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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Scared

Kyle is one of the smartest people I know. He is book smart and common sense smart and you can show him how to do something once and he knows how to do it.

Kyle has a good head on his shoulders. He knows how to make things better and he says things to make you feel better. And he can think through a problem or issue and make a really wise decision.

Kyle is my rock. When I am freaking out, he calms me. When I was in the throes of labor with both of my babies he kept me calm. He didn't freak out, so I didn't freak out and I very easily and speedily had them both.

Kyle is my gauge. When he is upset or worried I know that I should be too. Thankfully this doesn't happen often. When one of the kids is sick or scared and I am in a tizzy. He will settle me (and the kid) down so we can regroup.

Kyle is brave. He has had to do some pretty scary, awful things..just because he is the husband/dad/man. But he has done them without a second thought.

Tonight, after watching an Obama commercial, Kyle looked at me and said, "he scares me, I mean he really, really scares me"

Kyle is scared....

...that scares me.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Boys will be Boys

Wonder what it is about boys that makes them think getting hurt or hurting each other is fun??

My boys are at this lovely age where they want to play rough with each other and they think getting hurt is funny until someone gets mad or whatever it is REALLY hurts and then they sit and bawl. It's REAL fun.

Kyle has regaled us all with stories about him and his cousins shooting each other with bb guns..and Kyle is certain he still has one embedded in his leg. Why would people shoot each other with a bb gun for FUN??

The other night we were at Mark's house and one of our friends was there with his older boys. So, there were 4 boys there ranging in age from 16 to 18. Guess what they were running around and doing for fun??? Throwing GOLF BALLS at each other!! GOLF BALLS!!! The one kid had a HUGE lump on his head. The wife told the dad to feel it and the dad's response?? awesome!!

I swear you wouldn't find girls doing this kind of stuff!!

BOYS!! Gotta love 'em!!

Organization

I am feeling the urge to get the house more organized. Of course I do this every few months, get started and then that's as far as I get. Maybe I can stick with it this time. I look around at all the mess and think "I should get so and so to put X in, then it wouldn't look so messy in here all the time." I just have a hard time "finding" the money to purchase so and so.

I am deciding now that I don't need to have super cute bins to organize my shelves and closets. Shipping boxes will do just fine. A nice sturdy box is just as good as a rubbermaid bin, right?? No? well ok, it's not as pretty...but the mess around here isn't very pretty either!! Someday, when my ship comes in, I'll convert all the boxes to bins. Promise.

Next Stop...Branson?

Ok, so the BIG vacation is over and it was a wonderful one. So now, I am thinking about where we should go next. I'm always looking for the next "big" thing to look forward to. I'm pretty sure I have some type of imbalance that makes me that way. But, that's another post for another time!

I have already told my kids that we won't be going back to Disney any time soon. There are so many other places in this good ol' US of A that I want to see..and have them see and experience.

The list of places I would like to go is quite long and expensive. Hopefully I can cross some of them off my lifetime.

The only vacation Kyle ever took with his mom was to Branson. So, I'd kind of like to go there..and relive that for him. Well, scratch that..I just said something to him about it and it wasn't Branson--it was Wisconsin Dells. Oh well, that's close right?? No matter--I'd like to go there anyway.

I was checking out a vacation site (this is what I do while I watch tv. If I only watch tv..I get so antsy--I have to be doing something else...wonder what THAT means??) and it seems to be kinda like a Gatlinburg-ish area. Lodging ranging from hotels, to resorts, to condos. Shows ranging from Variety, to music, to acrobats. Attractions ranging from museums, to rides to caves and caverns! Definitely something for everyone.

Yes, I think I will definitely be adding Branson to "the list".

Joe Biden's Gift

**read this in my local Newspaper--just wanted to share--copied from www.calthomas.com **

JOE BIDEN’S GIFT
By Cal Thomas
Tribune Media Services

Just like that, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden has given voters the single reason why they should not elect Barack Obama president of the United States.

