Updates

I thought I would drop in and update my blog as to what has been going on in my life.

As I was cooking dinner the other night, Lauren came running into the house screaming her head off. I could tell that she was hurt by the way she was acting. She had been jumping on the trampoline and got stung 2 times on her foot by a wasp/hornet. I didn't see any stingers so I just put some ice on it and gave her some benadryl. 3 days later we were at the doctors office with a very swollen, hot foot. Doc said there was nothing they could do and just to continue with the benadryl, ice and other treatments I had been trying.

My mom called me last Monday and asked what we were doing this week and when I told her that I had no plans except for a doctor's appointment on Thursday she told me that she and my grandma were going to be here that night. I immediately went into a cleaning frenzy and got my house spotless! We had a good time playing Joker, doing puzzles and visiting.

Lauren had an appointment with the kidney specialist on Thursday. We didn't see our regular doctor as she was on vacation, but the doctor we did see gave us some more information and told us what we should be doing to correct her reflux problem. She's still on the daily medication and she will have another VCUG in a couple of months. Just waiting on her pediatrician to call us with a scheduled time.

Sean is constantly busy playing video games, riding his bike and playing with neighborhood friends. There are some kids that come visit Grandma and Grandpa every summer and Sean made friends with them last summer. They were here for 2 weeks and Sean loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, they have gone back to Denver and won't be back until next summer. Vacation bible school is starting this week and hopefully he will want to attend.

Michael is busy at work....thank goodness. They have finally lifted the ban on overtime and now the good money can start rolling in again. It stinks that he has to be gone so much, but it's the best for our family. At least he gets paid to sleep! :o)

In the meantime, I'm here holding down the fort. Keeping up with laundry, cooking, cleaning, bath time, medicine schedules and bedtime. I've taken a break from my Mary Kay business. I just can't do what needs to be done with the kids at home. I can't take them with me to facials or skin care classes and I know that's what is holding me back on being a successful consultant. I am still taking orders and keeping my customers happy and stocked with product, but I'm not attending weekly meetings or doing any classes. I think this makes my husband happy, as he's not a big supporter. When Lauren starts preschool this year, I will have more time to do what needs to be done and I will be able to show Michael that this can be a successful business when it's worked the right way.

So, that's about it for my updates. Off to do more laundry and cook dinner......

Vacation

Okay, so I know I suck at blogging but wanted to stop in and write about my summer so far.

Vacation was AWESOME! And when I say awesome, that's an understatement. I haven't had that much fun in a really long time.

We started out by taking the kids to mom's house, which is a 400 mile trip in itself. The kids were very well behaved in the truck and even got to ride on Daddy's motorcycle going down the highway. I have to admit, that was a little scary for Mommy, but they had a blast.


The next morning, we all piled into my brother in law's vehicle and hit the road for Arlington. The first part of the trip was semi-boring....driving through southeast New Mexico and west Texas...not a whole lot to look at or talk about. We stopped in Big Spring to eat at Whataburger (one of our favorite fast food joints) and then we were back on the road. Michael, my sister in law and I decided that we needed to liven up the drive. We broke out the booze I had stashed in my suitcase! By the time we got to the hotel in Arlington (4 hours later), we were pretty much hammered. LOL I know, not something to be real proud of. But how often do I get to get out without the kids and have absolutely no responsibility? Not very often!

The concert the next night was AMAZING! The new Dallas Cowboy stadium is REALLY amazing. I couldn't believe how big it was inside. Jullian Hough was suppose to perform first, but she was sick so they called in Lee Ann Womack! We missed the first two songs of her set because we were having a hard time finding our seats. Blake Shelton was next. He came out with a beer in his hand and was having a good time! He even sang "Free Credit Report dot Com" It was pretty funny. Reba came out next and sang for about an hour. She's an amazing singer and I was in awe that I was in the same room as her. For her encore she came out in a red dress and sang "Fancy". Then the King of Country Music came out.....George Strait! OMG! There are no words to describe how excited I was to see him in person. We left after what we thought was his final song, but soon realized that he had come out for his encore. We were outside the stadium and could see the lights and hear the roar of the crowd coming out of the roof. So cool!

