Trampolines and day-glo fiberglass

It's because of Facebook. It's so much easier to type in a one- or two-sentence status update than to come here and actually compose lots of sentences and put them together for a blog entry. That's why this blog (and my other blogs) are so pitifully out of date. *nodding*

When we first moved into this house, we inherited a big trampoline from my then brother-in-law (okay, we actually purchased it from his brother, but only for some ridiculously crazy price like $35 or somesuch). Before we even put it together, we went out and purchased an enclosure for it, so no one could accidentally bounce off of it and break something. Yet somehow my Sunshine has now sustained two broken bones on it.

On April 15th, she was jumping on the trampoline with a friend who lives nearby, and I guess they had asked David to sit on the trampoline so they could 'bounce' him, wherein the bouncee sits in the middle and the bouncer(s) jump around him/her to see how high off the mat they can make the seated person fly. Apparently Sunshine accidently jumped on David, rather than the mat, and rolled her ankle. Sunshine and Friend both said they heard a pop, so I took her for x-rays the next day. Her doctor thought it looked like a sprain, but said someone else would look at the films just to make sure. So we hooked her up with lots of ace-wrap and some crutches, and she went back to school.

On Monday afternoon, the doctor's nurse called to tell me that the radiologist looked at the films and saw nothing to worry about. But the ankle was still swelling (even worse than it had initially) and it was still very sore. On Tuesday afternoon, the nurse called again to to say that an orthopedist had taken another look at the films and thought she might have a non-displaced fracture. She said she'd make an appointment with pediatric orthopedics at Cooks and call me back with details.

So yesterday morning was our orthopedics appointment. He confirmed that her tibia is fractured just below the growth plate, which is sort of unusual. Growth-plate fractures heal pretty quickly because that's the part of the bone that is already generating more bone (for growing!). This one is going to take about six weeks to heal, and she has to be in a real non-removable cast for at least four of the six. He'll reassess on May 22 and see if she can wear a 'boot' for the remainder.

A very small fracture right above her ankle. And she needs a toe-to-knee cast. Needless to say she is not happy about it at all. Preteen drama queen that she sometimes is, yesterday was the worst day of her life, and she's sure she didn't do anything to deserve this fate. She got so stressed out that she got a mini-migraine and stayed home from school all day.

Please pray for a return of a bright positive attitude!

(Yes, it's a very nice bright shade of orange. Color not accurately reproduced here--on my monitor anyway.)

The good news is that she can walk on it. They gave her a little black shoe to put over the cast. And even though she loathes the cast, she's finding it a lot easier to get around. She also gets out of PE for the rest of the year (which is good), but will be a spectator at Field Day (which is bad).

She's especially worried that this will make us miss Baby Beaver. So Erin, can you send me BB's email address so we can request that she hold off until after May 22nd?
;-)

Erin, this is for you: My baby book

My dear neurotic pregnant sister has this notion that second and subsequent babies never get the attention that the first child got. So it is my understanding that she has decided NOT to do baby books or scrapbooks even for the first child, because she might not be able to do the same thing for a second baby, if a second child is indeed in God's plan. When she was here for Christmas, she mentioned my baby book, and how it was so much more detailed than hers. I laughed, but could not remember where I'd put my baby book to show her. Well, today I found it. Took a photo of every page spread so she could see. Here's the cover and the first few page spreads:


So far, so good. All this stuff was probably filled out when the book was purchased, at the shower, and in the hospital. It looks like there was once a copy of my birth certificate there, but it is now gone.
Okay, here the info starts to peter out. The cause is not that another baby was born, but that keeping up with a baby book, no matter how many other kids you have, becomes less of a priority, and THAT'S OKAY.
There's only one date recorded for my first. Mom went in after the fact and put in approximate ages. Aack! My first word isn't recorded!!!
Must have had a good long nap when I was 4 months old when my baby book was out...
Hmmm....
Okay, this is kind of interesting. My first birthday is recorded in one ink. The REST are recorded in another ink. Mom recorded 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th birthdays AFTER my 6th birthday, which, incidentally, was after Erin (baby #3) was born. She probably pulled out Julie's and my baby books when she was working on Erin's. (And in fact, most of my 'Firsts' recorded up there are in the same ink, so mom filled in a LOT of my baby book after Erin was born.)
Hmmm.....
Ehhhh.....
Yeeeaaah.
That's all. It's not complete by any means, but I am so glad to have it.
Erin, how does this compare to your baby book?

