Happy Birthday, Mom!

Okay, my Mom has no idea I even have a blog. But I have to say Happy Birthday to her anyway. Today she turned 59. Wow. Next year will be the big one.

We celebrated by eating dinner at Fuente's. Yummy. Mexican food. Muy bueno! J was kind of a turd but I think he was just real hungry. C was actually on pretty decent behavior. It wasn't a horrific experience. (For those that don't know me real well, I *don't* eat out with my children. I don't like drawing attention to myself. J rolling around on the disgusting restaurant floor is one of those things that draws looks. I don't like that. I used to give those looks. Is karma spelled with a "k?")

Back to Mom. What a great Mom. She is the best. She loves me and she loves my kids. She's an awesome cook. She raised us to love God first, family second and others third. She can be goofy and silly. And she's the only one who is allowed to call me by my full legal name.

Did I mention she's the best?

I love you, Mom.

Does Everything Have to Match?

This is something I need to get over. Especially living in a house full of boys. Do sippy cup lid colors need to match the color of the cups? In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter. So why does it bother me so much? Do pajama bottoms need to match the tops? If they fit, does it really matter? I should be grateful that I am getting the help around the house and I'm not raising these boys on my own. Why do these little things annoy me so much? I'm sorry, but Nemo pajama tops don't go with Buzz Lightyear pajama bottoms. It irks me. It's me. However, kudos to my sweet husband for the help. I can't complain for that. I just can't help but wonder if my stay in the loony bin will be long and if my therapist will understand that the lid didn't match the cup.

Where Have I Been?

I don't know. Experiencing life I guess. Trying to raise my kids. Trying to keep those Dum-Dum sticks out of my oldest son's ear. Yes, you read right. He stuck it in his ear. Then he fell on it. That poked a hole in his eardrum. A "significant" hole. What's next? Wait - - don't answer that. Time should heal his ear. We hope. He's certainly not a candidate for the post op part of surgery. He couldn't handle five minutes worth of an ear test. What makes anyone think they can put drops and shove cotton in his ear for weeks at a time? Not me. Right now I'm doing my best to keep water out of his ear to avoid infection. Ugh... Little boys. I'd like to avoid the ENT doctor in the future anyway. She doesn't exactly read "kid friendly" if you know what I mean. Did she really think that a nearly three year old that had ruptured his eardrum with a sucker stick was going to come into her office and sit quietly in her lobby and then even more quietly in the exam chair and wait patiently for an hour where there is absolutely nothing for a child to do and wait for a doctor to show up late for an appointment? That, my friend is a fantasy world. This isn't my pretty, princess all dressed up in lace daughter whose little ear might be infected from her new earring. (I don't have one of these precious little daughters but I'm assuming this is the type of patient she was looking for.) This is my rough and tumble, all go, no quit, smelly, loud, dressed in camo, almost three year old. Hear him roar. So -- get us in and out on time. Enough said??????

Busy, busy, busy

I'm busy getting ready for my retreat this weekend.

I'm sleepy. Goodnight.

I knew better...

As mommeyof2 asked me, "What, did you dye your hair blonde or something?" No, but I might as well have. I did something yesterday that I totally know better than to do. I was so proud of myself for actually cleaning house while the boys were at Mom's Day Out. I sprayed Clorox Bathroom Cleaner with Teflon in the shower and then went to work cleaning off the counter and cleaning out my closet. I went to pick up the boys and got home and thought that the floor of the shower still looked bad (I hadn't wiped it down yet.) I thought I'd add a little umph to it with some Clorox Clean-Up. Where was my head? I mixed cleaners. I *so* know better than that. I would take a deep breath, scrub, then take another deep breath. It smelled horrible, which should have been a hint and a half that it was not so good for me. (Are my biology friends shaking their heads yet?) First of all, my shower should have *never, never, never* needed that kind of a cleaning. That's shameful. Secondly, you'd think that I would listen to warnings.