Sunday, we drove back to Artesia and were greeted with big hugs and smiles from the kids. They had a good time with Gramma and Papa. We celebrated my grandma's 90th birthday party on Tuesday. That woman absolutely amazes me. She still drives herself everywhere, does her own grocery shopping and even drives out of town once a week to play cards with her friends. I hope that when I'm 90 I can do the same things she does.

Wednesday we took the kids to Carlsbad Caverns. I hadn't been there in several years, but was still impressed with the sheer size of the cave. It was a mile walk down into the cavern and then another mile walk around the Big Room. By the time we were done, the kids were exhausted and Lauren was asleep before we even left the parking lot.

Thursday was another travel day. Again, the kids got to ride on the back of the motorcycle and were well behaved in the truck with me.

Friday and Saturday we spend the majority of our time at the Harley Davidson shop. They were having a "Support the Troops" rally. It was a lot of fun and I even got to go for a ride to Durango and back on the motorcycle. Michael's ticket was drawn and he won a huge painting! He's won something everytime we've done a rally. Lucky Dog!

Now that vacation is over I've been spending my time getting caught up on laundry, cleaning and cooking. It's hard to get back into a routine even after just a week of relaxation.

So there's my summer vacation.....and it was the BEST!

First Comes Love

I haven't been to church in a while because of travel and illness, but I was excited to go tonight because our pastor has been teaching on a very important subject: The Blessed Family.

Tonight's sermon was about Divine Sex For Him. I know, strange subject for church, but it really was good!

You know how your mother always said, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach". She was exactly right. The way to a man's heart is through his body, which is exaclty opposite of women. The way to a woman's body is through her heart. (He taught on that last week, but I missed it).

He gave us the "10 Commandments" of this subject and I thought I would post them. I found them pretty interesting.

1. Be a lady; get your hair styled, wear make-up, wear stylish clothes, exercise and eat healthy.

2. When you are in the mood, tell him. (Guys don't get subtle hints...they need to be told in plain english LOL)

3. When you could get in the mood, accept.

4. Tell him what you like. (He's not a mind reader).

5. Tell him what kind of game you are hoping for this time (he used basketball terms for this one)

"First basket wins" - quickie
"One on one to 20" - quickier
"A regular game" - normal night
"A tournament" - kids gone to Grandmas for the weekend, hotel in Vegas, etc.

6. Gift wrap yourself. (It's like Christmas or a birthday for him).

7. Actively participate.

8. Give directions.

9. Learn to master the skill of sexual love.

10. Don't blackmail your husband sexually.

I thought these were all very good. I thought it would be very embarassing to listen to a pastor speak about sex, but after hearing him, it wasn't embarassing at all. He made some very good points and made me understand my husband just a little bit better. I now know why it's hard for him to tell me I look pretty or that I'm doing a good job with the house, kids, etc. He said that it makes him wonder if she will reject him, love him less or not care about the things he says to her. He knows that she needs to hear these things, but it makes him feel emotionally "naked". It's hard to put his words down and make it easy to understand.

Michael has a hard time saying those things to me, but deep down I know how he feels about me. When we are apart for a long time, he will tell me how much he loves me or how pretty I am to him and it makes me feel so good. I wish he would tell me that stuff more often, but now I understand how it makes a man feel to do that.

Happy Birthday, Michael

I thought this image was fitting for Michael being he is so addicted to Guitar Hero. Last night we got him Guitar Hero Metallica for his birthday. It's a pretty good game, but they could have picked better music for the other artists that are on there. And some of those Metallica songs are pretty hard to play....even on medium.

He stayed up all night playing. I have no idea what time he even came to bed. When I went to bed at 11, he was still going strong trying to conquer the game. LOL

We don't have any plans for today, but since he is off I'm sure it will be another full day of Guitar Hero.

ROCK ON!

Nothing I Can Do

What a stressful week it's been, and it's only Wednesday.

Friday, my mom went in to have her drain tube removed from her mastectomy. She was so relived to have it out, only to develop a fever on Saturday and the breast started swelling.

