Ok, So I Inheirited My "Talent" From My Dear Mother...

This was an interesting week all around. I had a lot to do at work, which mostly got done - and a few other things come up. First though, I would like to let you all know that Justin has finally got a deployment date - kind of. He will be deploying between April 17th and 21st to go to Southern Iraq and doing detainee security services. A video about the training that his unit (313) did at Fort Bliss can be found HERE. It also talks about their upcoming mission, and what they have been doing over the next year.

Second interesting thing this week: my mice are starting to show signs of their phenotype. Some of you may be asking what that means. Well, we were trying to do an experimenter blind study on the tasks I have that involve having a human score them. This means that the person running the mouse does not know if it has the gene for Muscular Dystrophy, or is a control C57BL/10. When four of them started having tremors on Friday I realized the cover was blown. Yes, it is common for the mdx mice to start having tremors around 9 weeks of age. These are all 11 weeks of age, so it is not that surprising. It is a bit interesting they all started at once. When I was looking at them yesterday I discovered that it relieved their symptoms to actually give them a little massage. You just take one or two fingers and gently rub their shoulders down to their hips, and soon you have a mouse sleeping in your hand. This is not common for a mouse, in fact it is very, very weird. It was also very cute, and sweet - although I worry about them. They also seemed to enjoy the heating pad we gave them. I think that it made their muscles relax. I just want them to feel great and I guess that is not something that I am going to be able to attain.

So the last interesting thing (aside from General Conference which I will address tomorrow) was my mother's weekend. My father was going to a very expensive, upscale thing for work in California. Mom decided to trade in her ticket and go to visit her sister's in Arkansas a day before, and would have been gone a week. Well, while she was walking out onto the tarmac to get onto the plane she missed a step and landed on her ankle instead of her foot like God intended. Well, she had broken this ankle before about 10 years ago, and well - she crushed it again. And yes, I really do mean crushed. See pictures below.

As you can see, they have put Humty Dumpty back together, and quite seamlessly. All jokes aside, I do hope you get to feeling better Mom. The doctors said it would be about 4 months before she is back to normal. This will encompass my move, so there goes my favorite person to pack my stuff. I think this means it is time to hire a company. I am not sure I have good enough insurance to cover my Mom and her independance following surgery. The doctors in Hailey, ID did a very good job though, which we are very happy about. They lined the bones up so well you can only see a couple of the breaks, and you have to look kind of hard. Maybe those of you with a medical background can see them a bit more clearly. But yes - I inherited my mother's genes for luck as you can see, and it is like we are in a competition for who can injure themselves the most. This week I also found out that my first cousin, on my Mom's side, is having disk surgery this next Friday. She has on that is bulging quite badly and she is in a lot of pain - so I hope they can help her out. I know what it is like to have that pain, an it is not fun. Alas, keep my family in your prayers - we can all use it. I truly should not complain as we truly have been blessed beyond measure, but a few extra prayers never hurt anything. :)