Picasa-Hello Vs. Flickr

B&W Version of San Raphael River
(Click on the Photo for a larger Version)

Just Trying out some free photo editing and publishing software from Google. I changed this photo to Black and White, using Picasa, and then posted here using its companion piece called Hello! Hello isn't quite as user friendly as Flicker to publish photos to the Internet. However, the companion piece, Picasa, offers some pretty nice photo editing and organizing software, which Flickr does not offer.

The photo editing and organizing abilities of Picasa are really quite good, especially considering it's free! If you are considering whether or not to purchase photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, I would recommend that you try out Picasa first. It may do all you need to do. If you are a professional photographer, or graphic designer, you'll need all the tools of Photoshop, but for most amateurs, I think Picasa will do just fine!

Hello!, on the other hand is less intuitive, and not as straight forward when it comes to posting photos on a blog, or to post photos on the internet. If you ask me, it is kind of a weak link, and still needs some work. I checked out Hello! when I first started blogging, and found it to be cludegy and awkward. I can tell they have made updates to Hello, since I last tried it 6 months ago, but its still not as nice to use as Flickr.

Flickr on the other hand, is quite simple to use. You can easily upload a photo to Flickr, and if you want to post it to your blog, you just click a button, and it's done. No mess, no wondering what to do next. It's all pretty seamless. Flickr is also more of a community as well. You can post your photos to be seen by the public, or to be seen by family or friends, or it can be completely private, so that only you can see it. It also lets you organize your photos in to albums (or "sets") and you can attach "tags" to your photos, which are searchable for later recall.

Recently Flickr was bought out by Yahoo! So we'll have to see how integration with Yahoo will affect Flickr in the future. But for now, I would highly recommend Flickr for blogging, and Internet sharing of photos.

Ai Chihuahua Mama!

On Friday, May 27^th, we got everything packed and loaded for our 4-day Memorial Day Weekend Trip. We were on our way by about 11:00 am. Everything seemed OK. The weather was good, our mood was good, kids werent fighting. All in all a good start!

Well we made it a whole 2 hours into our Memorial Day weekend trip when we had our first adventure. We were just coming up upon the town of Fillmore, Utah. Dawn Ann had been woodcarving on her Mahonri project - (her seemingly interminable wood carving project). She was putting her tools away, when we hit a bump -- and next thing you know, one of the carving tools jabbed deeply into her left thumb (on top between the first and second joints). Her carving tools are very, very, sharp. The knife went in nearly 1/2 inch. Being so sharp, it went in very cleanly, and nearly painlessly too -- at first. Ai Chihuahua Mama! Thats gonna hurt!

Fortunately, the knife went in at a low angle, nearly laterally. The wound was shallow, but in the process she had severed a vein. Blood started gushing out like crazy! As it turned out, her hands were already right over the little garbage can we have in the center console area of the truck so we didnt have a lot of blood stains to clean up in the truck.

Immediately, Dawn Ann grasped the cut thumb with her other hand, and held on tightly. There was a pretty good stream of blood dripping off of her hand, but her direct pressure was able to eventually control the bleeding.

All this was happening as we were barreling down the freeway at 75 mph. A ranch exit was coming up, and we were about 5 miles outside the town of Fillmore, Utah. We took the exit, and pulled over. We got some of the extra napkins that were left over from our lunch, and tried to clean her up as best as we could. We put about 4 folded over napkins over the thumb and then Dawn Ann continued holding it with direct pressure. Being a nurse, Dawn Ann realized that having an ice pack would also help control the bleeding. So she asked Amy to get her an ice-cold can of pop out of the ice chest, and held it against her thumb, over the napkins to act as a cold compress.


Front Entrance to the Fillmore Community Hospital

We got back onto the freeway, and headed on toward Fillmore. After driving through most of the town, we found the Hospital, and made our way to the emergency room.

As we entered the hospital, I stayed at the business office and got Dawn Ann Admitted, and took care of the insurance coverage.

Dawn Ann went into the ER with a nurse, where they cleaned up the wound, and called-out the Dr. on-call. He was just next door at the family clinic, but we knew it would be a while until he came.

