Murdock Land

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How's your new companion?  Are things going well for you out there?

We had Stake Conference today (Don't ask me why.  We already had one in April and it's definitely not October yet.) and the speakers were really good.  We had a bit of a change-up in the stake presidency, so they had the new guy and his wife speak as well as the guy who was leaving and his wife (I think they're moving).  They all spoke on really awesome topics and delivered them really well.  Then the stake president called a few people up to bear their testimonies, and two of them were a senior couple leaving for a mission tomorrow.  They're going to the new Central Eurasia mission, and I think they're going to be the mission presidents, but I'm not sure.  Either way, they're trying to learn Turkish because they'll be in Istanbul, Turkey (that's where the mission headquarters is, which is part of the reason I think they'll be the presidents).  The sister told us something that I thought was really cool.  Apparently, the word for "lion" in Turkish is "aslan".  Narnia nerdy moment!  

Bryan and Dani had another family dinner tonight.  This one was really small, though, only Bryan, the kids, Kristen, Dani's aunt, two of her sisters, and one brother-in-law.  Dani wasn't even there because she wasn't feeling well.  Bryan made Chinese food and we had lemon poppyseed cake for dessert.  When Justin opened the bottle of sriracha sauce, it spit all over me.  It got on my shirt, my pants, my face...I still have orange marks on me from it.  Yay.  At least we got to hang out with cousins.

Work has been fun.  Dealing with more crazy people and their medical records.  Mr. Sutterfield asked me to do a speed-write of this one guy's demand because Mr. Sutterfield and his wife are leaving for their mission this week and he wants to get as much done beforehand as he can.  This poor client and his wife got a raw deal.  They had both just retired and were taking an RV trip to celebrate.  They were up here from Florida, visiting the wife's brother, and he took them four-wheeling.  They were on their way down the (dirt) trail when some idiot in a truck comes zooming around this blind corner, fishtails, and hits their four-wheeler.  The couple goes flying, and the man gets assorted bumps and bruises and a nasty cut on his upper lip.  The woman breaks her left femur in three places, gets a nasty cut on her eyelid, TONS of bruising, etc.  She has to be life-flighted out, has surgery to repair her femur (steel rods, screws, etc.) and it takes 60 staples to close the incisions.  She's still in treatment, needless to say.  Poor lady.

Yesterday, one of Justin's buddies and his wife came down to visit and hang out.  We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point and then we went to the aquarium.  Much fun was had by all (especially by little boys who never grew out of their obsession with dinosaurs).  We also went to Cabella's and wandered around for a while.  Justin and I got in some target practice at the shooting gallery, too.

Ballet was really good this week.  It was a really small class this time, only three people.  Though one person did come late because she had hurt her back and couldn't really dance with us, so she just did gentle stuff and stretched.  The teacher worked the rest of us pretty hard, though.  I actually had sweat marks on my leotard by the time class was over.  

After ballet, Justin and I went over to Josh and Raven's house to hang out and celebrate Josh's birthday.  Raven made a really good lasagna and we had homemade carrot cake for dessert.  Yum!

Well, the laundry just finished, so I'm going to go switch it over.  Hugs and lots of love!

Symone

News from the Murdocks

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How's it going with your threesome?  All of you still getting along and managing to keep up with two areas?

We spent part of Saturday with Matt and Bridget's kids.  Matt's in Texas and Bridget had a petting zoo gig scheduled, so we went over to watch the three younger kids for a few hours.  They are all so cute!  We all got on the floor and tossed a tennis ball back and forth for a while, and their dog was in the middle of the circle, which made it interesting.  

Then today for Father's Day, the Primary kids got up and sang, but the teachers had to sing with them.  Yes, Justin and I sang in Sacrament meeting today.  And then in Primary, one of the classes was without a teacher, so they divided the kids between the other classes.  We got two of them, one of which was the rowdiest boy in the whole Junior Primary.  He loves the sound of his own voice and can't hold still to save his life.  And he's loud.  We had lots of fun trying to have a meaningful lesson with him in the class.

I've been dealing with a lot of pain-in-the-butt clients at work this week.  Two of them are really high-maintenance, demanding clients, and one of them has every medical condition possible that could be damaging to our case (i.e. mental conditions, pre-existing physical conditions, drug addictions, etc.).  Writing their settlement demands has been lots of fun.  This one lady insists that her name has an exclamation point in it.  So every time we write her an email or whatever, every time her name is mentioned, we have to put an exclamation point at the end of it.  It's even in our computer system that way: Jane Doe!  This crazy lady finished treatment on May 19, we started collecting her medical records on May 20, we finished collecting her records on June 12, and I started writing the demand on June 15.  And then she was upset that we weren't getting things done fast enough for her.  I wanted to shake her and tell her that that was insanely fast.  It's literally not possible for us to get that done any faster.  But no, still not fast enough for this lady.  Clearly, she has no idea how the real world works.  I just have to keep telling myself that crazy ladies like her mean job security for me.  

My ballet class this last week went well.  We actually got through most of a traditional class this time.  Though it only reinforced how out-of-shape I am.  The teacher had two sets of combinations for us: an easy set and a harder set for those with more experience.  I had worked up quite a sweat by the end of class, even though those same combinations wouldn't have bothered me at all before.  Guess I really need to buckle down with my Zumba and whatnot at home.

