For those of you that know me, I am always trying to lose 5 pounds. Guess what? I lost 2 1/2 pounds! Yesterday! In a 24 hour period!
Would you like to know how? Food poisoning. While not enjoyable at all, it is very effective at dropping weight quickly.
The headache that is left after all of the sickness is not very fun, though.
M. and I both came home from school yesterday at mid-day. We stayed in bed (or in the bathroom) until this morning. Tummies are still making strange noises, but hopefully no more forceful ejecting of contents.
I know this was a wholly enjoyable post. Aren't you glad you stopped by??
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Random Ramblings
For the few of you that visit my site, have you heard the crickets chirping? It has been a little quiet around these parts, huh.
Most people would assume that would mean that not much has been going on. Those people would be wrong!
To catch you up on our lives since September, here it is in a nutshell:
* Elementary back to school night for M.
* High school back to school night for J.
* J. turns 15
* J. gets learners permit
* I start teaching a small group of JH girls at church on Sunday mornings
* Our small groups start up for Sunday night
* Our gym hosted a meet, which meant 17/18 hour days for a weekend
* J. has to get contacts
* J. has some extra gym practices - on Sunday afternoons
* M. is working on items for her web design team
* M. is practicing her percussion instruments
* DH (darling hubby) throws his back out
* J gets sinus infection
* My nephew comes in for a visit from China. However, he is extremely ill the entire visit and spends most of it in bed. :-(
* My father in law (B.) and his wife (D.) come to visit from one state away, bringing with them B's brother and his wife, from several states away. Quick visit, but enjoyable.
* A nasty virus or something similar decides to take up residence in our home computer.
And last, but not least, I have discovered the evil that is Facebook. It is an addiction. However, I have enjoyed being able to keep up with so many friends and their families.
Anyway, I promise to do an interesting update (with pictures) soon now that our computer has been healed thanks to my DH!
Oh, my on-line friend, Becky, posted a hilarious story about a run in with a horrifying gigantic slug that was trying to harm her and her entire family! In honor of her story, I am going to relive my horrible encounter with a terrifying creature. Most of you know this story, but for those of you that don't, here it is:
First, I need to set the stage. The back of our house has a lot of woods which end at a large pond. My DH was working on my car out in the driveway one evening. When he got done, he came in, but left the windows open.
The next morning, I pulled out of the driveway on the way to school. J and M were in the back, as was E. a boy who was carpooling with us. It was in October, so it was still dark in the mornings when we left. As I got about 3 houses away from home, I see something in my peripheral vision. I think at first that E. is somehow putting his shoe between me and my window, so I glance around. It was not a shoe. Oh, how I wish it had been a shoe! It. was. a. RAT. NOT a mouse, a L A R G E river rat. It's body was about the size of a house cat. It had fangs. And a tail. I still shudder when I think of the tail. EW! And it was INSIDE my car! It walked across my door and made a right onto the dashboard. I opened the door, slammed on the breaks, threw the car in park, and jumped out, all in about .68ths of a second, all the while yelling, "It's a mouse, there's a mouse!!"
What about the kids, you may ask? I am ashamed to say that I left them to fend for themselves. I did not jump in the back to try to protect them. I did not try to help them get out of the car. I jumped out and told them to stay put because after the creature walked down the passenger door, I did not know where it went. (It was dark, remember??)
I called DH to come to my rescue. He comes down the road carrying, are you ready for this, a flashlight and a golf club! A golf club? Seriously?
Anyway, we never found the creature. I am assuming it got out of the car during my door flinging hysterics. I will never know for sure. All I do know is that every time I stopped at a traffic light or stop sign, I got all paranoid that it was sitting somewhere watching me.
Needless to say, we traded in that van. I couldn't function normally in it any more.
**Please let me know you were here! Sign the guestbook!**
Most people would assume that would mean that not much has been going on. Those people would be wrong!
To catch you up on our lives since September, here it is in a nutshell:
* Elementary back to school night for M.
* High school back to school night for J.
