So Ut is SWEET

On Thursday I had the opportunity to attend the Utah Shakespearean Festival and see 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'. It was great. I enjoyed the costumes, stage and of course the acting. I had a blackberry tart and humbug lolly. It was such a peaceful night to sit outside and watch this play. Then on Saturday I went to St George to see 'Les Miserables' performed at the Tuacan amphitheater. That too was amazing. The actors sang their hearts out and brought tears to my eyes. I love how Tuacan uses the natural beauty of the red cliffs and rocks to accent every single play they perform. I really love Southern Utah especially during the summer! Cedar Mountain is one of the best places on earth, Panguitch Lake is great and Red Cliffs is super fun! So all in all So Ut is my flavor....

We are the 6th Ward Frogs....

I have recently returned from Girls Camp. It was my first time going as leader. What a chore. But it was a fun chore. I got lots of pics and will only bore you with a few. This first one is of the leaders in our 'kitchen'. For those of you who have not been to Girls Camp before know this....it is the poshest camp ever. We had to have a kitchen, living room, dining room etc. All were covered by EZE-UP shades and all had tables, cupboards etc. It was so organized and just like home. In my opinion it was a lot of work for only 4 days, 3 nights. Oh well. That is the joy of Girls Camp!!!

Out theme was MLB (Mormon League Baseball) We were the Frogs. So a few girls caught a frog. It was quite the scene... anyway it was a fun camp and I am really glad to be home and clean!!

Before Girls Camp I was coming home from a wedding reception up Cedar Mountain and hit a deer. It was so sad. My first road kill-but I am not sure I really killed him. It did a bit of body damage. I was not hurt and either was the bride's mom who was with me in my truck. One day 4 years ago I was at a UDHA convention in Park City when someone hit my truck and dented the back door. So the guys at the Ford Dealership/body shop told me it was consistant with the damage caused by the deer and that I could get the insurance to pay for it. I declined and said, 'I know the damage is consistant and I really want to tell you that but that dent has been there for 4 years. I really want it fixed though so would you fix it and I would pay for it.' A few days later I got a call telling me the insruance adjuster came and said since I was so honest about the back door that I could include it in with all the other repairs. I was so happy! It just proves that 'honesty is the best policy' ha ha ha!

Burn or Build Bridges

As many of you know I am a very loyal member of the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA). I am president-elect for the Southern Component of Utah Dental Hygienists' Association (UDHA). I attend every meeting we have. I pay my membership dues and pray all RDH's everywhere do the same. So my friend and co-worker Candice is an alternate delegate for UDHA. As such she attends board meetings in Salt Lake City which is 3.5 hrs from Cedar. She too is dedicated to our profession. Wednesday she reported what was discussed at the board meeting at our Southern Component meeting. She stated the Monty Thompson (president of Utah Dental Association-UDA) was in attendance. Now I need to give a bit of background. As a So Component we organized (ok Danyelle did) a Spring Seminar the same weekend as the UDA spring seminar in St George. We had 2 speakers and offered 6 CE credits. It was pretty well attended. We had communications with Mr. Thompson and he was very cooperative. He did everything in his power to give us free advertising and helped organize it. He was so helpful. We as a Southern Component appreciate him and his efforts. We also noticed that this years UDA meeting had several dental hygiene oriented speakers. I thought that was amazing. While I was not as enthralled by Ester Wilkins as a lot of people the fact that she was there by invitation of utah dentists was amazing.

From my point of view the UDA has been very accommodating and communicative with the RDH of Utah. I have a respect for this man and think he is doing a great job. I guess I am the one of the few. At this UDHA board meeting the leaders of UDHA did not find him to be open to communication, helpful, etc. He mentioned that the dentists of Ut do not like the new dental hygiene school (UCDH). Now this is another can of worms...in short it is a private school who is graduating about 50 students every 18 months. He brought up a suggestion that the RDH and DDS and DMD get together and go to the Board of Regents and see what can be done about closing the school. The UDHA board was not interested which brings up confirmation to me that they have been integrated by UCDH. I have felt that UCDH played everything very well. They opened the school w/o talking to the RDH or UDA just the Board of Regents. They then ran for offices on the UDHA board and so now when the UDA wants to discuss the future of dental hygiene and the flooded market no communication is had.