Love the Book Fair and classic Van Halen

No, those two things aren't necessarily related (though a classic rock-themed book fair would be, ah, TOTALLY righteous). I spent the day at the school, volunteering in the book fair for student previews. I'm exhausted, sitting here zoning, playing Van Halen's '1984' album on Rhapsody.

I love the book fair. My only real memory of book fair as a kid was the night when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade in Alaska, it was some sort of family night and the book fair was going on, and Julie (who was probably four at the time) pulled the fire alarm at the school. We left quickly (as I remember it, anyway) without spending any money at the book fair. Now I'm lucky if I get out of there with less than $100 worth of books.

Two years ago I was the book fair chairperson, and I had such a good time planning and decorating for the fair. For the Medieval theme, we made castle and dragon decorations to go around the school. For the rainforest theme, we transformed the library into a wild jungle with a CD playing jungle sounds in the background. Next year, when I hand over my President stuff, I get to do book fair again. This year someone else is running it, and I'm just helping out because I don't think there's very much that could keep me away from a book fair. It's magnetic.

Sunshine sat down beside me, telling me about her day, and mentioned that one of her friends was named after a Van Halen song. So of course I had to open Rhapsody and find the song. And then I had to go ahead and listen to more songs...

Right now we're headed out to Peter Piper Pizza for a school fundraiser night. I'm going to be so beat by the time we get home. Will have no choice but to vegetate in front of Earl.

By the way, lost five and a half pounds this week. :-)

Trim time

That's it. No more procrastinating. Today I am reforming my eating and exercise habits. I could use the excuse that I've gained sympathy weight, being that my sister is pregnant, but she lives three states away, so that one doesn't really fly. The truth is that I've been unbelievably lazy in my exercise and downright stupid with my eating. I've gained about 15 pounds over the winter, and am 20 pounds heavier than I want to be.

About five years ago, I found myself in a similar predicament, so I did a good bit of research, consulted a good friend who is a personal trainer, and put together an daily nutrition/exercise plan that's easy (not TOO much sweat!), just requires some discipline. I stuck with it and lost the weight in about three months. I was five years younger then, but I'm hoping it will work for me again. My goal is to get back down to my ideal weight by July, then just eat sensibly and exercise regularly. So this morning I dug out my aerobic step, my nutrition plan, and my hand weights (poor dusty things!), and got moving.

I'm posting here as a means to keep myself accountable. I won't bore you with the nitty-gritty details, but I will post a progress report once a week.

Here's one of my breakfast recipes (actually pretty good! I toss in about a tablespoon of dried fruit, too)

POWER OATMEAL

1 packet plain instant oatmeal
½ cup skim milk
½ scoop flavored protein powder or protein drink mix
1 packet Splenda

Prepare oatmeal with skim milk. Add protein powder and Splenda. Stir.

Oatmeal with milk: 140 calories, 1.5 g. fat, 24 g. carbs, 8 g. protein
Protein powder: 57 calories, 1 g. fat, 2 g. carbs, 10 g. protein
TOTAL: 197 calories, 2.5 g. fat. 26 g. carbs, 18 g. protein

Wish me luck!

Facebooked

Sunshine is having a friend spend the night tonight, and this afternoon while I was taking them to Hobby Lobby, David was home industriously setting up a Facebook profile. When I got home I was more than a little astonished since I am the computer/Internet geek and I'm supposed to do all that stuff first and advise. I hadn't yet done that, my logic being that I don't need both a MySpace and a Facebook page. Never mind that I've not even looked at my MySpace page in about a year.