* J. turns 15
* J. gets learners permit
* I start teaching a small group of JH girls at church on Sunday mornings
* Our small groups start up for Sunday night
* Our gym hosted a meet, which meant 17/18 hour days for a weekend
* J. has to get contacts
* J. has some extra gym practices - on Sunday afternoons
* M. is working on items for her web design team
* M. is practicing her percussion instruments
* DH (darling hubby) throws his back out
* J gets sinus infection
* My nephew comes in for a visit from China. However, he is extremely ill the entire visit and spends most of it in bed. :-(
* My father in law (B.) and his wife (D.) come to visit from one state away, bringing with them B's brother and his wife, from several states away. Quick visit, but enjoyable.
* A nasty virus or something similar decides to take up residence in our home computer.
And last, but not least, I have discovered the evil that is Facebook. It is an addiction. However, I have enjoyed being able to keep up with so many friends and their families.
Anyway, I promise to do an interesting update (with pictures) soon now that our computer has been healed thanks to my DH!
Oh, my on-line friend, Becky, posted a hilarious story about a run in with a horrifying gigantic slug that was trying to harm her and her entire family! In honor of her story, I am going to relive my horrible encounter with a terrifying creature. Most of you know this story, but for those of you that don't, here it is:
First, I need to set the stage. The back of our house has a lot of woods which end at a large pond. My DH was working on my car out in the driveway one evening. When he got done, he came in, but left the windows open.
The next morning, I pulled out of the driveway on the way to school. J and M were in the back, as was E. a boy who was carpooling with us. It was in October, so it was still dark in the mornings when we left. As I got about 3 houses away from home, I see something in my peripheral vision. I think at first that E. is somehow putting his shoe between me and my window, so I glance around. It was not a shoe. Oh, how I wish it had been a shoe! It. was. a. RAT. NOT a mouse, a L A R G E river rat. It's body was about the size of a house cat. It had fangs. And a tail. I still shudder when I think of the tail. EW! And it was INSIDE my car! It walked across my door and made a right onto the dashboard. I opened the door, slammed on the breaks, threw the car in park, and jumped out, all in about .68ths of a second, all the while yelling, "It's a mouse, there's a mouse!!"
What about the kids, you may ask? I am ashamed to say that I left them to fend for themselves. I did not jump in the back to try to protect them. I did not try to help them get out of the car. I jumped out and told them to stay put because after the creature walked down the passenger door, I did not know where it went. (It was dark, remember??)
I called DH to come to my rescue. He comes down the road carrying, are you ready for this, a flashlight and a golf club! A golf club? Seriously?
Anyway, we never found the creature. I am assuming it got out of the car during my door flinging hysterics. I will never know for sure. All I do know is that every time I stopped at a traffic light or stop sign, I got all paranoid that it was sitting somewhere watching me.
Needless to say, we traded in that van. I couldn't function normally in it any more.
**Please let me know you were here! Sign the guestbook!**
Monday, August 25, 2008
. . . . And sometimes, life is great!
As some of you may know, or may have guessed, I struggle with depression at times. Then, when I am out of it, I realize how blessed I am.
I have a wonderful family:
(me, J., my sister, M., my nephew, my niece, her husband and daughter, and my mom and dad)
I have great in-laws:
(Father in law, M., J., Step-mother in law, and my hubby - C.)
I have a husband (who just got a great promotion at work - way to go honey!!) who loves me and will dress up to go to my high school reunion with me even though he most likely won't know anyone there:
I have a daughter who finally got past a mental block on her giants on bars:
I have a teenager who is silly:
I have an 11 year old who is not afraid to drive the 4-wheeler anymore:
I have kids who are silly when they see the camera:
While at the cabin, we sometimes get to have unusual encounters with wildlife:
We have fun friends. We were able to take some to the cabin with us this summer. While at the cabin with them, we got to enjoy the "twinnage" look of the two teenage girls:
How cool are they?
