Repenting for Absence!!

I haven't been around much I know. The journey with my daughters health has become a lot more complicated than we counted on. The Costochondritis is doing pretty good, it still bothers her at times but as it started getting better something else started showing up. She has almost completely lost her appetite and this revealed a problem with her sugar. This along with a few other symptoms has the doctor thinking that she may have PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome. We are going through some different tests right now to rule out other things and see if this is what she has. There is no specific test for it so the way to prove it is to rule out the other things it could be. They did fasting bloodwork Friday morning and I have to take her one day this week to do a glucose tolerance test. Then we go from there. The thing that worries me the most about this is that from what I've read it can make it very difficult to have children. Right now she thinks this is a blessing but how will she feel when she's 2o or 30. Not the same I'm sure. I will keep you guys updated and hopefully be able to post more. She has actually made it through a whole day of school today (as I'm writing they have 20 minutes till they get on the bus so I'm counting my chickens before they hatch). I hate that she has missed so much school but there isn't much point in being there if she is about to pass out and unable to concentrate.

Twilight

I read the book, my daughter didn't. She still wanted to go see the movie with all of her friends. It was a great experience though. We've been to movies before, of course, but there's just something about a movie with this much excitement surrounding it. One of the other mom's and I (actually she drove and ordered the tickets ahead of time so I guess it was mostly her) took 4 girls to see it last night. I have never been to a movie where there was a line in the corridor outside of the door to the movie. We thought we would get there early so that we could get a good seat so we showed up 40 minutes early got our popcorn and stuff and gave the usher our tickets. When we looked around the corner and saw the line we were amazed. We weren't by any means the last people there but there were probably 30 people in front of us. It was crazy. The girls had a great time though and the movie was actually much better than I expected. They didn't leave much doubt that they will be making sequels to match the books either.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our anniversary. 16 years, can you believe that? I'm only 32, that is half of my life. It has not always been easy and quite honestly still isn't most of the time. He is a great father, a wonderful provided and a good person. He would do anything for anyone (except me, most of the time) but we are both growing up together. I would not recommend anyone getting married at the age of 16 but I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I got 4 gorgeous kids out of the deal.

Now for the present. I have wanted birds for years and he has always refused. Someone he knew had birds and he said that their house always stank like the birds. I have tried to tell him that's a matter of how you keep them. For our anniversary he got me 2 parakeets. I am so excited. Here they are:

I'm still working on names. They are suppose to both be boys. Knock on wood. They said it would take a few days for them to get use to the new enviroment and start playing and singing but they were singing a little bit ago even though they've been here less than a day. I'm going to give them the weekend to adjust before I fool with them much though.

What a Funny Week

We had our first snow day this week (already, yes I know it's going to be a long winter). Then a delay the next day plus my daughter has been home all week because she just isn't normal (go back in time you'll find it) and I won the battle over staying home or going to school. With four kids under toe so much there is never a dull moment but my four are getting older and it seems with age they are getting funnier. So I have done more laughing this week than I have in a while. Here are a few examples:

We were discussing the story about the car dealership where if you come in and buy a Chrysler Le Baron they would sell you a PT Cruiser for $1. The commercial kept saying "For a Buck" and finally Son#2 looked at us and trying to keep a straight face said "Yeah but do you have to kill it first?" We both looked at him puzzled and he then said "The buck, the deer. Do you have to kill it first?" Needless to say we got quite a laugh out of that one.

We watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 the day they were home from school and in one of the scenes, one of the girls is working in the theatre on a play and she leans against the prop wall and falls through it. Son#3 very seriously asks "Who would build a fake wall anyway?" Oh my kids are so deprived. The look on his face though was so hilarious, he was dead serious.

It was a funny week here all around though. From me trying to figure out what my daughter meant when she said Rab Lat and then finding it so hilarious when I did (I love it when people get their words twisted up; maybe it's just me but I find this so amusing) to the boys dancing around the house all silly. I like that my kids are growing up, I hate to lose them but it's so great to see what kind of people they are going to be.

Now you hop on over and check out MamaKat's writing assignments, Pick one of your very own and Enjoy. We all need a little prompting sometimes.

Nothing Normal

This family, I swear. We never do anything normal. That especially goes for my oldest, my only daughter. She has never had an illness that was just something normal. When she was 5 she had a bad allergic reaction, when we figured out what she was allergic to it only happened to be the slime that a woolly worm leaves behind on the leaves in the fall. When she was in 5th grade she got an infection in her leg and it couldn't be just any infection it had to be cellulitis (look it up it's rare in kids) that turned out to be Staff and Strep when they finally cut her leg open to drain it. Now in the present, she got a little bug, we all did, nothing bad just some congestion etc. She starts having chest pains and hurting badly in her back and ribs. Even though she hasn't had a cough I'm figuring it has turned into bronchitis or maybe pneumonia. I take her to the doctor and she has Costochondritis. This is an inflammation of the cartilage in the chest. It was probably caused by a virus but jeez couldn't she just have something normal. They said it could take a few weeks to get over but I really don't think she is getting any better at all. Her chest hurts, she is having trouble taking in deep breaths and she is still so tired. I guess time will tell. I don't want to let her go back to school tomorrow but she is begging me to. Again with the weirdness, most kids would love the excuse to stay home from school legitimately. Nothing normal with her, I'm telling you.

#88 completed - Vote

I did it. I finally voted. I took the time to register, to do the research and to learn about the candidates and I did it - I VOTED!!! It feels great to know that whether it went your way or not you had a say. It feels great to know that we are part of a great country where the citizens still have a say in how things are ran. I'm not sure why I had never done this before but now I have and suddenly I feel entitled to complain about every little thing that goes wrong. Haha!!!