So of course I had to create a Facebook profile, too. *rolling my eyes* So far, I do like it a lot more than MySpace...

I love IKEA!

So we got our tax refund, and with it, we're working on bedroom makeovers for the family. It's slower going than we'd hoped, but we're getting there. It's a good bit of work to do three bedrooms at a time. Note to self: Next time, do one room at a time.

David and I needed a new bed, so I shopped around online. I confess that I didn't check out a whole lot of places, because I already knew what I wanted, but I did browse Sam's Club online and the sites of a few local furniture stores, looking for a nice king-size bedframe and high-impact foam mattress (the kind that absorbs motion, so you can jump on one side and the glass of wine on the other doesn't spill). In the low-middle range at Sam's, it was $1300 for frame and mattress, not including a box spring or bed base! Say WHAT?

I didn't panic though. When we were in Orlando this summer, I made a couple of trips to the IKEA there, and saw a bed that I absolutely loved--frame, bedlinens and all. Very simple but colorful, clean lines, wood, and WIDE. I even took a picture of it. Check it out:
So after investigating other options, we headed to IKEA and bought the stuff to recreate that bed. Including sheets, summer comforter, pillows, duvet, foam mattress, adjustable-tension bed base, and frame, it cost less than $750! (!!!!!!) AND, they're running a promotion wherein you receive an IKEA gift card for purchasing Sultan-brand bed stuff (mattress and bed base), so I got $100 off my next purchase (which was a small fold-out couch for Bookman's room).

The bed was a little fiddly to assemble--I'm sure part of the reason IKEA furniture is priced low is because nothing is pre-assembled. The simple bed frame had a remarkably large number of parts, and we opted for European-style bowed wooden slats in place of a box spring, which came in a box as 90 slats (45 for each side) and the rubber and fabric bits to complete the two sides. Took us 2-1/2 hours, but we got it finished last night and slept on the fabulous foam mattress. LOVE IT! It is a little low (the legs of the bed are only about 3" tall, so the top of the mattress is just 15" off the floor), but it's comfy!

Alright, probably ought to get back to work on bedrooms...
Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Friday morning fanfare

For some reason, getting Sunshine out the door this morning was almost as bad as getting her out the door on a Monday morning. Two things were in her favor: 1) it is not my week to drive, so she had about eight extra minutes, and 2) her brother is STILL home sick today (upper respiratory infection), so she didn't have to compete with him for the sink to do her hair or brush her teeth. Yet at the two-minute warning, she was still rushing around in shoeless feet with unbrushed teeth and hair, looking for a different shirt. *sigh*

Her lateness was due in small part to a Lucy escapade this morning. After I went in to wake Sunshine up, Lucy stayed in DD's room, a reasonably normal occurrence. When I went in to check on them a few minutes later, Lucy sat down by the dresser and looked up at me with guilty eyes. I looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, didn't think much of it, and prodded Sunshine again. Later, I noticed that Lucy had a used kleenex stuck to her butt. On closer inspection, I saw that there was fresh glue holding it there. Puzzled, I made my way back to Sunshine's room, finding the complete cap to an Elmer's glue bottle in the hallway. And there, on the floor by the dresser, was a puddle of white glue squished out in the rough shape of a border collie's rear end. I suspect she sat in it to hide it from me.

I groaned/laughed/cried, then decided to clean up the carpet first and let Lucy outside. She's now back inside, with an assortment of leaves and sticks literally glued to her backside. Suppose I ought to add 'Give Gluebutt a bath' to the list of stuff I need to do today. *another sigh*

Happy Friday!, and I do hope your morning was reasonably glue-free.

Taxes filed? Check!

I am so proud of myself! It's barely February and I have already filed our taxes! Whooo! That's what I did this morning. My last W2 arrived yesterday, and I was reasonably organized this past year, so I already had everything assembled, ready to punch numbers into the handy dandy software (I've got people!).

So now it's 10:30 am, and I have a couple of free hours to... ugh.. do laundry. *sigh* Maybe I'll go volunteer at the school instead...

