Spanish Speaking Leprechaun?

Sorry, my new "job" is keeping from getting online!

2010-02-16T15:31:00.002-05:00

My little baby boy was born on January 21, 2010 at 3:07am by emergency c-section. He was 7lbs 11 oz. Since then, I have been desperately trying to learn the art of motherhood and how to juggle being a mommy and a housewife! (I'm sure all you mothers out there understand!) At the moment, my little "Peanut" is fussing, so I don't have time to go through the whole birth story, but I will post a pic for your enjoyment.

Much Prayer is needed

2010-01-21T03:16:00.001-05:00

Continue to Pray It is a Boy by C section Gotta Go

Baby Update....

2010-01-20T19:43:00.002-05:00

Coming to you from Mom Gearheart: Missy is at 8 cm!!! She was forced to have an epidural (and she is not happy about that!) because she is so exhausted and things had slowed down. I think she is feeling somewhat better because she has started talking again. Things are starting to move now that her body is getting some relief from pain.....updates will follow!

Guess What?????

2010-01-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

Joe speaking on behalf of Missy,

We are currently at "The" Hospital in REAL somewhat still early Labor. We got here around 5:00am. We have our own room and are going through contractions. Upon Admission she was at 4cm dilated and 90% effaced.

More to come....

Pray for us

Midwife update (week 38 appt)

2010-01-18T19:41:00.004-05:00

Ok, I wrote this once and my computer erased it because I was disconnected from the net...GRRR! So, here we go again...

Last night I went to bed with some sharp pains in my sides of my belly. My midwife attributed them to ligament pain. But all night last night, I had a lower back ache and crampiness. Not fun! Talk about making it hard to sleep! So, I got up this morning and the pain was still pretty constant that I really couldn't do much of anything. So, Superhubby told me to go take a shower and he'd make breakfast. So, I drank about a glass of water and got in the shower and relaxed for a while. The shower helped quite a bit and when I got out, Superhubby had made omelets! Yummy! Breakfast felt good on the starving belly! I managed to accomplish a few things before going to my midwife appointment this afternoon.
I had her check me for dilation, just to ease my curiosity. She usually doesn't check until week 40. She said that I'm 1-2 cm dilated, 50% effaced and the baby's at -1 station (which means it's pretty low!) I've felt like I was going to go about a week early for most of my pregnancy, but now I wonder if it'll be earlier...especially after what's been happening with the baby dropping 2 weeks ago and all the discomfort and pain lately. I told Superhubby that I hope I can at least make it until after my shower, but only God knows. Wouldn't that really spoil plans? I'm really looking forward to the shower on Saturday! It seems like everything is going to be so nice!

Well, talk to you later peeps!

Update, update....

2010-01-13T10:35:00.003-05:00

Ok, ok! So I'm getting super bad at this blogging thing. Last week on Monday, I had my midwife appointment (weekly now) and took the test to see if I have what they call "Group B Strep". It's something that 1 in 4 women have, but it doesn't affect them and it can come and go. So they test every pregnancy for it because one can have it one pregnancy and not the next. The reason for testing is that it can be passed to the baby through birth and can cause all kinds of problems from blindness to retardation to death if not cared for. So, the way they care for it is just this: during labor and delivery, they give you an IV of antibiotics for 15 minutes every 4 (I believe) hours to "block the strep" from getting to the baby. Supposedly, this protects baby from having any problems at all. Well, this last Monday, I got the big news...I'm Group B Strep positive. :-( Man was I bummed! So, I really was wanting to avoid having any kind of IV during labor and delivery, but looks like I'm forced into it this time.
Last week on Thursday and Friday (and partly on Saturday even though Saturday turned out to be a lazy day at the Potter house) I caught the nesting bug. I'm still caught up on laundry and dishes!!! I'm so proud of myself! Superhubby and I have tried to work on the house: moving furniture...(even though he won't let ME move ANY of it...) and basically, well...nesting in the evenings when we don't have anything else going on this week. Mom is coming over on Saturday to help me work on the nursery because of my lack of motivation in previous months. And things are starting to shape up. Part of why things haven't gotten done as far as the nursery is concerned is because I need help moving said furniture OUT of the nursery to turn it from my wreck room into a nursery. So, both Superhubby and I have needed a slight kick in the rump from Mr. Motivation. I think with me being 37 weeks and 1 day along, motivation has finally kicked in.
One night this last weekend (don't remember which) at 2am, I think I had my first contraction. It was so weird! But not as bad as I had thought it would be. I know....they get worse...but I'm just praying that my labor will go smoothly. I think my biggest fear is the fear of the unknown, and labor is a BIG FAT unknown!
Mom and company is going to throw a shower on the 23rd (Jan) at the church annex. If you don't go to the church and haven't received an invite by mid-next week, let us know and we'll get you the info. She's actually doing a collection to see if we can get some cloth diapers that we really want to use. I think the plan is to get the money collected at the shower, then make an order (you can only get them online) and have the package sent to my house after the shower. That will be such a wonderful blessing! We want to use cloth diapers, but there's no way we can afford this kind right now.
Well, I think I'll end this book for the time being and see ya on the flip side.

Ok, get this thing outta me!

2010-01-05T11:54:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, late afternoon, we had our "long appointment" for the 36 week appt. We were able to ask questions about labor & delivery, etc and she talked to us about all different kinds of things. I'm now insured! Yay! So, the hospital bill won't be NEAR as bad as before insurance. So, last night was the worst night for sleeping for me. It's been getting bad, but I'm pretty sure that the baby has dropped at least part ways and I'm miserable! My hips, pelvis & thighs have pretty much begun their "loosening" in preparation for labor and now, rolling over in bed or any kind of movement at all is horrible! I'm definitely waddling now! This really stinks because I still have so much to get done and the nesting instinct has NOT kicked in at all...FAIL! Just that good ole' fatigue, no energy here... :-( That and the freezing cold is not helping matters much! Trying to keep this house warm is like pulling teeth sometimes. As I type, I know the next thing I must do when I'm done is re-stoke the fire in the wood stove...again. Well, I guess this will be it for now...way too many things to make myself get done today. Later peeps!

God's protection should never be taken for granted!

2009-12-23T12:32:00.002-05:00

Since Superhubby's cousin got killed in a motorcycle accident in 2007, Superhubby and I have always prayed before he leaves the house in the morning for God's protection throughout our day. Yesterday, I reaped the benefits of those prayers more than I ever thought that I would.
I was on my way to work and I was one block away, stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, nobody else was at the light on any of the three other sides of the intersection, so I didn't think anything of just...well, going. As I started into the intersection, I looked to my left and saw a maroon semi-truck barrelling my way. He had obviously already committed to run the red light on his side and I just knew that he was going to T-bone me in my door. This was on one of the back roads behind the restaurant, so there wasn't a whole lot of room to "run". All I could do was decide whether I was going to speed up and try to out run him or slow down and pray that he would be able to go around me and say "In Jesus Name" three times and that's all the time I had. Thankfully, God led me to slow down and I slowly turned to the right as he slowed down and turned to his left...without God's hand on us, there was physically no way that semi was going to stop before hitting me...the noses of our vehicles were somewhere around 2 feet away from each other when we got stopped and my nose wasn't far from the power pole situated on the corner of the intersection. I was able to keep my composure until I backed up enough to be able to turn right (instead of going straight as I had planned because there was a semi in the way) and pull off to the side of the road and I broke down. I called Superhubby, hysterical might I add, and tried to calm myself enough to tell him what had happened. He eventually got the gist and I talked to him as I drove the rest of my commute to work and walked into the restaurant. As people all around were wondering why I was crying and shaking and talking on the phone, I got off the phone and spilled what had just happened as well as I could in Spanish. Everyone was so good to me, had me sit down and calm down enough. They were all worried about me the whole time I was there yesterday. I can't help, even now, to think about God's goodness and when could've happened and cry. All I can see is a big maroon semi, headed my way and a hopeless situation turned around to life and safety, instead of hospitalization or worse. God you're so good to me! Thank you Jesus!

It's getting so close!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-10T19:38:00.003-05:00

So, Monday I went to my midwife appt again. Turns out...baby's heads-down! I couldn't believe it! It's kinda facing sideways right now. Its back is on the right side, so the pressure I've been feeling to the right of my belly button has been either its shoulder or elbow.

Saturday we took our child birthing class from 8am-4pm at the hospital here close by. What a gruelling day! When it came to the part about all the pain killers and stuff, I started feeling sick...then light headed and got the cold sweats! I almost passed out! I guess my mind and body have been focusing so much on the natural birth experience that it couldn't take in all the mind-boggling stats. At the end of that section as the Q&A was winding down I started feeling better, then she started in on the C-section portion of the class and I felt it creeping back up, so I told Superhubby that I'd be in the hall until she was done with that part. I couldn't believe it! I know that I don't have a high pain threshold, but I think needles and junk like that makes it worse...I'm preparing myself for the natural pain, not something brought on by others.

Last night at church, I was sitting beside someone and I took a deep breath and exhaled, she looked at me and I said "Look at this!" and she watched my belly move like crazy! I can't believe how much it's pushing on my right hip bone now! Because of all the movement last night, I had a crazy dream! The baby was moving so very much that I started to actually see appendages go across my belly. I saw a hand an arm, so I reached down to grab it and my skin just got really thin and I pulled the baby right out! It was a long, skinny baby and I looked at it and said "It's not ready yet" and just slid it right back in! Talk about BAZAAR!

On Monday evening we are going to the hospital to take a tour of the birthing and maternity facilities. I'm looking forward to knowing what to expect when we get there.

Can you believe Christmas is so close!?!?! We've basically got 15 days left! I spent a lot of time online today shopping because I had only bought one present...now, I'm up to 4! It really crept up on me this year! How 'bout you? You ready yet?

Appointment update

2009-11-25T12:06:00.002-05:00

Ok, so Monday afternoon I had my midwife appt and it went well. The gestational diabetes and hemoglobin tests came back perfectly normal. Yay! She said next time (in 2 weeks, well, week and a half now) she's going to check to see if baby is heads down. Wow! I can't believe how quickly this is going by! She also said that at week 36 we'll have a longer appt to meet and talk about my wants and desires as far as birthing goes, basically, we'll talk about my birth plan. The heartrate of the lil' one was 120's-140's this time. Dunno, maybe a boy? Perhaps. :-)

As far as the baby moving is concerned...WOW! IS HE/SHE MOVING?!?!?! I can just sit back and watch my belly roll and jump and jive with every movement...so crazy! I can't believe how big my belly's getting! I'm really lookin' preggo now! Here I go again...using exclamation points all over the place!

Anyway...we're supposed to be getting together with my family tonight for Thanksgiving. I got my work schedule on Monday and she has me working tonight, so we're going after I get off work at 8pm! That's ok though, because mom-in-law is doing the soup kitchen meal tonight from 5:30-6:30 and Superhubby is helping her after he gets off an hour early (I'm helping until I have to go to work.) and then he's going to help with clean-up and then come get me from work and then we'll go see the fam. They'll have already eaten, but that's the only way we could work it out this year. Between crazy work schedules and everything else, there was nothing else to do. Lil' sis is in the hospital with an absess and a really bad infection that they are afraid might be MERSA. They've been cleaning it out and giving her antibiotics through the IV. I feel awful for her! I wanted her to get out of work tonight, but not like this. Please pray for her? The cultures for the infection won't be back until today or tomorrow. She's going to be in the hospital for at least 2 days, they said. She needs your prayers.

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving day, we're going to the in-laws and my parents are coming as far as I know. Then, Black Friday...get up at probably 3:45am, get everything together, go to Staples and set up shop to pass out coffee, hot chocolate, doughnuts and snacks to those standing in line. No shopping for us this Black Friday, just enjoying the spirit of giving. Then I'm headed back home at 6am to hit the sack! I won't be able to function if I don't!

Well, gotta get ready to head out and help mom-in-law with the hot meals for the soup kitchen this afternoon. Have a great Thanksgiving!

In which I use exclamation points all the time!!!

2009-11-20T10:37:00.003-05:00

I've come down with the crud. It's not flu-like or anything, just a lot of sinus drainage and a yucky tummy along with some coughing.

I can't believe I only have 10 weeks and 5 days left until my due date! It seems so insanely impossible! I've heard that the third trimester goes slower, but it hasn't stopped galloping yet! I've got too many things to do to prepare the house for baby and I'm now entering the uncomfortable pregnant stage. The last few nights I've gotten to know the restroom really well...I think around 5 visits per night, which really allows for you to get to know the path from bedside to potty with your eyes closed! Superhubby still has to turn the lights on. I guess that's one talent I've gained, if nothing else, from being preggo. My next midwife appt is on this coming Monday...already! I'm not so sure I like driving an hour down and an hour back in trips so close together, I don't know how Superhubby does it everyday! The lil' one is moving a lot lately and I'm feeling a lot more rolls and tumbles in there, more so than the kicks and punches now. Oh, there still there! Just not near as often as the somersaults. Y'know, tying shoes and bending over is getting kind difficult to do now. Guess it comes with the territory!

With all the holidays coming up, I really wish we had the time to be able to visit our family down south this winter. Unfortunately, Superhubby was unable to get off when he wanted, because when the calendar got around to him, those times were already taken. We're praying that next year, he's going to get to see the calendar a lot sooner than he did before. I'm just hoping that somehow my grandparents can come up around Christmas or something. It'd be nice to at least see them. I know it's hard to take a long trip like that, but unfortunately, Superhubby can't get the time off... :-(( If nothing else, maybe they can come up when the lil' one is born.

Lil' sis has a stupid work schedule this next week! I'm so angry with her boss! Just because everyone else is going out of state for Thanksgiving means that she has to work on Wed. & Fri. of next week! Just because she lives in state?!?! She lives 2.5 hours away!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!! I'm praying that her boss will have mercy and allow her to get Wed. off at least. Otherwise she's going to only be home from tonight until Tuesday. *sad*

Well, I think I've ranted enough! You like all my uses of the exclamation?!?!?!?! :-) Later peeps!

Needles & Saws

2009-11-16T10:42:00.003-05:00

Ok, so an update from my last midwife appt a week ago:
On my way to the Dr. office, I drank a nasty sweet drink and then when I got there, they were behind on everything because the main Dr. in the office was away at a delivery. Thankfully, not only my midwife Becky, but the used to be intern, now turned certified nurse-midwife, Emily was also there taking care of anyone who didn't want to reschedule. So, Becky didn't have the bulk of the load. My appt was with Emily this time and she was very nice. You all know my hatred of needles, well...this appt didn't help matters much. When they went to take my blood for the Gestational Diabetes and Hemoglobin tests, they had to poke me three times! She first poked me on the left arm at the elbow bend, then the right arm at the wrist, then finally got blood from my left hand. I've only gained 6 lbs during my pregnancy, so I don't know what the prob was...it's not like I ballooned up like the Hindenburg or anything! So, anyway, they took the blood with me laying down this time because of what happened last time and once she finally was able to get blood, it was over in no time flat! She only took 2 vials instead of the 4 that was needed last time, so I was good to go! Baby's heartbeat was 130's-140's...it's what it has been the entire time. I'm really starting to show now, belly's gettin' bigger by the day I think. ;-)

A week ago, my dad gave Superhubby his old chainsaw and bought himself a new one. Superhubby is so happy to have another chainsaw and he calls it his "monster". It's a lot more powerful than the one he had and he's very pleased. So, now we're on our way to replacing all the stuff that was stolen, but it'll take a while.

Well, I have another midwife appointment in a week...we're down to every other week now. It's gone by so quickly! I really need to get the motivation to work on that nursery! Organization is not my forte...unfortunately. Later y'all!

