MacAttack

A few weeks ago while I was at my in-laws house, I brought up the topic of circumcision. Everyone seemed pretty set on how they felt about it (other than Steve’s 15 year old brother who begged us to stop talking about it while he was eating). I still have very mixed feelings about it and want to get feed back from people out there on what they did, or planned to do, with their boys and why.

Here are some of the facts that I found while researching the topic in hopes for some guidance on a scary decision I will have to make someday (crossing my fingers that I will have a baby boy at some point). There are also a lot of myths about both sides of the debate so it is hard to know what is credible and good information.

Arguments FOR circumcision:

• Uncircumcised boys are more likely to get serious kidney infections in the first year of life.

• Circumcision eliminates the chance that the boy will have phimosis (a condition where the foreskin won’t retract fully).

• Decreased risk of urinary tract infections (1% of boys with normal urinary tracts get UTI’s).

• It is more sanitary and easier to clean a circumcised penis ( However, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated in 1999 that there not sufficient evidence to claim that this is true).

• A study showed that circumcision offers a 60-70% protection against acquiring HIV along with protection from other STDS (this argument doesn’t sway me much, I would hope my child would not be in a category where there is a risk of contracting HIV/AIDS or STDS).

• Circumcised men almost never get invasive penile cancer (1400 men diagnosed in the US every year).

• If the dad is circumcised, it is better for little boys self esteem for them to look the same “down there”  as their dads. (You don’t want your kid to think “one of these things is not like the other…”).

• It is better to do it while the boy is a baby so he can’t remember the pain of it (assuming that the boy may want to be circumcised when he grows up and it is much harder to do it later.)

• Many people I talked to said that the main reason they would circumcise is so the kid wouldn’t get made fun of by their friends for being different. While efforts from the American Pediatric Association and the American Medical Association are influencing more and more parents to not circumcise their boys, the circumcision rate in the U.S. is still around 75%.

Arguments AGAINST circumcision:

• The skin isn’t there on accident- it serves a purpose so leave it alone ( I once saw a bumper sticker that said “A foreskin is not a birth defect” weird to put on a car, but true).

• It is a human rights violation because the child can not give consent for the optional procedure.

• It actually IS very painful for the little guy. The American Academy of Pediatrics‘ says “There is considerable evidence that newborns who are circumcised without analgesia experience pain and psychologic stress.”

• The removal of the foreskin contains thousands of nerve endings and when removed men have less sexual satisfaction (some sources claim this as fact, while others say there is not enough evidence). The removal may also contribute in impotence for adult men (normally after age 40).

• Complications can happen, the most common being hemmorage and infection (between 2-10% of all circumcisions).

• To contradict the hygienic claims for circumcision, there are reports that say the foreskin protects the glans from irritation and from fecal matter.

Some people point out that female circumcision is considered genital mutilation and is not tolerated in our country, so why should male circumcision be tolerated?

So, that is the basics of everything I have read on the topic. Pretty interesting and pretty compelling arguments on both sides. What do you think?

On Saturday morning I got a phone call from my dad telling me that my grandpa had just died. I’ll spare you all the detail and emotions, but I would like to list some of the things that I admired most about him and will remember. Also, thanks to my cousin Ryan, I’ve posted two of my favorite pictures that he scanned from old slides.

Ryan e-mailed me this picture about 6 months ago and it was the wallpaper on my work computer for months afterward. I love this picture because you can tell how much my grandpa adores my grandma. One thing that I love about my grandpa is that he was such an affectionate person. He always greeted us with hugs and no one left without being hugged. He and my grandma have been glued at the hip and have always been loving and supportive through the hard times they went through together. Their marriage is one that as a teenager I would roll my eyes at and be embarrassed by how cheesy they would be with each other, but now that I am married I hope Steve and I are that way at their age.

