How was that for passive aggressive?
If anyone is interested, I have started a Cafepress store with my photos and some of my quotes. Click over on the side bar where it says Buy My Photography. If you aren't interested, carry on, you are welcome here always. No pressure.
Happy Turkey Day!!!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
SPH: Time
This post is a little early because I am afraid that in the midst of travel and being in NM with family, I will forget to post it.
My MIL's Grandfather Clock
Monday, November 20, 2006
In absence
For anyone who has happened to notice, I have been MIA for about a week. It was one of the most draining weeks I have had in a long time. It was both exhausting and wonderful. I went to Austin to take care of my grandmother who fell about a month ago and broke her hip. I also took my 10 month old. Here is the week in short order.
Monday: drive to Austin early am, arrive, begin process of taking care of two beings who are completely dependent on me.
Tuesday: Drive to Walgreens to pick up meds for G'ma. Car breaks down. Call hubby crying. Call G'ma to let her know where I am. Call G'ma's auto shop to have them give me and my 10 month old a ride back to G'mas. Make inventory of G'mas house so she can start deciding who gets what.
Wednesday: 5:30 am, G'ma falls again and scares the living day lights out of me. Still no car. Call hubby crying. Convince him to come to Austin before I lose it completely.
Thursday: Continue taking care of two, take G'ma to doc to make sure she didn't rebreak anything.
Friday: Try to function with no sleep for the last 4 days. Try frantically to get G'ma into an assisted living place until my Mother can get to Austin or find her a 24 hour home nurse. Arrange to be taken to Pick up car, pay $300, drive back to G'mas while on phone with home health care places.
etc. etc. It was great getting to spend this time with my grandmother and I am glad I went despite how difficult the week was. I got home Saturday evening and have slept like the dead since. We fly to NM tomorrow to see my sister and Mom for the holiday and will be back on Tuesday. And then it is Dec. and anniversaries and birthdays and Hanukkah and Christmas and then OMGoodness, my baby turns One. Crap on a stick.
So that is where I have been, where I am going and wher my brain is. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots of Turkey and family blessings and little dysfunction and family drama.
Monday: drive to Austin early am, arrive, begin process of taking care of two beings who are completely dependent on me.
Tuesday: Drive to Walgreens to pick up meds for G'ma. Car breaks down. Call hubby crying. Call G'ma to let her know where I am. Call G'ma's auto shop to have them give me and my 10 month old a ride back to G'mas. Make inventory of G'mas house so she can start deciding who gets what.
Wednesday: 5:30 am, G'ma falls again and scares the living day lights out of me. Still no car. Call hubby crying. Convince him to come to Austin before I lose it completely.
Thursday: Continue taking care of two, take G'ma to doc to make sure she didn't rebreak anything.
Friday: Try to function with no sleep for the last 4 days. Try frantically to get G'ma into an assisted living place until my Mother can get to Austin or find her a 24 hour home nurse. Arrange to be taken to Pick up car, pay $300, drive back to G'mas while on phone with home health care places.
etc. etc. It was great getting to spend this time with my grandmother and I am glad I went despite how difficult the week was. I got home Saturday evening and have slept like the dead since. We fly to NM tomorrow to see my sister and Mom for the holiday and will be back on Tuesday. And then it is Dec. and anniversaries and birthdays and Hanukkah and Christmas and then OMGoodness, my baby turns One. Crap on a stick.
So that is where I have been, where I am going and wher my brain is. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots of Turkey and family blessings and little dysfunction and family drama.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
New Blogger
Has anyone switched to the new Blogger version? Is it easy to switch? Does it mess anything up? Tell me, tell me, huh, huh, huh?
Friday, November 10, 2006
May we always remember...
This was sent to me by a friend that is currently in Iraq.
This was written by a United States Marine who is currently deployed to Iraq, in reply to a recent comment made by Senator John Kerry.
Pass it along, it might inspire someone else to speak up!
"Yesterday John Kerry said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq...
So I wrote him a letter:I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few.
You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you. I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve you just as faithfully. I serve America, Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My role is a simple one, but important.
You see Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn't take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and its going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can't treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like its taking too long.
Senator Kerry, you don't have to agree with this war. You don't have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please, Senator Kerry, if you're going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don't tell me that I misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you are one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me.
My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can't read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it's because you didn't communicate clearly.
Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it's always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.
Sincerely,
Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.
