Pain in the neck

Today I went into the pain specialist and got 15 shots in my neck. It looks like I was attacked by a couple of vampires and if one of them were ,oh let's say, Edward (the one from my imagination not the one from the movie!!!) I wouldn't be complaining. Since I'm still mortal and walked away from the experience with all my blood I will just have to come up with some other story to go along with all the bruised holes up the side of my neck because the truth is never as exciting... in my opinion! So, the boring truth is that I have been having trouble with my neck ever since a car accident 10 years ago. I can usually keep it from getting bad with exercise, stretching and massages. This time the flair up was so bad that I spent 4 weeks of my life at the chiropractors office getting adjusted, acupunctured, massaged and something else with electrodes on it and I came out worse than I went in. Nathan couldn't handle my grumpiness any more so he called a pain specialist that he knows and set up the appointment for me. Basically he used an x-ray to inject cortisone into the joints of my spine on my neck. He did 5 joints in all. I opted out of an IV full of the good stuff because Nate left for Moab today to go 4wheeling with his friends so I couldn't be all doped up and take care of the kids by myself. So, instead I got 5 surface numbing hits with the needle and then 5 deeper numbing hits with the needle and the grand finale of 5 shots in each of the 5 joints. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but it wasn't horrible either. My only problem is that for the first couple of days you feel much worse and I am feeling pretty bad right now so boo hoo for me! On a sunny note, my youngest daughter thinks I am a rock star because I didn't even cry when I got my shots. She thinks this because 2 days before we had to take her in for one last immunization so we could register her for school and she screamed her head off. She was really proud of me.

My Flapper Girl

Emma was in her 1st play this week. There was a performance at the school on Friday and then another one on Monday at the high school auditorium. It was a cute little production on being an American and there was a country girl dance, a civil war reenactment, flapper girl dance, African tribal music to represent diversity and baseball players. Emma took her part very seriously and she did a great job. I could tell that she was nervous but she still did her little dance with spunk and confidence! She has really come out of her shell in the last couple of years.
















The big finish




























In the hall before the big show with her fishnet stockings and feather in her hair! She enjoyed this experience so much that she has signed up for drama for an elective next year.

Taken' a trip....down memory lane

I'm not sure what it is about this year in particular, but I have been thinking a lot about my childhood days and the feelings that I had at the time. I wanted to start the pictures with youngest to oldest, but since they loaded reverse and they wont move on the page we'll just start from now instead. My oldest is getting ready to start middle school and we are in the process of picking out her electives. She is pretty nervous about the whole thing so today I pulled out all of my yearbooks and showed the kids some pictures of what their Mom looked like back then. I have no idea what challenges lie ahead for Emma as she makes the transition from the naive cocoon of elementary school to the harsh real world of middle school, but I do know one thing for sure..... It wont be like my experience at all. The things that made my life so difficult and most of the time unbearable she wont experience. My troubles actually started in the 5th grade when I got glasses. This somehow triggered the realization that I was also extremely poor and had buck teeth and therefore was ugly and not worthy of any one's friendship any longer. I still remember the event that sealed my new fate. It was at my then best friends birthday party and I had gone in a ridiculous t-shirt that my Dad had bought for me and my brothers. My parents were separated at the time because they were constantly literally trying to kill each other so I guess I decided that I didn't want to hurt my Dad's feelings by not wearing this shirt that he had made for me that said "super kid." I know, killing me would have been more humane! Anyway I had the glasses and this made my buck teeth more obvious and our water had been turned off that week so there may have been a bit of a smell as well. Without going into too much detail everyone turned on me at the party and started making fun of me and that was the last time this girl was my friend and it set the stage for my entire middle school experience. Emma on the other hand is gorgeous and has no real flaws and doesn't have a poor family and her father isn't a drunk and her parents aren't trying to kill each other so I think she is off to a pretty decent start! It still makes me nervous because kids can be so cruel and who knows what people can come up with to torment you with. Despite all of this I think I turned out pretty ok and I know she will too even though I obviously still have some residual side effects from the experience.