Thoughts of blistering heat

An ice storm is moving in. I had vainly hoped that schools would be closed today, but even now it's still 32 degrees, so the roads are just wet. A normal day so far, but there's a good chance I'll have to chip ice off of my truck at 2:20 this afternoon when I leave to get Sunshine.

So what am I doing now? Going though summer vacation photos on my hard drive. Remembering how swelteringly hot it was at Palo Duro Canyon. How it was at least 140 degrees on the hike to Ernst Tinaja at Big Bend, as the vulture circled overhead and we had to tell him "We're not dead yet!" How we all just about cooked ourselves on the beach near Tampa. (Do you see a theme here?) To the left is a photo of my little vandals at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo a few summers ago. They had a great time.

I'm actually putting photos on a flash drive that I want to put into scrapbook pages. Sometime this week, I'll head to Walmart and use their nifty machine to print them. I'm going on a scrapbook retreat this weekend, to a little place in Bowie, Texas, called Hobby House Hill. Cindy, the owner, is a phenomenal cook, so it's worth the money just to go have her cook for us. I'll have roughly 55 hours of scrapbook time, so I need to make sure I take plenty to work on.

Looks like my Internet connection is about to peter out (always happens when it rains...) Hope y'all are staying warm!

I love lazy days...

I slept in sweats last night, wore 'em all day, and am about ready to crawl back into bed, still wearing the sweats. It was chillier today. Only got up to the mid forties--but with a wind advisory, it felt much colder. After 80 degrees yesterday, today seemed like a good day to stay home and out of the wind. David got out to deposit his check, and brought home Rose's authentic Mexican food for lunch (mmmmmm....). The rest of us just lounged around the house.

I chatted online with my baby sister, got some stamping done. Did some crossword puzzles. David watched football. The kids took turns on the other computer playing WoW. They only indulged in a few minor altercations between them, so overall it was a very quiet day.

Oh. Sunshine and I did get one small thing accomplished that needed to be done. We emptied her craft supplies bin onto the middle of my bed, then sorted and organized everything. She has a lot of stuff she didn't remember she had (and quite a few things I'll have to borrow!).

Everybody had a lazy day... except Lucy. She was busy, busy, busy. Today Lucy chewed: 1) the zipper of one of Sunshine's comfy suede boots (it's ruined); 2) the earbuds to Bookman's iPod (destroyed); 3) Sunshine's pants from the dirty laundry (caught those in time); 4) a heavy duty orange extension cord (completely destroyed); 5) a TV remote control (the #4 button is missing), 6) the sleeve of David's jacket (caught that one in time, too). She also discovered the cool pop-up feature of Kleenex. Empty box, lot's of wet kleenex on the floor. *sigh* She's lucky she's cute.

A journalversary!

When I was in high school, I kept a pretty regular diary ("I love [insert name of current boyfriend here] so much, he is just so nice and cute! I am so lucky!" *modern day rolling of eyes*). But somewhere around my Junior year, I fell out of the habit, and never really picked it back up. I've received some cool journal notebooks as gifts over the years, but tucked them into the top drawer of my dresser, saying "Someday I'll use them."

On January 20, 2008, I picked up one of those journals and wrote in it. And I did it again the next day. And again the next, and the next, and the next.

One year ago today, it was just two months after the accident, and I was still pretty traumatized, having physical pain, emotional issues, and nightmares. In those two months, I spent way too much time focusing on the crap that resulted from the accident, particularly as it related to me. My fears, my pain, the disruption of my life. It was doing me absolutely no good whatsoever, but acknowledging that fact made no difference. I had to DO something. In writing that first journal entry, my intent was to write down the things I'm grateful for (to help me focus on the good things in my life), as well as my prayers for others (to help me take my focus off of me). I tossed in a quick summary of the day's events, and thus began my journaling habit.

I've only missed one day that I can remember, and am now half-way through my third notebook. And I still use the same format: Quick summary, stuff I'm thankful for today, and my prayers for the day. Many days the Praises and the Prayers are the same as the day before, but writing them each day helps me remember them each day. Many days I've had to struggle mightily to stay awake to finish the entry, but every day I did it.