This picture is of Grandpa Joe and my dad. One thing that is strongly genetic in my family that my grandpa passed to my dad, and my dad passed to me is being quick to tear up over the smallest of things. It was always the joke the my grandpa (and I think his dad too) would cry at the opening of a supermarket. At times it has been very embarrassing to find myself crying at a commercial but this tender-heartedness has also been something that has helped me know and understand my values better.

My grandpa was a very talented, spiritual, and loving man. I wish I would have spent more time with him because I know there was a lot more that I could have learned from him.

http://www.legacy.com/DeseretNews/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=119006063

Last Saturday Stephe and I got back from a cruise down to Mexico. We went with some of our best friends, Rex and Shalee and had a blast! For those of you that haven’t been on a cruise let me give you some pros and cons to help you decide if a cruise is right for you.

Pros:

The boat rocks you to sleep every night– I’ve never slept better than on the boat.

You meet and hangout with really cool people from all over the world.

Delicious food 24/7.

Entertainment- stand-up comedy, hypnotist, eating, karaoke, dancing, eating, musicians, mini golf, eating, performances, swimming, and did I mention eating?

Towel animals waiting in your room when you get back from dinner.

The ocean is beautiful and the weather was amazing.

Getting off the boat in cool places (note: Cabo San Lucus is awesome, Ensenada is scary, don’t go there).

Cons:

Delicious food 24/7

Coming back to reality

Travel buddies: Stephe, me, Shalee, Rex

Hanging out in California before getting on the ship.

Girls in California

Thank you, thank you, to Lauren and Bridger for letting stay at their house in Cali 2 nights. I didn’t want to leave to go on the cruise because I was having so much fun spending time with them again. I love you guys!

New York style piano bar

Formal dinner night

Cabo

Ensenada

It all started when my darling, pregnant, friend Aimee and I were talking about pregnancy tests. She told me that she had some left over and would obviously not be needing them any more and, offered to give them to me to keep on hand just in case…

Well, I forgot to take them home with me and cute Aimee thought nothing of having her husband, my co-worker, drop off 5 pregnancy tests to me at work. I don’t know who was more uncomfortable- me or him when he handed me “the goods.”

I quickly stuck them in my desk drawer and went back to work. A few days later I opened the drawer to take them home and there were only 4 in there! I looked to see if one could have fallen back behind the desk but I haven’t found anything.

Who steals pregnancy tests?! Seriously!

There have been weird things missing from other people at work too; like food in the freezer and a woman’s suit coat from someones office. Hmmm…

Inspired by the Olympics, Steve and I deiced to pass the Cookie Night torch last Sunday to Robin and Dan. Hosting Cookie Night has been a lot of fun and I really want to thank everyone who trekked up the three flights of stairs every week to come. We hope to see all of you at Dan and Robin’s house! There are a few reasons why we are going to switch venues. First, with church, eating with Steve’s family at 2:00, dinner with my family at 6, and then rushing home to clean up and make cookies was getting a bit much. Also, with school starting again we both wake up early- that is ok with me, but Steve is not a morning person… We are still be going to Cookie Night because we still love all of you and want to hang out Sunday nights. Thanks to Bethia and Jeremy for starting this tradition, thanks to Dean and Meg for doing it for so long, and to Dan and Robin for taking over. Also thanks to Robin, Mindy, and Moe for bringing treats so often. Here are some highlights from cookie night at our place:

Shanna, Aimee, Laura, me, Megan, Gregg, Tyler and Lacey.

Even better than the cookies is always the music.

I don’t like to pick favorites, but Ellie is by far the cutest cookie night guest ever!

Nerds! Cookie night is not complete without talking about computers.

Dan and Steve doing some male bonding over technology.

Thank you all again. You bring the spice into our lives.

A few weeks ago went to the bachelorette party for one of my best friends T Foxley, and I had no idea what to get her. I don’t ever know what to for these kinds of things- I don’t dare guess at a size for lingerie, I don’t want to get some of the silly novelty thing for shock value that will never get used, and I don’t want to buy anything too crazy. I wanted to think of something practical but fitting for a bacheloreete party. I came up with the idea buying a colander, ladle, pasta sauce, Parmesan cheese, and to spice it up some anatomically correct pasta. Practical and clever.

