Bear Escapes...Again

Mike had a better time on the lake yesterday than today. There was no wind or fish today. He is all packed up and ready to come home tomorrow. Yay! Bear dog escaped again when he was going to the lake. Mike had no idea how he did it, but he left his bone at the top of the deck. Mike was really worried he jumped that entire way. Turns out he just ran through the rails. He had never done that before. Maybe his new haircut gave him super skinny powers. Haha

Bear

Mike was worried Bear jumped from here

This is where Bear really got out

Jorja slept most of the day. She picked up her FSY friend, Riley, from the airport and hung out with him. At 9:30 pm she started not feeling good again. She felt her fever come back. She decided not to go to Denver tomorrow. I think that is a good decision. You know Jorja is really feeling sick if she is deciding not to go visit a friend and she paid for the ticket herself.

Stockton took his physics test today and got 100%. Alyssa picked him up from Snow College and they hung out in Mapleton. They watched fireworks and enjoyed the festivities that Mapleton put on. Stockton stayed over at Alyssa's house tonight. I'm glad he feels comfortable with her family and I'm glad they are so welcoming to him.

Alyssa & Stockton

Three Tries

When Stockton called today I was on the phone with the doctor and I couldn't switch over. Stockton then called Mike who was in a zoom meeting with his boss and couldn't answer. Next he tried Jorja who was in class and couldn't answer. I texted Stockton as soon as I was off the phone and asked him to call back. I'm glad he did! He called three of us and no one answered, dang it! Mike has been feeling very sick. He scheduled a video appointment and they wanted him to come in and get a covid test. So, Mike did that today. His test came back negative. Yay! Although he does have bronchitis. Boo! Mike now gets to have an inhaler.

A funny thing happened today. I texted a few of Jorja's friends to set up a 'birthday party' for her next week. We are going to the Labyrinth. It is in South Jordan. I have never been there, but I'm hoping Jorja and her friends will like it. Anyway, Sami texted me today to tell me she was there. AHHH! I panicked a little and told her it was next week. I worried I never told her the date, just told her Monday. Luckily I did have the date in the text. Sami said she just got excited and she laughed about it. Whew.

Jorja finished her homework so she could hang out with Sophie. I'm not sure exactly what they did, but here are random pictures I found on Jorja's phone.

Jorja

Sophie

Sophie & Jorja

Sick Last Day

We didn't go sledding even once. That's a first. I was hoping to sled into 2020 at the springs like we did a few years ago, but Preston was sick. He was sick all day. Poor little guy felt miserable. We all climbed into Preston's bed and watched the festivities on Mike's laptop. We woke him up for it, then he went right back to sleep. What a fun way to start this decade.

Maysen, Mike, Stephanie

 Stephanie & Preston

Jorja went to a party with Hailey, Emily and Allison. She was not too happy about that. Jorja does not like parties. But Emily had already bought her a ticket. Jorja was nervous and called us about it. She ended up being fine and having a great time, although she said she doesn't want to do that again. She texted me when she got to Hailey's house. She said she had fun and didn't kiss any boys! Well done Porge!

Sad, Sick, Sad

I finally finished Mina's stocking!!!

I am so happy with how this turned out. It is even more beautiful in person. Good thing Rachel is going to sew this together for me. I would hate to mess it up now! I am so glad I finished this before my Israel trip. Can't wait to give it to Rachel!