Writing Workshop

These seem to be the only things I can manage to write lately. I have serious blogger block, any help would be appreciated. I'm doing MamaKat's writing assignments and hoping that something breaks loose for now. So here it goes......

First I combined Prompt #1 and #2:

I thought I saw you
But it was just a strange dream
Come back to me soon

Pretty good haiku if I do say so myself. And yes I counted, over and over again, on my fingers.

Now Prompt #4

How to get along with your enemies.
The Top 5 tricks.
1.Ignore
2.Ignore
3.Watch them try to figure out why you don't care.
4.Ignore
5.Ignore
After completing this process they should be so thoroughly confused that they are sucking up to you to try to figure you out. Then just repeat steps 1 through 5.

Now scoot on over and try this out yourself or just see
what all of the other wonderful bloggers have written.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: Book Review

I've heard so many people talk about these books that I just had to read them. It took me awhile to work up the nerve to go to the Library and get one because I had read the reviews and they were technically written for teens but I digressed and bit the bullet. I am so glad I did and am now patiently waiting on the second in the series - New Moon. So here goes my review.

Most vampire series, whether it be shows or books, are written in a way that make it impossible for them to be set in the real world. This book is not like that, it could very well take place in the world that we live in and not some fictional world. Twilight is a book that you just enjoy reading, whether it's the vampires, the realism, the romance or some combination of them all it is just a great read. When Bella moves to this small town, in an attempt to make life easier for her mom, she thinks she is just biding her time until she can start the rest of HER life but instead she finds her future. There are points in the book where I would think that the romance was being laid on a little thick but then I would remember that this was written as a young adult book. Meyer definitely has a great style of describing the attraction between the two main characters though. It makes you remember those moments of first initial attraction to someone and imagine them magnified hundred fold by being able to "smell their blood" and not just their cologne. Bella is one of the best characters that I have seen created in a book in a long time. She is so believable and endearing. The perfect combination of head-strong and caring that any person could ever hope to be. You will be completely enthralled by this book and ready to read the next immediately.

P.S. I keep waiting to get the next book in the series and in the meantime can't wait to see the movie version of this one that comes out next week. I'll let you know what I think of that too.

My 10 worst pet peeves......

I'm taking Mama Kat's assignment again and I'm doing #4 - My 10 worst pet peeves.
They are in no particular order, just as they came to me.

1. Chargers for electronic devices. Couldn't they make a universal system? I have more than one drawer full of these things.
2. Alarm clocks on commercials. I hear this enough I don't need it in my commercials too.
3. People who think the world owes them something. Everyone has to work or should have to. A company doesn't owe you just because you show up everyday.
4. Drivers who won't turn right on Red. Why would you set there when it is perfectly acceptable for you to go? Just turn already.
5. Someone with a full cart of groceries in a 10 item or less isle. These lanes are there for a reason and it's not for you. Be considerate, Please.
6. E-mail forwards where they don't delete the previous info. so they get really long. I hate having to scroll for an hour to get to the message that ends up being junk anyway. Just delete the info. from the person before you.
7. My kids saying "Huh" or "What" before I can even finish the question. You definately can't hear the question/comment if your already questioning it before it is finished.
8. Politicians who don't take down their campaign signs. The election is over, do the responsible thing and pay someone to remove and get rid of your signs.
9. People who are always late. How hard is it to start a few minutes earlier and actually be somewhere on time?
10. All of you who visit my blog but don't leave comments. I just had to throw that in but really it is annoying.

First a few recent pictures.

Halloween
From "Big Baby"
on down to Little Goblin.


The last of
Volleyball
for the year.-->

Something I noticed recently---- Kid Rock's song All Summer Long (and don't get me wrong I like this song) is a clever remake of Deana Carter's song Strawberry Wine. Think about the similarities and you'll see.

Why I write

Mama's Losin It has given great prompts again this week for her writing assignments. First let me say that I would love to do #2 but I have a weird memory. My true memories only last about 10 years, I kidd you not. After that things get fuzzy and I only remember the real big stuff or things that get talked about often. So the day to day of Jr. High is out for me. So I chose #3 - Why do you write? It is really an easy one for me. So here it goes.

I write because I love it. I have always written, even long before I knew what it really was. I started writing as soon as I knew how to put sentences to paper. I've always written about how I feel and what I think about things. I went through a spell in Jr. High where everything was a poem. Even as an adult, when I was busy with 4 little kids, I kept journals. They got me into trouble more than once though so I burned them and gave that up. When I really needed to vent after that I would write it all down and then shred it. When I first discovered this "blog" world that I love, I was ecstatic. I still do my own venting and shredding when it's about things that I need to censor from here but this place is still a release for me. I know I am in no way a profressional writer and I have no hopes of ever being famous or even popular. I just want somewhere that I can truly be me and write what I'm thinking. Sometimes it helps me to see how silly I am being and sometimes it makes me realize that I should be more upset than I am. Writing is what keeps me sane in this crazy world that I live in and that is why I write.

Want to do your own writing assignment? Go see Mama's Losin It. She'll pile you high with assignments.