And now I'm wondering why it took me 20 years to return to journaling! Even in the past year, it has been helpful not only to my mental health, but also to my memory. When did we go to see the Butterfly Exhibit? Oh, yeah, it was Thursday, March 27th. What day did we find out Erin is pregnant? Yep, here it is. Friday, September 26th.

Which makes me think of all the memories I could have quickly recorded on the day they happened that are now lost or muddled in the haze of time. I have no idea when Sunshine lost her first tooth. I couldn't tell you when Bookman first learned to ride a bike without training wheels. No idea what those kids' names are in the pictures of 3rd birthday parties. *sigh* These are things I wish I'd written down. And if I'd been in the habit of journaling daily... *bigger sigh*

No more memories lost like that. I shall continue to take 20-30 minutes to sit quietly, reflect, and write a daily letter to God.

Deep thoughts on... death ;-)

Joel was buried yesterday. Landra is doing well, considering. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

However, this has gotten me thinking again about funerary traditions. One of my favorite books of all time is Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. In it, Mary Roach details all sorts of useful things you can do after you die. Obviously there's the whole Gross Anatomy thing, but did you know you could also help improve vehicle safety by becoming a crash test dummy? Or help forensic scientists research how a body decomposes under various conditions? You could help aspiring plastic surgeons perfect the latest techniques in face lifts, or even help grow food for the hungry. It's a really interesting book, and it's frequently very humorous, too.

After my paternal grandfather died, I decided that I don't want to be embalmed, put on display in a ridiculously expensive box, then buried in said ridiculously expensive box. I personally think embalming is silly. The body is going to rot anyway. Why spend thousands of dollars to prolong the process when you're just gonna put 'em in the ground in a day or two? And a casket! Holy moley. Cremation and a simple black canister (or biodegradable box) is the way to be buried if you're gonna go the cemetery route.

After David's dad died, the family did go the cremation and simple black box route. But I started to question the whole cemetery idea. Cemeteries in general are sad places. People visit their deceased loved ones in cemeteries, as though their loved ones are still there. They focus on the 'death' part of their loved ones' lives, rather than the 'life' parts. Sure, from a genealogical standpoint, cemeteries are a treasure trove of information, and I am one of those odd people who likes to visit historical cemeteries and wander among the headstones. But I really don't want to spend more than a few hours in one, ever.

Here's my thing: When I die, I'm outta here. I'll be on the next train to Heaven, sayonara! But I do want what's left of me on earth to be useful! Please, if you love me, donate any usable tissue to someone still living whose life could be saved or improved by it. Whatever's left... can be a crash test dummy, a parachute prototype tester, a decomposition subject, a dissection cadaver, I don't really care. If nothing useful can be done with me (or after I've done something useful), torch me and scatter the charred bits in a flower garden. Buy a brick for a library and put my name on it, then visit the library to remember me. Then... throw a party! Oooh! A luau would be cool, or a fiesta! I love theme parties with lots of bright colors! Play music you can groove to, and give wet raspberries to anyone who wears black or navy.

And if I believe one day a group of med students might be in Gross Anatomy, carefully peeling away layers of fat on my belly, it'll help me stay slender. Because I would just die if my belly looked like an ocean of curdled cheese.

Sad news

I am so very sad to tell you that Joel Peña passed away this morning around 10:15. Please pray for Landra and her family.

Please pray for Joel

I'm gonna post this here, because I know a lot of prayer warriors read this.

My friend Landra Peña is our PTA's historian. I have known her since her youngest son started Kindergarten at Deer Creek, and he's now in 3rd grade. Her husband, Joel Peña, is fighting for his life at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, after a drunk wrong-way driver slammed into his truck head-on at high speed. The accident happened in the wee morning hours of Sunday, December 28th. The drunk driver, 26-year-old Matthew McCoy, died in the accident. Mr. McCoy was driving on a suspended license (for DUI) and had no insurance.