I had Ethan and Jordyn take turns taking pictures so I could include a picture of what I look like today at this very moment. Now brace yourself for these next pictures. I can't believe I am owning up to looking like I did. But I'm all about brutal honesty and I think it also helps make me relateable to my daughter so here goes.......

Nothing to be real embarrassed about here. This was my senior year picture taken in 1991. This was my junior year and when I got these pictures back I wanted to kill by best friend for letting me get my picture taken with my bangs that high! It's not like they were much flatter on a daily basis but this was a bit high even for me. In fact Nathan used to tease me in French class about reception that I was trying to pick up with my earrings and bangs.
Sorry about the picture quality of these, but they were taken several years ago. This one was taken in 1989 to be exact for my sophomore year. This is when I discovered that I wasn't quite as hideous looking as I was led to believe and so I got a bit of an attitude which you can see in this picture. My problem now was that I started getting attention from the boys that used to tease me and this didn't sit well with the girls so I still had no friends except for 2. My straight as an arrow best friend and my totally opposite of that friend. I really liked going between the 2 different worlds of my friends and landing somewhere in the middle back then.

This was my freshman year. I traded in the glasses for contacts and got braces. For all the problems my parents had it killed them to discover that I was awkward and ugly and with little money they had managed to get me in braces to fix my buck teeth and provide me with contacts. And yes, that does say "Heatber!" The last 3 photos had my kids rolling on the floor with laughter at how large my glasses were. "Why did they have to be so big?" Is what they were wondering. They were too distracted by my glasses to notice how scary my hair looked!
This picture is just plain scary! Not much else to say than that! Seriously, not good! It just went from bad to worse! I don't know how that girl got out of bed every day! Seriously! I really can't believe I'm going to leave it there.
This one was the 7th grade in 1986. For the record I did my own hair and I really did think it was a pretty awesome do and I was also pretty stoked about my dangly earrings! this hair reminds me of my first love/crush/obsession, Andy Gibb, with that dreamy feathered hair of his.

This is my 6th grade picture and I was looking through my yearbook and there were a whole 8 of us that had glasses that year. I at least had 1 friend who wrote "sweet" on my picture. Either that or it was pitifully myself who wrote it! Actually several pictures have writing on them that cracked me up. We were already calling kids "stoners" in the 6th grade! Everyone was so cute except for me! While looking through the yearbook I found out that a fairly large amount of these kids went to school with me for all those years and ended up in my graduating class. Oblivious! I guess I was living in a bubble or I'm surviving on very few brain cells, either is pretty plausible.

So there you have it. The good, bad and the just plain ugly! Always remember, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger even though at times your pretty sure your barely alive!

Ouch!

What evening at the church for Scouts would be complete without an injury? Last month it was another kid with a huge knot on his head at the pinewood derby, this month it was Ethan with a deep gash on his head. The kids were running around like wild maniacs while we were trying to clean up when Ethan slid into a chair. You can't tell from this picture, but it was a deep cut. We found a cold compress in the first aid kit and got him home to try and tie his hair together to get the wound closed. That didn't work so well and Ethan really didn't like that so we ended up having to shave his head in that area to get a steri strip over it to get it closed. We would have just used some glue if we had some, but Nate was out. We need to get out kits restocked obviously. We put some gauze on because it was still bleeding and instead of wrapping his head to keep it on I just put him in my face washing head band. It cracks me up because it looks so funny. It made him look like he had no hair and was a cancer patient instead of a kid with a cut on his head. This is Ethan's second cut on his head now and we have manged to dodge the broken bone bullet so far. Knock on wood! It really is surprising that he hasn't had more serious injuries. The kid is a dare devil with oodles of energy!

Putting my body where my mouth is.......

