Need Some Time Away From the Pressures of a Hectic Life? I Can Tell You How To Get It!

Do you ever find yourself wishing for some time alone? Some time where you can just relax and focus on yourself? Where you won't be in reach of a phone or the demanding cry of ungrateful children and the constant messes they make? All of this you want but feel like you can't have because of the guilt of dropping all of your responsibilities? Well, I can tell you how to get your time alone and without the guilt! "How?" you ask? The answer is simple and foolproof:

Get thyroid cancer.

Because when you have thyroid cancer, it is treated with radioactive iodine pills and, if given in a high enough dose, you must go into total isolation for a period of three days. No one can come near you and you can't really go anywhere. There are other small complications like having to flush the toilet 3 times after each use and wearing plastic gloves everywhere so your radioactive sweat doesn't get on everything you own. And really, after you've been completely alone for 1 1/2 days, the glamour wears off. Now it just feels restricting. Luckily, Jake can move back in on Monday (and I can start eating normal food!). Although we can't sleep in the same bed for another 7 days, I'll take what I can get.

The Long Awaited Scan!

So, after 7 months of waiting, I finally had my scan last night to see if my last dose of radioactive iodine worked. I had my entourage with me (they were mostly just curious about the results) and like a true Doggett/Cuthbert, we got there 30 minutes early. So we passed the time:

My mom kept complaining there was nothing to read there and Jake was still studying hard - no surprise there. Alex was drawing comics and I was just generally irritating people. At least I had fun! It finally became time to go back for the scan (and yes, they called me back late!) and I took Alex along as my photographer. You can only have one person in the room at a time. Guess what their reason is for this - because they only have one extra chair. Lame. You think they could come up with a better excuse than that! So here is the machine with my lab tech guy blinking:

And then they put this pillow under your knees so they won't move:

And then they bind your feet together so they won't move:

And then they tighten the strait jacket over your torso so your arms won't move (because their table isn't wide enough to rest your arms on - cheap lab!):

If you couldn't tell, you are not supposed to move at all during this procedure! So if you have a mom who likes to try and make you smile even though it is quite obvious you aren't supposed to move, don't let her come back with you. Then they lower the gamma camera so that it is just a few inches above your face:

And they start the Total Body Thyroid Scan which is such a lie because it only goes to your knees. But it does take 30 minutes to scan from head to knee. And I can't move. And I can't talk. At least, I can't talk until it moves past my head and at that point there's really only about 10 minutes left in the scan. Good thing I find my own thoughts very entertaining! After the total body one they do a second scan where they position the camera right above my neck for 10 minutes. This time they lower the camera to within an inch of my nose! Luckily, I am not claustrophobic, but it did bug my eyes because they had a hard time focusing on something so close, so for most of the scan I just lay there with my eyes closed. I don't have any pictures of that one because Alex had gotten bored by then and gave up her seat to Jake who eventually gave it up to my mom who tried to get me to laugh until the lab tech scolded her.

Last time I had the scan the ladies were nice and let us have a peek at the results so we would have an idea of what was going on. Unfortunately, these guys were sticklers for the rules and regulations. We pretty much begged and pleaded to get just a glimpse of the scan but they went all "HEPA rights" and "privacy violation" on us. And when my mom tried to look over their shoulders during the scan, they purposefully shifted their bodies to block her view!! So I have no idea what to expect during my doctors visit tomorrow. For goodness sakes! I'm been waiting over half a year to see if my scan showed any surviving thyroid cells and they couldn't even let me have my 5 seconds with my own scan! So I will know more and post more tomorrow. Let the anticipation begin!

Why Oh Why Am I So Addicted to Pro Cycling?

The Amgen Tour of California was on this past week and I didn't miss a day! Why do I love cycling so much? I can't really put it into words, but I know one reason:

Andy Schleck. He kicks butt in those mountain stages! I have already mentioned that he will one day win the tour of tours - The Tour de France! So I have decided that someday I will meet him and I will go up to him and tell him that I love him and then introduce him to my husband whom I am crazy about! And then I will slyly mention that I have two very attractive and very available sisters! I just hope he speaks English! Do people in Luxembourg learn English? Let's hope!