I described the nature of the accident to the hospital staff, and where we were (in our vehicle) at the time of the accident. The hospital office staff said that they would have to submit the claim first to our auto insurance. Their experience was that if the health insurance carrier learned that the accident took place in the vehicle, that they generally will deny the claim outright, unless it was first submitted to the auto insurance carrier.

So I had to go out and get my vehicle insurance certificate out of the glove box of the truck. They photocopied both my health insurance card, as well as my auto insurance card. They will submit the claim first to the auto insurance carrier. If the auto insurance carrier denies the claim, then I am go get a copy of the denial letter, and send a copy to the hospital. The hospital will then submit a claim to the health insurance carrier, along with the denial letter form the auto insurance carrier. It will be covered one way or another -- but things like this can take months to reach a final resolution. And that's just for the ER room charges. There likely will be a whole set of additional charges for the physician, (for his 5 minutes worth of time) as well.

While I was learning more than I ever really wanted to know about the intricacies of hospital insurance billing, Dawn Ann was having a nice chat with the RN at the hospital. Dawn Ann is an RN herself, and they had a nice time chatting about things they had in common. (Hospitals that they had worked for in the past, etc.) Dawn Ann had scoped out the hospital, and decided that she could work there. (She is always wanting us to move to a small town. After we pass through nearly any small town, we nearly always hear Dawn Ann exclaim: We could live here! As nice as that would be, small towns don't often have the kind of employment that I need to support a family.)

We had to wait about an hour for the Dr. to show up. While we were waiting, the great question was this: Stitches or Super Glue?

Dawn Ann was decidedly in favor of super glue over stitches. (Actually, Dawn Ann was rather emphatic about NOT getting stitches. I recall her saying something to the effect of: I won't have Stitches! I won't! I won't! I won't! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! -- or something to that effect.) As you can see from this little outburst, our Ai Chihuahua Mama is not the best of Patients in a medical setting. Isn't it funny how these fine medical people generally do not make very good patients. Alas, such is the case, Im afraid to say, here.

So Dawn Ann and the RN on duty, Karen, laid out the super glue on the tray near the hospital bed, hoping that the Dr. would get the hint that super glue was the only way to go!

The last time Dawn Ann had stitches in her hand, was when she had her previous major woodcarving accident (We'll call that "The Case of the $5,000 Pinewood Derby Car". -- but that's a whole other story, for another time.) The kids were more than happy to divulge their mama's complete medical history to the hospital office staff. The kids mentioned the pinewood derby incident, and how mama had to have micro-surgery on her hand to reconnect the nerves in her index finger. The hospital staff recommended that it was time to hide mama's carving tools!

One thing that she did learn from her $5,000 pinewood derby car was that the burning and tingling sensation from the lidocaine - intended to deaden the thumb in order to sew the stitches -- was, to her, WORSE than getting the stitches in the first place! She was prepared to have the stitches WITHOUT anesthetic. Actually, she was prepared to have the stitches, without anesthetic, as long as she could hold my hand, and crush my fingers while all this was going on. Now I dont know whether she would have derived more comfort from my great calming and loving presence, or from knowing that someone else was suffering pain right along with her as she was crushing the life out of my fingers. (Hint for men trying to comfort their wives in time of pain or suffering, such as in childbirth, or, as in this case, getting stitches ONLY LET HER HOLD TWO FINGERS! If you let her hold three or more fingers, she really can crush your hand. Two fingers give you a measure of safety in what otherwise could be a perilous situation.)

So instead of getting 2 or 3 lidocaine injections in her thumb, Dawn Ann & Karen conspired to put on a topical anesthetic cream called Emela which is normally used to deaden the skin just prior to having an IV being inserted.

The doc still didn't come for another 45 minutes or so, which gave the Emela enough time to take effect.

Finally Dr "G". appeared. He went for the idea to use the super glue, instead of doing stitches. -- Heh! Less time for him to be in contact with a potentially combative patient on the edge! The Dr. cleaned the wound, laid down 2 layers of super glue, and was safely gone in less than 5 minutes. -- His four-figure bill to come later, I'm sure! Combat pay, you know!