She's always had an attitude

I am so mad right now that I could (wait I'm thinking of a good analogy) spit nails. My daughter has an attitude, her fathers attitude actually, and anyone who is around her for long knows it. I have worked hard and talked until I'm blue in the face to try to get her to see how much this effects her whole volleyball team. Tonight every single bit of that effort went down the drain. I know that the attitude that she takes with the coaches at times is not great but it could be worse, instead of running her mouth she crosses her arms and makes faces. You can generally tell when she is aggravated with the other girls, she has trouble hiding it. Tonight though, the first night of tournaments, she was doing good. She was keeping a cheerful attitude most of the time and was playing great. The first time she got a little bit of an attitude, the coaches started jumping onto her. Threatened to set her on the bench if she didn't drop the attitude and kept jumping on to her. Of course now she really had an attitude and was having a huge problem controlling her emotions and keeping herself from crying. I just don't get it. Her attitude has been far worse than it was tonight at all of the other games they have played. Why did they pick tonight when she was actually controlling herself to decide to jump onto her. They ruined any progress I made because why should she even try if she is going to get jumped onto anyway. I am just so furious and even more furious because of the reason that they probably did it and the attitude that one of the girls took when they did. I have seen her attitude too and I guarantee if the coach talked to her the way that he talks to my daughter her mom would be throwing a fit. Just because my daughter is tough and has an attitude, doesn't mean she doesn't have emotions. She has feelings just like the rest of them, she is a 13 year old girl not a grown-up and it makes me sick that they can put more pressure on her but she is not suppose to respond to it. I am plain. old. fed. up!!!! If they start tomorrow, she will be setting the bench of her on volition. She has already been instructed. If she had been showing herself tonight I would have been fine with it but she wasn't. I know I'm repeating myself and babbling at this point, so I will shut up. Tomorrow may be bad.

Hectic Schmectic

I have to go get the kids Halloween costumes today. Yes, you heard me right. I am a horrible Mother and my kids still don't have costumes. I can honestly not think back to a day that we would have had time to do it though. So today is the day and hopefully we can still find them something decent. I will let you know how that goes.

A few side notes:
As for the camera I got - It is a Fuji Finepix S8100fd. I'm still learning how to use some of the features, actually most of the features but it is so going to ROCK! I eventually want a fancy shmancy camera but not until I get a little better at taking pictures (and can afford to blow that kind of money). This camera was free, so to speak. My husband gets points at work for safety and they have a catalog from which to choose things to spend the points on. Therefore I have no money in it.
As for all of the wonderful comments- Thank You all so much. It's so great to get feedback from people. Plus all of the ideas for giving myself a time-out were great. I promise to start trying to find time for myself, somewhere. Seriously though you guys are the greatest!!

I would walk a mile for a.....

time out. I soooo need a time out right now. Just a few minutes to reflect on the way I've been acting, Please. It gets so overwhelming sometimes and I know that my attitude sucks when it's like that but noone will give me even a second to think about how I'm acting, so how am I suppose to correct it? I can't wait till things calm down and get better. My kids are in school, I'm suppose to have a little ME time but somehow that isn't happening. Will somebody put me in time out please!! Of course if I had time to walk I would have my time out and stress relief so.......it's just a vicious cycle I guess

What a Day

Today has been a wonderful day. I was the Featured Blogger on SITS and I got my new camera, I was given an award by a fellow blogger and I got my new camera, I had a pretty easy day and did I mention I got my new camera. But seriously, I loved all of the attention I got from all of my SITSa's. Everyone was so nice and the comments were wonderful. I can't wait to get to fiddle around with the new camera some more. So far I love it. It really has been a great day though. I promise I am trying to get back to each and every one of you that left me comments, if I miss you, I'm sorry.

Update 10-23-08: I just wanted to give you guys a little info. about the traffic through my site. On a normal day I have about 10 visitors, some days only 1 or 2. Yesterday I had 572 and that is just amazing. I do have a little bone to pick with you guys though. Only 534 of you were first time visitors, that means that almost 40 of you have been out there lurking and not leaving comments. Everyone loves comments, so come on ladies and make my day, every day.

The Coal Miner's Wife Explanation

Alot of people didn't understand the controversy over Coal in my post Yes, I'm a Coal Miner's Wife so I thought I would give you a little background. There are a lot of "enviromentalists" who want to stop Mountain Top Removal and unsafe mining practices that started protesting around here a few years ago. When we stood up to show our support for our husbands and the job that they do, the protestors took it as an offense to them. They started to attack us in anyway that they could. They wrote letters to the papers about how we were all just scared to speak out against the people who paid our bills, they talked about how us wives didn't want to give up our easy lives and they carried signs in their protest walks that called us Coal Hoes. I'm not saying that the coal companies are perfect, they are a huge corporation and what big corporation runs without criticism and mistakes. You should keep it in mind when reading this though that maybe a handful of the people fighting to save us from the coal companies actually live around here, the rest of them are people working toward college credits or living off of grants or company funding. They have fought and fought against our childrens elementary school because there is a coal silo behind it but they leave out the fact that until just a few years ago it was heated by a coal furnace. We live in coal country and in my opinion they should either accept the risks or move on. It is no different than living in a city where there is a lot of pollution, you know the risks and the benefits and you decide whether it is right for you.

#86 and 87

Knowing who is running for President is simple, it's in your face everywhere you go but knowing who is running for local offices and finding out what they believe is a little more difficult. I have never done this before so I had no idea where to look. I searched until I found a sample ballot for my state and county (here's the link but it will mean nothing to anyone outside of WV). I'm sure most states have these. Then I set out searching for each of the candidates and reading up on their record or lack there of and what they say they believe in and want to accomplish. I'm not going to get into politics here, I have no interest in that but I can officially say I am well informed and ready to vote.