We need an update, huh?

2009-11-06T11:07:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I have yet another (now we're at every 3 weeks) midwife appointment on Monday. Not looking forward to getting my blood drawn one little bit!

I think the baby has been having very short spurts of hiccups, like 4-5 hiccups then it's done. I just thought that they were rhythmic kicks, my baby's got rhythm! But I guess it's possible that they're hiccups, who knows!

I had a terrible headache invade my body on Tuesday overnight into Wednesday. I eeeked (sorry Superhubby, it's a word to me!) through the day on Wednesday while going to work and to the previously mentioned non-profit organization that helps with pregnancies before going home and practically crashing for the rest of the night. I hate skipping church services, but I would have been worthless and gotten nothing out of the service whatsoever! It was such a sickening headache that I didn't even eat supper! That's bad for me...now that I'm prego, I can't seem to skip a meal at all. But it's all over now, thank you Jesus!

I can't believe I'm already into my third trimester! Time has just flown by! I'm hoping that over the next few wintry months, I'll have time to get the nursery in order. I've not really worked much on it so far, been trying to keep up with everything else.

Well, I think I'm going to try to make some banana nut muffins for my Grandpa that I'll probably see tomorrow and then gotta get back to the laundry and dishes. Later all!

PS, thanks for all the wonderful comments! Love ya!

New baby stuff!

2009-10-23T10:58:00.006-04:00

Ok, so a lot has happened in the last week-ish. Last weekend, Superhubby's cousin who has sworn she is done with bearing children gave us a bunch of her baby stuff. She gave us: a Pack'nPlay, high chair, swing, jumper thing that hangs from the doorway, exersaucer, boppy pillow and a few other small tid bits. I was blown away by her generosity. Thanks cuz! So, now on top of that, we have our crib & mattress and dresser too. We have been promised a slightly used bassinet also. I'm so excited! Now I just have to get the time and energy to really start working on the nursery! Mom-in-law has said that sometime she will come over (I need to get the paint first) and paint a mural of a jungle or something to that effect on one of the nursery walls. I'm pumped about that too! Yesterday I went to a local non-profit organization that helps with pregnancies and preparing for the coming of baby and signed up for their Baby Bucks program. Said program allows you to go once a week and take a lesson about childbirth or raising a baby, etc and you earn "baby bucks" for each lesson and if there is a homework assignment that is completed. There are other things you can earn the bucks for too, ie: OB appointments (midwife in my case), signing up for WIC and others. Once I earn 5-6 baby bucks, I'm going to get a new infant car seat! I'm so excited! I also went home yesterday with some very nice, very desperately needed maternity clothes: 3 skirts & 4 shirts. Most of which came from Motherhood! I'm so excited!

Ok, nuf about the stuff, now about the kid...Early this week I was laying on the bed and the baby really started to kick hard on the front of my belly. So, I laid there watching my belly jump and jive with every kick. It was the craziest thing! I also had my midwife appointment on Monday and all is well. I didn't realize how high up my uterus is already! It's about an inch and a half above the belly button! No wonder I was feeling some high kicks the other day! At my next appointment I have to take the standard Gestational Diabetes and Hemoglobin tests. Yippee...*Sarcasm!* To complete these tests, they must take 2 vials of my greatly needed blood. If you weren't here for the previous blood draw, just look back a few months...I almost passed out (although, in my defense, they did take 4 VIALS!!!). I had never, that I remember, had blood taken before and I DON'T.LIKE.NEEDLES!

Last weekend I also got to go see my lil' sis! Her birthday is this weekend, but she was home last weekend, so we had her party then. It was good to see her. I feel like I never get to see her anymore. Love ya sis! And happy early birthday, since I probably won't blog before end-ish of next week.

Well, I think I'll end this book now. And just out of curiosity, I don't really know how many people read this bloggy thing, so...to satisfy a pregnant woman...leave me a comment. Even if you have to leave it as "Anon" and sign your name to it. I'm just overwhelmed with curiosity.

:-) Thanks! Hasta Luego!

Slacker's my name and puttin' things off is my game...

2009-10-09T12:30:00.003-04:00

So, I've been rightly reprimanded. I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted, I'm sorry. Time has just flown by over this last month with all that is going on right now. We've been trying to get wood cut for the cold weather ahead of us (that's already here!!!), trying to get the rest of the garden harvested, getting the house cleaned up from the week and a half of sickness that plagued our home and working at the restaurant...I don't feel like I've had time to breathe! There have been many a day over the last while that I've been too busy to take my afternoon cat nap...NOT.what.you.want.to.be.around...a.napless.pregnant.woman!!! So, things have been crazy, and I apologize for my slacking blogginess.

Update on baby: (because that's why you're here, right?)
Just this week, Superhubby felt the baby move for the first time! It was so cool! The baby has been moving a lot lately and kicking like mad! One of the guys I work with said I'm going to have a soccer player...I told him "I think so!" and he laughed. I have my next appointment with my midwife on the 19th, so in a little over a week. The last appointment, the heartbeat was in the 140's and she said everything looked like I was growing at the right size for 20 weeks. I'm now 23 weeks along and beginning to show. I still have the waist line thing going on, so I still look fat instead of pregnant, but people are starting to say that I look pregnant now. So, I guess that's a good thing. I'll have to break down soon and take a belly pic for y'all to see. I've been avoiding them thus far because of my plumpness anyway.

Other news in life:
We had the police out to our house last night because Superhubby went out to the shed to get some wood and went to split a larger-than-would-fit-in-the-stove piece of wood and couldn't find his ax, so he got to looking and not only was his ax missing, but his sledgehammer AND his chainsaw! We checked everywhere...they were nowhere to be found. After the deputy came out to file a report, he told us that another theft was reported on Wednesday up the road of a weedeater and some other stuff stolen out of a shed. So, I'm thankful that we have as much wood as we have cut so far this year, but just when things have gotten tight over the last couple months, we have to fork out more $ to replace these items by spring. We definitely need a new ax soon, but I think the others may be able to wait...we'll see.

This morning, I went to leave the house and slipped on a muddy spot on the sidewalk and fell flat on my face! I actually did hit my forehead, but it only hit a soft spot of grass, so it just got muddy, but my left knee got scraped up pretty bad and my left ring finger popped when I fell too. So, I took off my wedding band in fear of swelling, but I think it's ok...it just smarts. The baby is still moving a lot, so not to worry there. Just my graceful self (I get it natural) showing off again.

I also translated (in Spanish) a church service for the first time last Sunday night...or tried to. I actually did better than I thought I would. Yay Me!!!
Well, I think that's all for now. Toodles!

We have movement!!!

2009-09-04T10:11:00.002-04:00

It's crazy, but I have definitely been feeling baby move more and more over the last few days. It's not what I was expecting, although I really don't know what I was expecting to feel. I can tell you that I don't think I liked it at first because it was really weird...pressure...almost (ALMOST, mind you) painful. I didn't really know what it was for obvious reasons, but the more I felt it, the more I knew. Now, the more I'm feeling it, the more I'm liking it. It really makes you feel close to your baby like no one can describe. It's a wordless sensation...women try to put words to it, but it's not the same coming from any one woman. Some say it feels like gas bubbles, others say butterflies, I had one woman tell me it felt like a little worm inside. Truly, none of those things describe it for me, it's just the reality of knowing that my baby really IS inside of me, because it's indescribably awesome. I sat down this morning, eating french toast and chocolate milk and felt the baby begin to move and I had to smile because I think it got a sugar high. ;-) I think it's just so cool...

In other news, I'm working the main restaurant tonight...yes...Friday night. I'm scared out of my wits! You see, during the school year, with two colleges in the vicinity, that place is crazy! I'm glad to find out that there are going to be 1-2 other people there at the front helping me with the various duties of a host/ess. The things I am expected to do:
1) Seat customers while trying to keep it fairly split for the waiters/waitresses.
2)Run the register, which includes the credit card machine.
3) Insert tips into the credit card machine while in down time.
4) Answer the phone
5) Take down to-go orders & take them to the kitchen
6) Get the to-go orders bagged up with the correct stuff in them (salsa, chips, utensils, tortillas if needed, etc.)--this is a crazy task if you have many to-go orders...I had 7 at one time the other day!.
7) Just keep smiling, smiling, smiling!

I'm sure there are other things I'm expected to do, but that's mostly what I do and it really keeps me busy as a bee. Well, my name does mean 'honeybee'! So, I'm glad to have someone else to help when it's crazy busy tonight...because that's just way to much for my little prego brain to handle right now.

Well..I guess I outta post huh?

2009-08-28T11:23:00.002-04:00

I have a new job! As of last week on Thursday, the owner of a Mexican restaurant in the area called me back and asked me if I could work in two hours! I said, "YEAH!" So, I got ready and headed in to get trained. Since then, I have worked:

Thursday -2 hours lunch shift
Friday - 2 hours lunch shift
Saturday - 2 hours lunch shift & 3 hours dinner shift at Express
Monday - 2 hours lunch shift
Tuesday - 2 hours lunch shift
Thursday - 2 hours lunch shift at Express
Then today, I must work the 3 hour dinner shift at Express
and tomorrow, the 2 hours shift at Express.

Whew! What a busy week!!! I'm really not good at getting in the groove of a new routine. So, I'm still trying to figure out how my day should go if I work the lunch shift or the dinner shift...the things I can get done and the things that must be done in the short few hours that I have at home.

I LOVE MY JOB! I haven't really spoken Spanish much since I quit teaching two years ago, so I was really scared that I wouldn't pick it back up as easily as I'd like to. However, I'm not doin' so shabby if I do say so myself. I have made mistakes though...my forte is really not taking to go orders over the phone or in person. The food tickets must be just right and the menus are different for the two restaurants. So, it's kinda hard to remember which restaurant has which items and for what price and how to write them down on the ticket so the cooks understand it. Yesterday, I made the cooks make 2 chimichangas more than what they needed to. Ooooops! I'm getting the hang of it though. One of the waiters just got back from a two month trip to Mexico last week and he speaks so fast it's not even funny! And who's the one to help me understand how the menu and tickets work yesterday...yes...it's him! So, surprisingly, I got the gist. I don't think I've heard anyone speak that fast since I was in Costa Rica! Crazy stuff! I like the interaction more than I do the actual work though. I've been hoping to get a little closer to this group for a long time. Now we seem to be making a connection.

Also, in the last week...our melon patch that is full of different kinds of melons...watermelons, cantaloupes, honeydews, European melons, muskmelons, etc...was getting really close to producing vine-ripened melons for us. Notice, the "was" in last sentence. Suddenly, we noticed the vines being trampled and melons MISSING.....yes...I said missing!!! There was no trace of some of the French melons that we so wanted to try once they ripened...the ones that were closest to being ripe were GONE. At first we thought it was either a family of raccoons or a groundhog, but we had a problem...how were we going to figure out which it was? So, we went out to the patch and numbered all the melons that were close enough to worry about and we had 17 at that point...we had already lost around 4-6 of them. So, every morning and evening we went out to count the melons and one or two of them showed up missing during the daytime. This was odd, because Superhubby instructed me to try to keep the dogs outside in the backyard where the melon patch was as much as possible. Very odd, melons coming up missing with Molly in the backyard...she's our watchdog when it comes to vermin. So, upon recognizing the melon-napping in the early evening, Superhubby and I went back to the patch to re-count just in case I had missed the melon. On our way there, Superhubby decided to stop by the "shredding grounds" (a spot in the yard where Belle, our newest, has picked to bring things to chew on for a while) and guess what he found? Melon #12!!!! Our Springer Spaniel is eating our melons!!!!!! Granted, they're smaller "gift" melons that she can pick up on her own, but shouldn't she be having intestinal problems by now? Melon #12 was still green...or unripe for those of you who don't know gardening lingo. This dog is crazy! So, when my father-in-law asked if we caught a coon yet in the live trap, we said, nope, we caught a dog! CRAZY DOG!

Oh, and the baby's doin' fine....I think I might be feeling the beginnings of movement in there, but I don't really know for sure yet. Midwife said on Monday that I'm right on target for week 17, so all's good so far.

And thus ends my book....

The Bazaar and Miraculous, all in one post!!!

2009-08-19T10:31:00.003-04:00

Sunday night I had a crazy dream, for those of you facebookers out there, you already know how bazaar it really was. So, Meagan and I were talking after church on Sunday night about her baby moving and mine just beginning to move. She said at one point that it was really weird sometimes and I said "like an alien inside, huh?". Well, that comment got me a really nutzo dream. That night, I dreamed about my baby moving, well...stretching as I've felt it doing over the last couple days, no kicking yet, but small little stretches. The baby stretched so hard in my dream that an appendage stretched through the skin! This appendage was not a hand, foot, arm or leg, but a TENTACLE!!! Talk about crazy prego dreams!

And I have a praise report!!! I've been praying that God would provide for us over the last couple months and help us pay our bills, because since I lost my job back in April, we've had some hard times. Well, it's all God this month, and we and He knows it. I've been thanking Him for helping us pay our bills daily, and I've felt still hopeless (as most good Christians should probably get to that point at one time or another to realize that God is in control and we are not) and helpless to the situation. I've learned to trust in God more because He knows His plans for us, and we....well, don't. So, anyhoo...last night, Superhubby called cellphone company because we were going to cancel 2 of the 4 phones on our plan (in-laws are also on our plan...cancel Superhubby's and mom-in-law's). My phone is still under contract until the coming April or May, so I had to keep mine and mom-in-law just wanted to get rid of hers anyway. So, he called them and told them that we needed to drop two lines on the plan and the person gave him over to a special person that could work wonders from God. (well...probably not, but in this case...yes) Since Superhubby has been with cellphone company for 10 years, they really wanted to keep him in as much capacity as they could. So, for the same price we were going to have to pay for the most basic plan for my phone and dad-in-law's add on...he gave us the most basic plan for me & Superhubby's and dad-in-law's add ons to the plan. Now, we lowered the amount of minutes we had to something that fit within our needs anyway and got rid of the texting...sorry all you out there that text me, they're blocked now. But here's a couple clinchers...Superhubby's phone is shot...that's part of the reason that he was just going to get rid of his anyway...they GAVE...yes...gave him a free Razor (no, not the best phone, but free!!) with free activation!!! AND...yes, there's more...he back dated the plan change by 3 months, and gave us a credit to our bill....thus NO CELL PHONE BILL THIS MONTH!!! Praise God for providing! Now, granted, that's just one of the bills, but it's a wonderful, miraculous start. God is soooooo good!

Why Lord, Why?

2009-08-14T11:13:00.002-04:00

Why is it that even though you trust God to provide and you praise Him for it daily, you still come up short? I don't have the answers, only tears and frustration. I thought I had the answer, but it seems to be put off week after week and I don't have the providence to make up for the loss. What can I do, but keep trusting and praising? I'm lost.

2009-08-12T09:43:00.003-04:00

Praise God for cooler weather! AC off-windows open! We got a heavy rainstorm last night. It just popped up out of the blue after all the other storms had passed and we got nuthin...thought we had been neglected AGAIN, but God gave us rain! It was probably around 10 or so and we heard thunder...checked the radar and sure 'nuf...here she came. What a great way to cool the weather down! It's going to be a beautiful day today!

I really haven't felt like blogging the last few days. I've been trying to get caught up on everyone on facebook and then I got addicted to cloth diaper shopping! I had no idea that they had come so far! Some friends of ours just showed us a bumGenius diaper that they use on their one year old and I was AMAZED!!!! I think that's the brand I want to go with, especially the one size ones because they will go with your child until they're potty trained. I stand in awe...