It's actually been a pretty boring week for us.  The only thing worth mentioning, other than the previous paragraphs, is that I got some new capris.  And Justin's planning on starting a new painting (maybe he'll actually finish this one).  Love you, little sis.  Hugs.

Symone

Murdock letter of the week

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How are you guys handling your new situation?  Are you still in a three-some?  

We just got back from Strawberry Shortcake night with Kristen and family.  Apparently, it's a tradition from Aunt Vickie's side of the family.  We had strawberry shortcake and had fun hanging out with everybody.  Got to spend some time talking with Kristen, Brian, Dani, and Emalee.  Fun stuff.  The sprinklers came on part way through and the kids thought that was just the greatest thing (we were outside in a pavilion).  When they first came on, Oliver was out on the grass and he was so scared that he just stood there and panicked/cried for a bit and then started running, though he picked the long way to get off the grass and away from the sprinklers.  He found a broken umbrella near the dumpster and used it as a shield so he could still play, though.

The ballet class on Thursday was good.  There is definitely a wide range of skill levels there.  One lady had never danced before in her life.  There were a couple teenagers who had danced a bit as kids.  And then there were four of us who have had significantly more training, but who have been away from dance for one reason or another (having a baby was the most common reason).  So we spent the whole class at the barre and only got as far as rond de jambs because the teacher had to spend so much time explaining what each move was, how to do it, and then teaching the sequence.  And when we finally did the sequence, it was soooo sloooow.  At least we had time to really focus on our technique.  This week should be better, though.

Friday was Bobbi's last day at the office, and Monday will be Keyla's last day.  Sadness!  We're gonna miss them.  We had a nice going-away party for them on Friday (we ordered Bajio's for lunch and had a *really* good chocolate cake from a restaurant near by).  It's going to be weird not having them at work anymore.  Jenny's not anywhere near as nice as Bobbi, and Keyla is just hilarious.  We'll see how things go without them.

Justin and I went shopping on Saturday.  Victoria's Secret was having their semi-annual sale, so I stopped in to see what they had.  I grabbed a few bras and went back to try them on and the girl doing fittings asked to measure me, so I let her.  Apparently, I've been wearing the wrong size bra for ages.  I thought I was a 32A or 34A.  Turns out I'm actually a 32D or 34C, and the girl doing fittings wanted to put me in a 32DD.  My little mind was blown.  Either they've changed the way they make bras or I've gained enough weight that my boobs have grown.  I can't decide which it is.  So I got one bra at Victoria's Secret, and then went to Macy's and got four more because those were way cheaper.

Anyway, those are the highlights of our week.  Hugs and lots of love.

Symone

Murdock update

Dear Sister Kennedy,

How's your companion?  You two Idaho girls getting along well?  How are your investigators doing?  Somebody else had a big black dog named Bear, huh?  I got all sentimental when I read that part.

First order of business, you should be very jealous of the smoothie I'm eating right now.  Strawberries and cherries with vanilla yogurt.  Yum.

Turns out there are going to be some major changes in our office within the next couple weeks.  Keyla, the paralegal for Mr. Franson, is leaving us for a different job.  And Bobbi, the paralegal for Mr. Flickinger, is retiring.  And Mr. Sutterfield and his wife are leaving on a mission in July.  So his cases will be divided up amongst the other three attorneys, Michelle, who was Bobbi's assistant, will now be Mr. Franson's new paralegal (Keyla's already started training her) and Jenny, Mr. Sutterfield's paralegal, will now be Mr. Flickinger's paralegal (which should be interesting because they both have very strong personalities).  Oh, and we have another new receptionist starting on Monday.  This one is a former client, which should be interesting.  Mr. Boulton hired her without consulting with our office manager.  Again.  The last time that happened, the girl only stayed two days.  Let's hope this one lasts longer, because I don't think our current receptionist, Maira, will be too happy if she has to train a fourth girl.

The most eventful day for me last week was Thursday.  I had signed up for a summer ballet program at the Covey Arts Center in Provo (woo hoo!) and the first class was Thursday, an hour after work.  I got there about a half hour early because I had to change and figure out where everything was, etc.  So after I changed, I found the area where the dance studios are and figure the one with the door open and a light on is probably where class will be.  I put my stuff in a corner and start stretching, waiting for everyone else to get there.  About the time class is supposed to start, another woman about my age comes in and we talk a bit while I do some barre stuff and we wait for everyone else to get there.  Twenty minutes after class is supposed to start, we're still the only ones there.  So the other lady goes to the box office to ask if we're in the right place/right time.  Yep, we are.  There's supposed to be a teacher and six other students in that room with us.  So they told us to go home and if it happens again this week they'll refund our money.  If everyone is there, they'll extend the program by a week so we still get our ten classes.  So instead of taking a ballet class that day, I joined Justin at our friends' place and we all watched the first episode of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and played Mario Kart.  

Saturday, we ran some errands (Justin got a new pair of jeans and I got some cute new capris) and went to a play on campus.  Only downside was it started raining not long before we were supposed to leave for the play.  And then while we were in the car, somebody just upended a giant bucket in the clouds because the wipers could barely keep up with the rain.  And no matter where you park on campus, you will have to walk at least a little ways to get to the theater.  By the time we got inside, we were drenched.  The play was really good, though.  We quite enjoyed ourselves.  Bonus points, the rain had stopped by the time the play ended.

Hope all is well for you, baby sister.  Hugs and much love.

Symone