Relaxin' at the Laundromat

I live in an area that still doesn't have city water, although it is currently being put in (I actually saw them working on it this morning) but I digress, so at times we get low on water. Not enough rain = me having to drag clothes for 6 people to the laundromat. Trust me this is not an easy task but when I was telling someone that I had gone their comment was"Well it must be nice to get to go there and just sit around waiting on your clothes and not have to be home working on things" Say what?

6:30 - Back from putting first round of kids on the bus. Starting sorting through clothes and put them in the baskets
7:30 - Get the other kids up, get them ready. Finish getting clothes
together.
8:10- Load clothes in truck.
8:15- Put kids on bus and head to laundromat.
9:1o - Carry in clothes and load them in washers.
9:40 to 9:55 - Rest
9:55 to 10:15-Switch clothes to dryers as they finish.
10:15 to 10:25- Rest
10:25 to 10:45-Continuously check dryers and add change
10:45 to 11:15-Get out dry clothes and fold them.
11:15- Give up on all clothes getting dry and just throw the rest of them in baskets.
11:25-11:45 - Load all clothes back in truck, figuring out how to get them all in the front because it has started raining.

Then spend the evening and half of the next day drying, sorting, folding, hanging and putting up clothes. So you can see it doesn't exactly make for a stress-free day of relaxing. Plus the cost of washing the clothes was staggering. I had to load 2 giant washers and 6 triple loaders which cost $27 and then 11 dryers that I ended up putting $14 dollars in. It definately wouldn't take many of those trips to pay for a washer and dryer. That is just crazy. I so can't wait until they get the city water finished and I no longer have to worry about this anymore.

#4 Attempted again.....

I tried again Friday to give blood and had the same problem. They can hit the vein but the blood just stops coming out. After the second arm (yes I let them stick them both) did the same thing they decided to force the blood through the line, to see if they could tell what it was doing. Even though they have anti-coagulate in the line this is how fast my blood was clotting.

Yes, the worm looking part is my blood. Apparently I have an extremely high platelet count and it is making my blood clot ridiculously fast. I'm thinking this can't be too healthy for me. So I am making an appointment with the doctor and am back to exercising and eating better ASAP. In the meantime I will leave you with the picture of the bruises I got for my effort. I really wanted to be able to give.

If I could rearrange three things about my life.....

they would be.
1. My entire house. It is too small but that isn't the biggest problem. It is just not arranged in a way that makes it easy to keep things where they belong. I would change the closets and the storage in the bathroom and so many other things. All in time I guess though. This one is an easy fix with a little time and money.
2. My education. I loved learning, I had Honors classes in High School but then I got married at 16 and didn't finish 12th grade(long story). I got my GED with ease and tried to go on to college but it just didn't work out (I will have to tell this story soon). I love my kids but it would have been nice to get that college degree. This is another easy fix with a little time and a lot of money.
3. My place in it. As a wife and mommy it is so easy to lose yourself. To become more of a maid, chef, butler etc. than an actual member of the family. I'm not sure exactly how it happens but it would be nice to reorder my life in a way that I felt a little more important (no that's not the right word) loved. I know I am important to their lives but I need more than that. I need to be the kind of priority in their lives that they are in mine. I'm sure this is fixable, so if someone knows how to fix it - Let. Me. Know.

Great prompts again. I love how these things make me think about my life.

#85-Register to Vote

Day 5
Originally uploaded by LifeIsNotAFinal

I've been so busy that I almost forgot to post my progress. On Sept. 30th, at the ripe old age of 32, I completed #85 and registered to vote. Now to finish learning about the candidates and researching them.

Blogathon with the SITSa's

I have mentioned this site before and I love them. It is a great way to find new bloggers and to have your minute to shine. I have discovered some of the greatest blogs through them and there is always support to be found there too. So today they are having a Blogathon to get the word out to more people. So go check them out and join in the fun today.

Getting to know other people is also a great way to get ideas for your own blog and to see how other people relate to what you may be writing. Here are a few of the blogs that I have found through SITS and love to read.

The Pearlman Update

Seven Clown Circus

Staci's Heart

One Crazy Chick

One day, One choice, One pound at a time

SW-218

LW-191.6

CW-192

GW-160



Got in a little exercise but not much. I'm trying to get my house back in order after neglecting it so poorly while I was down for the count. I hope to get back to full force this week though.

October is CRAZY!!!

That's about all I can say. Next year I am just going to forewarn or write a bunch of posts ahead of time because October is just CRAZY in this house. It is the only time of year that is like this. It seems that everything in our lives converges at this point. All the ballgames, all of the activities, the beginning of hunting season, Halloween and then anything that can go wrong - going wrong. It seems that I don't have a minute to spare, let along do anything extra. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up my end of the deal around here but I will pick up the slack soon. Things should be getting ready to calm down, at least as much as they do around here. It's all part of the Mommy Business I suppose. I'm trying to write a few things now and get back into the swing of things. Hopefully I will be back in action soon.

One day, One choice, One pound at a time

The last few weeks have been well...... unbearable. That is the only way I know to describe it. I am feeling pretty good now though and getting back to my normal self. I've been wanting to move this "regular" post off of Saturdays anyway so I figured this was a good time to do it. As I said and as you have gathered from the complaining I'm sure, I have had a hard time lately. The good news is that I have actually lost weight.

SW-218
LW-Not sure
CW-191.6
GW-160

The last weight I had posted on here was different from the last weight that was stored on the WiiFit and I had been on it since the last time I had post on here so I am just going to start from what I know. Since the last time I had been on the WiiFit I had lost 3.7 pounds. I was quite impressed. I knew I had lost a little, that's what going days without eating much does but I didn't think it would be that much. Especially since I haven't been able to exercise. Every step I took shot pain through my mouth so actual exercise was out of the question. I am starting fresh today though. I have to get back into this, full force.