So, last weekend, Superhubby and I were laying in bed and I felt the baby "lump" like I had before and I said "There's the baby!" Superhubby asked "Where?" So I put his hand where mine was and HE FELT IT! It was so cool! Then he said "It moved..." and he chased it around my belly for a couple minutes. Even though we're not feeling it kicking and tumbling around, it's cool to be able to feel that it's there. They neatest feeling when he actually felt it. So amazing!

All about baby...

2009-08-04T09:48:00.003-04:00

Ok, not a lot to talk about this time...but here we go anyhooo...

Since last Monday when my midwife found the heartbeat of the baby and I could feel a "lump" which was the baby, I've felt something in the belly a few times. I can't really explain it other than I'm positive it was the baby, whether it was moving or just up against some flexed muscle or what I don't know...but the baby nonetheless. I've felt it twice, both times I was going from a sitting to a laying down position in the bed and I felt a tightness like I've never felt before in my lower belly (about where the midwife found it on Monday). I told Superhubby the first time: "That was weird. I think I just felt the baby." and his normal reply for everything having to do with stomach: "It was gas." You must know my hubby to know that his reply for many things is "gas". If you feel a rumbly in your tumbly and you say so, even though you're hungry, it's "gas" to him. He's just funny. I let his comment go, because I knew it was the baby. I know I'm not supposed to feel fetal movement until towards the end of this month, but I'm not sure it was movement, just presence.
One more thing: So far, I've gotten predictions from two ladies at church. One had a dream about me having twins, the other said on Sunday "you're having a girl." My mother-in-law told me yesterday that she remembers a dream that she had about a baby that wasn't hers that was a boy. I have had dreams (see previous posts) about the baby, and one was really odd and didn't have any gender, but one was a boy. Lately, I've had dreams, the plots of which I have no memory, but I do remember dreaming all night Sunday night about a baby boy. I just don't know what to think. I guess we'll find out in a few months if nothing else. huh?

The good, the bad & the scary!

2009-07-28T10:14:00.003-04:00

Ok, without going into details...
Friday night into Saturday morning, I was afraid that I was miscarrying the baby. No severe symptoms, just enough to scare the snot out of you, y'know? So, anyway...I've taken it easy since and by Saturday afternoon all the symptoms had pretty much all gone away. I knew I had my OB appointment with my midwife on Monday (yesterday) so I called her Saturday morning to give her a heads up. She basically told me to watch it and take it easy and if anything worsens to call her or go to the ER. This all came after talking to Jana on Friday afternoon and saying that God had given me such a peace over the last 4-5 weeks that I wasn't going to miscarry and that things were going to be just fine. Because early on I really had a lot of fears and misgivings about the whole thing. Then this all happened Friday night. At 2am, I cried my eyes out and Superhubby prayed with me to calm down and for everything to be okay. It calmed me enough to stop crying, but I didn't get hardly any sleep that night.
So.....yesterday I had my midwife appointment at 1:15. Superhubby went along because we dropped our insurance and we had to set up a payment plan with the Dr. office. My midwife decided that after all the craziness of the weekend, we probably had better use the Doppler to hear the heartbeat just to make sure all was going okay. I agreed to it, even though I really didn't want to use the Doppler, because I wanted to make sure that the baby was alive and well. She asked me if I wanted to do an ultrasound, but I declined because hearing the heartbeat was enough to convince me. I do have to say though, that it was the neatest thing! When she found the baby and was pushing on my belly where he/she was, I could feel the "knot" that was the baby in my belly! It felt like it was about the size of an apricot or a plum. We heard my heartbeat right away, but then when she found the baby, you could hear the baby's heartbeat behind mine. Mine was much slower, then you could hear a faster little baby heartbeat in the background, she said about 150 beats per minute. It made us smile! THERE REALLY IS A BABY IN THERE!!! I can't wait until I can feel it moving around! I've fallen in love with a little baby inside me, what a different kind of love...what a new feeling altogether! So...SO...Amazing!

12 weeks and counting & a soapbox ranting

2009-07-21T09:31:00.003-04:00

Ok, today marks the beginning of the 12th week...aka...end of first trimester!!! I don't know how many people wait until the end of this 12th week to tell anyone that they're expecting!! I think I would've died if I had to wait that long! I have my next Midwife appointment on Monday of this coming week. Not really looking forward to it, but it's somethin' I gotta do.
Next week also marks the beginning of the County Fair. Can I just tell you that I'm really dreading it? You see...our church parks cars in the afternoons/evenings for a huge fundraiser that we do every year. This year, the County Fair falls on the same week as Family Camp for our church at 'the lake'. Therefore...many will duck out of the fair job using Family Camp as an excuse and not even go...or the usual...some will use the fair job to get into the fair and not even do the fair job. Y'know, I'm pregnant and really not wanting to stand on my feet for HOURS ON END...and I know of a few others that are even more pregnant than I am, and they're going to be there. I know one said she's taking her chair and they'll probably put her at the end of an aisle to block the way. I don't know if I'll be able to be as mobile as I usually am. AND Superhubby may not be able to work as much as he usually does because Big Bank is requiring some overtime that week. Gee...does that figure or what?!? He even has to work some on Sunday! That's just rediculous!!!

You know what? I really have something eating at my crawl...I have a problem with "Apostolic/Pentecostals" trying to buck the system, so to speak. If you don't believe what the church teaches, then why do you even come? You've been coming for years...and years...and years and complain the whole way about our standards on clothing, movies, music...our doctrine on baptism and the Holy Ghost and salvation. If you have a problem with these things, maybe you should sincerely pray that God shows you the truth instead of not having a very spiritual relationship with God outside of the church building and talking bad about people and the way they are trying to uphold the basic foundation of THE CHURCH. Obviously your heart isn't in the right place if that's what you're complaining about...Y'know what? If we're wrong, I have NO COMPLAINTS, but if you're wrong, you'll have an eternity of complaints now won't you?
There...that feels better. Maybe we can just chalk this up to pregnancy hormones gone wild...or...maybe not.

Ok, so I'm a looo-hoooo-ser!

2009-07-14T09:28:00.003-04:00

I feel like I've not posted in soooo long! Oh, wait...I haven't! I got sick last week...still coughing and junk like that, but feeling much better than I did on Thursday and Friday! That's basically all I've been up to since then. Cough...sneeze...blow the nose...repeat.

I didn't get a chance until now to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SWEETHEART!!!! Sunday (12th) was our anniversary. We've been married for 6 whole years! It's crazy how it really doesn't seem that long, but I can't really truly remember life without him! I love you Baby!

I also didn't say last Wednesday (8th) when I posted Happy Birthday Tiff! We miss you and love you so much! See you on the flip side!

This pregnancy thing with all the fatigue and forgetfulness is killing me! I have forgotten to do so many things in the last few weeks...I'm starting to make myself little notes and put them where I'll remember them. Can I tell you...it still doesn't seem real? I'm now in week 11 (according to what my dates say) and I'm almost out of the first trimester! I don't think it'll really seem real until I start feeling the baby move. I don't want to use a Doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat because it's just a strong ultrasound machine. And I've already talked about my feelings on ultrasounds. So, I want to use a fetoscope (fetal stethoscope), but my midwife says that I'll have to supply my own because they don't own one! So, I've got to see if I can hunt one down. Maybe if I hear the heartbeat it'll seem real, but they also say that sometimes you can't hear the heartbeat with a fetoscope until week 16-18. So, I don't know...

I've got to say to the Muffin: I knew you'd pull through it! Once you got into the swing of things, you'd get your mind off of being homesick and really see the newness of it all. Keep pushin' for your goals, it'll all pass by so quickly and you won't want to leave when the time comes. Love ya girl!

Ok, my list of things to do today:
1) Get off here so I can get my list done.
2) Weed the watermelon plants in the garden. They need it badly if we're going to want melons!
3) Take a package to the B-burg post office.
4) Empty and fill the dishwasher
5) Strip and re-make the bed.
6) Get some laundry done!
7) Try...do try to straighten up the living room today.
If I get all of these things done today, it'll be more than I've been able to accomplish in the last couple weeks altogether! Between the sickness that I currently have and the fatigue that pregnancy has gotten me down to take a nap (long nap) in the middle of the day every day, I've really been a horrible housewife. I'm sorry Superhubby! You've been so understanding. I love you!

Don't worry, I've been a slacker otherwise too!

2009-07-08T09:15:00.002-04:00

Yeah, pretty much hating this HUGE fatigue thing that goes along with pregnancy. Not only have I slacked in blogging, but the reason for that is because I've slacked in everything else too! There's really nothing to blog about because of the slackiness of my life this last week. And yesterday I literally laid around the house all day until Superhubby came home because I had a monstrous headache and my stomach was following the pattern. It seemed that anything I ate yesterday upset my tum tum, with the exception of a small baked potato with butter, cheddar and salt on it. I think my bod has been trying to fight off the cold that Superhubby has had for the last week because I've occasionally sneezed. Well, Superhubby's cold started with a large headache and last night before I went to bed, a sore throat. YUCK!!!! I can feel my sinuses draining. So, I'm going to attack it full force. Not only am I taking my prenatal vitamins, but I'm going to take a bunch of Vit. C and drink tea--herbal tea that includes things good for the immune system: elderberry, echinacea, hibiscus flowers, rosehips, green tea, stinging nettle, red clover. It's steeping as I type. So, hopefully it won't go full force on me and I can just kill it where it lays.
I just got on facebook and it's amazing the people that come out of the woodwork when you sign up! I already have 35 friends and I just signed up last Thursday! I really wasn't planning on doing much, but people found me, so I guess I'll try to stick with it. I'm still trying to figure the thing out. Do you just comment on people's comments or what? I feel like there should be more, but I've not found it yet. Ok, well...gonna play on facebook a few more minutes, then get to my tea and vitamins. Bye y'all!

Midwife appointment

2009-06-30T09:06:00.003-04:00

I arrived safely at the doctor's office where my midwife works, so no problems on the road. Found it perfectly! (Thanks for the good directions Superhubby!) After doing the preliminaries in paperwork and filling out my family medical history, they took me in and weighed me. I always hate that part, why can't they take your word for it? I weighed myself yesterday morning and of course in the middle of the day and dressed I'm going to weigh five pounds more!!! Yuck! I still say I haven't gained a bit since I got prego...yet. Then, they made me pee in a cup. POSITIVE RESULTS!!!! Guess what everybody? I'm pregnant!!! As if we didn't know before. Then they took me into a room with a table and three chairs, took my blood pressure and then the midwife came in with the student midwife that they're hoping to sign on by the time my baby is born. Both were very nice! They let me ask any questions that I had after she told me about her and the practice. They also said that my self-calculated due date was right. February 2, 2010. She said as of yesterday I was 8 wks 6 days. That makes me 9 weeks today! Then she left me with the student nurse-midwife for some "education". She went through the usual dos and don'ts of pregnancy and how to get a hold of them if it's not within regular business hours. Oh! Remember all the shenanigans that I went through to get a simple question answered at Mr. OB/GYN's office? Yeah, Mrs. Midwife said that if I call and don't get a call back within 10----TEN MINUTES!!!!!------to call back because there was a miscommunication somewhere! That is AMAZING! Soooo cooool! After the "education session" the fun began. They took my blood. I've never had blood taken before. I hate needles (I think I've mentioned that before). So, I didn't look at the nurse at all once I sat down. Thought it would be easier that way. Sure, we talked, but I never looked the way of the needle. It went in painlessly and when I realized she was taking blood, I told her thank you for being a good aim. :-) She said around about the third vial is when I said "I'm feeling kinda weird." (She only took four....THAT'S A LOT OF BLOOD!!!) So, knowing me (Mom) I almost passed out. I probably would have if the other nurse hadn't come in and put smelling salts under my nose. I also gagged a few times, and when I came out of it all I was sweating like crazy! She told me that it was the coolest room in the place and to me it felt like 100 degrees! Once I cooled down and wiped the sweat from my brow, face, neck and arms :-) I left. (Mrs. Midwife said that the next appointment will be the physical and all that usually goes with the first appointment. She said the first time she meets with someone, she'd rather not see them naked! I appreciated that!) And arrived safely (with a lightheaded feeling) home. By the time I got home I needed to lie down. Superhubby was going to be home in an hour and I told him when he called what the plan was and he said ok. I felt woozy all evening long! It's a good thing Superhubby was making supper! The steak, potatoes and salad were wonderful! We even had a couple slices of mom-in-law's homemade whole wheat bread with butter! Yummy! It made me feel better, but I still couldn't stand up quickly or I'd lose my balance. I feel better today. So, much to do! Much to do!

Miscellany

2009-06-29T09:30:00.003-04:00

I'm going to my first midwife appointment today at 1:15. The one thing I'm really not looking forward to is driving to the Big City all by my little lonesome. I don't do that kind of driving...without much persuasion! Since my appt. is in the middle of the day, Superhubby can't accompany me either way (there or home). So, even though I'll be a few miles away from him, I probably won't even get to see him until he comes home tonight. BTW-Look at the pregnancy tickers! My baby actually looks like a baby now! (That is if my calculated due date is correct...I'll find out today.) :-)))

OH! OH! We're having marinated steak (that Superhubby does on his smoker grill---WONDERFUL!), baked potatoes (with butter, cheese and salt of course!) and salad tonight!!!!! I'm so excited! We really haven't done steaks on the grill and went all out for a nice meal like this in a while. Lately, the only things that have hit the grill are burgers and chicken...both of which are lovely, but nothing, I repeat...NOTHING beats a steak a la Superhubby! We've picked out some T-bones from the freezer and they've been marinading since last night. The plan WAS to start the marinading on Friday night, but we were so busy this weekend that we kept forgetting. :-(

Speaking of being busy...Saturday we did both farmers markets in two different towns and pulled it off! Mom-in-law and I did the one farther away and Superhubby did the normal one. This last Saturday must not have been a great market week, because neither did well at all. But, that's how markets go...great one week and poopy the next. I love doing the new market, what I hate is the getting up at 5 something AM. If you know me at all, I'm NOT a morning person. And with Superhubby wanting to stay up late to get things done for the market after getting home from Friday night pizza at the in-laws, it makes for a very short night. When we finally got home in the afternoon Saturday, we both crashed for a 3----THREE HOUR nap! We were soooo pooooooped out! That basically left enough time to feed the chickens and go back to the in-laws for supper. We usually do Friday pizza and whatever Mom-in-law gets a hankerin' for on Saturday. Since we moved out here closer to them, we've pretty much been doing it that way. It's not like a set-in-stone thing, but we like it and do it as often as we can. Who can pass up Mom-in-law's cookin' anyway?!? Nobody I know of! Well, I may come back and blog this afternoon after my appointment. Either that or in the morning. But I'll let you know if I found anything out (due date wise, etc.) that I didn't know before. Love ya's!

Not morning sickness, but what is it?!?

2009-06-24T09:03:00.002-04:00

I think I seasoned the beef to go into empanadas on Monday night a leeeetle too much. My tummy just didn't like it...my mouth, yes...tummy, no. I basically spent all day yesterday laying around holding my belly and running to the loo. Then, stupid me...I didn't realize until after the fact what it was and I ate another empanada for lunch yesterday too! It got worse, so much worse! It tasted great! But my belly just didn't like it.

I was supposed to go to my "Meet & Greet" with my midwife yesterday afternoon. About 20 minutes before I was to leave the house I get a call from her office saying she got called in to a delivery. I should expect that, right? So, I told them to just schedule me for my first OB appointment instead of wasting more time. So, I have my first appt with her on Monday (when my original OB/GYN appt was to be anyway).