Joel is so badly injured that doctors have kept him unconscious. Numerous broken bones, massive internal injuries, they had to remove his pancreas, and now his other organs are trying to shut down. He is right at this moment undergoing his second surgery of the day. Doctors say things look pretty grim.

But we believe in miracles! Joel is a great dad, has two boys: teenage Cory and 9-year-old Christopher. Landra is a stay-at-home mom heavily involved in PTA.

So I ask that you please pray! Pray for healing for Joel, trusting strength for Landra and for her boys, and peace for the family of Matthew McCoy. Pray for God's guiding wisdom for Joel's doctors, and pray for loving acceptance of God's will if His Plan is not what we pray. God is Great, and can restore Joel to his family.

Thanks everyone! I love you!
Stacey

Happy New Baby!

Happy New Year! It looks like we've got a new baby in the family. She is right now on the floor by my feet playing with an empty 2-liter bottle, banging it around and chewing on the cap, occasionally looking up at me with those big brown eyes... I guess she's forgiven me for taking her to get her vaccinations.

She's perhaps 10 months old, and she already weighs about 35 pounds. She's a bit on the skinny side, and still has feet that are a smidge too big for the rest of her.

Meet Lucy:


A couple of weeks ago, I was at my parents' house taking care of the cockatiels when my dad came in to tell me about a young border collie that had been hanging around. He said someone had painted her green on one side. It was right before Christmas, and I was already over my stress limit, so I held up my hand and said, "That's very sad, Dad, but I don't want to hear it. Lalalalalalalalalala." I know, very hard-hearted of me, but there are dozens of families that actually live in that neighborhood that could easily take her in. We already have an aging Chihuahua.

Well, on New Year's Day, we were putzing around after dinner when someone said that the green border collie was outside. I stayed where I was, ignoring my kids' 'Awwww's and 'She's so sweet's...until my curiosity got the better of me.

The dog did indeed have mint-green latex paint in her fur. We asked around and learned that she'd been hanging around for several weeks, and that the neighbors had been feeding her very occasionally. She's incredibly sweet-tempered, and a beautiful dog, so it was tough to resist the kid's pleading. We brought her back to our house for a trial run, intending to make Found Dog posters if we observed any indication that she'd ever had a home.

After four stressful days, I can say with confidence that she's never had a good home. I don't think she'd ever had a bath (she was that dirty), she'd apparently had a run-in with a skunk long enough ago for the dry scent to wear off (but boy was it apparent when we got her wet!), and she tested positive for the heartworm parasite even though she's not even a year old. And she has an eye infection. Wherever she came from, it was not a loving home.

She's not housebroken yet, either. But she seems to be an intelligent dog, and she very much wants to be a good girl, so I'm sure that won't last long. She has tried to use ChiChi as a chew-toy a few times, which does concern us, but I'm working with both dogs to show the puppy that the little dog is off-limits. If that behavior continues, we may have to find another home for Lucy.

Here's a slightly blurry (nearly-dead camera battery) picture of ChiChi:


Here's a pic of the two of them (again kinda blurry, but note the size difference) playing with Tiki, one of two Pomeranians that lives behind us.


We'll see how she does. She's a much bigger dog than we've had, so that alone is requiring some adjustments (like remembering to put the toilet lids down). Adrienne was perhaps 20 pounds after old age fattened her up. Lucy will probably grow an inch or two and gain another 10-15 pounds in the next year.

I am thankful for the blessing of devoted friends, including the four-legged variety.

And blessings to you! May you live all the days of your life!

Only five more days before the kids go back to school. We've been enjoying a relatively lazy winter break, staying home and trying not to spend money. Yesterday we ventured out to Walmart for groceries and picked up several skeins of yarn because my children are suddenly feeling crafty. (By the way, older child and younger child will henceforth be referred to as Bookman and Sunshine on my blog.)

All winter break I've been working on crochet projects, mostly hats for other people and an afghan. On Monday, Sunshine dug some soft fuzzy yarn out of her craft box and decided she wanted to make a scarf. She doesn't have the patience yet for the fiddliness of crochet, so we dug out the 'Knifty Knitter' set we got many years ago. She chose the smallest loom, and cranked out a scarf in about 24 hours. It will also double as a hand/arm warmer on the playground. Check it out!