Radioactive Again!

I took my next dose of radioactive iodine yesterday so once again I am in partial isolation! I feel quite normal (although that could be because I just took a small dose. The larger one comes in about a week.) but I'm still on my low-iodine diet until I take that larger pill. Considering that I am consciously making myself radioactive, it is surprising how normal the pill looks. However, the container it comes in is about 1 inch thick pure lead all of the way around! And then they roll this harmless looking pill into my bare, unprotected hand and I swallow it just like any other pain killer. Very odd. Enjoy the pictures!

I will have my body scan on Monday evening so I will post pictures of it when I get them. Now you can wait in suspense!

A Low-Iodine Valentines Day? It Can Be Done!!

Since this whole radiation process has taken much longer than I thought, I was still on my low-iodine diet for Valentines Day. That meant that I couldn't eat out, but I still wanted to have a nice romantic dinner with Jake so I had to find something that was still yummy but low-iodine. I definitely succeeded!

I made my own balsamic vinaigrette dressing which I put on top of spinach leaves and then I made some honey mustard chicken and laid it on top of a bed of bow tie pasta. And of course we had Martinelli's Sparkling Cider! And for dessert I made a Hot Fudge Pudding Cake! And all of this meal was made without any diary, soy, eggs, butter, margarine, chocolate (I used cocoa powder which is okay), and only a pinch of salt (I couldn't find salt free mustard but I did find an organic brand which used very little salt)! I was very proud of myself! Now I will be the first to admit that the cake would have been DELICIOUS next to some vanilla ice cream, but even by itself it was really really yummy!

You MUST watch this video! It's Amazing!!

This girl is one of the best dancers I've ever seen! And the song is awesome too! She was the national Junior Soloist last year with this routine and it's not hard to see why! She dances with such emotion that it's crazy! And did I mention that she was only 12 when she won?

Ok. I must tell you that I am completely biased because this is one of my Young Women! She also lives a few houses down from me. Her name is Alexia Meyer and she's already accomplished more in her life than most people I know! She trains at The Dance Club and is on most of their ad campaigns. While at a national competition she was discovered by a modeling agency and spent two weeks in New York doing some modeling. While there, they were holding auditions for The Nutcracker and she decided to audition on a whim. Well, she landed the role of Clara for The Nutcracker in Nashville. She spent two months there with her mom. She also won the National Soloist competition last year on the junior level at the young age of 12! She is also super nice and super sweet! She makes sure that all of the girls in her class are included and feel important. I love her! So enjoy the video!

If you want to see it full screen, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxsIrobJc_I.

Goodbye Grandpa Tom!

Two weeks ago my Grandpa Tom Doggett passed away after a long and loving life. It was hard to let him go because he was such a good grandpa. He was always willing to do whatever we wanted and never complained when we wanted to use his precious tools. He helped to inspire our creativity and with him, the wood project possibilities were endless! He loved to take us to the beach and to the dump, which as dirty as it sounds, is actually quite an adventure. And he always had the best stories to tell us! They were always a mix of fact and fiction and we had fun trying to figure out how much trouble our dad actually got in!

He was always smiling, except when there was a bad call made during a Patriot's game! He was a hard-core fan! He also loved to say, "Good on ya!" so that people would think he was Australian when in fact he had never even been to Australia!

He served in the US Navy and at one point sank his commanding officer's boat! He also graduated MIT in 3 years while enrolled in an accelerated program for the military. When my grandma and dad joined the LDS church, my grandpa was wary at first but after the baptism he was always supportive of them going to church. He even paid for my dad's mission and wrote his throughout the entire mission. He also encouraged my dad to go to BYU and paid his tuition. And he was excited when my dad and mom decided to get married in the temple.

But above all else he did during his time on earth, he loved his wife! He spent his life serving her and even he said that was his greatest accomplishment. I'll miss you gramps!