Superhubby met with Mr. Insurance and got me more Dr. visits added to my policy. So, that's taken care of. Yay! Things are falling into place! I knew they would. Now, just if I can get my belly to feeling better, I'll be doing great!

Good news and Bad news...

2009-06-17T09:45:00.003-04:00

So, I think I'm going to be able to go with the midwife after all! Superhubby is going to call Mr. Insurance man soon and get all that junk straightened out. I got ahold of the one midwife that I thought I was going to go with, but turns out, she doesn't deliver in hospitals, only at home. So, she recommended two. I called one who works in a doctor's office, she delivers at St. Anne's and it sounds like this is probably who I'll go with. I have a "Meet & Greet" session with her next Tuesday (which is a free session!). God love free stuff! I've got so many questions! And I think I'm going to cancel my appointment with the OB/GYN. The first midwife I talked to didn't really have a lot of good stuff to say about him. I really want to try to avoid certain things, such as: ultrasounds, amniocentesis, c-sections, induction, epidural, etc. I want to do this naturally, and she said that he told her to her face that he thought "women should be managed"!!!! He calls them "managed births". Something that happens naturally does NOT need managed!!!!!!! She said he had about a 50% c-section rate!!!! DEAR LORD!!!!!!!! THAT'S INSANE!!!!!! And I told her that I was overweight and she said that if he thinks I'm slightly overweight, he'll pressure me to do a c-section! NOOOOOOO! I want to avoid this as much as possible! It's just insane how much of that stuff goes on in the OB/GYN practice. So, anyway. After getting stressed out while talking to her, I got de-stressed and called this other midwife and she is going to see me next week! That's crazy considering that it's taking me a whole month to get in with this other guy!

Oh, and I didn't tell you the best part! I decided to call Mr. OB/GYN and find out if I don't want an ultrasound if he would be willing to work with me. I first called last Thursday, they said he'd call me back by the end of the day...nothing. So, I gave him most of Friday and called back in the afternoon. Do you know what they said? Here, I won't keep you guessing: "I'm sorry, the office is closed for the rest of the day, can I have him call you on Monday?" So, I sighed and said "Sure." Monday came and gone, nothing! I called back yesterday and guess what they said this time? "You mean they didn't tell you he's been on vacation since Friday? Yeah, he won't be back until Thursday this week!" Whaaaatt?!?!?!?!??! I'm not very happy about this! This just shows me how incompetent that office really is! They don't care about you! All they care about is the money! Grrrrrr!

BUT, that's okay, because I've got a midwife! I'VE GOT A MIDWIFE! :-) I'm pleased with myself, because I didn't think I'd find one that worked out of hospitals! Yay me!

Dreams...

2009-06-15T09:39:00.002-04:00

A couple of ladies at the church have told me of their dreams they've had about me:

1) I had twin girls and named them Tanya Ann & Tiffany Jo! (YUCK!!!)

2) I had triplets!!!! (HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!)

And I know this sounds funny, but since I'm not going to have an ultrasound and find out what the gender of the baby is...I've been praying about it! No, really! The last few nights when I can remember, I prayed before going to sleep that God would give me a dream about my baby and that I would remember the dream. Here's the results so far...

1) Very vague dream that I had a healthy, happy baby boy. Man was he cute!!!!

2) Last night's was strange! I was in the hospital, having the baby--no pain! Baby pops out, they take it, don't tell me anything about it, say something about busting an aorta and run away. Superhubby and I are there speechless, they bring the baby back in a diaper and leave again. Superhubby and I are like "Boy or girl?!?" I open the diaper and there's NOTHING there! It's flat! There was no gender identifiers there! I said, "Girl?" :-) I have no idea what that one was about! Weird!!!!

Soapbox Rantings

2009-06-12T10:18:00.004-04:00

So, many of you don't know and will soon...and probably will try to talk me out of many things (it won't work) having to do with this pregnancy...some of which you'll find out about in the next couple minutes. But I really want to go with a midwife--at the hospital. The county I live in, the hospital does not allow you to use a midwife in said hospital. So, I must go to a neighboring county's hospital to use said midwife...not really a problem. They are all three pretty much equidistant from our home. But the insurance company does not cover midwives. Okay, not a problem...but when I called said insurance company to ask that question, Mr. Insurance Man tells me that the MASSIVE amount of moolah that we fork out for medical insurance only covers 2--TWO doctor's visits per year!?!?! Excuse me?!? When we signed up for this "Wonderful Medical Insurance" we were told that if I do get prego, all prenatal visits will fall under one visit because of a reoccuring condition. So, Superhubby is going to call said Mr. Insurance Man and chew him out! (At least I hope so.) I would do it, but I'm not near knowledgable enough about insurance to really do a decent job of knawing someone's head off. I might try to gum them to death, but that usually doesn't work. Teeth are really needed for that job! So...I'm thinking that this midwife that I'm wanting to go with might be a better option for multiple reasons.

1) She works around your income as to how much she charges.

2) I could drop my medical portion of insurance for the year after my first appt. on the 29th with my OB/GYN because all of my TWO allotted doctor's visits are used up...making for less of a monthly insurance payment.

3) I'll keep the hospitalization portion of insurance so that I'll be covered when going into labor.

4) And she's a woman!!!!! Definately a plus for me, because I really don't feel comfy having another man doing whatever they do down there. Ask my mom, I've always been modest! And it's not because I'm Pentecostal! I've been modest from birth! No running around the house naked as a jay bird for me as a toddler!

Ok, now that I'm off my soapbox about the insurance--YUCK!--I'll jump to the next one. It's called "I've made up my mind, and you won't change it, no matter how hard you try!"

Issue #1: I'm not getting an ultrasound as long as it's medically possible. If there is a desperate need for one, maybe...but I would really rather not. Reason: (If you're pregnant and agree with ultrasounds you might not want to read this!) There has not been any significant research done on ultrasound machines and their safety. They were made, and since then, no one has really checked to see if there are any long term problems that pop up from having one or many on your baby. One also doesn't need to have any kind of certification to man an ultrasound machine. There are celebrities that buy u/s machines to use in their homes!!!!! How rediculous is that?!?! There are many other reasons, I've done my research, but really don't think you want to read them all. But I do have my reasons. Thank you for listening!

Issue #2: I'm not going to get an epidural...PERIOD. Many may say that they're the best thing since sliced bread, but I don't want one! Reason: It is known that there are risks that go with putting a large needle in your spine. AND I DON'T LIKE LITTLE NEEDLES, WHY WOULD I WANT A BIG ONE IN MY BACK?!?

Issue #3: I want to go with a midwife, not an OB/GYN. Reason: The above two issues are usually pushed (especially Issue #1) when it comes to OB's. I don't want any undue pressure on me when it comes to decisions I have made. I want the person helping me to be understanding and follow through with what I want and need. Not trying to "pull the wool over my eyes" and give me something that I don't want, or don't know what it is.

Issue #4: I want to use cloth diapers. Reason: Disposable diapers don't deteriorate for like a million years! When Superhubby took Environmental Science in college, he talked to me a lot about what helps and hurts the environment and it really stuck. Am I a "Tree Hugger"? No, but I think the less trash I put out there, the better this world will be. By the way, Mrs. Lemon, can you make any suggestions? Or anyone else with input for that matter, as to what brand to use, etc, etc.?

Issue #5: You know, I really don't enjoy being "teased" or what have you about having multiples! Twins...triplets....whatever! I love you all, but please...PLEASE?!? Don't talk to me about having multiples! If we find out that we are, fine. But it scares the bejeebers out of me and I don't think the baby needs that kind of undue stress right now. Thank you.

Okay, I think I'm off the soapboxes for now. I just really had to get all that off my chest. I feel better now...really, I do!

Pregnancy symptoms & VBS don't mix!

2009-06-10T09:31:00.002-04:00

So, we have VBS at our church this week (Monday-Thursday). I was supposed to be in charge of the "Choir class" and we also had a "Praise singing class". I'm not entirely sure why we had both, considering that we both do basically the same thing AND we have to compete with classes like: Clowns, Puppets, Cooking (my mother-in-law does choc-chip cookies in that class!), and Crafts! Monday I went to help out (as an obedient Godly woman would) and I had 1--ONE child sign up for my class and there were three that signed up for praise singing. How can you have a choir of ONE? So, we decided to combine classes that night. We had five adults to three registered children that showed up. I think the odds were good that with me feeling the way I did (stomach feeling like a rock and heartburn like crazy and more tired than I had ever been), I really wouldn't be needed the rest of the week. And I'm glad I talked to the guy in charge and asked him if that was ok, because last night it got worse! It was to the point that, if I would have waited any longer to eat, I would have vomitted (don't ask me what, because there was nothing in the tummy!). My back was killing me and so was my foot (which for some reason decided that a bone was going to displace itself in the top of my foot on Saturday) and I couldn't stand for long periods of time. So, there I was with Superhubby trying to help me make supper (my mexican feast of chicken and cheese enchiladas, rice, beans and guacamole) because I got really desperate. He saw me almost doubling over from the stomach pain (nausea?) and leaning against the freezer from the foot and back pain, I guess he felt sorry for me and decided to help. So, needless to say, I'm really glad I backed out of VBS for the rest of the week. I don't think I would've lived through it.

Speaking of Superhubby...he has been so good to me. (He always has been, but even more so now.) Last week I had a craving something fierce for onion rings! It started on Tuesday, but we didn't have them and he was going to the store on Thursday. So, I mentioned it again to him while at the store and he really didn't say much. He DID, however, show up at the house with a huge vidalia onion and he made me HOMEMADE onion rings!!! I don't remember what we had them with, but those onion rings were sooooo gooood!!!! We made them again at mom-in-law's on Saturday with hamburgers. Then I made one comment yesterday while he was at the grocery store that I'd like some Oreos with milk. He came home with a pack of Oreos! Now, mind you, I'm not (yet, and hopefully won't be) the pregnant woman who scarfs down everything she sees, or eats a whole pack of Oreos by herself in one sitting. But I do enjoy these cravings as much as I can while still being conscious of my weight and what I should and shouldn't be eating and how much. But I have also found that no matter what I eat, it's going to give me heartburn, just since last week. I hear that if you have a lot of heartburn during pregnancy, your baby will have lots of hair at birth. We'll see.

Have you heard the news?

2009-06-08T09:11:00.002-04:00

Well, most of you now know. I'm preggers!!! Here's what was SUPPOSED to happen. This was Superhubby's plan. We were supposed to have mom-in-law put "Missy & baby" on the prayer list in last night's service. (Thus the poll on the side asking about prayer lists!) And then we were going to wait and see who came up with the information...........Well, it didn't exactly happen that way. Yesterday MORNING, Superhubby (y'know, the one with "THE PLAN") writes on his Sunday School kids' papers "Missy's pregnant, Don't tell!" and expects it to not be told by a bunch of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15!!!!!! The nerve?!?!?! So, a nice young lady that is in his class comes up to me and says "Missy, is this true?" and points to the paper. Immediately I recognize my traitor of a husband's handwriting and say, "He wasn't supposed to tell! I'm gonna kill 'im!!!!" So, I head up to his classroom and he's already gone. I call him and say "Where are you? Cuz I'm gonna kill ya!" And he laughs and says "I'm in the sanctuary, come right ahead!" So, I go to the sanctuary and he and my mom-in-law are standing in the back of the santuary with what Superhubby calls a "'possum eatin' poop grin" on their faces! I get back there and he of course says "I put DON'T TELL on the papers! Nice Young Lady, you weren't supposed to tell!!!" Mom-in-law proceeds to say, "I told Nice Young Lady's mom this morning!" I said, "You weren't supposed to tell until tonight!" Then, it happened. Pastor's daughter-in-law overhears and says "Tell what?" and I knew it was over! Mom-in-law says "She's pregnant" and I turned away, knowing that I--who was trying to uphold my own traitor of a husband's wishes to the death--had just lost. While I was turned away, some kind of agreement went on between mom-in-law and Pastor's daughter-in-law and I felt my whole head turn bright red as P's D-in-law YELLED ACROSS THE SANCTUARY.........."HEY EVERYBODY!!!!!!!! MISSY P IS PREEEEEGGNNNAAAANNNNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And the hundred or so people left at church fell silent and looked our way. I was so embarrassed! Glad it was out, but embarrassed! So, I figured it was time to notify everyone else that I had cell numbers for and began texting people the wonderful news. So, Mrs. Lemon knew before I even posted this time.

So, here are the answers to your questions. I'm due probably in early to mid-February, which puts me at about 4-6 weeks. I have my first appointment with my OB/GYN on June 29th, but I'm really thinking about using a mid-wife if my insurance covers it. I'm really interested in doing this thing as naturally and without technology as much as I can. Since sis-in-law passed on, we as a family have really tried to clean up our act. We try to stay as natural and organic as possible. So, sorry peeps, but that means that we probably won't know what it is until he or she comes out. Speaking of "he or she"...I have had 3 or 4 people already call it a "HE". Is that prophetic? I don't know, but I think everyone is sick and tired of the lack of little boys running around the church. I feel sorry for all the little girls that have been born in the last 3 years, because their youth group is going to be much like mine was...boys few and far between. It wasn't fun or easy trying to find a knight in shining armor in that crowd! Many of us had to go elsewhere to find ours. Turns out mine was there most of the time and I didn't even realize it! Ok, well...I have TONS of things to do today. So, I'll stop rambling and let you comment. Love ya's!

Hi Y'all!!

2009-06-04T13:05:00.002-04:00

Welcome me back!!! I'm going to try to be more faithful to you. Do you forgive me for my unfaithfulness over the past year? I'm sorry! Become my follower and I'll be better, I promise!

Workin 6 days a week is wearing me out!

2008-10-03T17:16:00.002-04:00

So, for the most part, I've been working 6 days a week (with 3 exceptions) for the last 3 months. Praise God for a job, but man! am I tired! We're working on putting in a woodstove. So, at the moment, we're keeping windows closed and running the dryer once or twice a day into the house to keep it warm enough. Along with canning and freezing produce and trying to keep up with cleaning the house, we've not had much time for anything else. The kiddos went back to their real mom a few weeks ago, but they're still able to go to church, which was my major concern. So, Praise God for that!
So, we're going to vote in a month for Prez...does anyone know what the policy is for write-ins? I like Sarah Palin and I'd much rather have her for Prez. Is that possible? Thoughts???? Can we do a mass write in campaign for her? Wouldn't that be cool? Well, I know this one's a short one, but I really don't have much time on here. My cell phone has already kicked me off once. Hope to hear from you soon!

I know, I know, forever and a day...