I coughed all night. Then today, as the day progressed, I started feeling worse and worse. I was convinced that I was coming down with bronchitis. I took Cameron to the doctor today for his bronchitis and mentioned it to Dr. P's nurse. She said that if it's not better tomorrow, I might want to check with my doctor. Well, tomorrow is Saturday. So, I made a quick call to my doctor to just "check in." He wanted me to come in for a chest x-ray. Holy crap! A chest x-ray? All I could think of were my lungs and throat being eaten away by acid. I scrambled quickly (for the second time this week) and went to the clinic. The chest x-rays were clear but he said that didn't mean I didn't have some complications from the cleaning fluids. He gave me a prescription for an albuterol inhaler and sent me on my merry way. Man I feel stupid. My ignorance yesterday cost me $20 for the co-pay and $10 for the meds. Now we are trying to figure out if the culprit on the wicked bad indigestion is the Topamax or the toxic fumes I breathed in yesterday. If I could kick my own butt right now, I would. Big Dummy!

Dang, I used to be smarter than this. Did the kids do this to my brain cells or the husband? Maybe a combination of both?

By the way - - my bathroom sparkles! At least I've got something to show for my ignorance.

Migraine Help On the Way?

For those of you that know me well, you know that I've suffered from migraine headaches for about 13 years. (Not 13 years straight. Off and on. 13 years straight and I'd have to be in a "straight" jacket!) Recently, I've started having trouble with my vision and my regular doctor referred me to a neurologist. I couldn't get in until a week from today. (This was several weeks ago.) I got a call from my neurologist on Wednesday saying that they had a cancellation, could I be there in 45 minutes. After a quick call to Mom and a speed shower, I went to the clinic.

I *loved* the doctor! I waited maybe five minutes in the waiting room, and five minutes in the examining room after the nurse left. Then he spent about 30 minutes with me. He was incredible. I didn’t feel like a crazy person. (Most doctors look at me like I’m a nut job when I mention the word migraine. I think the ones that do have never had one and totally don’t get it.) Anyway, he did a neurological exam and I guess I checked out fine.

Then we discussed treatment options. Wow! I have to say that this area of medicine has really changed. Before, I was told that I couldn’t take Imitrex because of my “reaction.” I described it to him and he said that it was absolutely normal and that when regular doctors prescribe it, they don’t explain (and probably don’t understand) what the medicine will do within 15 seconds of taking the injection. To make a long story short, it worked for me before and I get to use them again. Hooray! Then we discussed prevention. There are three primary medications they use for prevention. I’ve tried two of them and now it’s on to the third. The first two are blood pressure medications and antidepressants. The antidepressant I took made me a complete zombie and I vowed never to put that poison in my body again. He said they have better meds for that now but I liked the sound of the third option the best. It’s called Topamax and is an anti-seizure medication that is used in lower doses for migraine prevention. I have to work my way up to the full dose over three weeks. I’m a little more groggy today than normal but it’s not unbearable. There are a few side effects, two of which I’m noticing after just one dose. One is that soft drinks all taste flat. Strange, huh? I’m going to miss them, but it’s definitely worth the sacrifice. Another is loss of appetite and the craving of sweet things. Well, after two doses, I can say without hesitation that the loss of appetite is due to *everything under the sun* giving me indigestion. The doctor said I’ll probably lose 10 – 12 pounds the first month on the medication. Can’t complain there. He also said I might have some trouble remembering dates, phone numbers and just trivial stuff. I told him that’s what my Palm Pilot was for!

We’ll see. I’m hoping for the best. He said that most migraines are brought on by “holiday stress.” Basically, a change in your routine. So if I sleep late on Saturday, take a nap on Sunday, go on a long weekend or those kind of things it can trigger a headache. The last thing he told me that I found quite interesting was that migraines tend to change every ten years. I told him about my visual problems and he said that those were a “precursor” to a pending headache. Hopefully that will stop now. I also suffer from hand tremors (like my dad and brother have and my grandmother had.) This medication is supposed to help with that.

I’m sure this is *more* than you could ever have wanted to know. But if you’ve got a friend who has trouble with these, you can pass the word along.

I'm Officially A "Real Mommy"

I went to church tonight, went by the pharmacy to pick up some medicine and then came home. I was greeted at the door with a "guess what Justin did tonight." My walls. My beautifully, recently painted (with color I might add) walls. There are now great big black circles on my walls. David had just bathed Justin and was working on Cameron. The bathtub crayons were up high but must have fallen down. Justin retrieved the black one and the living room wall was his canvas. I figure that once you've had your walls colored on, you're an official Mommy! I'm official.

