Author Archives: soniestephens

The Travel Log Begins

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So my insane travel schedule is set to commence in 2 weeks.  However, I am traveling next week (vacation) and I traveled last week (work).  And even a short trip like the one I had last week can really take it out of you.  Especially when you’re traveling to New York City.  Listen, I am not knocking the melting pot.  I get why people love the buzz of a big city.  Personally, however, I want no part of it.  When you jam 7 million people into like 11 square miles or something (I’m probably making this up, but you get the point), it’s bound to get ugly.  I mean it should not take 60-90 minutes to travel 14 miles!  And flying in or out of JFK is kind of a joke. The flight there went fine, but then I had to get a cab.  Uhhh yeah there were roughly 200 people in line in front of me looking to do the exact same thing.  Who knew?!  On the flight home we were delayed by over an hour.  After about 40 minutes of sitting on the runway, the pilot was like, “Hey folks, sorry for the delay. It’s a busy time of night.  Look like we’re number 20 for takeoff.”  Number 20?!  You mean there are 20 planes in front of us?  20 fucking planes?  Sorry, just a little dialogue that took place in my head.

Oh, and just a note to all the flight attendants out there:  Don’t turn on the intercom until you know exactly what you plan to have come out of your mouth. Before the flight took off from SLC, the flight attendant announced (quite casually, I might add), “Could we please have whoever left the infant…”  And then there was like this really long pause which gave me time to think, oh my god, people are just leaving their infants on the jetway now? Of course she finished with, “carrier.  Please come and get it from the jetway.” Phew!

My Boys

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I love these guys.  It’s as simple as that.  They are two of my favorite people (ok, one is a dog) to spend time with.  They both do things that are incredibly annoying and frustrating, but I suppose they would say the same about me.  The two of them are going to be spending a lot of time together (“bachelors,” as Rob told Jack this morning) when I’m on the road.  I just hope Jack keeps his partying ways in check.

If Life is a Highway…

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Have you ever said yes to something and then the next day you went, what the fuck was I thinking?  If not then you must be a really awesome decision maker.  I recently said yes to something and although I know I’ll get through it, I feel exhausted just thinking about it.  Basically I’m going to be traveling for 4 weeks straight (home on the weekends) starting in mid-July.  Oh, and most of the training I’ll be doing is in the south.  Yeah, in July!

It’s not the heat I’m worried about though.  It’s the crazy amount of driving.  This is a gig I’m doing for a different company, so they are short 1 hour trainings.  I do two a day.  Sounds easy.  Not so much.  Let me just give you a sneak peek at one week of my schedule:

Monday: Arrive in Ohio

Tuesday:  Train in Reynoldsburg, Ohio in the morning and then drive to Columbus for an afternoon session.  Then drive to West Virginia.

Wednesday:  Train in Buckhannon, West Virginia in the morning and then drive to Greensburg, Pennsylvania for an afternoon session.  Then drive to Liverpool, New York.

Thursday:  Train in Liverpool, New York in the morning and then drive to Erie Pennsylvania for an afternoon session.

Holy shit, right?!

If any of you have any good recommendations for books on CD, send them my way. I have a feeling it’s the only thing that will get me through those drives.  That and knowing that it will all be over soon and then I can be home with my family. I also have a feeling I’m going to be doing some motivational self-talking in my head telling myself just that… It will all be over soon, it will all be over soon.  No, you won’t kill anyone if you have to drive one more hour, no you won’t kill anyone if you have to drive one more hour.

Good Vibes

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You know what?  Being positive is kind of awesome.  I am definitely not the world’s most positive person.  I blame all the cynics in my family (these cynics make for great material though).  And myself, of course.  I’m all about personal responsibility lately.

After all the stress and anxiety about Jack, I finally feel like I understand what I have to do.  After reading and researching, I have learned that so much of your dog’s behavior is directly linked to your behavior.  Dogs can totally sense your energy.  And my energy was shit, to be honest.  I was just so anxious and always had knots in my stomach worrying about whether Jack was going to bite someone.  Listen, I am not 100% cured of that, but I am so on my way.  I feel this renewed sense of leadership and confidence, which is exactly what he needs.  He needs pack leaders! Rob is already an amazing pack leader, but I have a feeling that six months down the road I’m going to be right there with him.

Plus, I just want to be calmer and more balanced in my life.  Not just for my dog but for me.  And for my family and those people that I love.  Holy shit, I should start doing motivational speaking or something, right?!

Ok, this might be too much positivity for some of you.  So, on a more depressing and negative note…. Actually, I have nothing.  Can you believe it?  I seriously can’t even think of anything negative.  Of course, it is only 8:00am.

Placebo

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My poor niece, Stevie, has been on every medication known to man.  Ok, not really, but she’s been on plenty.  And this has been her life since the age of 3, so she doesn’t really know anything different.  Which is why when she hears my sister and I talking about trying a new medication, supplement or vitamin for her, she obsesses over it.  Take the other day.  Jessica, my sister, mentioned to me that there was some debate about whether Stevie would benefit from Xanax.  For the next hour all I heard was…

“I want some Xanax.”

“Mom, please give me some Xanax.”