2008-07-17T19:48:00.002-04:00

You've probably stopped checking by now, but I FINALLY got a chance to update this thang. I started a new job last week, so any (none) extra time that I had has now been reduced by 40 hours! I'm working at a small, privately owned financial institution in the area. It's interesting, never done this kind of work before. I'm still learning, but it's kinda fun. It's a laid back environment, which I like too.
I still have 2 kittens if anyone really wants one, I'm giving them away! :-) We're working on keeping up with the garden. We still have tons of lettuces. We have some cucumbers. We fried up our first zucchini the other night. I've been playing bee this last week. Our zucchini plants were dropping their blossoms, so we tried taking a paint brush to the inner parts of the flowers and we now have baby zucchinis!!! This morning I was ecstatic to see 4-5 bees (I don't know what kind, I just know they weren't bumbles.) pollinating the zuccini on their own!!! Yay! We dug up some of the red potatoes that the plants died the other day. We've gotta get out there and finish that up. The rest of the red potatoes and yukon golds are still growing. They may be huge! We have green tomatoes so far. They were a little farther behind because of the cool weather in May. We have some jalapeños, cayennes and hungarian wax peppers. We have some baby bell peppers. Our peas have come and gone, they're now in the freezer. :-) Yum! The cabbage is still growing and we'll have green beans in a few weeks. Hopefully they'll hold off til after the fair! The corn is still getting taller, the melons and pumpkins are still going well too. The garden is huge and going full force. And the weeds are hard to keep up with!
The kiddos came out a couple weeks ago. (The week before I started my job.) They stayed here all week while Fostermom played nurse at the campgrounds. It was fun.
Red, the guinea pig, died the week before that. He was an old man! We'll miss you Red Man!
This last week, we adopted 3 baby (3 days old) chicks from mom-in-law. They are part banny (sp?) chicken. They were the smallest babies I've seen. They're really growin' now and they're eatin' like piggies! Their mom and sibling were killed by a coon one night. So, we took 'em in.
I'm excited to have some new friends, Katie & Olvin. Katie got baptized a week ago, then on Friday of that week got the Holy Ghost! Now Olvin is talking about getting baptized this next week, but he really wants LJ to do the honors. He told Katie that he would've gotten baptized last night if LJ were there! I'm so excited for what God is doing in their lives!
Well y'all, it's the hottest day of the year (or at least it feels like it) so, I'm going to get off here and take a cool shower to hopefully cool off some. It's too hot to do any gardening that we really needed to do tonight, so we'll put it off to Saturday instead. Love y'all! Hopefully I'll be able to update more often.

Playing catch up! Days 5-8

2008-05-18T18:07:00.005-04:00

In this post, I have implemented a new photo viewer for the pics, so you can see more pics and it's a whole lot cleaner. So, just click on the links below each day and if you have any problems let me know.

Day 5 - Wednesday
We left Aunt Sandy’s around 9:30am CST and headed for San Antonio, TX. We got there in the early afternoon and dropped off the camper and went into town. First we went to El Mercado and did some shopping. Most of the vendors spoke Spanish. I felt like I was in Mexico. It was pretty neat. I bought a couple hair barrettes that were silver with inlays. They’re pretty. We left there and headed for the Alamo. We found a parking lot and paid $5 for all day parking and walked to the Alamo. When we got there it was 5:25pmCST and the sign said that it closes at 5:30! We had 5 minutes to walk, I mean run around just to see some stuff. Then we were run out of there and we had to go somewhere else. We thought about going to the IMAX to watch the documentary about the Alamo, but it started at 6pm and was 2-3 hours long. We wanted to see the Riverwalk and do supper still. So, we really didn’t have time to do that either. So, from there, we walked (and sweated…it was humid) to the Riverwalk and walked some of it. Then got tired and wanted to go back to camp. We went to the store and got food to make and some Blue Bell ice cream. We all got pints of the flavors that we wanted. I got orange and homemade vanilla mix (tasted like a creamcicle!), Joe got buttered pecan, Dad got peaches and vanilla, Mom got banana pudding and Alison got chocolate chip cookie dough. They were all good! Then we went back to camp and Joe made hamburgers on the grill and as soon as we got our burgers put together, the wind really picked up and sent us packing to the camper. We got slammed by a storm and had to close up the camper for most of the remainder of the night. That poor camper took a beating from the wind. Between storms, we heard sirens and Joe and I went to find them because they were really close. We went to the boat ramps and that’s where we found them. I guess some people went out on the lake and didn’t know about the severe weather warning lights and stayed out on the lake. When they tried to get back to the docks, they fell off the dock and into the lake. There are a lot of water moccasins in that lake! I guess the guys were okay, but the squad was there checking their vitals just in case. So, we went back to camp and tried to sleep through all the wind and storms. It was a tiring night!

Pics from day 5, go to: http://www.photomax.com/web/mem_album_photo_slide_show.php?TrackId=1873425&RandomId=432117199

Day 6 - Thursday
We got up early this morning and packed up because we had to be out of camp by 8am. So, we left San Antonio, TX by 8:00. On the way to Del Rio, TX we saw a sign for the Alamo Village. So, we drove a little off the beaten path and went onto a working ranch to get to the Alamo Village which is the original movie set for the Alamo movie with John Wayne. It was really neat. They had a lot of real Alamo relics and artifacts there too. There were people dressed up and acting as the people in the village. The sheriff took Alison and put her in jail for chewing gum! (And because Mom told him to!!!) We spent quite a bit of time there and took a lot of pictures. We left there and went to the Seminole State Park and went to check in. We were lucky because we pulled in to check in and it was 4:35pm CST, they closed the offices and registers at 4:45pm! At that building, there was a young desert cottontail sitting beside a century plant. It was cute! They had wi-fi, which was nice, but we really didn’t have a lot of time to do any blogging. This campgrounds had no cell phone signal, but did have electricity and water hookups and wi-fi and showers!!! When we popped up the camper, we left the rest of camp setup for later and went on a hike. It was really hot and we took water with us. I took a cold bottle of water and by the time we had walked a mile, what little bit I had left in the bottle was really warm!!! Already!!! We made it to a covered rest stop on the trail and (I can usually walk a lot, but in the desert and beating down sun much closer to the equator, I couldn’t go on) I stayed there in the desert until the fam got back from where they were going. As I sat there, I saw a striped gecko run between brush and cactus…too quick for me to snap a picture. I took a couple pictures of some flowers on small cactus and some other flowers close by. There were, what I think to be millipedes everywhere! They’re big! About 3-5 inches long and ¼ inch in diameter!! Everyone else wanted to make it down to the Rio Grande, but it was a 3.5 miles (one way) hike. It was getting somewhat close to dark and there were really dark clouds with lightning in them coming upon us. So, they really didn’t have enough time to make it all the way. They walked as far as a mile from the actual river and had to turn around. Dad came back for me (he didn’t have to!) and we walked back to the vehicle. As we were walking, I saw (about 100 yards in front of us) a jackrabbit!!! It ran, very quickly, across the trail. At first I didn’t know what it was because it was huge! But it ran like a rabbit runs and the ears are really not proportionate to the body. We also saw some pretty birds along the way, but didn’t get pics either. We got back to the vehicle and waited a few minutes and everyone else caught up with us. We drove back to the camper and Mom & Alison went and took showers while I tried to organize the stuff in the camper. When they got back, I took a shower and Mom made hamburgers and hot dogs and we ate while the wind began beating our poor camper around…again. We cleaned up from supper and got ready for bed. We were all whipped from the hike and thirstier ‘n all get out! The rains came down and the winds blew and the rains poured down and the winds blew harder. Then it calmed down a little for the rest of the night. Mom threw out some old boiled eggs that she had brought that went bad. The skunks loved ‘em! When we got up in the morning, one was finishing off one of the last ones.

Pics from day 6 go to:
http://www.photomax.com/web/mem_album_photo_slide_show.php?TrackId=1873489&RandomId=305622572

Day 7 - Friday
We left Del Rio, TX this morning and on the way toward the Davis Mountains, we stopped by and took pictures of the walls of the Rio Grande. We never did get close enough to see the actual river, but it was pretty nonetheless. Then we stopped in Langtry, TX and went into see Judge Roy Bean’s Saloon. It had the real saloon on the actual site which, now is in the middle of town. They had his walking cane which was intricately carved and they had all kinds of other artifacts. It was really neat. They also had a cactus garden with different kinds of cacti growing. They are really pretty in bloom. I think this trip was the first time I ever saw a cactus out west blooming. They are all so pretty. We got to the Davis Mountain State Park and as soon as we pulled in, there were deer walking all around the campgrounds, even close to the people sitting out in their chairs outside. We left camp to go to the scenic overlooks. We drove up a mountain and walked around up there and took some pretty pictures. For supper, we went to this place that Joe had read about that said they served “Cowboy cuisine” called the Reata. (pronounced Riata). The food didn’t live up to the expense. Don’t get me wrong, it was good food, but really expensive and it wasn’t even REAL cowboy cuisine! It was run by a sissy boy that greeted us when we came in. He was dressed in western clothing, but he was in NO way a cowboy! A real cowboy would’ve beat him down! So, we spent way too much money, then went back to the campgrounds to finish setting up camp, went inside the camper and hooked up the laptop and watched an episode of F-troop, then went to bed. After we turned the lights out we got to laughing about something and Dad told me to snort (as I do sometimes when I really get to laughing), then we heard a real snort…or something that also sounded like an angry dog growling outside down at the campsite next to us. We all hushed and looked out with our flashlights and found that the campers next to us had ignorantly left out 2 coolers and a trashcan full of stuff that smelled like food. So, the javelinas (wild pig-type animals from this area) were enjoying a free meal. They ransacked their camp…mostly got into the coolers, but they started fighting over some of it and one of them threw another into the side of their pop-up camper! Some of them were really fighting over that food! They moseyed down our way, but we hadn’t left anything out except the cactus and ferns that we had accumulated over the trip sitting in buckets and the toolbox under the camper. Joe went out and sat on the picnic table with his video camera trying to get it all on tape (not that good though…it was pitch dark) and I had my window open and I was laying on my stomach looking out. They didn’t really hang around our camp that much, but I saw them and a skunk up close. One javelina came up to the door after Joe came back inside and it stood there looking at Joe and Mom almost as if he were asking them for a handout! They’re so ugly they’re cute! I think it kinda scared the pee out of all of us (except Alison, she fell asleep!!) because we really weren’t expecting that kind of wildlife contact. So, after most of them had passed, Joe, Mom and I ventured out and headed to the bathrooms for one last trip. Because I wasn’t going to go back out after that until daylight! No sireee! Then we did go to bed. The first night we slept in the camper without wind. It did rain a little bit, but it was really just a sprinkle.

Pics from day 7 go to:
http://www.photomax.com/web/mem_album_photo_slide_show.php?TrackId=1873526&RandomId=1926699175

Day 8 - Saturday
We went to leave the Davis Mountains State Park and the javelinas came back for more. They were much calmer this morning. They just walked around the campground sniffin’ around. They really weren’t scared of us at all, like the deer when we got there. We did get to take some good pictures of them in the daylight. Joe tried to take some at night, but they really didn’t take that well. So, we checked out of the campground and Joe bought a walking stick made out of Sotol (a native plant from here) and a small metal tag to nail to his walking stick. He’s going to get one from every state park that we go to from here. He wishes that he would’ve thought about it at the start of the trip. Oh well. This campground is probably all of our favorite so far. It was pretty and we had a lot of contact with a lot of wildlife. We left around 8:30amCST this morning and just drove, and drove and drove….and drove. We took a lot of pretty pictures along the way. For lunch we stopped at a Mexican fast food chain in El Paso, TX called Taco Campana. It was okay, we thought it was going to be much better. The we drove and drove…and drove some more. We finally stopped at a free campground and set up camp. We cooked barbecued chicken on the grill and Mom fried potatoes and we had salad. It was a really good supper. Around 2:30am we all got cold and pulled out the extra blankets. I think it got a little colder than we anticipated. I wished I’d have put my long sleeve t-shirt on instead of the short sleeve one. We slept well, no wind, no rain. Yay!!!

Pics from day 8 go to:
http://www.photomax.com/web/mem_album_photo_slide_show.php?TrackId=1873531&RandomId=252264969

FYI

2008-05-16T10:15:00.003-04:00

Just to let y'all know (I'm starting to talk like a Texan!), when we got close to our campgrounds last night, we lost all cell phone signal. So, if you've been trying to get ahold of us, you can't. We all turned our phones off last night. (Thursday night) We're going to get signal on the way to El Paso today, but our next campsite is very primitive...if this one wasn't primitive enough...we actually had electricity this time...this next one won't. So, I don't know when you'll be able to get ahold of us. We need either wi-fi or cell phone signal to get online. So, I'll try to keep y'all up to date on what's goin' on. Keep us in your prayers for travelling mercies. We love y'all! Later!

Day 5 & 6 (Wednesday & Thursday)

2008-05-15T21:19:00.002-04:00

Wow! Ok, we have had a lot happen in the last couple days. Yesterday (Wed.) we left Aunt Sandy's in Tomball around 9:30 am and headed toward San Antonio. We got there and dropped off the camper and ran in to see SanAn. First, we went to Pico de Gallo - the most authentic Mexican restaurant in San Antonio for lunch. It was maravilloso!!! Then, we went to El Mercado and bought some cool cultural things. Then we headed over to see the Alamo...that was at 5:25pm, the sign at the gate said that they close at 5:30pm!!!! So, we took (literally) a whirlwind tour of the Alamo in 5 minutes! We ran in and bought a couple things and got run out. After that, we went down the Riverwalk, which was really pretty, then we went back to camp and grilled some burgers. Unfortunately, there were no showers at the campground that we stayed at and with all the walking around in San Antonio we all could've used some clothespins! (Peeeee-yoooo!!!!) We got stormed on off an on throughout the night. The camper was really rockin' from the wind. We had to close the windows because it was raining in and boy did it get stuffy!!! So, not only were we sticky from the sweat left on our bodies from the previous day, but we added to it when there wasn't any air moving around in the camper after we closed it up. So, we woke up this morning - tired. We got up early (before the sun came up...it was still raining.) and closed up camp because we had to be out of there by 8am. (I don't like that rule!) We took off at 8 almost exactly and headed toward Del Rio (right on the border of Mexico). On the way, we stopped at the Alamo Village (which I didn't know existed). It is the set of the Alamo and old San Anton that was built for the movie the Alamo (w/John Wayne). It is still an active movie set and has always been a working ranch. It was really neat! We took quite a few pictures and it was a blast! Then we headed to the campground. We stopped for a quick lunch and went to Wal-mart to get stuff for supper tonight. We made it to the campgrounds at 4:35pm and found out that they close the offices and cash registers at 4:45pm!!! We have really been cutting it close because we didn't make a reservation for this one! When we got here, we put up the camper so it would dry out from last night and left camp setup for later. We went on a hike that leads to the Rio Grande, but it is a 3.5 mile hike (one way) and it was really hot, so I was having problems making it in the heat and there are now...storms coming in from Mexico. Hmmm...I think the storms followed us from Ohio. I just found it funny that the first night we camped, it was really windy, the second night we camped (last night) it stormed and the third night (tonight) it's going to storm again. What fun!! We really ARE having fun though. It's just been not so good sleeping. At least tonight, it's cooler and we TOOK SHOWERS!!! Yay!!! I'm clean and hopefully I'm going to sleep well tonight in spite of the storms. Well, we do have a Wi-Fi connection here but it's getting late and I haven't gone through and uploaded the pictures onto the computer, let alone the internet. So, it's 9pm (10pm at home) and we're tired. I think I'm going to try to sleep now. I'll get you some pics some time soon I hope. I don't know if the next campground has Wi-Fi or not. So, see ya latah!!!

Day 4 - Part 2

2008-05-13T22:01:00.002-04:00

The Saturn V from the back...
This is the very top of the Saturn V...you see the triangle part on the far right? That's the control module. Three guys would basically lay in there from start to end of the mission!
The beautiful Texas longhorn...
...and another!
Check the pretty flowers!
Well, that's about it...other than, we stopped at Landry's which is a seafood restaurant in Kemah, which is near Galveston. Awesome food! I had jumbo coconut shrimp with steak fries and onion rings. Then for dessert, we all shared a bananas foster. Wonderful!!! Then we came back to Aunt Sandy's and hung out for a while, then made supper for everyone. David, Debbie & Alex came over about an hour or so after Austin & Robert came home from work. Then we grilled chicken and steak that has been marinading since yesterday. Mom made her roasted potatoes and I made a plantain dish to put over vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was soooooo yummy! Well, Joe's waiting for the computer, so I'd better go. From now until we get to Gallup, NM, I won't have a DSL wi-fi connection, so I probably won't be able to do near as many pictures. So, you'll just have to wait for some of them. I am also starting a 2 week series called "The daily boyfriends of Alison". You'll just have to wait until I get that going... :-) See ya later!