Today was a long day. Jorja got all As and a B+ in her AP history class. Their teacher gives them vouchers to use if you are late or need to turn in an assignment late. If you don't use the vouchers, you can turn them in for up to 30 extra credit points. Jorja never was late and turned everything in on time. If she was given full credit it would boost her grade from a B+ to an A. That is a big difference. Except her teacher never put in her extra credit. Jorja talked to him about it on Wednesday. He told her to send him an email and he would put it in. She sent the email, but the extra credit was never added. She asked him about it today and he told her that he used her vouchers for late assignments. Jorja was floored. She said she never turned in anything late. He said she did. She said she promised she never turned in anything late. He made her feel like she was lying. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but Jorja ended up leaving class and crying in the bathroom. She has complained to me before that this teacher doesn't like her. The things she was texting me was....wow. I know this teacher is an excellent teacher. My other two kids had him and loved him. Jorja is different than my other kids though. This is also most likely his last year teaching and he might be burned out. Anyway, it was so bad emotionally on her that I asked her if she wanted to transfer. She said yes. I called the counselor's office and asked for an appointment. I told them I wanted to talk about transferring a class. The kids have ten days at the start of a new quarter where they can transfer. It didn't sound like it would be easy for Jorja to get an appointment. I then said, "Well, she is crying in the bathroom right now." That changed everything. They had me send Jorja down right away. She was even able to see her own counselor, and she was awesome. She didn't make Jorja feel embarrassed and she worked really well with her. She gave Jorja options and when Jorja wasn't sure what to do she told Jorja she could go home, talk with me and think about it. They were great with her. They even told her she didn't need to go back to class. I came down and picked Jorja up and we went to Zupas. Jorja feels embarrassed to transfer. She can't get into the other AP class without switching her math and physics class. I told her I didn't want her to touch her math class. She has a teacher that she understands, and that is worth more than an AP class. Jorja isn't sure what to do. I'm trying to convince her that her mental health is important as well. If the class is going to make her feel like this the entire year, it isn't worth it. (If this was the only day she had a problem I would have a different opinion, but she has felt like this almost every time she has gone to class. When I was a junior I had a class where I could do no right. It was my English class. I would walk in the class determined not to talk. I vividly remember looking down at my desk, not saying even one word. I still got yelled at and told to leave the class. She yelled at me literally every day and told me to leave. I never left because I had no idea where to go to. Mike was in this class. He knows it happened. One time there was only talking on the other side of the room and I still got yelled at. One time I was looking down and could see out of the corner of my eye Mike throwing something across the room. I knew there was absolutely no way I could get in trouble. I was wrong. Still, it was me getting yelled at. I will always remember her yelling at me one day and Seth Bradley standing up for me and saying I wasn't talking at all. I couldn't believe someone would do that for me. Still, she told me I needed to leave. I wonder what would have happened if I left. I was super shy and never got in trouble except for this class. It was so weird.) Anyway, I know Stockton's junior year would have been so much better if he had transferred out of AP physics with calc. He would have been amazing in a regular AP physics class, but the teacher he had was awful. Jorja had such a hard year last year, I don't want her to struggle for another year. She still has AP English that she is taking. Anyway, we'll see what she decides. Also, her teacher ended up changing her grade to an A, so she got a 4.0 this quarter. Nicely done Porge.

Ben came over after school to work on their rocket. They spent forever doing that. Jorja missed when these were handed out because of her eye appointment. They went straight to the state volleyball tournament. That was the activity student government was required to go to for the week. They met up with Hailey and Emily too. Jorja started feeling really sick when she was out with them. Ben knocked on our door when he dropped her off. He said, "Jorja's really sick. She needs help." I ran outside to find Jorja throwing up on the driveway. She smiled and said, "Hi mom! I'm sick." Oh gosh! As Ben was pulling into our driveway Jorja opened up the door and threw up. Then she threw up for about five more minutes. It was pretty violent too. She was in so much pain. She has still been sleeping in the guest room from when she got her wisdom teeth out. I slept with her. Whenever I would leave she would wimper, "Don't leave me." I would explain what I was doing so she knew I would be back. Jorja had the worst night sleep ever. She threw up all night long. One time she finally was asleep and then bolted upright and threw up all over the bed. I couldn't get the throw up bowl to her fast enough. It reminded me of having babies all over again. There I was up all night, cleaning sheets in the middle of the night. Jorja kept complaining about her stomach and how bad it hurt. I was worried for a bit that it could be her appendix, but I think it was a really bad stomach virus.

Another fun thing that happened....right as Jorja was in the middle of violently throwing up. Towards the beginning of all this mess, she brought me her phone. One of her best friends had texted her a pretty mean message. She said she needed to confront Jorja. I'm going to just write it because I can't explain it well. But realize, this message came while Jorja was in the middle of throwing up. Also, realize Jorja's biggest fear is people not wanting to be her friend anymore and dropping out of her life. The sad thing is that this has happened more than once already. Anyway....

Friend: hey so i've been really stressing about you honestly and i just wanted to confront you. i've noticed that you've been ignoring me a lot.. and i don't know if it's because of the work environment or i did something. it just really hurts seeing your best friend treat you that way for a reason i don't know about. if you could just be honest and explain that would be great. and if you want a break or stop being friends please be honest. i'm just really stressing about it and wanted to address it.

