The long-awaited sun has returned at last!!

It is finally summer!! The sun is out, and I think he's here to stay... for a week at least anyway!! I took my Spanish final on Tuesday so I am done with classes for awhile, and Mike has one last thing to turn in to his class tonight, and then he is done for a little while too. That is such a nice feeling!!

In the sad news department, Grover got his foot cut this morning when he was outside in our yard. I'm not sure where or what he got cut on, which is frustrating because I want to dispose of whatever it is he got cut on. I didn't know he was cut though, until I called him back inside. There were paw-shaped blood marks all over the creme-colored linoleum. Mike got him into the tub and washed his paw then cleaned it out with alcohol. He was a good boy and didn't cry out, even though I'm sure the alcohol really stung. Obviously he didn't like what was happening, but he was really good considering. Mike then put some gauze pads over the cut and taped them to him, then we put a piece of tights around his paw and taped it, then sprayed it with bitter tasting deterrent, which did not deter him in the least (I think I should've gotten my money back for that stupid stuff). So I called the vet and took him in. They put a bunch of padding around his paw and up his leg, then some of that colored sticky bandage stuff they put on after you get your blood drawn. Then, the worst part of all was when they brought in the head cone. I've seen other dogs that had to wear those, but none of the dogs I've had had to wear one.... at least not that I can remember. He keeps running into things, and getting caught on things, and knocking things over. I just hate seeing him like this. He can't run and play at the park, and it's finally gorgeous enough weather to be going out to play. He can't even chew on his rawhide, because he can't hold it with his paws. But probably the worst thing about that vet trip was the price tag. To do all that to my dog, they charged us $115!!! If I just went out and bought those fancy colored bandages I could've done it myself for probably $100 less!!! I bet I could've even found a head cone somewhere. I just really hope they don't plan on charging us more money when they take the stuff of on Wednesday.

Okay, let's talk about fun stuff now. Tuesday Mike and I went on a river cruise!!! His work paid for his ticket (it was a "team building" event for him and his coworkers, so we had to sit at a table with them, which wasn't too bad) so he thought it'd be worthwhile to pay for me to come too. That's probably the most expensive date we've been on, excluding hotel stays. Anyway, the cruise was pretty nice, but probably would've been better if the sun had been out. it was kind of cloudy and windy. At least it wasn't pouring rain. The food was pretty amazing too though. I don't remember what my dish was called, but it was chicken with a yummy green herb sauce of some type, with some rice and vegetables on the side. I'm not a huge veggie fan, but those veggies were AMAZING!!! Mmmm!! Although I guess it helped that none of those veggies were peas or carrots, hehe!!! Mike had beef something or other. It had a brown sauce on it. The beef was good but I thought the sauce was too strong, and there was too much of it. So I was glad I had picked the chicken. :) We didn't get dessert because they charged extra for it. But Mike promised me we could get one of those yummy SaraLee Mint & Chocolate pies when we got back. The river was beautiful, and everything was so green. The whole trip was two hours... an hour down river and an hour back. It would've been more romantic and enjoyable without his coworkers, but overall I really enjoyed myself!!! Oh, and that pie was amazing.... hehe.

Next week's adventure: Young Women's Camp. I'm not sure what to think about it yet... when I was in the YW program, I never enjoyed the camping trips much. I had a lot of freaky bad experiences, including getting lost in the mountains (well that was actually youth conference), my best friend getting sick and going home (and i felt like I had no one, after she left), and my last year we left camp early because of a bear tearing into a tent in the camp right next to ours. I also hate sleeping on air mattresses, although the hard ground is probably worse. They both just kill my back. And I was always freezing all night, and never got enough sleep. And I was a really picky eater, so I think a lot of the times I didn't enjoy the food, so I was always hungry. However, I think this year will be different, as I am one of the "adults" instead of one of the girls. My girls are excited that I am coming, because in the last 4 or 5 years they have not had any leaders come to the camp with them. I can't even tell you how sad that makes me. So I am excited to be the first leader to attend girls camp in a long time. This is our first year in our new stake, too, so that should be cool. I know there are at least 2 girls who are for sure coming, but I'm hoping for 2 or 3 more than that. We shall see...

Wow, I really had a lot to say!! but actually there's more!!! :) Yesterday, at my mom's suggestion, I looked at Oregon State's children that are available for adoption. She had warned me that looking at things like that might make me cry, but I still wasn't prepared. When the page finished loading, what I saw broke my heart. Well maybe not broke, but I definitely felt my heart jump in my chest!! I felt this overwhelming desire of wanting to help them all, and I choked up. Most of the children listed on the page are listed with siblings. When I looked at one particular family, I couldn't help myself, I started crying. There were two girls, and a boy. The two little girls--9 and 5--have a serious fear of not having enough to eat. That made me realize they probably didn't get to eat every day. It broke my heart!! The boy--8--I swore he was one of the cutest, sweetest boys I'd ever seen. I wish I could help them. I'm just not sure I could handle children that old with that many problems--not yet anyway. I think I need to start with babies. Then maybe after a couple of babies I can move on to older children. I also wondered if maybe I should be learning about child development in school, and learning how to help children with special emotional needs. Maybe that's what I need to study. I will at least look into it.

Well I have been long-winded enough to last for awhile, right? hehe. I guess if I posted more often then I wouldn't have to write such long posts. ;)