Random Abandon

I know I have been unforgivably absent lately but I promise to do better. It's just been rough around here the last few weeks and sometimes other things take priority. I'm trying hard to shape up, I guarantee it!!

How my brother's Thank You card for his wedding gift started:

Mike, Melanie, Audrey, Joseph......
Screwit, my hands tired.

It's a sad commentary when you have so many kids that people can't even write a Thank You to everyone. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)

We are half way through ball season and my kids have started their own little countdown of how many games and practices are left. I swear I don't know where they get this crazy stuff from. They love to play but all of the running is hard and it takes it's toll.

Sedation Dentistry

I took my pill, as instructed, at 9 am and left the house at 9:15. I started to feel a little sleepy on the way there but started to get worried that this wasn't going to work. I signed in at the dental office and they took me in within minutes (afraid I would fall out in the floor I suppose). As I set down in the chair I was really getting worried because I didn't feel "sedated". They talked to me a little, I vaugely remember and then started working. It's really weird when I think about it now because I can remember some things and not others. I can remember them talking and thinking do they know I can here them but I don't really remember anything about the work that they did. They had to make a decision about what to do at one point and I can remember hubby saying "Melanie are you listening" but I don't remember the rest of the conversation. It is very surreal. They didn't get to do all of the work they had planned and did some things they hadn't planned but they fixed the two that were really bothering me and that is great. They also did all of the work to the top front teeth that were getting thin so that is great. Now I don't have to worry about them becoming so thin that they break before January. My mouth is a little sore but that's it. All of the pain is gone and that is great. It doesn't seem that I am going to have a dry socket in the one that they pulled but they didn't get to do the wisdom teeth. All in all I am happy so far. I can't wait to get it all done and have this behind me. I still feel like I could sleep all day today but I think that is just from my body discovering how tired it was when I actually got to stop for the day.

No right to Self-Defense may be a huge part of the problem.

I’m a little bothered today and am looking for a few different views on this so if you feel so inclined please leave me a comment and chime in.

We got a call this morning from the Middle School and Joe was in a “fight”. He has had trouble with this kid for years, I’m not sure what the problem is, I really like the kids parents and I know they are good parents but for some reason he and Joe cannot get along. So they got into a little argument over touch football in gym and the boy came after Joe and was choking him (trust me Mr. Perfectly Stubborn grilled the teacher to make sure Joe didn’t start it). In his defense and to get the boy off of him Joe punched him twice in the face. They both got 5 days of suspension from school. Here is where my dilemma comes in.

I know that the school has a No Bullying policy and they also have a No Violence policy but it seems to me that at some point these two collide. What was my son suppose to do? Am I supposed to teach my child to let people hurt him and just stand there and take it? I can guarantee you that won’t happen. When a kid is attacked, do they not have the right to protect and defend themselves? Does this not, in and of itself, lead to more bullying? I can’t seem to find the logic in these guidelines that they have set up. No, we do not condone violence. Our children know that if they start a fight they will be severely punished but we also will not teach them to allow themselves to be trampled on by others. It seems, in my motherly mind anyway, that the school should have discretion in these matters. They should be able to decide on a case by case basis whether the kid was justified in defending themselves or not. I could understand if he had laid into the kid and not stopped but he merely did what he had to do at the time. I know that the school has no choice; they have to follow the guidelines set out for them. I’m just thinking that maybe these guidelines should be altered and the schools given a little more control in these matters. It seems there should be some middle ground because having it set up this way may be what is encouraging bullying in today’s schools because a good kid who doesn’t start trouble and fears getting kicked out of school is going to be less likely to
stand up for himself.

I am not saying that my son was being bullied, or that he did not deserve to be punished, it just bothered me that they have cut off a kids own means of self-defense and forced them to either "rat" on their classmates or take abuse. For the kids in the school that are being bullied it seems there is no good way out. It is either get in trouble, put yourself in a position to be picked on by more people or set back and let someone dump on you. None of those options are good. Our kids should be allowed to stand up for themselves at this point, in small ways, before it gets to the point that they are walking through those school doors with guns and hatred.

Random Abandon

I had no idea how badly my mouth could hurt. I now understand why people decide to just pull all of their teeth and get fake ones. Much more of this and you can Sign. Me. Up.

My birthday was this week and there is only one thing I can think to sum it up - Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.

Honestly I'm having a little trouble writing. The pain in my mouth tends to block out everything else. Sorry I've been so distant and uncaring lately, I just can't handle thinking while in pain. I know I'm a whiner but I'm so ready for this to be over.

#63: 365 day self portrait project

My list of 101 in case you don't know what I'm talking about.

I wanted to wait and start this one today because It was my birthday. I thought it would be cool to do it from birthday to birthday, which will technically be 365 days + 1 but who's counting......right. I'm not going to bore you guys everyday with my picture but I will put up a link to the photostream and occasionally I may show the picture on here.

So here is today's picture. It's not a great one, it was taken with my cell phone after we left the High School football game.

If I could take tomorrow off work I'd.....

be devastated. In order for me to have a day off, in order for any mother to have a day off, you would have to erase the memory of her family. They couldn't be alive or dead; they would have to never have been. A mother can't take a day off, even if you gave her the day off and she went and got that mani-pedi she's been dying for - she would still be thinking about her family back at home. Even if you give her a break from all of her duties for the day she would just be feeling guilty because she isn't there doing them. Even if you tell her not to worry that you'll take care of everything for the day, she is going to worry; about something, about anything, about everything. So you see I don't really want a day off from work, the consequences would be too great. Someday the world may understand what Mothers do.