In rambling remarks (does he ever make any other kind?) in Seattle, Biden guaranteed, like Babe Ruth calling his home run shot, that if Obama is elected president there will be an international incident to “test him” less than six months after his inauguration. Biden made no such assertion about a testing of John McCain should he be elected. Perhaps that is because McCain has already been tested … and he passed.

Behind the public’s swoon over Obama is the gnawing doubt that we are about to elect the wrong man; an inexperienced man who is more fluff than substance, more personality than resume, more idealist than realist. Obama, himself, said he lacked experience and was not ready to run on a national ticket shortly after his election to the United States Senate just four years ago.

And from where, exactly, will this test come? Biden mentioned the Middle East and Russia as possible administrators of such a test. Might Iran’s Ahmadinejad test Obama by following through on his repeated threat to wipe outIsrael? Would terrorists living in this country get a signal to blow up shopping malls and government buildings?

Two historic events offer instruction about what happens when foreign leaders believe an American president might not have the backbone or judgment for the job. Nikita Khrushchev twice tested John F. Kennedy after meeting him in Vienna in 1961. Khrushchev believed Kennedy was out of his league and that his youth and inexperience on the national stage made him and the United States vulnerable. So Khrushchev approved plans proposed by East German leader Walter Ulbricht to build the Berlin Wall and nearly caused a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Biden referred to Kennedy and Khrushchev in his Seattle remarks.

The other teachable moment came on Jan. 20, 1981, when Ronald Reagan took the oath of office and Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini immediately released 52 American diplomats held hostage for 444 days. Khomeini likely believed some American press accounts that Reagan was a “cowboy” and might bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, if that were possible, since the religious fanatics had already taken the country there.

Why shouldn’t a President Obama be tested by the world’s tyrants and wouldn’t it be better if they feared a President McCain and decided not to put him to the test? Not having a president tested in this way would benefit America, the fragile economy and world order.

Biden said something else that was bizarre. He said that it could appear in response to such a testing that Obama responds in the wrong way, but he appealed to the crowd to stick with he and Obama because even though the decision might appear wrong, it will actually be right. What kind of logic is this? The “messiah” can make no mistakes, because he is anointed, so even if a decision appears to be the wrong one and disaster occurs, let not your heart be troubled. It will actually be the right decision and to say otherwise makes it our problem and not his because of our lack of faith in Obama.

This is beyond hubris. This is cult-like devotion and dangerous. No politician enjoys angelic status and anyone who beatifies one in this way is setting himself up for more than disappointment.

What will John McCain do with this gift he has been given? At first, he dropped it. Instead of tagging Biden with the quote, he said that Obama had said it. He’s recovered from his own gaffe and he should now pound away on Biden’s statement, which is not a gaffe at all, but one of those rare moments in politics: a statement that reveals what a politician actually believes.

“Mark my words,” said Biden to emphasize that this self-proclaimed (and Obama proclaimed) expert on foreign policy knows what he is talking about. So let’s mark them and take them seriously and decide whether electing Barack Obama guarantees another international incident — perhaps a second terrorist attack on our homeland, which has not happened since 9/11 and for which the Left will never give President Bush credit.

Worship should be reserved for Sunday mornings, not Election Day.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Abby

It was on the Tuesday of the week that power was out ALL WEEK. My mom went across the street (they had power) to use the microwave. On her way back, Abby started barking at the door and Tony let her out..she made a beeline for my mom and ran right across the street as a truck was driving down. The first tires missed her, but the 2nd ones struck her.