By this time, the kids had grown bored of the ER, and had made their way down to the Solarium. which was a room with a few windows and a sliding glass door overlooking a ditchbank. (Actually, I was picturing the solarium to be a large atrium with all kinds of indoor plants, and a water fountain, and maybe some pet birds -- which was not!). This room had a couple of vending machines, a couple of tables, and a checkerboard.

Bryan had found an elderly friend named Neil to play checkers with (who was a patient in the long-term care portion of the hospital). Amy had found a jigsaw puzzle to work on.

We gathered the kids up, and hopped back into the truck, and were on our way again -- after our little 2-hour tour of the Fillmore and its environs.


NOT mama's Thumb.
BUT IT COULDA BEEN!

So now the Ai Chihuahua Mama has an Ah Carrumba Thumba!

David Lewis - Pioneer Forefather

David Lewis, and his first wife Duritha Trail.
Photo taken about 1850.

As part of our Memorial Day weekend trip, we stopped in Parowan to visit the grave of David Lewis. He was one of Dawn Anns ancestors, and an early member of the Church. He, and his brothers had settled at Haun's Mill, Missouri. On October 30, 1838, anti-Mormon mobs (In The guise of the Missouri Militia) descended on the small Mormon villiage. Just two days before, the mob/militia had demanded that the residents of Hauns Mill disarm themselves - which they mostly did. (You can read David's own account of the Haun's Mill Massacre here. This is a sworn deposition he wrote to petition for redress to the State of Missouri for damages he suffered at Haun's Mill.)

Now the armed mob/militia came with a force of 300 men and surrounded the men and boys of the community in a blacksmth's shop. They then began firing upon the men and boys - taking great delight in killing and wounding the men, and even took delight in killing the little boys.

David and 2 of his brothers were present in that blacksmith's shop. David's older brother, Benjamin was criticlly wounded, and died later that night.

Another older brother, Tarleton Lewis was shot multiple times. One wound was in his shoulder, with the bullet being lodged near his spinal column. He would survive Hauns Mill, and later come West with the Mormon Pioneers. Later, Tarleton would be called as the first Bishop of Salt Lake City.

At the time of the Haun's Mill Massacre, David Lewis had been sick for some time -- possibly with Cholera. He had just regained enough strength to walkwhen the mob descended upon their villiage. David, found himself along with his these two brothers in the blacksmith's shop. They all realized that they had to get out of the blacksmith's shop if they were going to have any chance to survive. Tarletonand Benjamin took off on the run. David, because of his recent illness could not run, but only walk. He left the blacksmith's shop and headed for a fence, the other side of which was a forested area that would provide some cover.

As David made his wayto the fence, numerous shots were fired at him. David had been blessed with a comforing spirit by the Holy Ghost that he would not die of a bullet wound. So in faith, he made his way accross the open area toward the fence. He heard several shots go whizzing past his head, but he kept on going. The commanders of the militia were cussing out their men because they couldn't seem to hit him. Later, an examination of his clothing would reveal numerous bullet holes, but there were no wounds to his flesh.

David made it over the fence, and hid in the woods. Eventually, he was taken prisoner by the militia. The next morning, he asked the militia if he could go check on his family, and that afterword, he would return and surrender himself to them again. Atfirst the militiamen scoffed and mocked him at the idea that he would ever return. hDavid gave his word of honor yhe wouldin fact return.

They let him go, not really expecting him to return. However David did just as he said he would. He found that Benjamin had died that night of his wounds, and that Tarleton had been seriously injured. He checked his wife, and is own familh, and then returned to the camp of the militia.

For a short period of time, David fetched wood, hauled water, and cooked meals for the militia men. After that he asked if he could return permanently to his family. By then, the hearts of the militiamen were softened toward David. They gave him a permission slip to move about the area, signed by the commander of the militia, which would prove to be a blessing to David and his family.

Later on David, like his brother Tarleton, would come west with the Mormon Pioneers. He was instrumental in the settlement of communities in Southern Utah. He also was a missionary to the Indians and helped with developing diplomatic relations with the Indians in the Southern Utah area.