Monday, my dad went into the hospital to have a "procedure" to remove a gallstone that had escaped during his surgery back in July. After he got out of surgery, my sister drove my mom over to the ER to have her breast checked because it was still swollen and she was still running a fever. The doctors wanted to admit her, but there were no beds and she was told to come back in the morning.

Tuesday, my sister drove my mom back to the hospital and they made her sit in an exam room for over 2 hours! I think she finally said "To hell with this" and left. She had an appointment with her plastic surgeon that afternoon. She was finally admitted into the hospital last night and put on IV antibiotics.

This morning, my dad was taken back into surgery to have a pollyp removed from his stomach. I got word this afternoon that he was out of surgery, but they were not able to remove the entire lesion and may have to do more surgery, depending on the pathology reports. Then I get word about an hour later that he's in a lot of pain and was being taken to X-Ray to see if he was bleeding somewhere. Apparently, the X-Ray didn't show anything so they wanted to do a MRI.

This whole time, my poor sister (bless her heart) is running between floors of the hospital to check on both of my parents.

I tried to call my mom several times today with no answer. I finally caught her online and asked why she wasn't answering her phone and she told me that it's not a good time and tempers were flaring.

She finally called me to tell me what was going on. She and my sister are so upset with the hospital staff. The nurse was too busy to come check on my mom when her IV was burning her arm, and they messed up by turning her IV off when she's suppose to be getting antibiotics all the time. They left my dad laying there in pain waiting to take him in for the MRI.

All this time, I was so relieved that they were at this hospital because I've heard my parents rave about the doctors. Little did I know, it was the clinic doctors and not the hospital nurses that they liked so much.

So, here I sit....1000 miles away and can't do a thing to help my sister or my parents. I cannot drive that far by myself, I cannot leave the kids with my husband because of his work schedule, and I cannot afford a plane ticket to fly there. Besides, my sister would have to drive an hour away to pick me up from the airport. She's got too much on her plate right now anyway.

I'm ready for all this to be over and for my parents to pack up their motorhome and head back home. Who knows how long that's going to take!!!

My Mom

In 2005, my mom found a lump in one of her breasts. I remember the day she got the biopsy results as if it were yesterday.

It was December 28, 2005 (incidently, the same day I burned my hand in 2002) and my parents had just arrived at my house to spend a late Christmas with us. The kids were so excited to see Gramma and Papa pull up in front of our house knowing that they brought presents with them.

We had just sat down and the kids were ripping open presents when Mom's phone rang. We all knew the phone call was coming, but we weren't really prepared for the news that the lump was malignant. My mom, being the rock that she is, handled the news very well. I, on the other hand, did not handle it well at all. It all hit me that night as I was laying in my bed trying to fall asleep. I kept thinking about going to visit my dad and my mom wouldn't be there. Of course, I was thinking the worst. About that time, Lauren woke up and needed to be rocked back to sleep. As I was standing at her crib laying her back down, I looked down at my mom and started crying again. She asked me what was wrong and I completely broke down. I got on the bed with my mom as she laid there and comforted me and told me everything was going to be okay.

Of course, she was right. Everything turned out to be okay. She had the lump removed and went through several weeks of chemo and radiation. She finished her last round of radiation during the week of Thanksgiving 2006.

In 2008, she went back to her doctor for a routine check up. They found another lump in the same breast. This time, the biopsy came back benign, but since she had already had cancer in that breast she was considered high risk and the lump needed to come out. My mom and her team of doctors decided it would be in her best interest to have the entire breast removed.

Yesterday, my mom was checked into Scott & White Medical center and had a mastectomy. The surgery went fine and she is back in her motorhome recovering. She will be there for at least 2 weeks until the drain tube is removed.

I tell you, that woman is a rock! Everyone around her is so worried and concerned and all she can say is "It's just a boob". LOL

I love my mom!

It's been a while, so I thought I would make a quick post.

We went to Lauren's nephrologist in Albuquerque on the 28th for her 6 month check-up. The ultrasound went really well. She just laid there and let the tech do what she needed to do. She didn't even talk, which doesn't surprise me as she's not one for talking to strangers.