The idea was the easy part- getting it was hard since I live in Utah county. There are only 2 stores to possibly find this special pasta and I was relieved when the first place I called had some. When I go to the store I asked for the pasta and I was told by the manager that they are no longer allowed to sell it- they have pulled it off the shelf and it is sitting in the back room. Apparently the county came in and demanded that they stop selling anything with reference to the male body. Oh the joys of living in a neoconservative city! It was the centerpiece of my whole gift- without it I would be back to a boring and totally practical gift! Not acceptable. The ironic part is that the store is still allowed to sell bongs and things with marijuana pictures on it… ummm, last time I checked pot is still illegal and sex is not. I was frustrated and the manger had pity on me and finally said, “you know what, it is my last day- I’ll sell you some.” I win, I win! Thanks to the unnamed manager of the unnamed store for being a great American by breaking the law selling pasta to me!

To celebrate 08/08/08 we had an 8 themed breakfast at work– my boss’s idea and Sonya and I took it to the next level. It also was our good bye party for Carol who will be leave to go work at the U of U (traitor!). Here are the highlights of our party!

Notice all the round fruit that make 8’s when they are put together. I even stuck sliced bananas and grapes together with tooth picks to make an 8.

My boss Ed making 8 pancakes.

Sonya and her fancy pancake. Gotta love it!

No party is complete without donuts- which conveniently form and 8 when you have 2 of them together.

The Deaf Services staff of ASD- Carol, Sonya, me, and Laurie

One of the strangest, yet fun family traditions that my mom started 7 or 8 years ago is on the 4th of July to hand out root-beer floats to random strangers. My mom lives a few blocks from Sugar House park and when the fireworks are over we give root-beer floats to people walking back to their cars. It is so funny to see the looks on people’s faces when we offer them a free root-beer float– I imagine I would be a little suspicious myself. The reactions we get range from a confused “no, thank you…,” to “Wow, this is awesome, you made my day!” We also have people telling us that they look forward to root-beer floats every year and each year they hope we will still be there. It is totally random, but always a blast.

My Mom, my Aunt, my hot Husband, my Niece, and my Eleanor.

Today marks the first official day of Utah Valley University! The past two days have been a full of celebrations to ring in the new era. I came to UVSC as a freshman in 2001 and graduated with my BA degree in 2005. After graduation I got a job interpreting at UVSC, and it’s hard to believe that with school and work I have been on campus for 7 years! That is a very long time to stay in one place. I am glad I have been able to witness the changes and be part of them at this school over the last 7 years, it had provided me with opportunities that I wouldn’t have had any other place.

Today at the the official ceremony and ribbon cutting there were politicians and big wigs from all over the state as well as President Monson who dedicated the new building. I had the opportunity to interpret the event and I will never forget it.

GO UVU!

My awesome co-workers Carol, Jason, and Sonya

The new library

There are tons of new bronze statues at the new library

Sonya and I looking hot in our free UVU visors! Nerds!

Two Saturdays ago I had my first scurfing (or skurfing) experience. Scurfing was introduced to me by my good friend Sam who is pretty much an expert at it. Sam wrote a blog post about the first time he went scurfing and there is really sweet video that I highly recommend you watching.

I was really nervous considering I am not what most people would call coordinated or athletic. I thought for sure I would end up falling and breaking my arm or head. Knowing my own awkwardness I don’t even normally attempt these kind of things, but I am happy to report that I survived will only a few scratches and very sore arms from holding onto the wall for dear life for about 10 minutes until I got the courage to let go.

Here are some pics for your entertainment.

“Look, no hands!”

Sorry ladies, he’s taken.

Dean pulled off his first 180- it was sweet.

Don’t let the fact that water is lower and slower this time of year trick you into thinking it is safer, right after this picture was taken Sam wiped out real bad and messed up his shoulder. He has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. That really put a damper on the fun.