Unlike the old saying of "putting your money where your mouth is" I prefer the much more proactive approach of "putting your body where your mouth is." This requires much more dedication and action on the participants part. I have also been spending a good amount of time ranting about how terribly wrong I believe things are and how I was ready to take action. So because I am a firm believer in "do what you say and say what you mean" I figured that I better high tail my tush on over to the tax day tea party rally. It was tricky getting the kids their piano lessons and heading over to the unknown without Nathan there to help but I figured you have got to grab onto the teachable moments in life when they present themselves, so the kids and I made some signs and headed out to the last hour of the protest. The protest was on Montgomery with the starting point of Louisiana. From the exit off the freeway it didn't take us long to start running into protesters. We found them all the way down to San Pedro. Here's the map.......
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=independence+grill+albuquerque+nm&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,6990574047048250370&ei=TdLUSf7NJpDEswOm89WvCg&ll=35.136756,-106.564465&spn=0.053415,0.111237&z=14
We drove up a bit farther to find a side street to pull off and walk. I'm not sure how far past Louisiana it went and we were still a ways from that street and the crowd was more dense the closer you got to the starting point. All I know is that in addition to the thousands lining both sides of the street the street itself was full people driving their cars honking their horns and waving their flags and signs. I wish I could have stepped into the middle of the street to get a more accurate picture of what it looked like. The kids and I weren't sure if we were going to be able to hear anything but the sound of honking for the next few days. It was awesome to see so many flags and signs and all the friendly faces showing our mutual support especially in such a democratic state. There were of course a few hecklers and opponents but they were far outnumbered. It was awesome to be a part of such unity and patriotism and it made me think of the slogan that the democrats used during the election and how it can take on a whole new meaning now. "Yes We Can!............take our government back." (this goes without saying, but in case I need to.....by peaceful means!) What people fail to understand about this whole protest is that it is not a Democratic or Republican issue, it's an American people issue! The only downer of the entire event which we knew was going to happen before hand was the complete and udder lack of media coverage the events got and what I did find was made smaller than it was with a couple of lines to cover what really happened. The Ugly Lady that can sing on a talent show got more coverage! I also didn't see a single "insane, lunatic or extremist" that homeland security warned about out there. Many clean cut good Americans from all walks of life frustrated with the lack of accountability theft of the American people's money. Our family is going to save our nickles and dimes so that we when the time comes for us to march on the steps of Washington (again, with signs not muskets!) we can be there.

I'm not insane. I'm not a lunatic. I am most certainly not and extremist. I am, however, a person with morals and principles who actually believes in something. I believe that we live in the greatest country in the world that was made great by the principles our Founding Fathers believed and used to make our great constitution. I believe that there is only one way by which something this great could have been achieved and maintained. God. God (please) bless America!

Tempting Fate

I was standing in line at the "stuff mart" like I do every time I am there and for some reason this time the bag of Funyuns called to me. I have seen them there before and just ignored them but this time I thought "when is the last time I actually had me some funyuns?" I think that the last time I had funyuns was on that fateful summer day in Washington. I had awakened pretty early that morning with the feeling that I should take a pregnancy test. Nathan at the time was spending his weeks in Tacoma and coming to Longview where I was staying with his family and our daughter. I needed someone to tell the news to when 2 lines appeared on the test which eventually produced our 2nd child Jared. I decided to wake up my sister-in-law, Shayla, and tell her the news. The details of that entire year are a bit hazy but especially that day. I believe it was on a Friday and Nathan was going to be home that evening. Shayla and I must have decided to paint our toenails and eat an entire bag of Funyuns but I don't remember the act itself just the knowledge that it happened. There was a family reunion in Utah and for some reason we needed to help her brother get a car back to Utah and pick it up at his mother-in-law's house for him. We headed out in my Mother-in-law's car with me driving to pick up the car. We were at the street we needed to turn down to get to the house when we were hit from behind at full speed sending our car flying down the street. To make a long story short the Firefighter that arrived on the scene thought it would be a good idea to go to the hospital and get checked out which meant strapping us to stretchers and carrying us into an ambulance. The only thing I could think of was my seriously hideous funyun breath (as well as the fact that my husband's Mother's car was in really bad shape) and the fact that EMT, who was not bad looking, was seriously close to my face. I'm pretty sure I warned him because he was laughing and made some comment about how cute it was that Shayla and I had matching toe nails. They were also treating me like a fine piece of china because I told them I was pregnant. The rest of the experience was horrible especially when Nate saw me at the hospital still strapped to the stretcher. The next day we laid in bed watching movies all day, because the cable was out, and eating nasty fast food. We were so desperate for entertainment that we tried to watch Spice World. Pretty sad indeed. Anyway, I wondered to myself as I saw that bag tempting me at the checkout if I had some kind of superstition with the poor funyuns and that was why I hadn't had them since. So I decided to tempt fate and open the bag and eat them while driving home and I made it there in one piece. I also realized that I probably haven't had them again since because your mouth is seriously foul forever after eating those things!