We then made our way through the maze of the hospital up to the specialty clinic to see the doctor. Of course, they wanted a urine sample and she had just gone potty before the ultrasound so she didn't have to go. Doctor just asked me questions about her potty habits and if she is doing better about holding it in. I told her that I've noticed her going in the bathroom a lot more lately and that's a good thing. That means that she's starting to feel the urge a little earlier. Before, she wouldn't feel it until it was almost too late and then would sit down on the floor and pull her knees up to her chest just so she wouldn't pee in her pants.

Doctor said that we can go ahead and take her off the antibiotics and see how she does. However, if she develops symptoms of another UTI, I will have to take her in to the doctor and have a urine culture done. Last time we went in they didn't culture the urine, just dipped it. Therefore, we aren't 100% sure that she actually had a UTI this last time. Lauren is very happy about not being on medication anymore. She hated that stuff. They flavor it at the pharmacy, but it still tastes bad.

We go back to Albuqerque in 6 more months for another check-up. If she does develop a UTI in the next 6 months, they will have to do another ultrasound and VCUG (catheter and dye). I'm praying that her reflux is getting better and will eventually go away.

Other than that, nothing else too exciting going on around here. Doctor and dentist appointments are slowly making their way out of my appointment book. Thank goodness for that. I'm so sick of going to the doctor. LOL

Have a wonderful evening!

Wow, what a weekend we've had!

In my last post, I said that my mom got sick and how I'm such a phobic about it. Well, Lauren ended up getting sick the very next day. She threw up all night long. It was horrible. By the next morning she seemed to be doing better but she was real tired. She didn't really want to play, just wanted to watch cartoons. She told me she wanted some lunch so I went into the kitchen to make her something and before I could even get the bread and cheese out, she was fast asleep on the living room floor.

Saturday, she seemed to be doing even a little bit better. We went to Walmart and did a little bit of shopping. The kids each got gift cards and were just dying to use them. When we got home, it hit her again. She just wanted to lay on the couch and watch tv. All of a sudden she says she needs to throw up. Oh man!!! Here we go again. So I made the decision that she needed to be seen by a doctor. We went over to urgent care and they got her right in. They did a strep test and a urine dip. She's got ANOTHER urinary tract infection! We caught this one in the beginning so she wasn't even feeling it. I asked the doctor if the vomiting was associated with the UTI and she said that more than likely it was. I didn't know that could happen, but now I do.

They increased her antibiotics for the next 7 days (I hadn't been giving her any because she was throwing up) and gave her something for the nausea. 30 minutes after she took the nausea medicine, she was up playing like nothing was wrong.

Last night, we had Sean's birthday party (which was called off Saturday night because of Lauren, then it was back on after she took that medicine LOL). I had 3 little boys running all over my house making the biggest racket you'd ever heard. Sean was in heaven! If only I had half as much energy as they do.......

By midnight, I had had enough and told the boys it was time to turn on a movie and go to sleep. I went to bed.......

At 5:00 this morning, I hear giggling coming from the living room. I got up to find 4 little boys huddled around the tv playing XBox. Those turds never even went to sleep!!

I'm so exhausted today and I can hear my bed calling me. Sean fell asleep around 5:00 this evening and hasn't woke up yet. LOL I told him no more sleepovers with more than one friend. That was just too much.

So, Happy Birthday to my little boy (he hates it when I call him that). You've still got a birthday spankin' coming!

Mom and Dad left this morning. We had a good time while they were here. We did some "retail therapy" and watched tv. All in all it was a relaxing start to my week.

Last night, Sean decided that for his birthday he wanted Papa to take him to Hobby Lobby and get him a model car to put together and then he wanted to go out to eat. I thought for sure he was going to say that he wanted to eat somewhere expensive, but he picked Taco Bell. LOL He's definitely his father's son.

So, we went to Hobby Lobby and he picked out which model he wanted. I'm not good with cars, but I know he picked a cool one. Some kind of hot rod. Then we went to Taco Bell for his birthday dinner.