Jorja: Wait what

J: I haven't been ignoring you

F: well if it haven't felt like this than i wouldn't address it's

F: I'm not causing drama i've just felt like you've been treating me different

J: I'm sorry I really didn't mean anything of it I don't feel like I've been different I just haven't seen you

J: I'm so sorry I've been sitting here throwing up for the past 20 minutes so it's hard to see but I hope you know I love you so much and you're the biggest angel in my life. You mean so much to me and I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm really sorry for being like this and I'm so sorry. I cant imagine losing you

That was it. Jorja didn't get a response. I was annoyed at Jorja for saying she is sorry for being like this. Jorja has absolutely no idea what this girl is talking about. Jorja considers her one of her very best friends and this just came out of the blue. They don't go to the same school, so Jorja just sees her at work. I am so annoyed at this girl right now. There have been some minor things that have concerned me in the past, and I've talked to Jorja about them - but Jorja loves this girl. I can not believe she did this. She obviously had made up her mind before she sent the text. Starting it out with 'wanted to confront you'. Then the timing of the text. She had no idea Jorja would be so sick, but man did this make everything worse. Then after Jorja's apology just ignoring her. (I am writing this late again and this girl never responded to Jorja.) I'm sorry, but what a jerk. I don't know why this keeps happening to Jorja. She puts herself out there and loves with her entire heart. She is the sweetest, kindest creature to ever live. Why does her heart keep being broken? Anyway.....here is her day of gratitude post....

Jorja ~ day 5

Squid

I went to the temple today. When I came out I had messages from Jorja on my phone. "I think my head is going to explode" "How many Advil is too many" "I've already had four" She only had one more class left by the time I got out. I asked her on a scale of 1-10 how bad her head was hurting. She said it was only a 6 now, but earlier it was a 10, where she couldn't see again. Oh boy. Jorja was supposed to start working with Kerity for personal training today. I let her know and she wanted Jorja to just go on a walk and they would start Monday. Jorja's wondering if it is because of all the dust at Alta right now. She hasn't been sick at home. She did sleep for several hours after she got home. She was supposed to work, but somehow another person ended up with her shift. That was good timing. I called and talked to the dermatologist. She has an appointment on Tuesday and they recommended stopping the medicine until they can meet with her. Jorja said she would rather deal with the headaches then get her acne back. She has had a lot of back pain lately too. They said that was for sure because of the medicine. Anyway, hopefully we can get this figured out.

After Jorja's long nap, I went on a walk with her. It was great to be able to talk with her. She sounded so much better (health wise) than she has been the last couple of days. The Alta/Corner Canyon football game is tomorrow. It is a black out/prop out. Jorja wanted to go get a prop with Hailey. Hailey ended up having soccer too late, so she went with Spencer. She got a squid hat and a dinosaur on a stick. Jorja also finally answered Chase tonight. She made the poster when her head was throbbing, but it will do the trick.

Jorja & Spencer

Jorja is hoping she dropped it off at the right house. She couldn't find any street numbers and she doesn't know where Chase lives. So... here's hoping it is at the right house.

In other news, Mike, Preston and I played an entire game of Hearts with the giant cards. Preston destroyed us. I lost, but Preston won by a long shot.

Eye Problems

We had a relief society activity at the park today. It was supposed to be a hike and brunch. Megan picked me up for it. It was overcast when we left my house. By the time we got to the park a few minutes away it was pouring rain. Needless to say, the hike was cancelled. There were only a few of us there. We talked under the pavilion until it was time for brunch. Our fingers were frozen by that point. Megan made a plate for Ashley and we headed home. I filled up a cup with homemade granola to give to Jorja. I thought she would love that. Too bad I accidentally dumped the entire cup in Megan's car as I was getting inside. Megan had just pulled into the driveway when Jorja texted me. "Mom im dying" "Idk what's happening I have the worst headache" "I think it's my contacts" "I can't see" It was still pouring rain and I only had Mike's jeep at home. I wasn't planning on going anywhere today. Megan offered to take me to Alta. We picked up Jorja and Megan gave her Ashley's plate of food. Jorja slept for a few hours. Megan recommended an eye doctor to me. Jorja has been complaining about her eyes a lot. They have been hurting her every time she wears her contact. For the last year or so she has complained about the words being fuzzy or moving when she tries to read. I don't remember the last time she read a book. I have been trying to help her and read to her when I can. I don't even know who to ask about it. Jorja's reading level has always been way above average, but now she gets headaches when she reads. Anyways, I thought I might as well ask an eye doctor about it since she has been having so many problems recently.

Jorja

I had to take Jorja to the doctors in the rain. I couldn't get the top up by myself. I have never paid attention when Mike has done it. Jorja had her Alta blanket over her head on the way down. This doctor's office was next to Alta, so it wasn't far at all. Jorja was pretty out of it. She was acting like she did when she had mono. She couldn't focus and kind of zoned out a lot when the doctor was talking to her. He did a lot of tests on her. She has to go to the eye institute of Utah for some more tests. Something was sitting high on her brain, I can't remember. It didn't sound like a big deal unless it got worse. I started thinking about the accutane she is taking and talked to the doctor about it. He thinks that is why the contacts are bothering her now. They are a great brand and she uses them one time before throwing them away. Hopefully the accurate isn't causing the brain thing. Then we will have a big problem.