I am sadly disappointed in this. I know I should have run for office on the UDHA board but I live so far away and felt that I would not get the votes because everyone votes for their friends...popularity contest all over again. So I am doing my part by holding together the So component. We are embarrassingly small compared to the other components in UT and our percentage of member RDH is small. I feel that when the UDA wants to open communication lines and try to end the animosity between the two groups we should let them. I know there are some strong opinions in the Salt Lake and Northern components. I know they have had to fight for some serious things. But I also know now is the time to mend the broken bridges NOT burn them to the ground. These of course are my feelings and I would welcome any dialog on the subject. I feel being a RDH is essential for the oral health of the world but we need to work with the dentisits. I also feel that we need to govern ourselves and not be under the thumb of the dentists. I guess there is a fine line and I am just learning where I stand.

Yellowstone season 3

Once again I went to Yellowstone over Memorial Day weekend. It was so fun. Daniel and Jo went with me. It rained every day! It was cold. It was wet. It was beautiful!

This is Daniel and Jo in all the steam. Because it was so cold there was plenty of steam from the thermals. It was amazing.


A beautiful rainbow over Yellowstone lake which was completely frozen over...brrrr!!!!

Me at Fairy Falls. This was the only time the sun shone. We actually got our cheeks and noses sunburned during the 6 mile hike.

My Uni-bomber siblings!!

The cute little buffalo were causing quite the traffic jam:(

Well I wanted to add more pics but oh well....My patience with the computer is failing. Anyway, I had a great weekend even though it was frezzing cold. I loved the rain. I loved haging out with my sibs. And most of all I loved not being at work and getting away for a while.

To RDH or not to RDH...

It is hard to be a dental hygienist today. My back hurts, I can still feel the roughness on the root surfaces even though I have scraped and scraped, I do not have health insurance and could really use some, I do not have paid time off--and could use some, I feel crappy. I guess it all boils down to not feeling 100%. I am sure I will feel better in the morning. My office is undergoing a major exodus. 5 assistants and front office girls are leaving. 3 are staying...as well as 3 RDH. But I did get an email requesting a job for M-Th with benefits.....TEMPTING! Anyway it is hard to have such change going on. I feel the stress and do not like it. I am sure the patients feel it as well. So tomorrow I will love being a RDH but for tonight I think I will take a Tylenol and think about it.

Boob check....

So today I cleaned this woman's teeth. Now there was nothing unusual about that. I mean I am a dental hygienist;) What tripped me out was the fact that she totally stared at my boobs during the entire appointment! Now I am used to men checking me out but I have to be honest that this is the first female to do so; it really freaked me out. I was all bothered about it and wanted to poke her eyes out. Anyway that was my day. That and I just had a enrichment night with all gluten. The chicken fried steak, the taco meat, the sausage on the pizza, the carrot cake, the chicken salad sandwiches were all made out of wheat flour and water....yummy! Actually it was pretty good! I am sure I have not had this much fiber in a long time I better watch out tomorrow ha ha ha!

2 weeks off

What a great couple of weeks! Dave came to Utah on Tuesday all the way from Savannah Georgia, where he is stationed at Ft Stewart. He has recently returned from Iraq. It was really good to see him. He brought his girlfriend Kylie. She is adorable. I really like them together. For a couple of weeks I have had this line in my head..."crazy old Clarice....He is always good for a laugh" I could not identify the source. I mentioned it around Kylie and she said it was from Beauty and the Beast. I laughed because I quoted it a few weeks ago and tried to identify the source and felt like it was a cartoon. Anyway we laughed and then my sis Jo said the line was "Crazy old Maurice". I laughed even harder because I remembered it wrong. What a nerd I am. Anyway we had to watch the entire movie this weekend. It was great. I have not shared the adventure of Bell and Chip for a long time.

While Dave was in Delta we shot rifles. It was so much fun. I really enjoy hanging out with my brothers and Kylie and shooting. It was a bit cold with the wind but what can you do?

My father has been in the hospital for about 2 weeks and is still there today. He is diabetic and has an ulcer which grew some bacteria and required antibiotics. My father is allergic to almost every kind of antibiotic so he had to be admitted and given IV antibiotics along with meds to counteract the allergy. It has sucked. He is miserable and sick. He pukes almost everyday. I for one left his room during one such episode. He is home now and doing better. So all in all it was a great 2weeks off of work!