Their son seemed to read my mind and decided to relax:
However, don't let his sweet innocent face fool you. He's a stinker. He got my younger daughter to hide behind a tree when I was driving toward them on the 4-wheeler. When I got close, they jumped out and scared me. I almost crashed. I almost wet my pants. I almost wet my pants while crashing. They found it hilarious. I did too. Later. After my heart started beating again. I still think he's a great kid - I just want to keep him in my sights. :-)
We got to enjoy watching the kids play in the creek:
While there, we kept seeing strange creatures that resembled our children, except kinda mushed together:
This strange creature metamorphed into a mixture of different kids:
I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and a post that was not so whiny. Please leave a comment! If you do, please remember to leave your name if you sign in as "anonymous." Also, I know it is probably annoying that I use all initials instead of names. I do this for security reasons. When you sign the guestbook, please use initials as well.
I have a wonderful family:
(me, J., my sister, M., my nephew, my niece, her husband and daughter, and my mom and dad)
I have great in-laws:
(Father in law, M., J., Step-mother in law, and my hubby - C.)
I have a husband (who just got a great promotion at work - way to go honey!!) who loves me and will dress up to go to my high school reunion with me even though he most likely won't know anyone there:
I have a daughter who finally got past a mental block on her giants on bars:
I have a teenager who is silly:
I have an 11 year old who is not afraid to drive the 4-wheeler anymore:
I have kids who are silly when they see the camera:
I have the privilege of getting to go to my parents cabin with my family quite often. We get to do things like sit on the porch and enjoy the peace and quiet:
While at the cabin, we sometimes get to have unusual encounters with wildlife:
We have fun friends. We were able to take some to the cabin with us this summer. While at the cabin with them, we got to enjoy the "twinnage" look of the two teenage girls:
How cool are they?
Their son seemed to read my mind and decided to relax:
However, don't let his sweet innocent face fool you. He's a stinker. He got my younger daughter to hide behind a tree when I was driving toward them on the 4-wheeler. When I got close, they jumped out and scared me. I almost crashed. I almost wet my pants. I almost wet my pants while crashing. They found it hilarious. I did too. Later. After my heart started beating again. I still think he's a great kid - I just want to keep him in my sights. :-)
We got to enjoy watching the kids play in the creek:
While there, we kept seeing strange creatures that resembled our children, except kinda mushed together:
This strange creature metamorphed into a mixture of different kids:
Then, the metamorphosis continued, with the new creature appearing to sometimes be missing a head or torso:
The creature then began to slowly separate until it became two separate kids again:
When I see my youngest walking with her hands like this, it usually means she has caught some critter and wants to show it to me:
Getting closer:
Ah - a crawdad. I think.
Then, of course, there was the wonderful event on M's birthday, witnessed by many many friends and loved ones. Some of who are pictured here:
(My Mom, MD & his dad RD, C., myself, KG holding little KG, and JC with M. and one of her bestest friends - SE.)
I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and a post that was not so whiny. Please leave a comment! If you do, please remember to leave your name if you sign in as "anonymous." Also, I know it is probably annoying that I use all initials instead of names. I do this for security reasons. When you sign the guestbook, please use initials as well.
Thanks!!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sometimes, life just stinks . . . . .
Do you ever sometimes feel like you will never be able to get it together? To get ahead?
This weekend was one of those weekends.
A little history for those of you that don’t know us, C. and I had 2 cats ever since we started our lives together, their names were Oreo and Mocha. Mocha lived for 15 years, Oreo for 17. After Mocha died, Oreo kept sitting on the steps crying. So, C. and I found a pair of Ragdoll cats that were available. We had always wanted one of those cats, so C. went and picked them up. So, then, we had Oreo, Molasses, and Ginger. This last year, Oreo died and we had just Ginger and Molasses. Well, this weekend, we had to have Molasses put to sleep. What stunk so much about this one was that we had to make the decision. We did not have to do that with our others, they died at home.