You Can Read more accounts of David Lewis' life after arriving in Utah below:

The Early Settlement of Utah's Dixie
The Southern Indian Mission
A Mystery In The Desert


David Lewis' Headstone at Parowan Cemetery
Click on Photo for Larger Image

David passed away in Parowan, Utah, possibly of a stroke of some kind. It was an honor to visit his grave, and to remember him and the sacrifices he and his family made for the Gospel's sake.

I wish I were in Dixie!

We are heading out of town tomorrow for Southern Utah, and Northern Arizona. It's going to be hot down there (temperatures in the 100's). We would like to have gone down there earlier this Spring, before the temperatures got so high, but this was the first break in our schedule when we all could get away for a few days. We have been working really hard in the yard, and at work, and at school, and in church callings. It will be nice to get away for a few days.

I skipped lunch today so that I could get away from work a little early. I got the truck lubed and oiled, gassed and washed. I got a few other things to get ready for our trip, including an infrared keyboard for my PDA. That way I will still be able to do some writing at night in the motel rooms along the way.

When we travel, everyone else usually goes to bed before I do, and it seems like I do my best writing when I am away from home. Maybe it has something to do with being away from many of the normal responsibilities and distractions, and actually having some time to think about life, and my thoughts and feelings. I probably won't be able to post what I will write until we get back on Monday. However, I find that my writing is much more fresh, and rich with detail if I can write about things as they happen.

The next three nights we will be staying in motels. First night: St. George, Utah. Second Night: Page, Arizona. Third night, St. George, Utah again (but in a different motel). We plan on leaving as soon as we can in the morning. I plan on taking plenty of photos too. A good portion of our time will be spent visiting with the in-laws, and for the kids to play with their cousins. However, part of the trip will also be most pleasing to me, because we will be in my element -- Redrock Country!

Sunshine From Behind The Clouds

After Sunday's bombshell, things have quieted down a bit. For one thing, mama is recovering from her Cold. (Its a good thing too, because we plan on heading to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona for the Memorial Day weekend.) Overall we are both feeling better about the educational situation with BJ. A little bit of sunshine is peeking from behind the clouds. Although nothing has yet been solved, and no final decisions have been made, we feel like we have a little better grip on the situation.

BJ has been better about getting his assignments completed. He knows he's not going to get away with not turning in his work. Isn't accountability a wonderful thing!

BJ is also taking piano lessons. He has been blowing off practicing as well. For now, mama has to sit with him in the living room to help him stay on track with his practicing. His tendency is to practice for a little while, and then drift into playing songs that are not a part of his current lesson. Or, alternatively he may suddenly think of something else besides piano that that he has to do RIGHT NOW! Unless he is being monitored, it may take a couple of hours for him to get in the 30 minutes of practicing he is required to do.

BJ is taking piano lessons for several reasons. The first reason is obvious, to learn music, and to one-day be able to play church hymns, if called upon in his future church service. The second reason is a little less obvious: Occupational Therapy. BJ is has some disabilities in his motor skills and coordination. Piano is a way to develop the fine kinds of motor skills that he needs to improve upon. A couple of weeks ago we had BJ tested by an independent (non-school district) Occupational Therapy evaluator. BJ has made great strides in the last year with his fine motor skills, and coincidentally enough, he has been taking piano lessons for the past year. It is also true that he is another year older, and he may be naturally developing some of these skills as he matures.

Finally the least obvious, but possibly the most important reason for BJ to take piano lessons is to help in his overall mental abilities. At an educational conference a few years ago we had the opportunity to hear from a professor of music, Michael Ballam, of Utah State University. He believes that the study of music is able to help in overall mental development, and in the ability to organize and sequence tasks -- which is the very help that BJ needs most. You can read more about the effects of musical instruction and listening to good music on intelligence here. Professor Robert Cutietta, of The University of Arizona also advocates the ability musical instruction to enhance learning in other areas.

Mama is feeling better about things now. She is seriously considering the homeschool option for BJ again. She is currently looking at a curriculum from The Calvert School, in Baltimore, Maryland. They have a placement test to help you target the student's level (or where to begin) in the various subjects. They are an accredited institution, with a proven track record (100 years in the business). It is a bit pricey: It will cost about $800.00 for the curriculum. We haven't made a final decision yet, but its a good possibility.

