this production. Once we got past the learning the music part of rehearsals, and onto the stage part, I could see how talented this group really is. Don't get me wrong, the music is good. It is just that some of these people don't read music, but once they get their parts, they are solid. But there are some amazing actors and dancers. I'm really glad I get to learn from them and participate with them. I am also very happy to have made some new friends.

Now, I should be ready to go to sleep. I have been a little wired after rehearsals. I think it is time for me to find a boring book to read to put me to sleep. Goodnight!

MBA/Job Musings

When Aaron was at Carlson for his interview, he chatted with the Negotiations professor in the lunch line. After they got through the line, she started to walk off, then turned around and said to him, "Ask for money!" Well, Aaron figures it can't hurt. He's going to call up the financial aid office at Carlson and ask.

If he doesn't get any grants or scholarships, we would have to go into extreme debt to do it. Neither of us is up for that. It would take too long, at this point in our lives, to pay it off. We were prepared for him to come out of MBA school with a lower initial salary than he is getting right now. With $70-$80K in student loan payments, it would not be worth the time it would take to recover.

We just found out that BYU isn't an option. So, to quit Microboards, it's down to Carlson or a new job.

Aaron came up with something that might help with the job search: Certifications. Tech companies are wary to hire Aaron because they are worried he might not catch on to their technology quickly enough. Maybe if he had some programming certifications on his resume, it would demonstrate his technical ability. Since it makes sense to Microboards to have him learn Java right now, they authorized him to buy books on it. One of the books he chose is aimed at people working toward the first certification test. Once he learns it, it can't hurt to be certified, can it?

In the meantime, Aaron is sending resumes all over the place. On Saturday, he put in his resume with a company that does Flash storage. It is the technology that is replacing optical (which he tried to get Microboards to start developing a few years ago, and which is now inching their way into Microboards' market). They have a marketing position open right now. Hopefully, they'll recognize his value to taking over the optical market, and he'll get an interview.

I don't like not knowing what the future holds. I am much easier to motivate if I have something to work toward. If I knew Aaron was going to Carlson next year, I'd be searching all of the stores for penny-pinching savings on canned vegetables or toilet paper so that I could stock up enough for two years. If I knew we were preparing for a move, I'd be reducing in every possible way, buying new curtains and blinds for the rooms that need them, and putting our money in very different places. The two ideas don't completely mesh, and I'm at a standstill.

So I blog.