Last week, Molasses peed on J.’s bed and then on ours. We assumed that he was just wanting more attention because we had started back to school. We started giving him more attention and he did not do it anymore. What we did not know was that he had a urinary tract infection. On Thursday night, he started crying like he was hurt and hissing when he went into the litter box. We took him to the vet on Friday, thinking he was constipated. They said a UTI and that he was having a hard time going. The pulled some urine and relieved his pain. He got a shot to help as well as some antibiotics. Saturday night, we had to take him to the emergency room because he was crying again and not moving around much. He was blocked again. They cathed him and we took him home. We were back at the vet Sunday afternoon for yet another blockage. He was a completely different looking animal by this point. He was raggedy looking and sad looking. The vet said that they could do surgery but that there was no guarantee that he would survive the surgery, that the surgery would work long term, or that he would not suffer long term permanent damage. This non-guarantee would cost us well over $1000. If we did nothing, his bladder would rupture and he would die in excruciating pain. We decided to euthanize him. However, having to look at my girls hearts break as they told him good bye was devastating.
I will forever wonder if we made the right decision. Will my kids be upset at a later date and think that we thought their pet was not worth spending the money on? Will they be angry that we did not try the surgery?
For someone that struggles with depression at times, this is threatening to pull me in. It seems like every time we start to get it together, something else is thrown into the mix. I know that God is good and that there is a reason for everything. I also know that I am so very strong in some ways and so very weak in others. Things seem to keep finding my weak spot.
In the past 5 years, we have:
- moved into a new house
- had the sale of our old house fall through several times, which put us paying 2 house payments for several months
- C. got laid off
- C. was out of a job for 10 months
- Old house finally sold
- Mortgage co. got mad that our payments would be late periodically during layoff period – depending on if we had money or not – so they decided to make us pay 1 ½ payments a month by money order for a year.
- C . finds another job – a definite pay cut – but a job, nonetheless
- I have a hysterectomy
- C. gets a corporate AMEX to pay for travel expenses and supplies, however, expense checks do not come in as quickly as the bills do. We have to pay for expenses with our own money and then use a credit card to pay our bills, which puts us in debt.
- The siding on our house starts to rot and we have to get replaced
- M. gets diagnosed with ADHD
- We have a different type of health insurance for a year. Of course, during that year, mine and M’s meds are not covered, neither are J’s x-rays, physical therapies, MRI’s, orthopedic appointments, etc.
- Lost 3 cats
- We have (obviously) had to ask for financial help quite a few times, which embarrasses me to no end
Okay, now let me finish by saying that I KNOW that there are others that have had it much, much worse. I also know that in this post that I sound whiny and ungrateful, so there is no need to tell me those things. Please leave comments, but only ones that are positive and encouraging. Or ones that can tell me how to hurry and find money to cover the checks that I wrote for all of the vet visits this weekend.
I really just needed to vent.
Also know that I am working on a post to follow up on this to focus on the other side, that life can be amazing at times too.
Thanks for reading!
This weekend was one of those weekends.
A little history for those of you that don’t know us, C. and I had 2 cats ever since we started our lives together, their names were Oreo and Mocha. Mocha lived for 15 years, Oreo for 17. After Mocha died, Oreo kept sitting on the steps crying. So, C. and I found a pair of Ragdoll cats that were available. We had always wanted one of those cats, so C. went and picked them up. So, then, we had Oreo, Molasses, and Ginger. This last year, Oreo died and we had just Ginger and Molasses. Well, this weekend, we had to have Molasses put to sleep. What stunk so much about this one was that we had to make the decision. We did not have to do that with our others, they died at home.
Last week, Molasses peed on J.’s bed and then on ours. We assumed that he was just wanting more attention because we had started back to school. We started giving him more attention and he did not do it anymore. What we did not know was that he had a urinary tract infection. On Thursday night, he started crying like he was hurt and hissing when he went into the litter box. We took him to the vet on Friday, thinking he was constipated. They said a UTI and that he was having a hard time going. The pulled some urine and relieved his pain. He got a shot to help as well as some antibiotics. Saturday night, we had to take him to the emergency room because he was crying again and not moving around much. He was blocked again. They cathed him and we took him home. We were back at the vet Sunday afternoon for yet another blockage. He was a completely different looking animal by this point. He was raggedy looking and sad looking. The vet said that they could do surgery but that there was no guarantee that he would survive the surgery, that the surgery would work long term, or that he would not suffer long term permanent damage. This non-guarantee would cost us well over $1000. If we did nothing, his bladder would rupture and he would die in excruciating pain. We decided to euthanize him. However, having to look at my girls hearts break as they told him good bye was devastating.