Part of what makes us feel so anxious, is the lack of control in Bryan's education. By the time the schools jump through the hoops of No Child Left Behind, and other federal legislation geared at providing education services for those with learning disabilities, not to mention state laws, and school district guidelines, the education plan can get pretty convoluted. Even when all the hoops have been jumped through, and a plan is agreed upon, there is often times little follow-up, and follow-thorugh on the part of those who are to be providing the educational services. We have found that the specialists seem to do pretty well: The resource teachers, school psychologists, Occupational Therapists, etc. Where the let-down generally occurs is with the classroom teacher. Even with having an aide for part of the school-day, the teacher is either totally overwhelmed with other responsibilities, or is sometimes simply disinterested or too lazy to follow the IEP (Individual Education Plan). In the 3 school years that BJ has had an IEP, we have yet to see the classroom teacher really do their part as the plan states. Unfortunately, the regular classroom is where the bulk of the plan is to take place. Hence, our frustration when we have been assured that this is a good plan, and that it will work -- and find that it is essentially ignored by the classroom teachers.

Homeschooling gives us the option to make sure that things happen. It gives us ultimate control in BJ's education. It also means that we take upon ourselves the responsibility as well. We would most likely lose the services of the school district specialists as well. Aside from mama's health problems in 2003, the main reason we have stayed with the public schools since mama has recovered her health has been to take advantage of these specialists. After 2 1/2 years of trying, it just hasn't worked out as we had hoped.

The public schools, outside of time spent with the specialists, are unable to give BJ the kind of individualized attention he needs. They often to not take his special needs into consideration (although they are required by law to make accommodations). He invariably gets lost in the busy shuffle of the classroom. At one time earlier this year, BJ was actually hiding underneath his desk on the floor of the classroom to avoid the noise and confusion of the classroom that was overwhelming him.

It may well be that homeschooling is the way to go. We will making this a matter of fasting and prayer.

Homeschool for Bryan Again?

Since Sunday, Dawn Ann has been fighting a cold. She was downright miserable on Sunday and Monday. Yesterday she was feeling much better. (Its a good thing, because we are planning on spending some time in the St. George, and Page, Arizona areas for a 4-day Memorial Day weekend.

We have had some serious concerns about the progress Bryan has been making in school. We received a student progress report at the end of last week, and found that many of Bryan's assignments were missing. We have two problems there. One, that Bryan was hiding the fact that his assignments were missing, and two, that even though we send daily communication back and forth from his teacher, that none of these missing assignments were mentioned until we received the computerized report. The teacher is supposed to let us know if any of Bryan's assignments were not complete for a given day -- so that we would know that there is homework to be done, and so that we could help him get it completed.

We would ask Bryan if his assignments were complete, and he would say that he got everything done in class. With the student progress report, we quickly became aware of both problems. We sat down and had a long talk with Bryan on Sunday. At first he continued to maintain that he had turned everything in. We knew, of course, that this was not true. Eventually Bryan admitted the truth behind his facade. We then proceeded to have a long talk about honesty, and how, in-fact, we were more disappointed in the dishonesty than in the missing assignments. Missing assignments can be dealt with, but a person's character and integrity are far more important.

Bryan's teacher does not get off the hook either. Dawn Ann visited with the principal to express her concerns about not being informed about the missing assignments, as had been previously agreed to. Bryan's teacher is pretty much a Laze Faire sort of guy. He's nice enough, but he doesn't really take it upon himself to help Bryan stay on track. We really should have been informed long ago (at least 2 months ago) about the trend if missing assignments. Also, the weekly planner sheet that both the teacher and parent sign (as part of Bryan's IEP - Individual Education Plan) indicated that there was not outstanding homework to be completed.

As a result of all this, we are seriously considering the homeschool option for Bryan again. Dawn Ann is currently looking at a curriculum from The Calvert School, in Baltimore, Maryland. They have a placement test to help you target the student's level (or where to begin) in the program. They are an accredited institution, with a proven track record (100 years in the business). It is a bit pricey: It will cost about $800.00 for the curriculum. We haven't made a final decision yet, but its a good possibility.