*This is my sister Hana with my grandpa at Christmas a few years ago*

*This is me when I was just teenie. Wasn't I the cutest?!?!*

Miami - Part 4 - Epcot

Here is the last part of our trip! And by this point I was so tired and my feet hurt so badly and so I wasn't so keen on taking pictures. In fact, I wasn't so keen on doing much that day. We got to Epcot just before 11am. Magic Kingdom was already closed (it was New Years Eve) so the line to get into all of the other parks was way long! We finally got into Epcot and ran to get some Fastpasses for something. Oh wait - for anything good the fastpasses were long gone. In fact, the line for Soaring (one of the most popular rides) was over 5 hours long! So instead, we went on those smaller rides and had some fun around the park: We eventually decided to go on a ride called Test Track but the line was about 3 1/2 hours long. Luckily, we saw that the single rider line was only 90 minutes long so Jake and I braved the crowd and stood in line. And after waiting and enduring next to a family who cannot comprehend that giving their children Coke will make them want to pee, we finally got on the ride and we were actually in the same car! Was the ride worth it? No, but at least it killed some time, seeing as how we were there until midnight.

We did go on the Ellen Degeneres Energy ride - basically because it was 45 minutes long and that was just more time to kill. I actually enjoyed it mostly because it also starred Bill Nye the Science Guy. It was a quiet gentle ride and I had a good time. Jake found it so peaceful that he slept during the whole thing!

It was so crowded that Jake and I decided to bail on doing anything else and went to find where his parents had staked out a spot to watch the fireworks. They had found a great spot and we pretty much stayed there the rest of the day/night. We got suited up for the New Year in our New Year Gear:

As is quickly becoming our New Years tradition, we were sitting next to some Brazilians (it randomly happened last year in London as well) who had a blast talking to Jake and his dad. They helped to pass the time for Jake and I tried to sleep. I must admit though, the fireworks display was beyond amazing and just before midnight they went through each of the countries represented that had already celebrated the New Year and they each had their own fireworks. Then of course, the countdown, the kiss, the blowing of horns, and the weaving through the drunks. Typical New Years! I have it all on tape if you want to see it. I must say though that Jake and I showed our amazing weaving skills once midnight was done with. We beat everyone to the front gates. If there is even a small opening, we dart and slip and push our way in. We are pretty much awesome!

So there is Miami! It was a great time with lots of fun and lots of memories, but it was so filled with activities that we had to come home and have a breather!

Miami - Part 3 - Magic Kingdom

We had a great day at the Magic Kingdom! The weather was beautiful but it was so beyond crowded! The park was closed before noon because it was at capacity! So because of the craziness, I didn't take too many pictures (you're welcome) but I did take a bunch as we clowned around on the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House! I quickly took charge of the tree house: and spent time dreaming of my future home:
clowning around on the trek up: And then realizing how much energy it takes to clown around on the way up: Jake was the smart one and clowned around on the way down: And then went on to prove his manliness by touching some of the props that clearly were not meant to be touched. I'll never understand boys. As we made our way around the park one place we definitely did not stop at (in fact we ran as fast as we could through the crowd to specifically avoid it) This ride may look innocent, but it's a total farce! It is beyond scary and definitely nightmare inducing! Jake and I also drove the cars and my car was considerably faster than Jake's so I obviously had to slow way down to wait for him to catch up so I could take these fabulous pictures! Luckily, no one was behind me for a long ways so I didn't hold the line up. It may look like he's winning, but really, I kicked his behind! And I'm sure it had nothing to do with his unusually slow car!

When I asked my brother Robbie if he wanted me to take pictures of any characters for him, all he told me was to give Buzz Lightyear an "air hug". Wow. Can you tell this kid picks up a lot of random stuff in Kindergarten or what!?! Well, thankfully, the line to Buzz was FOREVER long so I dutifully gave him an "air hug" and then snapped his picture from afar. And for the last, and my personal favorite, picture of Magic Kingdom: We can't even remember what ride it was on (my guess is Thunder Mountain Railroad) but it still cracks me up because it is usually the child acting up in those "what not to do" pictures but the adult is totally going for it too! It makes me giggle every time!

Alright. That's it for this stop. Don't worry - only one more Miami post to go. Now I must go and make my low-iodine peanut butter cookies in preparation for American Idol and Lost tonight! What a great TV night!!!