To all the veterans who have served, who are serving and who will serve, I thank you for the freedom to say what I want, pray what I want, and blog what I want. God Bless You All!
This was written by a United States Marine who is currently deployed to Iraq, in reply to a recent comment made by Senator John Kerry.
Pass it along, it might inspire someone else to speak up!
"Yesterday John Kerry said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq...
So I wrote him a letter:I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few.
You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you. I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve you just as faithfully. I serve America, Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My role is a simple one, but important.
You see Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn't take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and its going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can't treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like its taking too long.
Senator Kerry, you don't have to agree with this war. You don't have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please, Senator Kerry, if you're going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don't tell me that I misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you are one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me.
My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can't read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it's because you didn't communicate clearly.
Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it's always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.
Sincerely,
Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.
To all the veterans who have served, who are serving and who will serve, I thank you for the freedom to say what I want, pray what I want, and blog what I want. God Bless You All!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Look Ma' no Helmet and Shellfish you are dead to me
Look Ma, No Helmet!!!
Behold the beautiful round head!
I am so glad to be done with that helmet. The doc said, "put it on the mantle, you're done!" Music to my ears! She has only hit her head once so far (you can see it in this photo) and she didn't even cry. That will change soon I am sure.
Shellfish...you are dead to me...
In September when we went to Austin to visit my sister and grandma, we ate at this restaurant that we have eaten at for years. They have really cheap peel and eat shrimp, and me, I loves me some scrimps. A couple hours later I started itching really badly on my stomach and my armpits and around my bra-line. We had left the window open while we were gone, so I thought maybe some no-see-em's (biting bugs) had gotten in and attacked me. I am very sweet (oh, you shushums) and I get bit everywhere I go by anything that can bite. I got bit at the butterfly exhibit at the museum, proof in point. Anyways, I took a shower and that seemed to help, and put on some Aveeno lotion and went to bed and the next day I was fine, so I didn't think any more of it. A month ago, I was back in Austin when my grandmother fell and broke her hip. Mom and I went and ate at the same place once again and had peel and eat shrimp once again. A couple of hours later and I am broken out in hives on my stomach, back, inner thighs, all around my chest and bra line and my neck. I also was having trouble breathing and was without my inhaler. I took a bath and I finally managed to scrounge up some Bena*dryl cream and some Bena&dryl caps and took them, but this reaction lasted a lot longer. When my Mom came home, she broke the bad news to me, it seemed I probably had an allergy to shellfish. What the???
So this morning I went to the doc and he said they could send me to the allergist to get tested to make sure, but it sounded like I was in fact allergic to shellfish and should avoid it altogether. I would go to the allergist just to make sure it wasn't just something in that one restaurants shrimp (I know, wishful thinking), but my insurance won't cover it and I'm not paying out of pocket for them to tell me what I know deep down already. Doc wrote me a Rx for an Epi Pen (sp?) and told me to stay away from all shellfish.
Goodbye scrimps that I love so much. Goodbye yearly crawfish boil with friends. Goodbye, lobstra, my dear friend. And goodbye soft shell, hard shell, all shell crab, my dears I will miss you so. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....
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And now for the not so funny. I have been praying my little heart out for two fellow bloggers that are going through horrific times in their lives and my heart is breaking for them. Both of these links are very, very sad, so read at your own risk.
Charming B. and her husband it seems have lost the battle to save their son. It is hard to tell from her latest post, but the situation was not looking good. I cannot begin to fathom their pain and grief. I cannot imagine how they will handle that pain, but I know they will, for they are strong, beyond what I could hope to be. I pray for peace and strength and hope for them in the days, months, years to come as they grieve the loss of this precious life.
This couple, I found just a couple of days ago through BusyMom (she can be found over there on the right). It seems the wife came down with some sort of sickness the week of Halloween and this week they are struggling to keep her alive. They aren't sure what the root problem is, but they are struggling to figure it out. They are so young and have two children. Another experience that makes me hold my family close and remember the things that really, really matter.
Pray for both these families this week and hold those dear to you close and tell them that you love them, for tomorrow brings things we do not know.
Monday, November 06, 2006
The Entertaining of the Un-entertainable and Longing
The is the blog tale of two halfs.