Jorja ~ I absolutely hate it when she sticks out her tongue

Jorja had to work tonight. Her eyes were dilated and it was a struggle, but she made it. Mike and I went to Walgreens and bought some fish oil, eye drops and a hot eye compress for Jorja. Mike also found giant playing cards. We played a few rounds of Hearts with Preston. He was not happy to stop playing when it was bedtime. Hard to be a kid.

Preston & Stephanie

Negative

I took Jorja to the doctor today. Her strep and flu test both came back negative. They said that her immune system was so compromised because of the havoc the mono has done to her that she is just getting super sick now with things that would just be a blip to her before. Jorja and I watched a lot of Chuck today and she slept a lot too. She did not want to eat. At all. Not even a little bit.

Jorja wanted to go to her math class, but we were at the doctor. I ended up taking her to fourth period and not checking her in. Instead of going to theater, she went to math. Hailey is in that class. She was able to listen to the review and get the review packet before their test on Friday. She took lots of weird pictures on her phone. I only grabbed a few. She sure doesn't look sick. She can hide it well because that girl was miserable all day long.

Jorja & Marshall

 Jorja & Chad (math teacher)

Jorja called in sick to work today. She was disappointed because she was suppose to close for the first time. It would not have been a good idea for her to go to work today. Preston had a scout merit badge class tonight. While he was there Mike and I took advantage of the extra time we had with Jorja. Mike made Jorja a test for her to take. She had to rank what was most important to her in life. He had situations where she had to explain what she should do. There were true and false questions. Lots of stuff. Then we went through the test with her. We talked to her about boys and what is okay and not okay. Mike was very blunt. Jorja kept covering her face with the clipboard. She would not give that up. Still, it was a conversation that needed to be had... again... Jorja is very different than my other children.

Jorja's streaks today made me laugh

Will This Ever End

Jorja still feels really sick. It was late start and she ended up sleeping through Chinese. I was hoping she would at least make it to the end of that class, but she got there during History. I walked inside with her. The attendance people said were surprised I came in this time. I told them I needed to see my best friends. I seriously talk to them all the time. Jorja was wearing a sweater as we were driving down, she also had her student government sweater with her. She needed to wear that later in the day. She started getting upset and said she was freezing cold when she put the sweater on, but now she was really hot. I went to the office and bought her an Alta shirt. Luckily they had a small and it just happened to be the shirt that Jorja wanted. She had tried to buy it several times, but they usually only had a medium. I got this picture from Jorja shortly after I dropped her off. She sat down in her history class and immediately started crying. Packer was about to give her a hard time when he noticed how upset she was. He sent her into the hall. He came out and talked to her. She cried and cried. She told him how overwhelmed she was and how she was so tired of being sick. She is really nervous about being sick the first week in the new quarter. She thought she was finally better. Now she is going to have another quarter where she has to dig herself out of a hole. Packer told her to stay outside and listen to his lecture from the hall.

Sad sick Jorja

Jorja worked the election table during lunch and after school again. She came home and took a nap and felt a bit better by the time her dinner rolled around. Jorja had a celebration dinner with Chick-Fil-A for hitting her year mark. Technically she hasn't hit it yet, but everyone that had a year mark in the first quarter was taken out to dinner. Jorja had a great time, but couldn't eat much. She ordered off the kids menu and was only able to eat half of it.

It seems like there is always something keeping Jorja from going to Young Women's. Today it was this dinner. Too bad because it was a combined activity. Preston was able to go. They had a dinner with the older people in the ward. There were three courses. They sat with a group of people for the appetizers, then switched tables for the spaghetti and again for the dessert. Jorja would have loved it. She stopped by on her way back from her work dinner, but people were pretty much cleaning up then. She was super happy when she got home. That didn't last long though. She got ready for bed and started feeling sick again. I held her hair while she threw up. We were on the guest bed and luckily Jorja had a throw up bowl nearby. Jorja threw up a lot. She could barely talk and she gasped out, "That is nothing compared to Saturday." When will my little girl get better?

Sick Again

Jorja was sick all day. She had a temperature, sore throat, upset stomach and she slept all day. Towards the end of the day she crawled out of the guest room bed onto the couch and asked to watch Chuck with me. We watched many many episodes of Chuck when she first had mono. Here we are again three and a half months later.