Part of what makes us feel so anxious, is the lack of control in Bryan's education. By the time the schools jump through the hoops of No Child Left Behind, and other federal legislation geared at providing education services for those with learning disabilities, not to mention state laws, and school district guidelines, the education plan can get pretty convoluted. Even when all the hoops have been jumped through, and a plan is agreed upon, there is often times little follow-up, and follow-through on the part of those who are to be providing the educational services. We have found that the specialists seem to do pretty well: The resource teachers, school psychologists, Occupational Therapists, etc. Where the letdown generally occurs is with the classroom teacher. Even with having an aide for part of the school day, the teacher is either totally overwhelmed with other responsibilities, or is sometimes simply disinterested or too lazy to follow the IEP (Individual Education Plan). In the 3 school years that Bryan has had an IEP, we have yet to see the classroom teacher really do their part as the plan states. Unfortunately, the regular classroom is where the bulk of the plan is to take place. Hence, our frustration when we have been assured that this is a good plan, and that it will work -- and find that it is essentially ignored by the classroom teachers.

Homeschooling gives us the option to make sure that things happen. It gives us ultimate control in Bryan's education. It also means that we take upon ourselves the responsibility as well. We would most likely lose the services of the school district specialists as well. Aside from Dawn Ann's health problems in 2003, the main reason we have stayed with the public schools since Dawn Ann has recovered her health has been to take advantage of these specialists. After 2 1/2 years of trying, it just hasn't worked out as we had hoped.

The public schools, outside of time spent with the specialists, are unable to give Bryan the kind of individualized attention he needs. They often do not take his special needs into consideration (although they are required by law to make accommodations). He invariably gets lost in the busy shuffle of the classroom. At one time earlier this year, Bryan was actually hiding underneath his desk on the floor of the classroom to avoid the noise and confusion of the classroom that was overwhelming him.

It may well be that homeschooling is the way to go. We will be making this a matter of fasting and prayer.

Piano Lessons: A force for Spiritual and Intellectual Development

Bryan has been taking piano lessons for the past year or so. He sometimes doesn't want to practice -- (nothing too unusual there!) For now, mama has to sit with him in the living room to help him stay on track with his practicing. His tendency is to practice for a little while, and then drift into playing songs that are not a part of his current lesson. Or, alternatively he may suddenly think of something else besides piano that that he has to do RIGHT NOW! Unless he is being monitored, it may take a couple of hours for him to get in the 30 minutes of practicing he is required to do, unless he has help to stay on track.

Bryan is taking piano lessons for several reasons. The first reason is obvious, to learn music, and to one-day be able to play church hymns on his mission, if called upon. Playing Church Hymns also can be a source of spiritual strength and inspiration. I have found this to be the case in my life, on many occasions. Sometimes when I am troubled, or have had a rough day, I will sit down at the piano, and play the hymns. In so doing, my perspective improves. The clouds of doubt tend to dissipate. The sweet quiet confidence of the Spirit of the Lord returns to my heart. In short, playing the hymns is a form of worship, and invites the Holy Spirit into our hearts and minds.

The second reason Bryan is taking piano lessons is a little less obvious: Occupational Therapy. Bryan is has some disabilities in his motor skills and coordination. Piano is a way to develop the fine kinds of motor skills that he needs to improve upon. These skills are necessary to help him to write better. A couple of weeks ago we had Bryan tested by an independent (non-school district) Occupational Therapy evaluator. Bryan has made great strides in the last year in the development of his fine motor skills, and coincidentally enough, he has been taking piano lessons for the past year. It is also true that he is another year older and he is another year more mature, and he may be developing some of these skills naturally.

Finally the least obvious, but one of the more important reasons for Bryan to take piano lessons is to help in his overall mental processing abilities. At a BYU Education Week a few years ago we had the opportunity to hear from a professor of music, Michael Ballam, of Utah State University. He believes that the study of music is able to help in overall mental development, and in the ability to organize and sequence tasks -- which is the very help that Bryan needs most. You can read more about the effects of musical instruction and listening to good music on intelligence here. Professor Robert Cutietta, of The University of Arizona also advocates the ability musical instruction to enhance learning in other areas.