Seriously people, I am running out of things to possibly do with a pre-toddler. I say pre-toddler, because I refuse to acknowledge anything other than that. What do you people do with a toddler-like being? There are only so many games of peek-a-boo from behind the couch she will stay interested in. And also, my child cannot physically sit still. Without going into details, last week she had a raging diaper rash and everything I read to make it better said to leave them out of a diaper for as long as possible. Who can let their kid roam around without a diaper? Not me, as she is mobile every minute of every single hour of every single day. The child roams in her sleep. It's not that I am opposed to having to clean up an accident (ok, yes I am, but I would have done it if it had helped), but she would have peed all over the house. And if I wanted that kind of mess, I would have gotten a puppy not a kid.
Most days when I can no longer entertain her, we get in the car and go somewhere, but this generally leads us to a store, and as we all know, store=spending money=Broke, with a capital B-R-O-K-E, which = mad husband=mad me and so on and so forth, vicious cycle.
So, tell me what in the world do I do with a non-toddler. Keep in mind that I also have to work 5 hours a day, 4 days a week and 3 out of those 4 hours are worked during her nap time, so we can't stray too far from the house for very long.
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In other news, like there is other news besides the Boo Bear, I have been feeling...lackluster and longing, lately. (pretend there is a great segway here) We don't watch much TV in this house anymore because we don't let Boo Bear watch it. We only turn the TV on after she has gone to bed and we are done with dinner. I used to be a CSI fan, but lately they have gotten too gruesome and graphic for me, so I have stopped watching. I watch three shows on a regular basis, Gilmore Girls, Men In Trees and the UFC with hubby. That's it. Last week GG was a re-run, Men In Trees wasn't even on and we weren't home on Thursday night for UFC. I found myself longing for the days when I enjoyed TV. I found myself surfing channels hoping to find something that I would enjoy to the level that I used to enjoy it.
I know deep down that this longing has nothing to do with TV and everything to do with the fact that I am in one of life's ruts. Don't get me wrong, I love my life in the general, broad sense of things, but I am looking for something new, something exciting, something different right now. I know to leave well enough alone because I have lived long enough to know that you don't mess with those things and if you wait long enough, new, exciting and different find you on their own and sometimes, usually, it's not really quite what you had in mind anyways.
Hubby and I are both at points where our jobs are lacking the excitement and fulfillment they used to. I still love my job, but I love the job of being a Mom more and I'm tired of feeling like I am only putting 10% into each one of those. I am starting to think forward to having another child and if I thought the pressure of the holidays coming on our budget was killing me, the thought of having another child almost breaks me. Having another child without insurance. Having another child and living on one income so I can stay home with them. Having another child, the knowledge that I may never get a vacation with my husband again, all the while knowing that vacationing as we did BK (before kids) will never be the same anyways as it is. Like I said, I'm waiting for that next big change in our lives, and when it comes, I will shoo it away as it is not what I was expecting.
Also coming up is Thanksgiving. This statement is foreboding to many of us in and of itself, but for me, well, it brings with it a certain "doom" for lack of a better word. Every year for the past 3 years, we have done or had to do something major that has cost us lots and lots of money. 3 years ago we got married, 2 years ago we bought a house and last year we bought a car. The first one we chose, the other two were kind of chosen for us by circumstances. Imagine my delight when I tried to start my car on Saturday and it wouldn't start? Can you imagine, really go ahead and try. To my utter delight, hubby called and the auto shop said this: "It started right up for us and we've been driving it all day." Fabulous! Glad that my car has taken a dislike to me and that they enjoy using up my precious gas. So I am waiting for the Thanksgiving shoe to drop and hoping that this year, it will be minor. Actually, technically, we do have that shoe already as we are flying to NM to visit my Mom and Sister this year, so we have spent some money, although not the chunk we have spent in previous years and I am sure that I will be spent after flying with a non-toddler for the first time and spending 5 days away from home. Ahh... the holidays. I know there are people out there that love this time of year, but I just can't seem to figure out what is wrong with them.
Maybe I need to read a good book. Any suggestions?
Seriously people, I am running out of things to possibly do with a pre-toddler. I say pre-toddler, because I refuse to acknowledge anything other than that. What do you people do with a toddler-like being? There are only so many games of peek-a-boo from behind the couch she will stay interested in. And also, my child cannot physically sit still. Without going into details, last week she had a raging diaper rash and everything I read to make it better said to leave them out of a diaper for as long as possible. Who can let their kid roam around without a diaper? Not me, as she is mobile every minute of every single hour of every single day. The child roams in her sleep. It's not that I am opposed to having to clean up an accident (ok, yes I am, but I would have done it if it had helped), but she would have peed all over the house. And if I wanted that kind of mess, I would have gotten a puppy not a kid.