Bookman was impressed, so much so that he is now half-way done with a cozy hat for himself. I made a super-cute baby hat, but will be sticking to crochet. For some reason the loom knitting thing killed my hands.

I mentioned the afghan I'm working on... *sigh* I've been working on the same afghan for at least three years. It's for Sunshine, but I guess I've had some sort of mental thing about finishing it--she's known to be tough on blankets sometimes, and I want her to be able to pass this one on to her children. So I guess I was waiting until she was old enough to appreciate the time investment before forging ahead to finish it. I think she's about there now, and I'm more than half-way finished. My goal for January is to get the darn thing done!

I have discovered over the last decade that I do like crocheting for other people, something I undoubtedly absorbed from my Gramma. When I start a project with someone else in mind, loving thoughts and prayers for well-being are embodied in every stitch, so I end up with a finished piece composed of long bits of yarn and lots of love. I'm watching my kids knit, and I'm hoping maybe I can pass that on to them by encouraging them to make a hat for Head Huggers or similar program. That's another goal for the year :-)

Modern medicine

Every year about this time, I say a prayer of thanks for modern medicine. Particularly for Dr. Matthew M. Weinecke, the pediatric cardiologist whose experienced eye recognized that my weeks-old daughter was very very sick, and for Dr. Lawrence Fox and Dr. Jeffrey Heinle, the pediatric surgeons whose skilled hands performed the open-heart surgery on that tiny heart and saved my baby's life. Were it not for modern advances in diagnosing and repairing congenital heart defects, our family would be very different without our Sunshine.

Today I am again thankful for modern medicine. My mother-in-law is in the hospital with an abscess on her jaw that isn't responding to antibiotics. She's in a lot of pain, and apparently has a lot of swelling. She had a CAT scan earlier this morning to hopefully locate the abscess so they can surgically remove or drain it. The doctor likely won't even see the results until later tonight, so for now we're just waiting. The toughest part for us is that she's three and a half hours away in Oklahoma, and it's hard to worry long distance.

So if you read this, please take a moment to give thanks for the blessing of skilled doctors and for the healing power of prayer.

New identity for an odd room

I'm kind of excited. As creative a soul as I am, dabbling in nearly anything crafty, I've never had a dedicated craft space. Lately I've been using the dining room table, among other places, and consequently our family has eaten many dinners sitting together in the living room, or picnicking on the patio or on the trampoline.

Well... about a week ago, I had a flash of inspiration, and devised a scheme to set aside a corner of our front room JUST for all my crafty cra-- er, stuff. Our house is odd. The front door opens into a room that is, I believe, intended to be a formal living room, but it's fairly small. For seven years, it has functioned as an office/computer room and library (with three large bookcases stuffed to the gills). When older child started middle school, I bought a 6' folding table and added 'homework space' to the room's identity. It then transitioned to 'homeschool'. But then he went back to the middle school...

That folding table came in handy for doing craft fairs, and it's been riding around in the back of my SUV for a month. Now I'm done with craft fairs for the season, so... I'm putting it to new use!

Scratch the homework/homeschool identity for the front room. It shall henceforth be known as the COLC (computer/office/library/CRAFT) room! I am, at this very moment, taking a break from getting my craft stuff organized in my new craft corner. The dining table is almost clear and I'm trying to figure out how to best utilize every precious inch.

I can't wait to have it done so I can sit down and make it messy!

Trapezius injury

I had a very sore neck yesterday. It was weird, because I could think of nothing I'd done that might cause it. I hadn't worked out at all (though I really need to), I hadn't slept oddly (no more oddly than usual, anyway), hadn't tweaked it... nothing.

Being the hyper-cautious person that I now am (damn that accident), I researched possible causes before I went to bed last night, and felt a little better knowing it was nothing serious, just... an unexplained sore neck.