I will forever wonder if we made the right decision. Will my kids be upset at a later date and think that we thought their pet was not worth spending the money on? Will they be angry that we did not try the surgery?
For someone that struggles with depression at times, this is threatening to pull me in. It seems like every time we start to get it together, something else is thrown into the mix. I know that God is good and that there is a reason for everything. I also know that I am so very strong in some ways and so very weak in others. Things seem to keep finding my weak spot.
In the past 5 years, we have:
- moved into a new house
- had the sale of our old house fall through several times, which put us paying 2 house payments for several months
- C. got laid off
- C. was out of a job for 10 months
- Old house finally sold
- Mortgage co. got mad that our payments would be late periodically during layoff period – depending on if we had money or not – so they decided to make us pay 1 ½ payments a month by money order for a year.
- C . finds another job – a definite pay cut – but a job, nonetheless
- I have a hysterectomy
- C. gets a corporate AMEX to pay for travel expenses and supplies, however, expense checks do not come in as quickly as the bills do. We have to pay for expenses with our own money and then use a credit card to pay our bills, which puts us in debt.
- The siding on our house starts to rot and we have to get replaced
- M. gets diagnosed with ADHD
- We have a different type of health insurance for a year. Of course, during that year, mine and M’s meds are not covered, neither are J’s x-rays, physical therapies, MRI’s, orthopedic appointments, etc.
- Lost 3 cats
- We have (obviously) had to ask for financial help quite a few times, which embarrasses me to no end
Okay, now let me finish by saying that I KNOW that there are others that have had it much, much worse. I also know that in this post that I sound whiny and ungrateful, so there is no need to tell me those things. Please leave comments, but only ones that are positive and encouraging. Or ones that can tell me how to hurry and find money to cover the checks that I wrote for all of the vet visits this weekend.
I really just needed to vent.
Also know that I am working on a post to follow up on this to focus on the other side, that life can be amazing at times too.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Special time for my sweet M.
My sweet little girl turned 11 on Sunday. I will have some pictures up of her birthday later.
First, however, I have some pictures of another exciting event that happened to her on Sunday. She was baptized!! I know that each religion has it's own views and ways of doing things, so I will very briefly tell you what this step means to us:
"We believe that baptism by immersion is a necessary response of faith to God’s free grace. It is not a work we do to earn God’s favor, but rather, a work God does for us."
We see this as one of the steps necessary to becoming a Christian - giving your life to God.
I am not posting this to start a theological argument or anything like that. I am only posting this because it is such a meaningful experience for us.
Anyway, here are some pictures taken on that day.
Stepping down into the water:
Daddy asking her if she is ready to be baptized:
The dunking:
Coming out of the water:
Look at the smile on Dad and M.'s face, priceless:
First, however, I have some pictures of another exciting event that happened to her on Sunday. She was baptized!! I know that each religion has it's own views and ways of doing things, so I will very briefly tell you what this step means to us:
"We believe that baptism by immersion is a necessary response of faith to God’s free grace. It is not a work we do to earn God’s favor, but rather, a work God does for us."
We see this as one of the steps necessary to becoming a Christian - giving your life to God.
I am not posting this to start a theological argument or anything like that. I am only posting this because it is such a meaningful experience for us.
Anyway, here are some pictures taken on that day.
Stepping down into the water:
Daddy asking her if she is ready to be baptized:
The dunking:
Coming out of the water:
Look at the smile on Dad and M.'s face, priceless:
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Cancer stinks . . . .
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate cancer? Tyler is young man who has fought cancer for years. His battle will soon be over.
There is an article in his home town newspaper, along with a picture gallery.