10 things I believe in....

I believe in......
1. God.
2. The Bible.
3. Creationism.
4. every one's right to choose.
5. doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.
6.Myself.
7.learning. For the rest of your life.
8.being healthy not necessarily skinny.
9.writing to soothe my mind.
10.there being a difference between being in love with someone and loving someone.

Mama's losing it gave us some great prompts this week and I have already completed 2 of them. I'm still working on #3 and am not sure if I will ever even post it. We'll see how it goes. Go check out some of the other Links on this one too. They are always great.

#46: Get teeth fixed

I have a horrible history with dentists and I would rather do just about anything than go to one. When I was little the dentist that Mom took us to was horrible. He put a filling in the same tooth 11 times and it still wasn't right. When I finally had to go to the dentist years later because of my wisdom teeth, instead of cutting them out they decided to pull all of my back teeth because they weren't great anyway. Of course my wisdom teeth have still not all come in and the 2 that did weren't any good, they were hollow on the inside. One of the teeth they pulled got a dry socket and I didn't know what it was and tried to suffer through the pain. I finally went back and let the fix it but when I got pregnant the second time I ran into problems. Where I had let the dry socket go the nerve had unattached itself from the gum and attached itself to my cheek bone. As I swelled with the pregnancy it was putting pressure on that nerve plus I was grinding my teeth and putting more pressure on it. It was horrible. They gave me mouth guards and as much medicine as I could take while pregnant to get me through it. They literally wanted to slice my face open and cut out the nerve, I said NO and once I had the baby it went away and hasn't bothered me since. Glad I didn't let them cut my face open. So you can see why I have issues with dentists. I haven't been back in 10 years and hadn't had a cleaning since I was a little kid.

Fast forward to today. I posted the other day about my tooth problem and today I went to have it fixed. I had an appointment with a different place to get the rest of the work done but this place could take me in now. So I planned on getting the tooth pulled today and then going to this other place later and getting the rest of it done. In all honesty once I got the tooth pulled and the pain went away I probably would have canceled the other appointment. I really liked this dentist today though. She looked at my teeth and asked me if I wanted to get the rest of my teeth fixed. I was reluctant at first but she told me she could do the sedation dentistry. In other words they will knock me out, do all the work and when I wake up it will all be over. She said this reduces the chance of dry sockets too because you aren't aware enough to mess with the tooth and mess things up. So I figured what the heck, I'm going to bite the bullet and get it done.

They did all of the x-rays today and set up a plan. Since Insurance sucks they can't do everything at once. They will sedate me next Wednesday and do all of the major work; Pull the one tooth I just broke, cut out the wisdom tooth that wasn't any good and do 2 root canals and fix my 4 front teeth(they are thin). They will go back in January(once my insurance starts over for the new year) and do the rest of the work; Permanent crowns on the root canals and replace the rest of the fillings that aren't good(that the quack put in when I was little). So now I can't back out because the one tooth has to come out.

I also let them clean my teeth, can you believe it? Man does it feel weird. Hopefully I will not have a bad experience this time. Hopefully all will go well and by this time next year I will have good teeth, I may even get them straightened. Not sure I could handle braces but I may check into the Invisaligns.

Why I love Blogging.....

I got into the world of Blogging to give myself an outlet. I use it as a way to release alot of things that I might otherwise hold onto. If it is entertaining, encouraging or enlightening to someone else, well then that is just a bonus. It quickly became way more than I ever could have hoped for though. I love being able to write down all of my thoughts, I love the idea that my kids will be able to read this when they get older and have a true glimpse into the how and why that I did some of the things I did and I love the connection to other people. The latter has been the biggest surprise to me. It is so awesome that even on the days that I don't feel up to blogging myself I can come here and find someone who has felt exactly the way I do. What a wonderful encouragement to know that there are people out there who feel the exact same things you do everday. Whether its guilt over not being perfect for your kids or pain over things that have happened in your past; there is someone who knows and understands that exact feeling.

Then of course there are all of the cool give-a-ways, contests, writing assignments and so much more to keep your mind working and entertained. Like Mama Kat's vaccum give-a-way and writing assignments and the newest in a long line of give-a-ways from the Sits Girls, as well as their daily featured blogger. Not to mention being able to Blog Around the World or join a Political Campaign as it travels.

I'm a very private person (believe it or not) and I have trouble sharing my life with people. I'm horrible at keeping up friendships but no matter how long I stay away I know that when I come back the Blog World will still be here waiting. Although I have no intention of staying away!!

Random Abandon

After yesterdays post I thought maybe I should list a few things that I was thankful for this week:
1. That only Joe got the Chicken Pox (so far, knock on wood) and not all 4 kids.
2. That Audrey's volleyball team is finally working together and won a game.
3.The God-send of a doctor who gave me medicine for my tooth.
4.That they didn't steal anymore from us than they did.
5.That we have friends that will try to help us get our stuff back.

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and Autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz

The Worst Week Ever

I know I haven't posted much the last few days and may not post much for the next few days. Below is my explanation.