End Day 4 (Tuesday) - Part 1

2008-05-13T21:39:00.003-04:00

We went to the NASA Johnson Space Center today in Houston. You know..."Houston, we have a problem," Houston.

Here are pics from there...this (below) is out front of the museum.
This is the original mission control! Where Neil Armstrong's pioneer trip to the moon was controlled. Cool, huh?
This was the Saturn V. Talk about humongous!!! These are just the boosters.
Joe & I beside one of the boosters.
More pics to come...

End of Day 2 (Sunday) - Day 3 (Monday)

2008-05-13T19:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, I have discovered that Alison loves to take pictures of herself...this is her trying on Mom's glasses. She said she loves this pic.
Mom wanted a banana, so I reached around to the back of the vehicle to get the bunch of 'em. One of them had a squished tip end which really set Mom off to cackling. Joe said that she probably laid a dozen eggs in about 2-5 minutes!
We kinda just hung out at Aunt Sandy's house on Monday for part of the day. She has a pergola out back and two sky chairs that hang from it. They are really nice. It appears that Alison is sleeping, but if you look closely at the right side of the pic, she is also taking this picture!!!
Mom apparently didn't want her picture taken...
We also went shopping for Tuesday night's supper that we're cooking for the family at a store called Fiesta. A lot of hispanic foods available! Yum!!!
We also went to Joe's cousin, Alex's (he's in kindergarten) t-ball game. The quickest and cutest ballgame that I've ever seen!!!

Random pics thus far...mostly of Alison...

2008-05-11T23:21:00.002-04:00

Arkansas has bamboo!
Alison...kissing bamboo?!?!?
I think Alison loves bamboo...
...and tic-tacs!
...and apparently fish???

Day 2 continued...

2008-05-11T23:14:00.001-04:00

When we got to the Crater of Diamonds, we paid to get in and went mining for diamonds. I thought I found one or two diamonds…but it was just quartz. So sad… *sniff…sniff* I did find some larger pieces of jasper and some volcanic material that was really pretty too, but no diamond. When Joe and his parents were waiting for Alison and I to come out of the souvenir shop, Joe was standing still by a mining cart at the front door. There was a couple that walked up and were snickering…he said that his wife told him that Joe looked so real standing there (she thought he was a statue/mannequin) and he said “He is.” They were laughing all the way inside. I thought it was funny.

Dad and Alison digging for diamonds...

Me, wishing and hoping that I found a diamond...but didn't.

We left there and went on our way to find some food…target: Sonic. We finally found one in Texarkana that was run by a bunch of teenagers that don’t know how to run a business…Mom could teach them how to make a banana split! I also learned that Texarkana is half in Texas and half in Arkansas, thus the name Tex-Arkana. Duh, Missy! So, after we got done eating while driving…we had a blow out on the camper. The passenger side tire busted and we had to stop and fix it. As the guys were starting to fix it, a car coming the opposite way blew a tire also. I began to wonder if there wasn’t some kind of material that got dropped on the highway, but who knows.

The guys fixing the flat...

We got it fixed and started on our way to find a Wal-mart so we could buy 2 spare tires…just in case. We just got out of there and now we’re stopping for fuel…again. It’s $3.69/gallon…which is really the highest that we’ve paid so far…really it’s average. We’re somewhere in Texas now…not too far inside the border from Arkansas, headed toward Aunt Sandy’s house. We’re staying with her and Uncle Robert for the next 2-3 days. Maybe I’ll actually get to sleep tonight!!!

Day 2 - 5:50 pm CST

2008-05-11T17:48:00.002-04:00

Ok, it was a seriously long trip yesterday. We stopped in Nashville at 11:30 CST for lunch at Steak ‘n Shake. We got back on the road and it seemed like Tennessee would never end. We finally crossed over to Arkansas and it seemed like another eternity to get to Hot Springs. We ran into a quick downpour of rain before we got to camp, then it got really windy. When we got to the campgrounds (KOA in Hot Springs), we heard on the radio that there was a tornado in Little Rock (northwest of where we were). So, we were under a tornado watch until 2am. We were so exhausted when we got to camp, we just wanted to crash. Problem was, we had to set up camp still and there was really not any air moving inside the camper and it was humid. Yuck! Mom, Joe and Alison went down the hill to order some pizza because we really didn’t want to spend all the time preparing a meal, cooking over a fire that we had to start and then cleaning up. So, by the time they got back, Dad and I had camp mostly set up and somewhat organized and I was sweating to high heaven. Bleck!!! My head was killing me because I think I have taken after Superhubby and started getting barometric pressure change headaches. The pizza showed up and we sucked it all down in no time, then I required a shower before I went to bed. By the time Alison and I got back from the showers, Mom, Dad and Joe were all crashed already. So, I called my mom to let her know we were still alive and then I crashed…kinda. If you knew me as a child, if we had a tornado watch, I couldn’t fall asleep until it was over. We were sleeping with the windows open in the camper and the wind was picking up a lot and it was moving the trees above us a little too much for my comfort. We laid down around 9:30pm and I really didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. Then I woke up every half an hour to hour because of the wind. I got to the point that I was praying that God would shut me off until morning. So, between the wind and Dad’s snoring, we were all (minus Dad) not sleeping well all night. I woke up around 5:30 and found Mom missing. Joe said he thought that she went to the vehicle to sleep…she did. At 6:30, we woke up again and found Alison missing too…she and Mom had taken off to the restrooms…from there, we got up and started getting things underway. Mom made her famous pancakes on the camper stove (once again, we really didn’t want to mess with a fire…) and we got ready for the day and started packing up camp. We checked out and began driving towards the Crater of Diamonds near Murfreesboro, Arkansas. On the way, Mom found a doughnut place that she has fond memories of, so we stopped and got some. Here's some pics from that...Their sign...
Mom gettin' into them...

Mmmmmm....doughnuts.....

"Eat your hole out Crispy Cream!!!"

We also found this place down the road from there:

Brother Hall...are you keeping something from us???

Day 1 - Road Trip Part 2 (end of day)

2008-05-11T08:33:00.001-04:00

We crossed the Mississippi River (Alison was smiling!!!!)
We finally got to the campground around 7 pm CST (8pm - home) and we ordered pizza because we were too tired to cook. We scarfed it down, took showers and tried to crash. This picture (above) is Alison trying to make a bottle whistle.
Here is Dad & Joe showing her how it's done. :-)

God really worked it all out. He arranged for us not to get the campgrounds in Murfreesboro, close to the Crater of Diamonds, but an hour away in Hot Springs was the closest we could get. Last night we found out why...Hot Springs was in a small area in between two strong storms which both had tornado warnings last night. We were under a tornado watch until 2am. There apparently was a lot of tornadic activity around Murfreesboro. Scary...God is good!!!

Day 1 - Road Trip

2008-05-11T08:24:00.000-04:00

Mom trying to trip the car passing us by throwing a banana peel out the driver's side window!!!
Dad, Alison & I passing the loooong Tennessee trip by playing Risk on Joe's computer.
Alison really started getting mad at the computer player on Risk. He was really winning!
The only traffic jam that we ran into was 2 miles long. Joe went on Tennessee's website and found the cause before we got there.
Here's the cause!

Day 1 - 9am CST

2008-05-10T10:49:00.001-04:00

Superhubby arose this morning at 2:50 and woke me up at 2:58...2 minutes before my alarm was to go off!!!! Don’t you hate that? I finally fell asleep around midnight last night and woke back up at 2, then fell back to sleep. So, I got around 3 hours of sleep. If you know me well, I don’t function on less than 7 hours, so I’m not doing too wonderful in my brain.
Well, we pushed off from the in-laws (I mean out-laws :-) ) at 3:40 am. A 20 minute miracle! We were supposed to leave at 4. Molly and Woody knew we were leaving last night when we took their bed over to the in-laws. Molly had that worried look on her face every time we’d go to take something out to the camper or vehicle and leave her in the house. So, we had to say g’bye to our babies this morning. I miss them already. It’s now 10am for those of you at home and we’re in Tennessee. Mom-in-law said we’re definitely going to make Nashville by noon (especially if it’s home time, not central time).
We’re making really good time, not as good mileage and I actually got a nap in the mix. But only after I curled up in the back of the Explorer with my pillow and blankie. Most of our stuff is packed in the camper, so I slept back here with the food and cooler. I really don’t know how long I slept, but it really wasn’t bad rest. Well, more later.

2 days, 13 hours and 28 minutes!!!!!!!

2008-05-07T14:31:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I'm taking a break. I really didn't plan on blogging before sometime on Saturday or Sunday, but I need a break! The yard is finally (mostly) mowed. There are a couple places that I let go because I got tired of being "yelled" at by Superhubby. I unfortunately ran over 2 of his baby hazelnut trees. When he doesn't have them marked well and the grass got taller than they were...it was almost inevitable for lil' miss Missy to do. So, I avoided that area on top of the hill where his raspberries are. We've worked on the garden like locos and still don't have it all done. Last night we worked until we couldn't see anymore. We drug the monstrous charcoal grill out back to the garden and grilled chicken and potatoes and veggies. Finally we packed up all the gardening stuff and when Superhubby got to the grill he needed a flashlight to see the food. :-) We finished planting too many tomatoes and began planting plenty of peppers. I finished planting horrendous amounts of hot peppers today. We still have pumpkins/squash and melons to plant. Hopefully it'll clear up enough on Friday afternoon that Superhubby can come home and plant them. My roses, creeping Jenny and lilac still need planted also. I'd like (I'm afraid it's wishful thinking) to plant some seeds for my climbing flowers to see if they'll come up before we get back, but I don't know if that'll happen. The house is the next thing on the list. Cleaning time!!! Monday night, mom-in-law wanted to close up the camper and have it all ready to go because of the rain that they've been calling for to make sure that it doesn't get rained on and is dry when it's closed up. So, Monday I had all the clothes and stuff that went in the camper all packed up and took it all over. Now, all we need to make sure is packed is the bathroom bag with the last minute essentials, the much needed electronics (ie. laptop for blogging, digital camera and video camera and mp3 players.) Friday night, the dogs' bed is going over to mom-in-law's (they're staying with Superhubby's cousin at her house whilst we are gallyvanting around the country) along with Red the guinea pigster. The kittens are growing up a lot! They all have their eyes open now and they are sooooo cute!! Tillie is getting anxious to go outside, so I'm going to have to make sure that cuz and neighbor lady know to watch that she doesn't leave the house when they come in to feed. Well, while I'm waiting on the storms to arrive, I've got to go get caught up on my cleaning. I'm sure we'll see eachother again soon. Same time, same channel! :-) As Superhubby would say "Lost an old bagel!" (Hasta Luego for those of you who don't speak Joe)

7 Days, 13 hours & 17 minutes!!!!!!

2008-05-02T14:43:00.003-04:00

Yeah, m'kay...I'm gettin' anxious! With a million and one things to do before we leave, I just wanna go now! I don't wanna have to do one of those million and one things...waaaaaaaah! Well, on a good note, the front garden is fully planted! Bad note, the back garden isn't even half way planted. :-( We've got all the cucumbers, zucchini, beets, cabbage, greens, potatoes, most onions & lettuces planted. We've got TOO MANY tomato & pepper plants that need planted in the back. The peas are coming up. Half the corn is planted. The pumpkins & melons are still in trays awaiting plantation and Lord knows how many more things need planted before we depart. That's just the veggies. I know I've got a lilac, a rose & some "creeping Jenny" (like creeping phlox) that need planted too. Among all that, the large yard that we have needs mowed, the house needs cleaned & all laundry needs done so I can pack. The good news is, the laundry's almost complete. The bad news is, the house is a wreck! I've assigned myself a room or area a day to get it done by Friday of next week. This includes mowing the front and side yards on my own during the daytime while praying that it doesn't rain on the days that I've allotted for it.
Nuff about all that I need to do...the kitties are getting so much bigger! Two have eyes completely open and the other is half way there. I've started thinking about how much they've grown just over the last week and a half and how much I'm going to miss during the two weeks that I'm going to be gone. I helped Tillie out today by changing the teeny tiny box that she had picked out under the table with a box twice the size. Poor thing had those babies crawling all over her, clawing at her face and everything. The box really was only big enough for her to lay in, let alone add three quickly growing kittens. I think she likes it now that she's checked it all out and everything's kosher. At first she was like "Hey, whadda ya doin'?!?" But after a couple minutes, she settled right in.
Ok, so I renewed my cellphone contract a couple weeks ago and ordered my new phone online. I got it last Saturday. It's a red (dark red, not fire engine red like Donnie's) Motorola Razor. I'm not sure that I like it. But the cheaper phones really aren't worth much anymore. It's definitely an upgrade from the trash Samsung I had before. Even though it was cute, it wasn't by any means practical. This phone is the Razor V3a...nothing like the V3m or V3i. It doesn't have an mp3 player or a micro sd slot *sniff, sniff...* One thing it does have is a camera/videocamera. But that's about it. Yeah, they're cute, but not really what I was looking for. I was trying for the LG AX2800 which is a lot like the Razor, but it actually has an mp3 player and card slot for only $19.00 more. After rebate I got this one for $0.99. The problem was, our service provider is phasing the LG phone out and phasing in the MUCH more expensive one the next step up. So, (in a know-it-all voice) they "didn't have anymore in stock". Even though it was still on the website. "I'm sorry ma'am, I don't know why it's still on our website." I hate that! Oh, well...guess I'm stuck with this phone (cute, but not really what I wanted) for two years. Maybe in two years, there will be an acceptable phone in the "cheap" category for when you renew contract. We'll see.
Speaking of things that I hate...I really dislike those little pieces of skin that decide the hang out over top your cuticles and get caught on things and then bleed like a stuck pig when pulled off accidentally. You have anything like this that you greatly dislike?

Okay...The Official Countdown has already begun!

2008-04-29T22:02:00.002-04:00

We're going on vacation not this coming Saturday, but next. That means...
10 DAYS & COUNTING!!!
I will be blogging during our adventures out west. I can't say how often, but I'll hopefully be posting pics too. We're hoping to get one of our cell phones to work as a modem to accomplish this. We're on the race now to get everything done that needs done before we leave, ie: clean the house, mow the yard, get most of the garden planted, clean out the leftovers in the fridge, etc. I'm trying to get caught up on laundry too...not my favorite thing to do. Alison is going with us, she's so pumped about it that she's had a month long countdown going on herself. :-)

The kittens are 9 days old now and one has its eyes open and another is just beginning to open them. They're getting fat, but Tillie has moved them into our bedroom, hidden in a box under a table. She just moved them today.

Well, I'm sorry for such a shorty bloggy, but I've run out of things to say...it's getting late and I'm tired. So, hasta luego amigos!!!

I'm a momma!!!

2008-04-22T11:05:00.003-04:00

Nope, not what you think! Ha ha! Sunday morning I woke up and found Tillie (the white cat w/gray patch of hair on her head & one blue & one green eye) had gotten skinnier. We had an inkling that she was prego, but we weren't sure. We brought her in the house 3 months ago when we found she had gone into heat one Sunday night after church. Well, here's the result: She had 4 (3 look almost exactly like her..one of those died in birth and 1 that looks like the male that's been running around lately...a dark gray tiger striped). Aren't they cute?

I'm also pumped (for many reasons, but...) because I have an interview at 1:30 today for a smaller food store that sells meat products & fresh produce. Pray for me, because since I quit teaching, we've been kinda keepin' it tight.