If you visit most of my favorite links, you will notice most of them are kids who have fought or are fighting cancer.
Please keep Tyler's family, and all families that are going through similar situations, in your prayers.
After you pray for them, say another prayer thanking God for each day that you have.
There is an article in his home town newspaper, along with a picture gallery.
If you visit most of my favorite links, you will notice most of them are kids who have fought or are fighting cancer.
Please keep Tyler's family, and all families that are going through similar situations, in your prayers.
After you pray for them, say another prayer thanking God for each day that you have.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Vacation notes
**Notice - all pics were taken with my cell phone. I haven't yet figured out how to make the pics load any bigger without becoming too pixelated. If you know how to fix that, please let me know.**
On the 4th, my beautiful niece got married. She, naturally, was a beautiful bride!! Her new hubby seems like such a sweetie, and he seems to love my niece and her daughter great deal.
We then spent the night at my parents. The girls got to ride the 4-wheelers and play with my niece's daughter, which is always fun.
On Monday, we went to a theme park not too far from home. M. is a roller coaster/thrill ride fanatic. On one roller coaster, J. rode with one of her arms across M.'s chest because M. rode with her arms up in the air. J. was determined to keep her from falling out.
On Tuesday, we went to my father-in-law's house. He and his wife were great hosts. We went to see Wall-e while we were there. We also got to see some great mountain views:
On Wednesday, we headed up to the mountains to my parents cabin. M. found a baby bird that had fell out of it's nest:
It actually let her pick it up and hold it. We made it a little nest in a bowl to keep it warm and safe while we figured out what to do with it. We called a good friends of ours, SLK, who not only was a forester, but also makes a habit out of rescuing animals. We found out that the mommy bird would come back for it. We followed her instructions and the mommy did come and find it. She seemed so excited, as did the little baby.
We rode 4-wheelers a lot and walked down to the waterfall. We also went fun-yakking. We managed to get sunburned. Woo-hoo!
We had a lot of fun, but we are now back to reality. At the beginning of summer, we always think that we have all kinds of time to get things done, then, before you know it, summer is almost over and we are just getting started.
I know this was not an exciting post for everyone, but it will document our trip so that we can come back and remember it later.
I hope to post more pictures soon.
By the way, see that word below? The one that says "comments?" Please click on it an let me know you were here. I see the hit counter go up, but not many comments. Sniff, sniff.
On the 4th, my beautiful niece got married. She, naturally, was a beautiful bride!! Her new hubby seems like such a sweetie, and he seems to love my niece and her daughter great deal.
We then spent the night at my parents. The girls got to ride the 4-wheelers and play with my niece's daughter, which is always fun.
On Monday, we went to a theme park not too far from home. M. is a roller coaster/thrill ride fanatic. On one roller coaster, J. rode with one of her arms across M.'s chest because M. rode with her arms up in the air. J. was determined to keep her from falling out.
On Tuesday, we went to my father-in-law's house. He and his wife were great hosts. We went to see Wall-e while we were there. We also got to see some great mountain views:
On Wednesday, we headed up to the mountains to my parents cabin. M. found a baby bird that had fell out of it's nest:
It actually let her pick it up and hold it. We made it a little nest in a bowl to keep it warm and safe while we figured out what to do with it. We called a good friends of ours, SLK, who not only was a forester, but also makes a habit out of rescuing animals. We found out that the mommy bird would come back for it. We followed her instructions and the mommy did come and find it. She seemed so excited, as did the little baby.
We rode 4-wheelers a lot and walked down to the waterfall. We also went fun-yakking. We managed to get sunburned. Woo-hoo!
We had a lot of fun, but we are now back to reality. At the beginning of summer, we always think that we have all kinds of time to get things done, then, before you know it, summer is almost over and we are just getting started.
I know this was not an exciting post for everyone, but it will document our trip so that we can come back and remember it later.
I hope to post more pictures soon.
By the way, see that word below? The one that says "comments?" Please click on it an let me know you were here. I see the hit counter go up, but not many comments. Sniff, sniff.
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