Brain Spasms...

Some of you know that I had my nails put back on. My cuticles looked terrible and with the artificial nails, I can't dig at them. (Did I justify it yet?)

Anyway, I went to get a "fill" today. I went back to my usual place. These guys are ultra competitive with each other. When they haven't seen you in a while, they want to know where you've been going. I usually lie and tell them I had to go somewhere out of town. I know, that's horrible. So much for honesty is the best policy. But they just seem to feed on the "bad job" the other place did. I don't go for that. I just agree that this place is better, but I had no choice. Am I bad to lie about something so petty?

The guy I had today is the guy I usually get there. He's great. He tries to talk to me, but I can rarely understand a word he says. Only today when he wasn't talking, he was smacking his gum. I mean smacking. He had a full-blown, cow chewing his cud, toddler learning to chew smack. SMACK. He even had his little "doctor's mask" on and I could see that jaw muscle working like a freight train. And I could still hear it. You know how I feel about this. Many times, it crossed my mind to say to him, "You really like that gum, don't you?" I nearly had a nervous breakdown. He's lucky he's good at nails and I needed them done.

I think I need therapy.

Ahhhhh....rain!

If you live in Seattle, a day like today would be just another day. Me - - I don't think I'd ever suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I could deal with the rain every day. Perhaps that comes from living in a part of Texas where there has been *no* rain all summer. We have had a good, steady rain all day long. Complete with thunder, too. It's been awesome. I have loved it.

After lunch, I sat down with my book, "The Big Picture. " I am teaching a class on Tuesday night and I wanted to refresh myself. (It's not as much a class as it is a club. We are going to work through the book together.) I stay amazed at her line of thinking. She really simplifies things for you, if you'll let her. I am seriously considering converting to her style of doing albums. Actually, I think I've been doing them similarly for quite some time, I just couldn't figure out how to present them. I quit trying to scrap chronologically for J since he was about 3 months old. (He's about to turn 3 years old.) Stacy, the author, to me is a genius and really - - my new hero.

I read on Stacy's blog the other day that she and her hubby just found out that they are going to adopt a little girl (I think from Korea.) How exciting for them. I think she has four boys, plus her hubby. Talk about a Princess! She will be so pampered. Hmmmmm.... That kind of makes me think a little. How would I do with a girl? What would I do with a girl? I don't know how to do hair!!!!

I better call it a day. I'm rambling. Everyone is in bed but me. This would be about two hours early for me. I think I could use the rest. If anything, I might lay in bed with my mp3 player and watch the lightening. Oooooohhhhh. That sounds good.

Signing off.....

A New Guilty Obsession

Okay, I have a new favorite (and quite off-color I might add) favorite show. It's The Chelsea Handler Show. It comes on E! and is so hilarious. Word of warning though, it is beyond offensive and crude. She's downright nasty. But I *love* it!! Nobody is spared. It brings out that obnoxious laugh I have. You know the loud, annoying, did that just come out of me kind of laugh. New episodes air on Friday nights. Have you seen it?

Very Fond Childhood Memory

How many of you out there remember having a cassette walkman that would record voices? How many of you out there tried to use that little recorder to record your favorite song off of the radio? You know, you called in to the radio station about 8,000 times during their "request hour" and each time you changed your voice a little so that they wouldn't be "on to you." They knew we wanted it, and they knew why. We didn't have the money to buy the record or 8-track of the actual album. So we counted on it being played on the radio. The trouble with that method (one of the few troubles) was that the DJ *always* kept talking during the intro of the song. You're at home with your finger positioned just so on that red record button, waiting for the DJ to shut up and just play the freaking song. And God forbid your little sister came running in the room when you finally were getting a good song, in it's entirity. It was then she came in singing the smurfs song or something completely gay like that.

Does anymore remember having to make your cassette tapes that way? What songs were you recording then? Some of my faves were:

1. Freeze-Frame
2. Centerfold
3. The Tide is High
4. Eye of the Tiger (hubby's fave)
5. Islands in the Stream
6. Keep on Lovin' You

Wow, good times. We also recorded some pretty silly stuff too. Man, I loved my childhood. I had a blast!