Jorja

 Drinking a milkshake out of a cactus cup

Four Times

Jorja was crazy busy today. She had plans to hang out with Gavin and Connor. Gavin wanted to go to a trampoline place. Jorja hinted that she didn't want to go there, but didn't tell him no because she thought it would be rude. I told her to just tell him and he would understand. When Stockton was here he would always try and get Jorja to hang out with him and his diving friends. She would always tell him she would feel stupid because they would be doing flips and stuff and she wouldn't be able to do anything. She knew the same thing would happen here but didn't feel she could tell him she didn't want to go. Anyway, Jorja looked super cute when she was heading out the door. She didn't look like she was going to a trampoline place. I saw her put shorts into her bag so I just figured she was changing there. Nope. That was for her date tonight. She texted me and said, "Apparently I was supposed to bring clothes to change into???" She thought you wore normal clothes there. She texted me on and off while she was there. She did not have fun. The boys, who are both divers and both have taken trampoline classes, had fun showing off their flips for Jorja. They didn't realize that she was not enjoying watching them, she just felt completely embarrassed. One thing that Jorja is super good at is she is hyper aware of making the other person feel comfortable. Whenever she is planning an activity she is always talking to me about who she should ask and what she should do based on the comfort of the other person. Take Sweethearts for example. For a year and a half she had talked to me about wanting to take Evan to Sweethearts. When she was at student government camp she texted me that Sweethearts would be on Evan's birthday. I asked her if she was still planning on taking him. She texted back 'Absolutely'. Then when it came down to asking the boys she changed her mind. She was going with the student government girls. She said Evan wouldn't know anyone and he would feel uncomfortable. She talked to me about the personalities of the people going and Evan's personality. She didn't ask him. Not because she didn't want to go with him, because she knew in this situation he wouldn't feel comfortable. I love how she does that. Most people don't. Gavin certainly didn't think about if Jorja would be comfortable in this activity. But he is learning. He felt bad that Jorja didn't have fun. Later Stockton told her that he always avoided going to the trampoline places with Gavin and Connor because he knew he would feel stupid around them. If there isn't water, he doesn't feel comfortable with the flipping. If Stockton feels that way imagine how Jorja felt.

Jorja

They were only able to be at the tramp place for a little under two hours. It was up in Provo and Jorja had to be to work by 4:00. She was a little stressed she would be late. She hates not being in control. I understand that feeling. They did have time to stop by Panda Express. I thought Jorja's fortune was awesome and accurate. Your sense of humor is a joy to all.

Gavin & Jorja's fortune

Jorja texted me about her grades while she was there. She found out she got a B+ in Packer's class, which is a lot better than the D+ she had awhile ago. It stinks because if she hadn't had mono she would have had an easy A in this class. Not as bad as the B- she got in chemistry, which also would have been an easy A for her. When will mono end? Jorja changed into her work clothes in the car in Gavin's driveway. She told me not to worry, Gavin wasn't there. Haha. Jorja asked if I would pick up some bright pink leggings for her at Zurchers for her date tonight. I decided to do that because I saw the pink shorts she put in her bags. I would really want her to wear leggings under those shorts. I did that and stopped by Chick-Fil-A. Jorja was driving the pilot because she was going straight to her date where she would need more seats than her bug has. I drove the jeep, but forgot to bring the pilot keys. I ended up putting her bag on the windshield. I then went through the drive thru and ordered a frozen key lime drink and chicken soup. Jorja was on headset when I ordered my food. I told her where I put her stuff. She didn't like that. She told me she would give me keys when I was at the window. Haha.

Anyway, Jorja coordinated a disco skating night with her friends. She has wanted to have a date with Drew for a long time. He is awesome and so funny! She got Emily and Madison to come. Madison asked a boy named Isaac. Emily had Jorja find her a date. When Jorja was at Madison's birthday party she asked a boy named Cinco if he wanted to go on a triple date with her. He had never met Emily before but said it sounded like fun. He is a football player and yesterday was the first day that Jorja had ever talked to him. That girl is fearless. (Jorja told me she really wanted Madison to go on this date so Cinco would feel comfortable. Also, she knew Cinco was extremely good at roller skating, so he would be a great person to ask.... Another example of her always being aware of how others will feel. I love her!) Unlike the activity this morning, Jorja was super excited about this. I was excited for her too. I knew she would have the best time. Jorja changed into her bright pink clothes and then picked up Drew, then Emily and Cinco. Next was Madison who had to work a bit longer than Jorja. Madison's date couldn't come until 10:00 so they went to Iceberg first.