When we got home, Sean had some homework to do so my dad sat down with him and helped him with his homework and then they started working on the model. It's not one of those that you have to glue and then paint. It's a snap together kind. It took them almost 2 hours to put that thing together, and Sean is so proud of it.

This morning when I woke up, I heard my dad asking my mom if she slept well (she was on the couch...which didn't surprise me at all seeing as she's such a Pogo addict and falls asleep while playing). But then I heard my mom say that she didn't sleep good at all. She had been up all night throwing up. OH MAN! I'm just a phobic when it comes to someone getting sick in my home because I'm so afraid that either I'm going to catch it or one of my kids will. I thought for sure they would stay another night since Mom wasn't feeling well, but she said that they needed to get home and just to let her rest for a while longer.

Dad went out to start my car to take Sean to school (I'm so spoiled when they come, I don't have to get out in the morning), and wouldn't you know it.......my car was completely dead! I didn't tap the brakes when we got home last night so my brake lights stayed on all night and ran my battery down. I'm so sick of wanting/needing to go somewhere and can't because I have a dead battery. So, I called the mechanic and he told me to go ahead and bring the car in and they would look at it. Dad took it down to him while Mom was resting and got my car fixed. The little relay switch under the brake pedal was loose and just needed to be adjusted. Thank goodness that it wasn't something major and I don't have to get a new battery.

Mom finally started feeling better around 11 and they hit the road. I gave her a coffee can to use just incase she started feeling sick again. They made it home around 7:00 tonight and she's feeling much better.

I talked to Michael for about 2 hours on the computer this afternoon. I miss him so much already and it seems like he's never going to be home. He's only been gone 4 days but it feels like 4 weeks. He said it's so cold in Wyoming. It's been snowing ever since he got there but he said it's suppose to stop tonight or early in the morning.

Sean's birthday is Monday.....and it's a school holiday. I have told him that we are not going to have a big birthday party, but he can ask 2 friends to come spend the night with him. So, we have asked 2 boys to come over Sunday afternoon and spend the night. We are going to order pizza and play games. He's very excited about that. I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 9 years old. Where does the time go?

Lauren's Accident

Yesterday, I left the house for 15 minutes to run to the bank. When I got home, Michael was standing in the front foyer holding a wet, crying, bleeding Lauren.

Before I left for the bank, I had put her in the tub because she got all wet and cold from playing outside in the snow. While I was gone, she got out of the tub, climbed up on the toilet to get a towel and slipped. She hit her eye on the toilet and got a gash above her eye.

I immediately knew that she needed to go to the ER. The cut wasn't that big and really wasn't bleeding that bad, but it was in a bad spot and she needed to have it cleaned being she hit the toilet.

I took her to the ER and they put us on the fast track (in and out in under an hour). Doctor came in to see her and decided that she needed to have the cut cleaned and glued. She was so brave and only cried when he was putting the glue on. I guess that stuff stings quite a bit.

After the ER, I decided that she needed a treat for being so brave, so we went through the drive-thru at McDonald's and got a Happy Meal.

She's doing much better today and says that her eye doesn't even hurt. But, when I told her that we were going to church she said, "No! They will be mad at me for my eye!". Awwwwwww. I told her no one would be mad at her about getting hurt and that made her feel better.

(I tried to post a picture here, but I can't get it to fit.)

On another note, Michael has been sent to Gillette, WY for two weeks for work. The oilfield has really slowed down here in Farmington, so they gave him the option of working nights (only getting 8 hours a day) or going to Wyoming for two weeks (14+ hours a day whether he works or not) with all expenses paid. It was a tough decision for him to make because Sean's birthday is next week and he really hates to miss birthdays, plus being gone for two weeks is hard on everyone. But, he made the decision that would be best for all of us. We have done this many times before and have survived. Seems like it even makes us stronger. We appreciate each other a lot more after being apart for a while.

I'm going to miss him something terrible, but I know he will be coming home and he's doing what's best for our family.

Sick

For the last week, I have been so sick with a cold. My head is throbbing, my nose is plugged up and now I'm starting to get a cough.

I hardly ever get sick, but when I do....watch out because it's going to be bad. I have an immune system disorder and when I get down with a cold it takes quite a while for me to get better.