“Aunt Sonie, I’m ready for some Xanax.”

Finally Jess gave her something else (not a medication but some juice) and told her it was Xanax, Stevie said, “Ahhh I’m ready to calm down now.”

Just proof that there is a placebo effect, I guess.

You Forgot Something

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I was getting out of the car yesterday to go into Bed Bath & Beyond and this was what I came upon.  I wanted to get a better shot, but I (obviously) didn’t want the dude to know I was taking his picture.  I mean if he’s OK walking around a strip mall without a shirt on, what else is he capable of?  Doesn’t he know the rule, “No shirt, no shoes, no service?”  Get it together, man.

No shirt, but his pants are pulled up really high.

Summer Love

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I adore summer.  I know that it’s not even officially summer yet, but kids are out of school, camping is in full swing and I’ve had the opportunity to smell the wonderful scent of sunblock a lot lately.  So, it’s summer.

I am so much happier during the summer months.  Just being able to eat dinner outside on our deck every night makes me smile.  The days are longer, the mornings are brighter and I never have to warm up my corn bag in the microwave (okay maybe once last week, but we had a weird cold spell).

Plus, check out this view from the front of our house.  Hello!

Holy gorgeous, right?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can hike all we want.

Em, me and Rob hiking Neff’s Canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we can take our little Jack man camping.  Look at that peanut head!

Dad, Jack and Mom camping Memorial weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s not to love?  Now get outside and soak up the sun for hell sakes!

More on Words

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After I finished yesterday’s blog I was like, holy shit, I could have typed so many more things that come out of Stevie’s mouth. The kid has been through A LOT, so don’t judge.  Or do judge but act like you didn’t.  Here are some more favorites:

“Let me smell your breath.”  Stevie is very into smelling things (she’s like a dog in many ways).  For this one, we do ask her to ask a different question.  You should see the look on people’s faces.

“You have kids?”  If the person answers that they do have kids, Stevie has some follow-up questions, such as:

“And what they did (this is what did they do) when they were in your stomach?” or

“And you pushed?”  Stevie is very into labor/delivery stories.  What, we let her watch Baby Story on TLC.

“Dance.”  She is so demanding and just expects that someone she just met is going to bust out their best moves.

“Hold me.”  Again, said to strangers on a regular basis.

“Do a backflip.”  My sister reminded me of this one.  She requests it of me all the time.  Last time I tried explaining that I don’t know how to do a backflip and certainly wasn’t about to attempt it on the tile kitchen floor, she said, “Watch and learn.”  She then proceeded to a do a somersault (thank God!).

“What are you here for?”  This is what she asks people in doctor’s waiting rooms.  So far no one has answered.  I’m waiting for the day when someone’s like, “Well, I have this really weird rash….”

“Need some oxygen!”  The poor child’s world is all medical-related, so she requests oxygen throughout the day (she only needs it a bit while sleeping) and also to be “hooked up” to her TPN (liquid food she is fed via her feeding line).

Here she is with me last weekend.  I obviously gave in to the “hold me” request.

A Way with Words

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My niece Stevie has a way with words.  Like remember the time she told her teacher I “kicked her ass?”  Right.  And she has no problem talking to anyone and everyone. I mean literally everyone.  Some of her questions and comments to complete strangers are totally appropriate.  Like:

“Hi, how are you?”

“What’s your name?”

“How are you?”

Other ones?  Not so appropriate.  Like:

“I love you.” This is right after she’s learned their first name.

“Come over here, I’m talking to you.” This is generally yelled.

“Hug me.” Never a good idea.

“Are you pregnant?” This one happened just today in a doctor’s waiting room filled with lots of people.  Talk about awkward.  Of course, the girl was not pregnant.  I seriously just put my head down.

“Are you smoking?  DON’T SMOKE, IT’S BAD FOR YOUR BODY!”  While it’s true that it is bad for your body, I’m pretty sure people don’t appreciate a 6 year old lecturing them.

Camping Rehab

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We took Jack on his first camping trip to Zions for Memorial weekend.  We took him for a few reasons: 1) We didn’t really have a dog sitter available, 2) We needed to find out if he liked camping (we are a camping family) and 3) We thought it would be a lot of socialization/rehab for him.  And guess what?!  It turns out he loves camping and he is making HUGE steps in his rehabilitation.

Rob knew that this camping trip would require a lot of him.  I’m just far too nervous with the whole biting issue, and I know Jack senses that when he’s meeting someone for the first time.  So, Rob did all the introductions (which means lots of treats for Jack).  And other than some snapping at our nephew, Dylan (getting used to kids is going to be awhile) and then a weird incident with our brother-in-law, Heath, he was a rockstar!  He was off the leash a ton and the majority of the time came right back when he was called (he also looked at us and kept going the other way a few times to be a shit).  No, he’s not done with his rehab, but he is so on his way.

Once I know that Jack is calm and OK around someone, then I am too.  I am so grateful for Rob and his calm nature.  Perhaps with a prescription of Xanax I could be mellow as well.  I’m just the worried mom though, and I’m learning alongside Jack to take a deep breath and relax.  Just look how chill the guy is here.

Jack chillin’ in the trailer