Isaac who wasn't there yet, Drew, Cinco

Cinco, Drew, Madison, Jorja

A little before 11:00 Jorja send me a message that she threw up. She told me that they had just arrived at Classic and gotten their skates. She was putting on her skates when she felt sick. She hurried to the bathroom and threw up. She said she felt so sick. A few minutes later she told me she was in the bathroom again. "It just happened again. Like a lot. I can see my Panda Express. I feel so bad for everyone." Then about thirty minutes later, "I thew up again. Is it okay if Cinco drives home? I'm not sure I can. He's a junior. He'll be very safe." So, the date Jorja coordinated and was super excited about ended up being a bust. Lame! I hope the other people had fun. Jorja was out of it when she got home. She was posting videos and sounded just like she did when she had mono. I sure hope the mono isn't returning. Jorja ended up throwing up four times at the roller skating rink. I had the guest room ready for her when she got home. She likes to sleep close to me when she is sick. She crawled into bed as soon as she walked in the door. She asked if I would take off her makeup for her. So, I sat on her bed and took off her makeup while she talked to me. I felt so bad for her. Definitely not waking her up for church tomorrow morning. Jorja has rarely been sick her entire life. She had pneumonia once, but that didn't last long. When she was a baby she had to be taken in an ambulance with a high fever, but still that was over after a few days. A couple of times we had to do the nebulizer for her breathing, but not as much as Stockton. The mono has been absolutely awful! It feels like it is never going to end. Jorja hasn't been healthy in a long, long time. We are almost at the four month mark of her being diagnosed. I have heard it lasts 6-8 months. This is ridiculous. Crazy how Jorja has been effected so much more than Preston. Huge difference in getting mono at 12 instead of 16.

Sick Family

Jorja and Preston both stayed home from school. They both slept until almost noon. Have I mentioned that I hate mono? Mike is sick too. He went to the doctor today. They tested him for mono and the flu. He was negative on both. His texts were funny. One said, "I was going to have them test cholesterol but inhale tomcats for ten hours for that test apparently." By 'inhale tomcats' he meant 'I have to fast.' Haha!

I finished parent teacher conference today. It was nice to talk with all of Jorja's teachers. Especially since she has been so sick. Hopefully she will get her grades up before the quarter ends next month. This year has been rough on Jorja. Last year it was emotionally tough, this time it is her health that has been the challenge. I can't wait until this mono is behind her for good.

Big Boy Sore Throat

I gave Jorja her medicine last night around midnight. Advil and two sleeping pills. The sleeping pills really helped, she slept all night long. I woke her up at 6:00 to take more medicine and then let her get back to sleep. Matt called me this morning. He needed my help to watch his kids while he ran keys down to Sam. She had to take the van last minute. The van doesn't need the key in the ignition to start. She was able to start the car at home and drove it to her work, only to realize she would have no way to start the car to drive home. I was worried because I didn't want to leave Jorja. She would be scared if she woke up and I was gone. That's what happened yesterday. I was at the school. Mike was with her, he was just shoveling the walk. Anyway, Jorja woke up an hour after Mike called. I got her more medicine, made sure she was okay and had everything she needed. I then hurried down to Matt's house. I had a short window, because I needed to get back to give Jorja more medicine in an hour and a half. Matt was able to get Sam her keys and he got back just in time for me. I got to hold Amy for an hour and a half. She is so tiny! She was great, as long as she was being held, although I never even tried to put her down. When I got home, Jorja had made dinonuggets for herself. W-O-W! I think she ate two nuggets. This is impressive for two reasons. One, she was lucid and strong enough to make something. Two, she actually ATE two dinonuggets! That's almost as much food as she has had in the last four days! Jorja was for sure better than she was yesterday. Hopefully she is on the downward stretch. I still had her sleep with me. As we were laying in bed she said, "I didn't complain about my throat today, did you notice?....This is nothing. If I complained then Heavenly Father would say, 'Ha! You think that is bad! Let's give you your big boy sore throat back.'" Hahaha. She cracks me up. I wish Jorja was feeling well enough to do homework. She is going to be so behind. The two of us watched Chuck most of the day. She is just not well enough to concentrate at all.

Mike brought Jorja's duck inside for her. He always puts them straight into the bathtub when he brings them in, because they are stinky! Also, it's good for them to swim. He doesn't like them swimming outside because they don't have all of their feathers yet. I laugh every time I see him blowdrying them though.