Well... in the wee hours of the morning, I suddenly sat up and went, "Aha! I know what it is!" Are you ready for this?

I listened to "Bohemian Rhapsody" THREE times on Tuesday.

Yeah! I know! I totally earned that sore neck!

For those who have no idea why a song would cause residual muscular pain, particularly in the neck region, you need to log off your computer and go watch Wayne's World on DVD RIGHT NOW. It's okay, I'll wait. (Here's a link to just that particular scene on YouTube)

Hmmmhmmmmhmhmhmmmm....

You back? Okay, now I can proceed with the story...

Bohemian Rhapsody came on the radio as I was taking kiddos to school. Fortunately I got stopped at the light in front of the school as the song got to the head-banging part, but I'm imagining what parents around me thought... "Is that our PTA president rockin' out? Oh wait, sshhh...If you listen, you can hear her singing... And her windows aren't even rolled down."

I was still jamming when I got home, so older child (whose school starts later) asked me what I was singing. Of course I had to pull the song up on Rhapsody and let him hear (his toothbrush sings "We Will Rock You" so he already has an appreciation for Queen). And of course I had to sing along and rock out.

Took him to school, then came home to get to work on laundry, and had Rhapsody (the online music service) playing, which now had Bohemian Rhapsody in my playlist. So when it came on yet AGAIN, I had to stop what I was doing and REALLY rock it (Hey, I was home by myself, so there was no one around to go, "Uh... Is mommy having some sort of seizure?").

I know what you're thinking, and yes, it was worth it.

Alzheimer's sucks beans

My Gramma used to be the best Gramma in the world. When I was a kid, I loved going to her house because she had an enclosed front porch full of old toys and old furniture and lots of cousins to play with. There was almost always something yummy on the stove top or in the oven. She's not Italian by birth, but assimilated herself by marriage as quickly as she could. Holidays at her house included tables spilling into the living room to accommodate 30+ loud and laughing relatives. Her meatballs and braciole--oh, makes me want to reminisce with a Sicilian accent. (Inconthievable!!)(Sorry. *ahem*)

Even as recently as three years ago, we baked cookies and pitzels together in my mom's kitchen, talking about genealogy and great-great-great-great aunts and uncles. She was a wonderful great-Gramma to my kids.

Now, that Gramma is gone. No, she's still alive. She's just a mean, angry, resentful person, her former self eaten away by Alzheimer's and dementia. She lives full-time with my mom, about ten miles away. (You can read more about the accident that seemed to speed up her decline in this post.)

Now, she gripes at my kids for silly stuff (she once barked at younger child to 'Quit dancing! Do you behave like that at home?', threw a fit because older child stood at the counter to nibble some cheese and crackers). She makes up hateful things about me and my older child to tell her caregivers, sometimes even when I'm in the same room! She tells my mom's dog to eat my dog. She squints her eyes and covers her ears with her hands whenever there's a noise she doesn't like (like my voice speaking to my mother). She accuses all of us of stealing her stuff when she can't find something. She especially dislikes my son simply because he's a boy.

We see her every weekend, but it's hard sometimes, especially for my kids, because they don't really remember 'Great-Gramma'. I constantly remind them (and myself) that it's not really her--it's the disease, but that doesn't make visiting any more pleasant. How can we enjoy being with an old woman mean enough to make my teenager cry?

Okay, so what spurred such a depressing post? My mom recently started a blog to catalog the daily struggles and triumphs of my grandmother's Alzheimer's (if you know/remember my grandmother, check out The Butterfly Net). Yesterday I made some custom graphics for the blog, and this morning I found a picture of my grandmother to put up. As I was adjusting the brightness and contrast of the photo and reducing the glare on her glasses in Photoshop, I got to thinking about how she used to be. And it made me sad. It's difficult to hang on to the good memories when our more recent experiences are so...daunting.

In all fairness, I must admit that she's been more mellow in recent weeks. On Thanksgiving day, she didn't gripe even once, not even at my son. It was such a departure from her normal self, that we all noticed and marveled. Let's hope she's still mellow tomorrow...