I have had many bad days in my life, who hasn't? I have had many bad experiences, many heartbreaks and many aggravations. I must say though that this has been the worst week I can ever remember having. It started, as you probably know already, with Joe having Chicken Pox. Then Audrey hurt her shoulder. We are pretty sure she tore her rotator cuff but she pushed herself through the game on Thursday and they won (there was one good point). She has been in a lot of pain but it seems to be healing up now. Then on Friday morning at 2 am I woke up to a mouth full of tooth. My mouth had been hurting and I knew it wasn't a toothache so I just assumed it was pressure from my sinuses. Apparently I had been grinding my teeth really badly again, I use to have a horrible time with that years ago. So I was in immediate pain and was up crying the rest of the night. Not only was my dentist not open on Friday but apparently around here NO dentist is open on Friday. My god-send of a doctor gave me some pain medicine and started me on antibiotics for it. The pain meds didn't work though, they just wouldn't break through the pain. This morning Hubby took me to the emergency room where they quickly gave me a shot for the pain and told me to keep taking the medicine she gave me and that once the pain was under control those pills should work. All is good right now and I'm riding high, hopefully that will keep it under control until Monday. As if all of that wasn't enough when we got home from the emergency room we had been robbed. I am so furious and aggravated. Why do people have to be so lazy that the only way to survive is to steal from others? The worst part, to me anyway I'm sure hubby wouldn't agree, is that they stole our fire safe. I'm sure they thought they would get money out of it and I hate to disappoint them but the only thing in there was paperwork. The documentation for our jewelry, the kids birth certificates; that type of thing. It's obvious what they were after and that the safe and few other things they took just came as a bonus. They took hubby's ginseng that he had dug for goodness sakes!! It is everywhere around here - go dig some yourself!!! I am just so ticked off and no longer feel safe in my own home. This week really sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reoccurring Dreams

I don't dream much or at least I don't remember my dreams. The few times in my life that I can remember dreaming are when I have had reoccurring dreams. The first time I ever had a dream that I remembered was when I started having nightmares after my grandmother died. I was in 3rd grade, I believe and it was a horrible time for my family. I had a few cousins the same age as me and when our grandmother died one of them just quit walking. I can remember them saying that it was psychological but I didn't understand that. I kept having nightmares about Mamaw coming to take away our ability to walk. It was very traumatic for me but in a few weeks the dreams went away and I would beg for them to come back just so I could see her again and remember what she looked like. The only other time I can remember dreaming is when I was pregnant with each of the kids and while each kid got their own dream it was the same dream the whole time I was pregnant. I don't really remember much about the dream I had with each of the boys now, they weren't really strange just normal baby dreams. The one I had while pregnant with Audrey though I will never forget. We kind of figured it was a news story or something that I had seen that had started it. I would dream that we were all at the hospital and I had given birth except it ended up being twins and one of the babies was black. I would keep asking people "Don't you think he looks different?" and they would just say something about how he looked perfect to them. I dreamed this over and over and over again while I was pregnant with her and it drove me crazy. I'm not sure if I don't dream often or if I only remember the ones that keep reoccurring but these are the only times in my life that I can remember actually having a dream. Obviously they were brought on by stress but it still seems weird to me.

Pox confusion

I actually had time today to get a few things done. The truck was in bad need of some routine maintenance so that was first on my list. No sooner had I arrived at the shop than Mr. Perfectly Stubborn started calling. When I finished talking to the guy about the truck and called back he told me that he had to go pick up Jo. He had broken out the night before on his neck and back. We had decided that a bug had got in his shirt and bit him a bunch of times. It looked a little worse this morning but I gave him some Benedryl and put Caladryl on them and sent him to school. They were now itching so bad that he couldn't stand it and needed to be picked up. Mr. Perfectly Stubborn was perfect today and took him to the doctor for me. Despite the fact that he has had his vaccination he has the Chicken Pox. I'm confused, why do they get the shot if they can still get chicken pox after having it? They say that it will be a milder case - we shall see. I've been reading about the vaccine since I got back and I am left with a lot of questions. They aren't sure how long the effectiveness of it lasts and if I remember right it is worse to get it when you are older. I'm wondering how this effects getting shingles when you get older too. All of my kids have had their shots for this but now I'm wondering how smart of an idea that was.

Our Family History

Part 10: It always get worse

before it gets better.

Being released on the same day that I had surgery seemed a little odd to us all. Especially since it was 4 days before they could do the surgery but I was just glad to be home and have all of this behind me. That didn't last long by the next day I was back at the emergency room and readmitted to the hospital. Upon further tests they discovered that one of the gallstones had torn holes all in my pancreas. The pancreas works in a way that when it has a tear it will seal itself back off but this still leaves it weak. I was in the hospital for 22 days this time, back home for a few days and then back in the hospital for 10 days. It was a long and horrible process. I had to be very careful about what I ate and still do. For the next year I had to have a CT Scan every 6 weeks to ensure that my pancreas was healing properly. When it seals itself off it forms what they called pseudo cysts and they had to make sure that these dissolved and it healed itself up completely. After Matt's birth and all of this sickness I had lost a ton of weight but with the CT Scans they had to give me contrast and dye. The dye messed with my thyroid and within 3 months I had gained 60 lbs. In the middle of all of this, while I was back in the hospital for the 22 days, my kids were being taken care of by their grandparents. When Mom would come by with Matt, I knew that something was wrong but I couldn't figure it out and they weren't telling me anything. Finally they told me that he wasn't crying, wasn't making much of any noise except with every breath. When he would breathe, he whistled. So we got him to the doctor as soon as we could and he had a congenital laryngeal strider. Big word to say that his voice box wasn't hardened. They told us that it would take about 18 months for it to harden and that then he would have to play catch-up on learning how to talk. Most likely he would have to have a lot of speech therapy to get to where he needed to be. Getting used to the whistling was very difficult. Instead of listening for him to cry during the night I had to learn to sleep through the whistling and wake up when it stopped. It was hard for awhile. He started making a few sounds around 15 months and by 18 months was going full force. He learned how to talk quickly and did have a little speech therapy through the school when he was in Preschool but that was it. Thanks to God it all turned out alright in the end and I do give him credit for it all. That was without doubt the roughest year I have had so far in my life but we made it through and like the saying We are stronger for it.