Kiki & Quacky Chan

 Mike

 Jorja & Kiki, Preston & Quacky Chan

Jorja and the IV

I dropped Preston off at the bus stop, then went to Alta. I wanted to get the take home test for chemistry. Her chemistry teacher was really nice. She gave me a book for Jorja too. I went to talk to her math teacher next. I'm really worried about that one. Jorja has been struggling in math recently. I was talking to her teacher with Jorja called me. I put her on speaker. She sounded so loopy. She asked where I was. I told her I was talking to her math teacher. I can't remember what else she said, but Chad was surprised with how sick she was. She sounded horrible. Jorja's chemistry teacher suggested that I look into sick leave. I had already stopped by the office to give them the doctor's note. I stopped by again. I talked the the lady about it for awhile and we agreed that it doesn't make sense. It would be cool to have a teacher come and work with her, but Jorja wouldn't be allowed at school when she was feeling well. It would also take a week to set up, so she hopefully wouldn't even need it once she could get it. My next stop was Mr. Packer. I talked to him for awhile. He also approved the announcement for the state diving competition. Gavin won 1st and Jackson won 3rd. Gavin's dad texted me this morning and asked if Jorja could let the school know. I went up to seminary and talked to them before I called Jorja to see if there was anything else I needed to do. She wanted me to get popsicles, get her math book out of her locker and talk to her English teacher. I saw Darby in the hall on the way back from her locker and talked to him for a bit. Jorja was a big fan of the pink lemonade popsicles. Too bad there were only two in the box. I didn't look too closely, but one of the other flavors in circus peanut. GROSS! I did get her four boxes of different kinds of popsicles.

Jorja was pretty out of it most of the day. There was no chance she was getting any of her homework done. Stephanie Waddoups called me to check up on her. She had been asleep for a few hours. I told her she was worse, but sleeping. Jorja woke up a few minutes later. She was awful. So, so, so, so, so bad. I was crying. She was crying. I was praying and praying and praying that she would get some relief. It was so sad. Her friend Dessa stopped by and brought her donuts. She couldn't eat them, but was happy that Dessa came. Dessa's dad was waiting in the driveway, so she couldn't stay for long. On her way out I hugged Dessa to thank her. I started crying really hard. I was so scared. I can't imagine parents who have to watch their children suffer with terminal diseases. This hopefully will be over soon, but it has been horrible. Mike called Al Clark to come over and give her a blessing. I can't remember exactly, but I think she was blessed that she would be able to handle the pain. She was doing a lot better by the time Stephanie Waddoups came over at 8:30 to give Jorja an iv. Jorja was pretty dehydrated, it was hard for Stephanie to find a vein. It was amazing watching Jorja perk up while the fluid was going in her. It took two hours for the iv to be completed. Stephanie held the fluid bag the entire time. I think it really helped Jorja, I'm so thankful Stephanie was able to spend two hours with us to make Jorja feel a little better. Jorja did not want to get the iv in. She is terrified of needles. It took Stephanie a long time to convince Jorja to be brave. (Madison brought Jorja hot chocolate while Stephanie was here. She stopped by on the way home from work. Stephanie knows Madison pretty well. Both of the families have a down syndrome child the same age....Stockton's age. Johnny and Hannah are together quite a bit.)

Jorja & Stephanie Waddoups

 Jorja's smiling! She's taking her arm away from Stephanie, but she's smiling!

 She did it!!!

 Jorja was so proud

Mike slept in the guest room again while Jorja slept with me. Jorja kept sending weird rambling videos to Stockton. Sorry about that Stockton. I gave her medicine around midnight along with two sleeping pills. That worked great today. She slept soundly tonight, thank heavens! Let's hope this was the worst day and tomorrow she will start to feel better.

Still Sick Porge

Today was a long day for the Porge. She was sooooo sick. I was able to get medicine in her before we left for church, but she looked just awful. I saw Becky Bingham in the hallway. She is the young womens president and her husband in an ER doctor. I asked if he could come over and look at Jorja after church. I was worried I needed to take her to the hospital. How would I know? Mike left right after the sacrament to be home with Jorja. He came back for the 3rd hour. I left after my Sunday school class. I ran all the way home, in the snow. My lungs felt really weird after that. I think it was too fast, too cold, without warming up. Still, I was anxious to get to her. Becky and Isaac came over after church. He looked in her throat and said it looked just awful. I had notes on what medicine I have given Jorja, when she has eaten, thrown up etc. He looked through my notes. He gave me different recommendations than the doctor had. I trust him a lot, so I'm going to follow his advice. I wish he had a magic pill to make this go away. Time is the only thing that will help. I was kicking myself as I went to bed. Why didn't we have Mike and Isaac give Jorja a priesthood blessing when he was here? That is something that would have helped her since modern medicine can't do a thing.

Mike brought in ducks to make Jorja happy. She looks so good here!

 I don't know why she took this weird picture.

Speaking of weird pictures. Jorja has been taking weird videos and sending them to her friends. Lots of times she doesn't remember sending them. One time she sounded like Chewbacca, one time she was making firetruck noises, several times she says, "Woohoo!" It's pretty funny. She was taking a video and drooled all over my phone, which is gross and very contaminated! I ran and got Clorox wipes to clean it.

I also found out that if you call someone more than twice when the person's phone is on do not disturb it will ring. That makes sense that I only heard two rings last night when Isaac called four times.