Metal Mouth?

When I was a kid it was not very cool to have braces. I remember names like "metal mouth" and "brace face." Now days it seems like everyone has braces including little kids. Jared was born with an extra canine baby tooth and adult tooth right behind it. Having this extra tooth subsequently pushed the alignment of his teeth off and crowded things a bit. We have been waiting for the extra adult tooth to come in so we could see which of the 2 looked better so that it could be yanked out. The day finally came and I had spent the couple of days before the appointment and the day of the appointment assuring him that it was just a consultation and that he would leave with his tooth intact. OOOPS! We got there to the office of a friend who said "you're already here, let's just yank it out now" to which Jared's eyes got as big a saucers. It wasn't pleasant to watch and Jared did really well especially considering he was ambushed. I have never seen an adult tooth come out and was shocked at how long it was and what a nasty hole it left in his mouth. We had to go back to school to pick up his things and he got to show off his bloody mouth an big 'ole tooth to his class. A couple of weeks later and he got his braces on. He just has them on the top to move his front teeth over under his nose and get his canines in line instead of sticking out. He will get a full set on to finish the job in a couple of years after he looses the rest of his baby teeth. Lucky for him he doesn't have to suffer through his awkward "ugly duckling" stage with crooked teeth like I had to. Emma dodged the bullet and doesn't have to get them for a couple of years, but Ethan isn't going to be so lucky with what's going on in his mouth. I think my family alone is funding the remodel of our orthodontist's office. :)

Cha Ching!

I am oh so happy to report that our family is doing it's part to help stimulate the economy. Thanks to a bankrupt builder that left me with a mess to clean up and pay for, we have several needs which can be met by people looking for work. I realize that this is going to be a rather boring post but since it is my journal and a record for future generations to reference and use to make themselves feel better knowing that someone out there was far more crazy then them, boring it shall be.....
I finally reached my threshold for tolerance and hired a general contractor at a rather handsome price to come and make things happen with some things that needed fixing at my house. He has been fantastic and really taken all the pain out of dealing with so many issues. I have had a slew of people coming and going the last few days and while things are getting fixed I am finding out more reasons to hate my builder and more dollar signs flashing in front of my eyes. I had to have all of my toilets taken off and resealed to the tune of some mucho denero. I don't have a bill from the stucco guy that is trying diligently to match my stucco so that some repairs can be made. I don't have a bill yet from the window man that is tracking down parts for 2 of my sliders for the screen doors. Oh yea, my pool broke and I had to get that fixed and I had to hire another pool company because the ones that built the pool are still owed money by the builder. The downstairs furnace broke and that was a nice hefty sum to fix. It is joy all around for the people who need work for there is plenty to do at my house. The most surprising thing in our string of bad luck was the extremely painless short conversation I had with direct tv when one of our receivers broke. All I did was give her the numbers off the card and she declared that it was a bum machine and would promptly send out a new one. It actually came like 3 days later. AMAZING! What else........ah yes, Sam's club is also doing their part to help out with the employment rate. Last week I bought a patio set and after Jared and I put together most of the furniture we discovered that we were missing the top to the 2 end tables. Don't get me wrong I was extremely grateful that they were trying to help me instead of telling me tough luck call the company and have them ship you the parts, but I was wondering if the stock guy and the customer service guy had 2 brain cells to rub together. An hour later everything worked out and I was sent home with the display tables in exchange for the pieces I had. Also within a couple of weeks of each other I scratched up the car pretty good coming out of the 1 car garage, I know, dumb blond and Nathan marked up the suburban with the trailer. I don't even want to know how much those will cost to get fixed.
I'm not sure why when it rains it has to poor and why our luck just seems so terrible sometimes. Can something be easy just one time. Seriously! I have a few lists that I have kept throughout the years with how many bad things happened within a months time thinking that some day I would look back at those lists and laugh and reminisce how funny it was, instead I seem to just keep getting more lists. I guess I have had a few good laughs about them and turning this whole thing into our personal stimulus package has been pretty funny, so all's not bad. I do have a new theme song though to go along with our own personal stimulus package and how I feel about events taking place in the world - "It's the End of the World as We Know it............and I feel fine!" ;)
I know it probably sounded like I have a pretty bad attitude, but I'm just exhausted from the stress of it all. I do feel deeply grateful that at least I can afford to stimulate the economy....until the gov comes after the rest of my money making me in need of a stimulus package ..... :P