This really is a bad time of the year for me to get sick too. My parents come up every year for Sean's birthday and this year they are coming early. They will be here in 2 days. My house is a wreck, my laundry is piled up and I feel like crap. I just don't have the energy to do anything. All I want to do is go to bed and sleep. Of course, I can't do that with 2 kids and a husband who is gone 6 days a week.

Maybe when my mom gets here she will make me some homemade chicken noodle soup to make me all better. LOL It's funny how when I get sick, all I want is my mommy. She always makes everything better. Plus, she's so great with the kids that I don't have to worry.

Well, time to try to get some things done around the house. I'll probably end up on the couch in about 20 minutes watching TV. LOL

Out to Sea

Well, I'm sad to report that the other two fishies didn't make it. I don't know what went wrong, but I've never been able to keep fish alive. I guess I should just stick to cats and dogs.

As we were flushing the last two down the toilet Sean asked, "Mom, are they going out to the sea now?" LOL I guess he paid attention during Finding Nemo.

Lauren really isn't upset about it at all, in fact she laughed when they spun around in the toilet bowl and then went down.

What a way to start off a new year. LOL

Tragedy

Well, we've had our first death of the new year.

Yesterday while grocery shopping, Lauren decided she wanted to spend some of her Christmas money and get some goldfish. So we got a fish bowl with all the stuff and 3 goldfish.

Sadly, one of our little fishies didn't make it through the night.

Later, I was checking on the other fish and only noticed one in the bowl. I asked Lauren what happened to it and she told me that she "accidentally" took it into her room. I ran in her room and started searching. I picked up her blanket, flipped it and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something orange fly through the air. Yep, there was the fishy. He was still alive! I rushed him back to his bowl and he stayed on his side for a minute then sank to the bottom. He laid there for a while then slowly made his way up to the top for air and food.

So far, he's okay but we'll just have to wait and see.

I guess thinking a 4 year old can have goldfish wasn't such good thinking after all.

Happy New Year

Well here it is, the first day of 2009. I can hardly believe 2008 is over, but I am so relieved that it is. Last year was really rough on us and I can only hope and pray that this year is better.

2008 started with Michael getting fired from his job after 8 years of loyalty. That hit us really hard. The next week, we got the news that my father in law only had weeks to live.

Michael and his brother had planned a trip to go see him one more time and when they got there, he was worse than we had ever imagined. I can remember it like it was yesterday....I was sitting in church and my phone started to vibrate and when I looked at the caller ID, I knew something was really wrong. I ran out of the worship center and answered my phone. Michael told me to cancel his flight for the next morning because his dad only had about 24-48 hours to live. I grabbed the kids and we went home to pack. By the time I got home, Michael called me again and told me to stop packing and just to wait. Everyone thought we were getting a little too anxious. At 7:00, Michael called again to say that Jim had passed. I was so heartbroken. Even though we knew it was coming, it doesn't make it any easier to lose someone you love so much. Super Bowl Sunday will never be the same for us. He died at the beginning of the 4th quarter (but he was rooting for the Giants).

By the next morning, we had gotten snowed in and I couldn't go anywhere. Michael kept telling me, "I have every shoulder in the world to cry on except for the one I want". I have never cried so much in my life. I wanted so badly to be with my husband, but there was nothing I could do. And believe me, I tried EVERYTHING.

I don't think I will ever come to terms with the fact that I didn't get to go say goodbye to Jim, but I know that he knew I loved him and tried everything I could to get to Texas.

The next six months weren't any better for us. Michael got a great job, but the starting pay wasn't that great so we were struggling financially. Then our landlord decided to sell the house we were renting. We found a house, but the rent was even higher than what we were paying, but really had no choice. So we moved again.

The last six months of 2008 slowly got better and now that it's the beginning of 2009 I am hoping that it keeps getting better.

I have set my goals for 2009 and I'm going to work very hard to reach those goals. I don't set New Years Resolutions, I don't believe in them. But I will make myself a goal poster for my wall, refrigerator and bathroom mirror so everywhere I go, I will see my goals and work harder to obtain them.

I hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.