Well, I gotta go fix lunch, Superhubby's home today with a sever headache. I'm going to see if I can get him to eat. Then I'm going to have to get ready to leave for the interview soon. Latah!

Randomness...

2008-04-09T13:18:00.002-04:00

Whoops! Over the phone when Mom told me my baby nephew's name that has been picked out, it sounded like Nathan...but it's Mason! Cool name huh? Me likey! Sorry for the mistake all!
The outreach revival that we had was awesome! Really unlike any revival I've ever been a part of. On Saturday we were at the park and had music, drama, puppets, free candy and all kinds of other stuff and it was fun! One of the guys that (at the time I didn't know who he was) I gave a flier to throughout the week sometime turned out to be one that rents off of our good friends. They showed up at the park on Saturday and I got to meet the whole family. They are a Puerto Rican family. The wifey is going to have a baby, if she hasn't already. And they're going to name her Génesis. It is their first child together, so I think it's very appropriate and beautiful! So, we stood around talking on Saturday for a while and they showed up on Sunday to the service. He decided that he wanted to get baptized after I explained it to them (in Spanish...my first). He had, as a child been baptized under the trinity and I told them how getting rebaptized in Jesus name was biblical. So, he and the two kids (around 10-12 yrs old) got baptized. She said that she wanted to, but later. I assume that it was a fear that went along with the pregnancy, but I don't know. We actually baptized somewhere around 16 people just on Sunday. I've heard that 3-4 people also got the Holy Ghost that day. God is amazing! We usually run somewhere around 200 on Sundays and we had somewhere between 400-450 there just for that one service! I'm excited to see how many show back up in the next few services. I fully expect to see the PR family there tonight, but it may depend on work schedules.
Well, we are one month away from VACATION TIME!!! That's right, in one month we are going to take a two week trip out west. Looking forward to the loop through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, (possibly) Utah and Colorado then back home is just too much to bear at this point. It's so close, but there's still a lot to do in preparation. I'm planning on keeping up with my blog throughout the trip so you all can see what we're up to and where we are at the time. Pics and all!!! So, as of right now, we're trying to get the garden started and get all organized for the two weeks of absence here. I'm so excited! Well, gotta go for now. I've got to add my bloggy list back on since I didn't realize it knocked 'em all off when I changed my background pic. Sorry all!
Hasta luego!

Shout, For He has given us this city!

2008-04-06T09:31:00.003-04:00

Revival fire fall! Since I've been walking the city streets all week, I've not had time to post about all of the absolutely awesome things that God is doing! Ok, really, revival started on Easter Sunday night. We had one lady (Jackie) get baptized in Jesus name and get the Holy Ghost. The following Sunday night (last week) one man (Terry) did the same. We started revival with the Cook's that same day. All afternoon on Sunday, we walked around town, hanging door hangers and handing out fliers advertising our big community day and giveaway event that is to happen today (and yesterday at the park). I walked the streets some more on Monday afternoon, Tuesday all day, Wednesday all day, Thursday all day and worked on stuff in the office, calling people and gathering a list of names on Friday. During Wednesday night's service, 6 were baptized in Jesus name (one of which got the Holy Ghost) and two others got the Holy Ghost! On Friday, Brother Cook went out talking to people on the street and he found a man that was in need of God and he ended up coming back to the church and getting baptized and received an awesome touch from God! I hope he shows up to the service today! So, since Easter Sunday, 9 have gotten baptized and 5 have received the Holy Ghost! And it's not over yet! The whole church has had an incredible anticipation of today's service. We all feel like it's going to be such a huge outpouring of the Spirit! I can't wait until 2:00 when it all starts!
On a side note, on Tuesday, my brother and sis-in-law told us that they're going to have a boy! I don't remember if I told you before, but at Christmas they told us the good news. So, for now, they have picked out Nathan for a name. She's due in early August. Yay! I'm going to be an auntie!!! :-)
Another side note, the kiddos' verdict came in for the March trial. The court is giving mom and dad another two months to get their act together. So, yet another trial some time in May. Woohoo.....

Dryin' out!

2008-03-21T10:44:00.004-04:00

Sorry for such a long lag in between posts, but as I mentioned before, I've been fighting SUPER s--l--o--w connections. So, we're beginning to dry out and so are the phone lines, so, I've got a fast enough connection now to actually do something online. Yay! I'm tellin' ya, we're so very close to finishing the house it's not even funny. I've been working on priming the walls in the kiddos' rooms all week and I'm going back to it as soon as I finish this post. We worked on trimming the girl's room last night, but didn't finish. We did enough that I can move some stuff out of the way so I can finish priming the final wall in that room. Her room is almost done. I started priming the boy's room, but had to stop because of the stuff that we need to get rid of. Speaking of which, is there anyone out there that would like a nice cabinet radio (old fashioned) complete with record player and 8 track to fix up? I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with it, from what I gather, it's minor, but we picked up two and we've already got one in our bedroom. We just don't have room for another, or the time to fix it up. Let me know. We're still running into storage issues. Still selling things on ebay. I finally broke down and TOLD Superhubby that he had to buy a toolbox big enough to fit all his tools in! I'm tired of whatever room we're working in, there's a pile of tools in the middle of it. It used to be my utility room, then it moved to the kids' bathroom and now it's been the boy's room for quite some time now and I'm tripping over tools like crazy! So, we finally went to the tool store and he picked one out. Now, I just have to get him to sit down and organize things into which toolbox he wants what. I'm still fighting the pile o'tools. I may just throw 'em all in the big tool box and make him organize when he gets around to it. I can't get to where I want to paint in that room. Grrr! Last Saturday, Superhubby and his dad worked on the back overhang over the back doors. They're almost done, but we have to go back to the tool store tonight to get another sheet of plywood. We under estimated. :-( Because he's coming back over tomorrow to help finish it. We should be able to do the home inspection and fire inspection in the next few weeks.

Yes, I did have a birthday. Woopee! I'm 28. Two years from 30...whaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I don't know if I can handle it! My wonderful Spanish students threw me a party on Monday night in class. (Muchas gracias!) I wasn't expecting it and me being my prompt (early) self, spoiled the surprize! Oops. Tomorrow night we're going out to eat with the fam. I hope everyone can make it. It'll be fun!

Ok guys, Sunday night, H.O.P. is up for their next "performance" (I hate calling it a performance, but what else can you call it? Suggestions?) and I'm super SUPER nervous!!!! I'm doing a skit, a monologue to be exact and I've never done a speaking part in anything before! After that, we're doing a song that God put on my heart and gave me the choreography to. I pray it is so very powerful! Pray for me, especially that I can remember my lines! :-) I asked my family to come, I hope they do. I could use a little support in this and I really miss seeing them at church. I don't see them very often now, and I miss that. Well all, I really have to go get covered in paint again. Somebody's gotta do it! :-) Later!

Life is against me!

2008-03-07T11:14:00.002-05:00

The last three days (Tues - Thurs) have been against me blogging!
It all began from the rain on Mon. & Tues. and I was busier than all get out trying to get things done around here. On top of all the housework that is added on by the drywall dust and added "junk" from other rooms in rooms that they don't belong, I had to work on my piano (on which I feel like I'm slacking) and H.O.P. stuff. Hands of Praise has become my new "burden" that God has blessed me in. It used to be the music department, God would give me songs to sing that I felt would bless others. Now, on top of giving me songs, He's giving me "dramas" or "human videos" and sign-language/dowel movements to go along with the songs. So far "My All" which we did back in the fall and March's song (TBA for surprise purposes) have been given to me by God. We're going to do something like what we did back in the fall/winter with "Everything" (the drama/human video of the girl being attacked by sin and Jesus coming to her rescue). It's the same concept of dramatics, but it is so very powerful! I was listening to the song...I've heard it quite a few times on cd...and all the sudden it just started playing out in my mind. I approached H.O.P. leader and said "Waddaya think?" and he loved it! So, that's what we're working on now. ANYWHO, I had a gob of things to do on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we had so much rain that our yard was a mote and the water was seeping into our phone lines. And you can only imagine what that does to dial-up! I went from a 46kbps connection to a 12kbps connection! Killer! I did NOTHING on line Wednesday.

Thursday was basically the same way, but I was trying to get the rest of my house clean because I have a new student that just started coming out on Thursdays. It's a guy I went to high school with (come to find out, he married a girl I went to college with! Crazy!) He contacted our old Spanish teacher to find out if he could get private lessons because he's working in law enforcement now and she called me and said "Help! I have no time! Can you?" And I said, "Sure, why not?" So, most of my day was spent finishing the clean up from the days before and getting his lesson all squared up in my mind. It went well. It was really weird seeing him all grown up though! 10 yrs post - high school! Wow!

The last couple days I've been working on priming the new drywall and painting over that UGLY bold pinky color that used to be the kiddos' rooms. I'm not even close to being done! I was focusing on the areas around the doors and windows because Superhubby was going to trim them last night. He ran into a problem though, he needed to add a tidbit of drywall because the trim didn't cover all of the gap beside the door. Bummer! More spackling, sanding and priming! Yuck! We did complete the two bathrooms over the last week though! All trim up, all painting done, it's a wonderful feeling! So, now...all we really have to focus on are the two kids' rooms, the soffit work on the roof and anything they may tell us after the first home study visit that we need to do. So, pray for us because the kids' trial is on the 17th, yup, my b-day. I told Superhubby "This could be a really good b-day or a really bad one depending on what happens." Well, toodles!

Let the Hallelujah Chorus Roll!!!

2008-02-26T10:29:00.002-05:00

Everyone has been asking me lately, "So, you EVER going to blog again?!?!" Here I am! I'm going to try for once a week until I get more time.
So, Miss...what've you been doing for the last four months? Well, we're STILL working on the house. But there is a very bright light at the end that really isn't that far away. All that's left is to finish the spackling and sanding on the new drywall, priming, painting, trimming around windows, doors and the floor in a few rooms and a bit of work on the roof. Very little compared to before! I had to give up my responsabilities in the music dept. at the church so that we could get more progress much quicker on the house. We've come farther in the last month and a half than we have over the 6 months before! We've worked every Thursday night, all day Saturday and any days that Superhubby has off. I've begun selling things on ebay to get rid of the stuff we don't use anymore and we're trying to clean out the kiddie's rooms. This house really doesn't give us many options for storage. This last weekend, Superhubby didn't go to work because of the bad weather, so we worked all day then too. Saturday we fixed the attic entrance and put some stuff that would keep in an attic environment up there. So, other than that and the hall closets, we really don't have any storage space. Speaking of his job, he did finally get hired on where he was working as a temp since early last year. It became official mid-November.
As far as the kiddos, we may only try for two instead of three because the youngest of the 5 got sent back to his dad last month. We don't want one of them left without any sibs. Well, I've run out of time, hopefully to see you again soon! Hasta luego!

Everything

2007-10-17T11:58:00.000-04:00

Something I think I omitted in the last post is this: Last Tuesday we had to have Ladybug put down. :-( I bawled the day before, the day of and the day after almost non-stop. We knew we were going to have it done...she was just getting way too bad. And having a 115 lb dog (who had lost weight) get so bad that she can't get up from her bed is not what I call fun. Her hips were getting so bad that I was afraid that I'd be stuck at home alone with her and she couldn't get up. I can't carry that much weight to the vehicle to take her to the vet. So we decided to end her misery, because she really was in a lot of pain from all the arthritis and all she had wrong with her. She had a wonderfully fun year and a half with us though. At least her best years were her last ones.

Still working on the house, it's much prettier than it was before! Haven't gotten to the painting yet. Still trying to make sure everything else is done first. The last coulple things I'll do is finish the painting and clean the carpets.

I'm really excited and nervous all at the same time. Tonight, I'm the "special" at church and I'm going to play my own music on the keyboard!!! AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!!!! I've been taking lessons from Sis. Smith and they're going really well. Truly, I've only taken 2 lessons from her and one from Sis. Harry, but who's counting?!?! Well, just got online to pay some bills and check some stuff, so I'd better get to checkin' my e-mail, then back to workie. Love y'all!!!

Oh, P.S. :-) I've made the announcement at church about the Spanish classes, so if you're going to want to take 'em you'd better come see me soon!

So much to do, so little time!

2007-10-12T12:09:00.000-04:00

Ok, ok...so I'm being hounded again. So, here I am. I've been working my buttoocus off trying to get my house up to par so we can pass our "home study" for the kids. We found out from Fostermom that the permanent custody trial (the one that was supposed to take place July 26th, is now going to take place January 14th (?) I think. So, it'll take up to 3-4 weeks after that before we hear the verdict. We could feasibly have the kids in our home by March if things go right. But we have to pass "inspection"!!!! Aaaauuugggghhhh!! I'm really stressing, because I've gotten "slothful" as the pastor preached about on Wednesday...yes, he may have been preaching to you, but he was also preaching to me. It's called L-A-Z-I-N-E-S-S! I lost all motivation and really didn't want to do a thing. Talk about selfish! So, here I am, getting caught up. I started last week on Thursday and spent Thursday and Friday cleaning and scouring the kitchen in any way that I could find. Rearranging some furniture and things and just redoing all that I had the fancy for. Monday I moved to the master bathroom and did the same thing and began on the master bedroom. I spent all day Tuesday, Wednesday and finished early yesterday working on laundry and cleaning the bedroom. In the meantime I also got boxes together to take to Goodwill. That's what took me so long on the bedroom...I had to sort through all kinds of stuff...clothes and all the junk that ends up in a bedroom. It's kinda the "catch-all" room, if you will. So, I started yesterday afternoon on the livingroom and that's where I am today. My momma called me earlier and practically ordered me (per one of my faithful readers) to at least put one entry on here. So, here I is. I took time out of my busy livingroom-cleaning day to let you all in on my busy doings. So, that's what I've been up to. Superhubby still hasn't been hired on yet at Big Bank Corporation, but God is still in control. I'm going to start up my Spanish classes for homeschoolers and adults here in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that. Well, gotta get to scourin' again. Love y'all, even though I haven't posted lately. I really do! God bless!

Well I was wonderin' what it would take!!!

2007-09-18T14:45:00.000-04:00

Seriously! I was getting kinda tired of the very small amounts of comments, so...I call my self a "loo-hoo-ser" and everyone applauds!!! :) Just kiddin'!
Ok, so I realize that I haven't talked about Ladies' retreat. I did come back and it was awesome. I got to meet Sis. Karen Harding who happens to be a wonderful Pentecostal lady and she sings and she has a cd out called "Holding on to faith". It's actually in gospel supply stores everywhere! But seriously, she is one annointed lady of God. Sis. Claudette Walker spoke also and she was astounding. It was like she was speaking directly to my heart. My life was changed, my faith was raised, my faithfulness to God was renewed in many ways...I just can't say enough. Superhubby had an "awful" time while I was gone. He decided that he wasn't going to stay at his mom's and watch the F-troop all night and have a mini par-tay...he decided to come home...late...and sit around doing nothing. He said he was so bored because I wasn't there, that he didn't even want to sleep! Now that's boredom! But I came back and he was fine... I really want to go to the national one next year, but he would die!!! 3 or 4 days without me there...oh my! You might as well just cut his feet off and tell him to run across broken glass. We'll see what happens...
This Sunday is the Singsparation (did I spell that right???) at church. I'm in the choir, hands of praise and I've finally signed up to sing a solo on my own. I sing all the time, so every year I don't sign up for it because I figure everyone hears me enough. But nonetheless, I get chewed out every year by many people because I didn't sing a solo. So, there weren't a whole lot of people signed up, so I did. I'm going to do "How can I keep from singing" by Chris Tomlin. I love that song! When Tiff was in the hospital and things were not looking up, I woke up on the morning that she passed away with that song on my heart and I sang it all day. So, I'm literally in 5 of the songs that night. 2 for H.O.P, 2 for choir and one for me. Sheesh! The things I do to keep people happy! ;-)
Tonight, before H.O.P practice, I'm beginning piano lessons with "Algee's wife", Sis. Harry Jr. I'm looking forward to it very much. The only problem is...I'm afraid that it'll turn out like college did and I won't be able to do much of anything. However, she is teaching me a whole different way. In college, they taught me by note and reading music, where she's going to teach me chords and how to read lead sheets. That'll be much, much easier considering all that is written in lead sheets anymore. So...wish me luck. Maybe I'll be able to do my own music for a special one of these days! :)

Oh wow...I'm a lame loo-hoo-ser!