4 am

Well, it's 4 in the morning and I just got out of a steaming hot shower feeling clean and refreshed only to be immediately assaulted with the permeating smell of dog !@#$. An hour earlier our dog came into the bedroom and scared me to death because he was locked in his cage when I went to bed. Was he having a "Lassy" moment and come to warn us of danger? His dangerous butt maybe! I didn't notice the assaulting smell until I sat up to take advantage of my awakeness to go to the bathroom while Nate tried to get the dog back downstairs. I yelled after him that there was crap somewhere. Great, now I have to track the crap down. The smell just kept getting worse the closer I got to the family room downstairs and at first I was relieved to see that there was diarrea in his crate........dogs don't crap in their crates........oh man where else is it........did he finish off somewhere else.......was it dripping out of his butt.......I have probably been stepping in it the whole way down here......Where is Nathan, he needs to come take this bedding outside.........really where is he! While I was finding crap all over the downstairs with a huge pile of it in the theater and little drops all along his path to the stairs and all up the stairs and even on the wall from it taking flight, Nathan was upstairs removing all of Emma's bedding because he had climbed up on Emma's bed while Nathan was trying to get him back downstairs. There was also crap on her floor in the hallway and in our bedroom on our bedding. Emma slept through the whole thing and I'm wondering if she is still sleeping in crap because I now find out that he crawled over her head and so there is probably crap in her hair to which Nathan thinks is funny. Real funny, I'm on the verge of tears and he is laughing. He also got mad at me for getting mad at the dog. Whatever!!!! So what if the poor dog didn't know what to do with himself when he got sick and was frantically looking for a way out of the house. He's a dog and he ruined my life! He !@#$ all over my house! Nathan went through the house CSI style with his trusty flashlight looking for poo and marking it with squares of toilet paper to which I then cleaned up with the carpet cleaner. I'm also sitting here realizing that I am starving but have no appetite because it smells so completely horrible throughout the entire house. Nathan of course can't be bothered with little things like smell and had himself a bowl of cereal already! To which he laughed again and said the smell of crap made him hungry! Ok, so I am laughing , a little, but only a little. I've got to call and get my carpets cleaned and I am washing bedding right now and the curtains that were hanging by his crate and did I mention I'm hungry and even without the loss of appetite I really shouldn't eat because my wii fit trainer keeps letting me know that I am on the verge of being overweight and everytime I step on the board it says, oh! An "oh" like someones been eating the cookies now haven't they "oh!" Sigh.........maybe I will go read for awhile in some corner of the house that hopefully doesn't smell and at least when it is "morning" I won't have to take a shower because I already did.