Today mostly consisted of getting Jorja medicine and trying to distract her from the pain. Madison and Collin came over and stayed for awhile. They brought her cookies. I'm sure Jorja liked that. She mostly sat on the couch and listened to them talk, but I think it made her feel less cut off from the world. Ebony also brought her banana bread, but Jorja was asleep when she came. Mike slept in the guest room tonight. Jorja stayed with me. I set my alarm to wake her up and give her medicine. That worked pretty well. I hope she has peaked with this pain and will be on the mend tomorrow. I will end this post with happier pictures of Jorja. Someone texted them to her, I think they were taken about three months ago during a fire drill. Mr. Packer got mad at them for this though. Still, it's nice to see Jorja's personality again, even if it is just in pictures.

Starry Starry Night

Jorja felt a lot better this morning. She spent most of the day in my bed watching a weird Minecraft interactive show on my laptop. It made her laugh and smile, so I was a fan, even though it was really weird. I gave Jorja her medicine before Mike and I headed to the church. We have been on the Christmas Dinner Committee. Our assignment was to make posters/flyers/hang up lights. Mike and I spent the morning with Jeff Scott hanging up lights all around the ceiling of the foyer. It looked really good, but I didn't snap a picture. Jeff left and Mike and I spent the next hour hanging dangling lights behind this Christmas tree.

I can't believe I didn't take any other pictures because the entire place was decked out. The other ladies that were there were super mad. They had come last night and set up a lot of stuff. They left around 10:00 pm and came back at 8:00 am. In between that time some people came in and moved the decorations around and played basketball. The ladies had hid the basketball nets, decorated them with garlands and wreaths and had cute wooden signs covering the basketball boards. Those were all ruined. It was not good.

We left from the decorating and I headed to the store to get more medicine for Jorja. I got her some pills, but she is having a hard time swallowing them because they keep getting stuck in her throat. She is so swollen. It's hard to take a good picture, and this one looks gross, but her throat is a ton worse than it looks like here.

Mike was able to get Jorja to eat a little spaghetti though, so that was a win. He also brought in ducks to make her happy. Look how amazing her smile is! I was so happy to see her smile! I was hopeful that she was on the mend.

Mike with Quacky Chan & Kiki

 Jorja

 Jorja was even well enough to goof around with me!

 Duck footprints

Jorja wasn't feeling well by the time we had to leave for the Christmas dinner. I gave her a sleeping pill and more medicine, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best! Stockton called right as we were leaving, so I was able to talk to him for a bit. That was nice. He is doing so well in school right now! The dinner was great. We got to sit at the table with Seth and Megan Bradley, Al, Camee and Kelsee Clark, and Nicole Antonelli. The company was really enjoyable. The food was great.

Mike and I had to stay and take down all the lights after the dinner was over. That took awhile. After we had been working for almost an hour we got a text from Jorja. She said, "I'm hurtig. Help. Throat is bad. Worse than yesterday." Obviously she didn't use the periods, those were separate texts. Jorja looked so great this morning, but by the afternoon it wasn't great. Now it was horrible. I ran and asked Stephanie Waddoups if she had any idea of how I could help Jorja with the pain. She is a nurse. She was the only medical person that was left at the church. She told me of some different medicines Jorja could take that would be okay with Advil and Tylenol. I ran to the store to give Jorja those. Mike and Preston slept downstairs on the couch again. Jorja and I were in my bed. I gave Jorja the medicine I picked up from the store. Less that fifteen minutes later she was throwing up. She probably spent the next twenty minutes throwing up off and on. She was crying and begged me to call Stephanie. I called her about 11:30 at night. Luckily she was up and she was able to help me. After talking to her I realized I had given Jorja all that medicine on an empty stomach. Ugh! Why did I not realize that! I had some chocolate pudding that I thought she could eat. She was able to get some of that down and I gave her some Tylenol. Jorja was absolutely miserable. It was so sad.

Jorja wanted another sleeping pill, but I couldn't give her one because I had given her Benadryl. She probably threw all of that up, but I didn't know. She finally got to sleep after midnight. Jorja's phone was on 'do not disturb' in the phone charger that is at the back of our room. At 1:00 in the morning, her phone vibrated and it woke me up. Isaac called. The phone hung up by the time I got there. I crawled back in bed when it happened again. I was furious. It woke Jorja up. She was finally sleeping and Isaac woke her up! I answered. He thought I was Jorja. I told him it was her mom. He said something like, "Okay, goodnight." I wanted to strangle him. Jorja was now awake and it took me about an hour to get her back to sleep. I have no idea why it buzzed. I'm sure it was on 'do not disturb'. But then again, I have been so tired that I could have not understood. I was totally asleep when the phone buzzed, but I thought I saw the moon icon. Anyway, not a happy day.