I was sitting on my couch and I heard my brother yelling in the driveway, "TRICIA, come quick, Abby got hit. Bring a towel" My mind was racing. Dylan was standing there in undies only so I had to get him clothes on and get out the door. It was like I wasn't sure what to do..just let him go out "naked" or dress him or what. It felt like it was taking me FOREVER to get out the door. Finally, I grabbed a towel and ran down the street, mom and the neighbors were just standing in the middle of the street and there was little precious Abby. I walked over to her and I asked someone if she was dead and they said yes. I started crying and hugged my mom and my mom was bawling!! I just hugged her tight and moved her away and handed the towel to someone behind me. Mom then said, "come on we have to go to the vet" and I told her that it was too late, that Abby was dead. And mom was saying that she wasn't sure and she didn't know and maybe she was just in a coma. I just had to keep telling her that Abby was dead. Mom then took her (abby was wrapped in a towel) and walked over to the porch steps and sat down and just sobbed. It was SO sad. she kept rocking the towel/abby and saying, "how will I live without this little girl?"

Abby was 13 years old and weighed 3.5 lbs, she was a little yorkie and was my mom's life. It was SO SO sad. After she calmed down a bit we went to KMART and bought a tub to bury her in. Kyle came after work and we buried her in the backyard. We all said something nice about her...and cried and then Dylan prayed. "Jesus, please make Abby come back to life--I know you can do it--it's true!" Talk about a tear jerker!!! So, we buried her and decorated the "plot" with some pretty rocks, etc.

It's been over a month now and I am hoping mom will get a new dog soon. I think it would help her a lot. She says she keeps "seeing" Abby out of the corner of her eye and she misses her so much. :( I really think getting another dog would give her something else to focus on and another little buddy to take on car rides, etc.

My mom

Around the time Abby died, my mom started acting a little strange..just very slightly. She seemed more tired, like her thoughts were slow, etc. AS the weeks passed she got progressively worse. To the point that she couldn't keep a conversation, she couldn't pick up her feet to walk--she shuffled, she couldn't bring a drink to her mouth without her hand and mouth shaking really bad. At first I thought it was depression, but as she got worse we took her to the dr. Her dr. said he thought she was ok, thought she was under stress, he did change some of her meds to help her deal with some severe cramping she was having in her legs.

So, life went on...the change in meds did help her leg cramps but nothing else changed. In fact she got worse. I told her releatedly that I was going to take her to the ER. She refused. She said she would go to the dr. again.

The day we left to go to TN she drove the car and almost got in a wreck 3 times! She called and said she couldn't take care of herself. She called the dr. an had an appt to get in the next day. Off we went to TN to deal with Kyle's sick mom, all the while I was SO concerned about mine!!

She went to the dr. as promised on Tuesday and he told him that something had to be done that she couldn't function and again relayed all her symptoms to him. He told her that they were nothing to be concerned about and to go out and walk to strengthen her legs. When she told me this, I was SO upset. I told her to just hang on and I would take her to the ER when I got home the next night.

I started thinking back to what else happened around the time Abby died and I remembered that her psychiatrist upped one of her meds. This particular medicine can accumulate in your blood and become toxic--which I found out when I researched it. The more I read the more I thought that HAD to be the problem.

We got home that night about 8. I immediately called mom and she and my sister came to pick me up. The hospital took SUCH good care of her. they tested EVERYTHING and really put her at ease. When it all came down to it. Dr. Tricia was right! The levels of that med were at a toxic level!! They told her to reduce it to half and sent us on our way.

The next day the psychiatrist took her OFF that med and told her to spend the weeks resting. She has now been off of it for 8 days and is doing MUCH better. It's really amazing. I am so glad it was an easy fix.

She is starting to be depressed and very sad and is anxiously awaiting the ok to start a new med. It should be in the next week or so.

I'll be very glad to have a mom who is 100% soon!!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Sixth

I have seen this in my list of blogs a few times, so I decided to play too.

You open your pictures and pick the sixth picture out of the sixth folder and post it. You should play too!! If you read this..consider yourself "tagged".

Now, off to look and see what my 6/6 is....

ROFL how BORING. This is a picture of the trees outside of my inlaws house. Kyle had cut a bunch of the overgrowth back..and took pictures of it. BORING!!!
..