Next: Stories from their childhood - Audrey

Random Abandon

The old saying - You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar- Let's just say some people would do well to remember that.

I think the fact that Luke Russert is taking up (almost) right where his father left off is remarkable. It looks like he has the potential to be just as cutting edge and innovative as his Dad. Check out how he has been blogging about the election as well as covering it, along with Hurricane Gustav and other things.

Ever wish someone would stand up for you like Johnny stood up for Baby. "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." (Yes I've watched Dirty Dancing again)

One day, One choice, One pound at a time

SW-218
LW-194.6
CW-193.7
GW-160

Finally down a little. It is getting easier to get the exercise in. Now I just need to get the eating completely under control. I'm going to do the first 2 week phase of South Beach starting Monday. I have been doing better gradually but that is the best thing I have ever tried for getting the junk eating out of my system.

Letter to Me

One of the bloggers that I love to read has started handing out assignments. I couldn't manage the time last week with all of the back to school adjustments but I am on board and loving it this week.

The Assignment: You are 20 years in the future, write a letter to your today's self.

Dear Melanie,


I have thought often about you through the years. I know that you are at a crossroads in your life. A place where you are honestly not sure which way you should go. Staying on the same path seems unbearable yet finding the courage to go another way is more difficult than you could ever have dreamed. It is hard for you, I know, to see the good in the life that you have. Letting go of some of the heartaches that you carry around is the only way for you to make it to where I am today. Trust yourself, believe in yourself and there is hope. Things will never be perfect and life will never be easy but if you make the decisions that you know must be made, you will be all right. You have friends that you can depend on, more than you realize; you just have to give them the chance. You must quit letting the fear of rejection hold you back and stop worrying about what people think of you. Just be who you are. Yes, you will be rejected at times but the payoff will outweigh those disappointments. You are an amazing person and you have a wonderful future ahead of you. Just believe that,hold on to that, keep your head held high and push through the things that must be done. You have strength that you have not needed yet and have not discovered but it is there. Use it, stand up for yourself, be the person that you want to be. The people who love you will still be there in the end.

Sincerely,
Melanie

P.S. On a lighter note, being in your 30’s does not make
you old. When you get close to 60, then we will talk about it.

Our Family History

Part 9:The beginning of a rough year

Our not so little family was finally complete and I was looking forward to settling in and figuring out how the logistics of a family this size were going to work. I didn't get the chance before everything fell apart. Remember I mentioned how I stayed sick while I was pregnant with Matt? The hospital continued to tell me that I had gastrointestinal flu and I had ultrasound after ultrasound to make sure the baby was okay. Not once in all that time, not once in any of those ultrasounds did they notice the real problem. I never really got to where I felt normal after Matt's birth and when he was 3 weeks old I started to get really sick again. Now that I didn't have a pregnancy to worry about I was not going back to the hospital to have them tell me again that I had stomach flu, so I tried to ride it out. After a few days I started feeling a little better and everyone relaxed. Mike was gone to work and after a little convincing Mom and Dad left and went out to a movie they had been planning on seeing. Not long after they left it hit me hard. At the time Audrey was only 7 but if it wasn't for her I would not have made it through that day. She would get Matt's bottles and kept the other 2 entertained. I had Matt setting in a baby seat next to the commode because I couldn't move. By the time someone got home to take me to the hospital I really thought I was dead. Not to be too sickening but the stuff I was throwing up was pure acid and was literally eating up my throat and mouth. When we got to the hospital I'm not sure what we were expecting but we thought it would be something simple that they could just give me some medicine for. In reality we were in for a long journey. Within no time they told us that they would be keeping me for awhile and that I would be having emergency surgery. I was full of gallstones; they were no longer just in my gallbladder they were now moving through my system. It was 4 days before they could do the emergency surgery, not because of shortcomings on their part but because I was too sick and not considered stable enough for surgery. Those 4 days were very difficult. I was worried about my kids more than anything, I knew they would be well cared for but I still wanted to be with them. Finally I had surgery and believe it or not was released on the same day. I was so glad to have all of this behind me. I couldn't have known at the time that it was just the beginning.
Part 10: It always gets worse before it gets better

Alzheimer's Walk in Priscillia's memory

As most of you know, Mike's family lost their mother to Alzheimer's in April of this year. On September 20th there will be a memorial walk at the Crossroads Mall that will benefit Alzheimer's research. I have created a team, in Priscillia's memory, for that walk. It is short notice because we ourselves just found out about it but we would appreciate any support that can be given. I will post a link to the site below and if you want to come and join the team and walk with us that would be great. If you want to give a donation to the cause in Priscillia's name that would be great too. You can do that through the site . If all you have to give is words of encouragement and prayers that too will be greatly appreciated. To Mike's family I personally want to say that this is a burden that was on my heart as soon as I heard about it, I think it is a small way that we can give back something for a wonderful woman who was taken long before any of us were willing to let her go. I hope you all will join me in walking for her.
Alz. Walk Site-http://beckleyoakhillmemorywalk.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=259242&lis=1&kntae259242=A867C531781641A3A170BBA5FBB3C06F&team=3166797&tlteam=0