Miami - Part 2 - Animal Kingdom

Naturally, if you are going anywhere in Florida, no matter your age, you must make a pilgrimage to Disney World! To not do so would be something of a sin! We spent out first lovely day (it was about 75 degrees at the end of December!) clambering all over: which was so much fun because this was one of the only Disney parks I had never been to! I have heard about it but knew nothing about it except for the safari part. So of course we ran to the safari ride first and only had to wait about an hour in line! Word of the wise:

NEVER GO TO DISNEY WORLD AROUND CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS!!!!!!!

Every single day we were at Disney, each park closed because they were at capacity! Talk about mounds and hoards of people! And don't even get me started on the lines! But we did learn the art and magic of the fastpass! Anywho, back to the safari.... After waiting endless minutes in line we finally got to the point where we could see the trucks we would be riding on:

We got on a truck and headed out into the pride lands (and this is where my love of Lion King might take over. You have been warned.) to see all of the amazing animals roaming free. I was sure that there had to have been some safety feature like electric fences or at least invisible fences for our protection, but boy was I in for a surprise! Here are some of the things we saw:

At this point we had to pause because we had a herd of wildebeests stampeding, I mean crossing, in front of us

And then there were some pretty elephants (which is so cliche when you think of a safari but I'll let this one slide...)

At this point I was still searching for the invisible fences that would keep me from being lions meat (I know the wildebeests went in front of us, but come on, how dangerous can a wildebeest be? It's not like they can trample the leader of the pack or anything!) but then I was quite surprised to find this waiting around the next bend

But, as I learned studying geology, you always need something in the picture for scale because you never know how far or close this rhino really is. I mean, I could have some wicked telephoto stalker lens or something. So, being the good geologists that I am, I made sure to take one with scale:

That random object in the lower right corner is definitely our safari truck. There is NOTHING stopping that rhino from maiming our truck and spearing me right in the ribs and making a rhino shish kabob out of me! Seriously, Disney has way more faith in their animals than I do! We then ran across these warthogs and these weren't the singing/dancing/hakuna matata kind either. These things looked like they would eat me for a brunch appetizer!

After the safari we went to the Bug's Life 3D movie and Jake and I were seriously rockin' our bug glasses!

After the bug movie Jake and I skedaddled over to the dinosaur land, but no matter how persuasive I tried to be, Jake wouldn't go into the bone dig with me. He claimed it was for little kids and that we didn't qualify. I reminded him that I look like a child still, and we act like children still, and that I'm a geologist and therefor it is my duty to go in, but no such luck. We did however snag some fastpasses from strangers to go on the Dinosaur ride and I absolutely LOVED it!

And then we went to this mini roller coaster called Primeval Whirl which sounded so fun in writing that I didn't mind the LONG line! Jake and I passed the time by being silly and having fun with the mirrors:

and then proceeded to go on the WORST RIDE IN THE PARK!!! It was even worse than the Wild Mouse at Lagoon - way more jerky and starty-stoppy. After that disappointment, the day couldn't get worse, could it? Think again my friends!! We then went on the river rapids ride only to come out completely and utterly soaked. Was everyone soaked you ask? Nope. Just me. The rest of them had some wet spots, but were none the worse for wear. You can't really tell from the following picture, but this is just the start of the miserable evening:

Jake does have some wet spots but it doesn't appear that I am wet at all. It's an illusion. The only reason I look that way is because I don't have a dry spot on me! Oh, and did I mention that the sun was going down at this point. That only added to my problems! Luckily we were able to go on the best roller coaster in the park called Everest. And because we had fastpasses, we didn't have to wait in line at all!

And those shorts are not naturally that color either. They are much lighter if they are not completely drenched. The ride was a blast and totally caught me off guard several times! Then we headed for the must see event if you are going to Animal Kingdom - the Lion King show! And because we were in a party with a wheelchair, we got front row seats!

Seriously an amazing show! I saw Lion King on the stage in London and this is easily comparable! By this time we were getting ready to go and I was frozen but on our way out we spotted a friend I haven't seen in awhile so I took Jake's sweatshirt and ran to get my picture taken with her: After our long and tiring day we decided to go home. But not without one last picture of course!

There. I promised less pictures and I delivered. The last post had 21 pictures and this one only has 2o! More wonderful posts to come!