Monday, October 20, 2008

update on Kyle's mom

When I last posted I said that K's mom was in the hospital. She was doing ok but her gallbladder HAD to be removed. They have known it was diseased for awhile, but she was considered very high risk so she couldn't find a surgeon to do it. They had actually told her at one time that her chances of dying were like 1 in 2!! However, that was while she had blood clots in her lungs and legs.

About a week before this episode she had been told that the clots were gone. Therefore the risk was less and they had no option any longer. The gallbladder was no longer functioning and they were starting to fear gangrene! BLECK! So, it was scheduled for Tuesday morning. She asked if she was still high risk and the dr. told her yes and it really freaked her out.

She really wanted her kids with her and of course that responsibility fell to K. No matter that he is the only one with a job. But that's a story for another time. So, I threw some things in a bag, we went and picked up our new truck (more on that later) and hit the road.

We arrived at MIL's house at 3 am and had to be at the hospital at 8 the next morning. Needless to say we were really tired! We were able to see her for a few minutes before she went in. She looked SO bad and sounded so weak. I was kinda worried. K was confident everything would be just fine.

The surgery was quick and she was back in her room before we knew it...and when we talked to her she was so proud that she survived the surgery and was still alive. LOL We left to let her rest and she called the house several hours later when she woke up. I answered the phone and she sounded better than she had in months and months. We went back to see her that evening and then again the next morning. We were very encouraged to see how well she was doing. She told us that the dr. said a healthy gallbladder is about the size of a robin's egg and is light blue. Hers was the size of an EGGPLANT and PURPLE!

We left Wed morning to head back home. It was a a very quick trip.

Then, when I got back home. I immediately took my mom to the emergency room. (more on that later)

I am happy to say that Peggy is now home from the hospital and is doing very well. She feels better than she has in a long time. Kyle's aunt took a leave from work to go down and be with her to hopefully get her well. She really needs someone there to "mother" her and make sure she is eating and walking around etc. I really think she is going to be ok. It's been a LONG road but hopefully this is the turn around!!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

YOWZA!!

One month and no new blog posts!! I should be ashamed!! and I am...I yam!!

It's been a full month...

On Sept 14th we had a HUGE windstorm blow through the area...it was due to remnants of Hurricane Ike. In case you didn't know...Dayton, Ohio doesn't get many hurricanes blowing through here...so it was a pretty exciting storm!!! We stood outside and just felt the wind BLOW. We walked over to the park so we could feel the wind without anything blocking it and man was it FIERCE! But..we really enjoyed it. Like I said, we don't get wind like this..unless it has a tornado along with it. Due to all that "excitement" we lost power. For SEVEN DAYS!! It was not a fun time. Food in the fridge and freezer lost, food in the deep freeze lost, laundry in the washer soured, food scraps in the garbage disposal un-disposed of. It was bad. Thank God we had hot water...so we were able to shower and wash dishes (by hand--hadn't done THAT in about 10 years!!), we also have a grill so we grilled dinner out a couple nights and played a lot of charades and had some nice family and couple time. There were parts of it that were fun. The fact that I was getting ready to go on vacation and needed to do a mountain of laundry was not fun though! $30 later and a trip to the laundromat and we had clean clothes to pack for our week of bliss.

Let me back up for a minute and say that while all this power outage stuff was going on my mom's dog got hit by a car and was killed. (more on that later) So, we had to deal with that.

On Friday we managed to get packed and on our way to a week of fun with Mickey and the gang!!

I was SO stressed thought from everything else, I had a hard time being excited (on Friday). then when we got to the airport we were a little confused as to where to go, and then at the hotel we were trying to get food..and there is a food court and it was PACKED with people and UGH--I was so frustrated. I wanted to sit down and cry and go home. LOL I am THRILLED to say that once we got in our room and settled down and had a good nights sleep that I was beyond thrilled to be there and enjoyed it so much. It was just what we needed and every one of us just loved it!!

Since we got back from vacation, we have just been getting back into the swing of things..or trying to.

Kyle's mom is in the hopsital again..so now we are dealing with that!

Never a dull moment!!