Most days when I can no longer entertain her, we get in the car and go somewhere, but this generally leads us to a store, and as we all know, store=spending money=Broke, with a capital B-R-O-K-E, which = mad husband=mad me and so on and so forth, vicious cycle.
So, tell me what in the world do I do with a non-toddler. Keep in mind that I also have to work 5 hours a day, 4 days a week and 3 out of those 4 hours are worked during her nap time, so we can't stray too far from the house for very long.
*****************************************
In other news, like there is other news besides the Boo Bear, I have been feeling...lackluster and longing, lately. (pretend there is a great segway here) We don't watch much TV in this house anymore because we don't let Boo Bear watch it. We only turn the TV on after she has gone to bed and we are done with dinner. I used to be a CSI fan, but lately they have gotten too gruesome and graphic for me, so I have stopped watching. I watch three shows on a regular basis, Gilmore Girls, Men In Trees and the UFC with hubby. That's it. Last week GG was a re-run, Men In Trees wasn't even on and we weren't home on Thursday night for UFC. I found myself longing for the days when I enjoyed TV. I found myself surfing channels hoping to find something that I would enjoy to the level that I used to enjoy it.
I know deep down that this longing has nothing to do with TV and everything to do with the fact that I am in one of life's ruts. Don't get me wrong, I love my life in the general, broad sense of things, but I am looking for something new, something exciting, something different right now. I know to leave well enough alone because I have lived long enough to know that you don't mess with those things and if you wait long enough, new, exciting and different find you on their own and sometimes, usually, it's not really quite what you had in mind anyways.
Hubby and I are both at points where our jobs are lacking the excitement and fulfillment they used to. I still love my job, but I love the job of being a Mom more and I'm tired of feeling like I am only putting 10% into each one of those. I am starting to think forward to having another child and if I thought the pressure of the holidays coming on our budget was killing me, the thought of having another child almost breaks me. Having another child without insurance. Having another child and living on one income so I can stay home with them. Having another child, the knowledge that I may never get a vacation with my husband again, all the while knowing that vacationing as we did BK (before kids) will never be the same anyways as it is. Like I said, I'm waiting for that next big change in our lives, and when it comes, I will shoo it away as it is not what I was expecting.
Also coming up is Thanksgiving. This statement is foreboding to many of us in and of itself, but for me, well, it brings with it a certain "doom" for lack of a better word. Every year for the past 3 years, we have done or had to do something major that has cost us lots and lots of money. 3 years ago we got married, 2 years ago we bought a house and last year we bought a car. The first one we chose, the other two were kind of chosen for us by circumstances. Imagine my delight when I tried to start my car on Saturday and it wouldn't start? Can you imagine, really go ahead and try. To my utter delight, hubby called and the auto shop said this: "It started right up for us and we've been driving it all day." Fabulous! Glad that my car has taken a dislike to me and that they enjoy using up my precious gas. So I am waiting for the Thanksgiving shoe to drop and hoping that this year, it will be minor. Actually, technically, we do have that shoe already as we are flying to NM to visit my Mom and Sister this year, so we have spent some money, although not the chunk we have spent in previous years and I am sure that I will be spent after flying with a non-toddler for the first time and spending 5 days away from home. Ahh... the holidays. I know there are people out there that love this time of year, but I just can't seem to figure out what is wrong with them.
Maybe I need to read a good book. Any suggestions?
Sunday, November 05, 2006
My heart is breaking...
A fellow blogger, that I do not know and have only been reading for a short while, is dealing with a situation that no one should ever have to deal with. Her and her husband are having to make life and death decisions regarding their new baby. If you are the praying type, please add them to your prayer list. I will be praying for a miracle. My heart is breaking for them.
Friday, November 03, 2006
SPH: Windows
This was taken from the atrium dining room of the Embassy Suites in New Orleans last weekend.
Because it's my duty as a parent
Halloween!
Yes, that is a thermometer in her hand. In order to get her dressed these days, we have to distract her with something, anything, so she doesn't flip over and crawl away. As soon as I got her into her costume, I started laughing, so she started laughing. My Dad and Step-Mom came up to experience her first Halloween. I took her to two of the neighbors' houses to "trick or treat.", but mainly her costume was for our own enjoyment.
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