2007-09-17T12:03:00.000-04:00

So, my mom "yells" at me because I haven't been keepin' up with my blog! Get your bum in gear! my mind says...what on God's green Earth have you been wasting your time on?!? it says... So here I am. Doin' the bloggy thingy again. :)
So, SuperMomma went into the Hospital this weekend! We're still not entirely sure what's going on, but they think it's her gall bladder. We took her in on Saturday afternoon and they moved her from the ER to a real room around 6ish I think. She stayed the night because they had to keep her on pain killers and they let her go Sunday afternoon (around 4ish). They need to do another test, but she's calling in today to schedule that. We're praying that she doesn't have to get it removed. We are wanting to do a camping trip this weekend. My dad's and dad-in-law's birthdays are this week and we wanted to do something fun. So, if mom's up to it...we're going to take a shot at it. Pray for her please?
I got an e-mail from one of my former students! Jen W-H! She's now in California doing the college thing. Pray for her too if you would...her hubby is being deployed soon. I haven't gotten the details yet. But just pray for his safety and her sanity.
Well, I've gotta get goin' for now. I gotta head to MtV to help the church send out the Apostolic News Magazines for the district. So, I'll talk to you soon!
¡Hasta Luego Mis Amiguitos!

So many things...

2007-08-29T10:36:00.000-04:00

Superhubby woke up this morning not feeling at the tippy top of his game...headache, indigestion and sinus trouble all in one. Yucky! Nevertheless, he went to work, being the strong, brave Superhubby that he is. I hope he gets better before lunch time, if he doesn't he probably won't eat much.
Monday was Superhubby's birthday! Now we're both 27! Woo-hoo! (*sarcasm!*) He wanted the Bible on CD in mp3 format so very badly, so I got it for him. Mom-in-law gave him his present about 3 weeks ago because she's impatient like that! ;-) She got him one of those yellow "wagon" carts for the garden from Lowes. It's big! I can't lift it on my own very easily and it doesn't fit in the back of the CRV without the back seats down. I've got so many things that I want to get him, but the lack of money kinda kills that idea in its tracks. I'll just have to spread them out over the next 60 years of birthdays, valentine's days, anniversaries and Christmases, should the Lord tarry. :-)
The trees are ALREADY starting to turn!!!! It's August, people!!! I'm tellin' ya! Winter's gonna hit before we're ready for it! I was just thinkin' the other day. Our church was going to have a camping trip to Mohican last weekend. They said that they're going to try and reschedule it. BUT, here's where my thinkin' came in...They're not going to be able to schedule it until the 4th weekend in September (there are 5 this year)! Weekend #1: Labor Day weekend (this next weekend..not enough time to plan and we're having a partay that weekend)...Weekend #2: Ladies' Retreat...Weekend #3: Men's Retreat. It's going to be cold by the time that fourth weekend comes around. I pictured the Annual Hog Roast and Hayride that is always the first weekend in October...snowing! It's just scary!
I'm really looking forward to the Ladies' Retreat! I guess I'm going to have to pack for that next week, huh? It's closer than I realized. I have in my room: Sisters Jaquie, Jaimi and Andrea. We'll have fun, but we're actually going to be able to sleep! WOO-HOO!!!! :-) I'm no good if I don't get sleep! Well, I'm off for now. Too many things to do 'round here!

Pleased...

2007-08-24T12:35:00.000-04:00

#1 - Superhubby's boss asked him to stay for 2 extra weeks after his temp assignment was supposed to be up. Maybe they're looking for a permanent spot for him. PRAY! :)

#2 - Last Sunday's Sunday School lesson went well. The kids realy enjoyed seeing all of the pictures, foreign money and stuff that I have from Latin America.

#3 - Hands of Praise (our church's "mime" team) had our first practice Tuesday. I was to teach the first song that we're doing this season. It went very well for the first practice. I even had some compliments on my teaching and my "choreographed" signs.

I'm so excited about this H.O.P. season. I think it's going to be really good and annointed. I never thought that I'd get into it this much! I used to be scared to death but really wanted to join. I've now jumped into wholeheartedly! It's exciting to be a part of such an annointed group.

Well, we're not watching the kiddos anymore. We'll only get them on weekends now because school started and I'd have to go into town (30 minutes one way) three times every day I'd watch them. So, we're not going to have them as much. The day that sis-in-law went into the hospital, I found out that their "permanent custody trial" had been cancelled. All because they are kids and really have split loyalties. They love Fostermom, but they have a connection with Realmom to whom they feel the need to be loyal. So, everytime the person that was supposed to speak for them in court talked to them, they'd say something different. (they wanted to stay with Fostermom or they wanted to go back to Realmom) So, they (the state) has to hire the kids an attorney and they are now (this month) filing for another trial. They say that it can take 2-4 months from the time of filing to get the actual trial scheduled. So, the waiting game continues...

I need to talk to the pastor first, but I'm thinking about getting a class started for Spanish for homeschoolers at the church. I'm also throwing around the idea of a "Spanish review" class for adults who would like to brush up on the Spanish that they took years ago. I'm not sure yet what days or how much I'm going to charge. I think, if nothing else, it would greatly advance our ministry with the Mexicans that live on the property.
Well, got so much to do! Superhubby's b-day is on Monday. I've gotta get things together.

It's coming!!!

2007-08-20T12:20:00.000-04:00

I've never felt this before...but I have this looming feeling that fall and winter are coming soon! For some of you, it really doesn't matter when it comes. But for us, we got our garden planted a little late this year because I was still in school and it's really hard to get a garden planted while you're making exams and grading final assignments and everything else that goes along with the end of a public school year. So, that also means that our crops are just beginning to produce. We're just now starting to get our tomatoes and beans aren't quite ready yet. This is going to be part of our income this year, and if fall (frosts) hit soon...we're in trouble. I have this feeling that we're going to have a pretty bad winter too. I can't explain it...it's just one of those, you know...premonitions.
Since Tiff's passing, I've not really had that bad of a time "mourning" for her. I've, since then, felt like it won't be long before we see her again. With all that's going on in this world...if you're a christian and believe what the Bible says...we're living in the last days. All the prophesies are coming true...our church family in Peru has had a huge devastation from the earthquake last week. 10 out of 15 of our Apostolic/Pentecostal churches have been destroyed in Peru alone. The Yucatan peninsula of Mexico is being pounded as I type from hurricane Dean and it's pushing a category 5! The natural occurences that are prophesied about in the Word are becoming more and more prevalent every day. It's been weighing on my mind quite a bit lately. Who knows but God what's in store. But I hope that all of you are "ready" to go...because our time is short on this earth. God bless you all.

Sorry....

2007-08-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

I really hope I haven't lost all of my loyal readers. Since Tiff's passing, emotions have been running rampant. Everytime I'd sit down to type, my mind would go blank and that's all I could think about. So, instead of writing about sad things, I didn't write at all. I do want to let you all know how much we (the family) appreciate your prayers! You are all so wonderful!
I've been trying to get the housework caught up and was doing quite well until beets and corn had to be done. It's been really busy. The kiddos are coming out tomorrow afternoon and Sunday. The house is a wreck from being put on the back burner. There are most likely green beans and tomatoes that need to be done that are waiting impatiently for me in the garden. The lawn still hasn't been mowed because our mower went on the fritz again. And I'm trying to get a Sunday School lesson together for Sunday morning to teach Superhubby's class about Latin America (it's a missionary unit). I'm really stressing about that because I've never taught a S.S. lesson before. So, all of the previously mentioned stuff gets put off until I can get this lesson done. AND I'm going to the farmer's market with my mom tomorrow morning. So, really, there's not much time to do anything. I'm really looking forward to doing the farmer's market...I've never done it before. But my only issue is...I wish we had some produce of our own to sell. We've only got enough right now for us because the garden got put off for the 3 weeks that all was going on with Tiff. So, I'm still overwhelmed. Keep praying for Superhubby's job situation...nothin' yet. I love you all! Thanks for praying!

Oh how I loathe housework!

2007-08-10T12:40:00.000-04:00

Trying to get caught up from your house sitting practically abandoned for about a week and a half is not fun! There's so much laundry to get caught up on, dishes that sat there for the same amount of time, carpets that really need cleaned now and who knows what else. With Tiff being in the hospital for those 6 days, we only slept and showered here. All other time was spent at the hospital. Then the 6 days after she passed away, we stayed the night at the in-laws...it was good for all of us. We'd come home once a day to make sure all fishies, kitties and the piggie had food and we'd get packed up again for that next night and day. Laundry really piled up, so the last couple days we made sure that there was something in the washer and dryer as we left the house. But that really didn't cut into it that much! Ladybug, being an English Mastiff...has quite a bit of grossness that comes out of her mouth....slobber. :-( Yuck! And she lays down and rubs her chin on the carpet cause sometimes it gets itchy. Well, The bedroom carpet isn't it's normal greenish tint anymore. In spots (about half the carpet) it's more of a brownish tint....so I just got done steam cleaning the carpet in the bedroom and got a lot of it out. But I'd have to be a miracle worker (which I'm not) to get the carpet to be its normal self again. So, I'll have to live with dingy looking carpet until we get money to get new I guess.
Ok, on to a different matter...pray for Superhubbie and I. We're going to need financial providence soon. If he doesn't get hired on where he's at now as a temp, we're soon going to be without income. My last check from the school comes next week and he's only supposed to be working there until the end of the month. Just pray...please?
Well...back to the housework...YIPEE! *Sarcasm!*

What could be better?

2007-08-08T10:06:00.000-04:00

I'm living in the days ahead
I'm already dancing on the streets of gold and I can't stop celebrating in my soul cause
I'm living in the days ahead
Nothing on Earth could ever compare I can't wait for the day that I get there
When I see Jesus face to face
Tell me what could be better?

This song lets me know that Tiffany is much, MUCH happier there than she was here. But it's not helping me (us) cope with her absence. Last night it hit me hard. I think I've been trying to be strong for mom-in-law because I've been over there most of my time lately. But we really don't have any plans for today, so I didn't have to go over there. So, right now, she's home alone and so am I. I'm really thinking about going over there anyway. I think, if for nothing else, it'll help me to keep it together. We're supposed to have the kiddos this weekend. I hope I'm out of this slump by then. Please, keep the prayers going upward...we still need it. Thanks for all your support and prayers. You'll never know how much we appreciate it! Love you all! Missy

Tiffany...

2007-08-02T14:01:00.000-04:00

Tiff passed away on Tuesday around 4pm. We praise God that she received the ULTIMATE healing and God got the victory and all the glory! Please, all of you...don't be mad at God. We're not. We know where she is. I'm sad that I only got to spend the time that I did with her, I wished that time could have been saved...but I'm happy for the memories that we had. Yes...it's going to be tough...it already has been. But God is our strength when we are weak, our comfort, peace and strong tower when things aren't going our way. Please join us at the viewing and funeral. All of the info is on http://www.mvacc.org If you're across the country or world, you can leave us messages at www.snyderfuneralhomes.com Thank you for all your prayers and support! You are all such wonderful people!

Not out of the woods yet...

2007-07-31T10:33:00.000-04:00

Blood pressure: too low
heart rate: normal (high end)
oxygen level: 100%
right lung: collapsed twice
heart: fluid drained, catheter in place

going to get food, more later...

More specific and very up-to-date updates on sis-in-law

2007-07-30T14:47:00.000-04:00

If you want them...go to the church's website at http://www.mvacc.org . I was just showed how to update it with specifics. So, you'll probably find what you're looking for there. There is also a link to e-mail her.

Cool things I found out today...

2007-07-28T21:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, so mom-in-law tells me today that she asked sis-in-law during the 5-6 visiting hours if she remembers Bro. Sciscoe coming in and praying for her today. She nodded her head. M-I-L asked, "Do you know that there are angels in this room?" She nodded her head. M-I-L asked, "Do you see them?" SHE NODDED HER HEAD! M-I-L feels so much more comfortable leaving her at night now because she's not alone! We knew God was there, but it was just a confirmation to hear it straight from her.
The nurses and doctors keep saying that sis-in-law's mid section is filled with "tumors"...we haven't had ANY confirmation that these "tumors" are lymphoma. They can't do a biopsy because of her weakened state. But IF they are "tumors"...God is our HEALER. So, anyways...the nurses insist that she should be in excruciating pain and she keeps telling them that she's not in pain at all. God is good!
Her heart rate and blood pressure went up quite a bit while we were visiting during the 5-6:00 hour, but I'm sure it was because of all of the family members that came in that she hasn't seen in quite some time. We all only had an hour to see her and we could only be back there 2 at a time. She is also worried about how this is affecting us all. Her aunt left her room sobbing and I think because she so worried is why she was so "bad" this afternoon. We stopped going to see her early during that hour because they had lightened up on the sedative and she was very aware of what was going on, so naturally she would be affected by that. She's worried about her family. We left around 7ish because we figured the 9-10:00 hour she really needed the rest. They are going to try and see if they can take off the ventilator again in the morning. She's still at 45% (at least she was at 5:30 today) oxygen. They said that she had an absolutely wonderful afternoon between the 1-2 and 5-6 visiting hours. So we're holding on to God's promise that she is going to have an awesome testimony and ministry through this.
Another cool thing that I heard today was: the first night that she was in KCH, the doctor didn't expect her to live through the night. He came into her room that next morning and checked her ventilator and was absolutely amazed at the progress she had made! The fact that she made it through the first night was a MIRACLE in itself! That would explain why all the hubbub about death and the "end" on Thursday night. He thought she was going to die...but God has a master plan and I believe that she has a GINORMOUS part in it! :) We're clinging to God's promises and God's word that her "health will spring forth speedily". Keep praying and we'd love to see you at the prayer service tomorrow night (see http://www.mvacc.org/) You can also e-mail her at PrayforTiffany@hotmail.com . We will print off all e-mails and read them to her, if you want to send a prayer through e-mail, we will gladly read that to her too...Thanks for all your prayers!
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. - Isaiah 58:8-9

Sis-in-law---PRAY HARD---GOD IS GOOD!

2007-07-28T13:36:00.000-04:00

On Thursday early afternoon mom-in-law called me and told me that they were going to take sis-in-law to the ER at KCH because she said that her throat felt like it was closing in on her. So, I followed them to the hospital and they took her in very quickly. I think they felt like they were getting more than they had bargained for. In the ER, they told us that her chest x-ray showed that her lungs were full of infection which they were referring to as pneumonia. They said that her swollen lymph glands were swollen because of this infection. We all rejoiced as they took her up to ICU because we knew that God had made "a way of escape" so to speak. On her way up to ICU, they did a cat scan and a while later the doctor came into the waiting room and shut the door and basically told us that it was the "end" in his words. He said that her lungs were surrounded by swollen lymph glands that were lymphoma. That without treatment, she would have 2 weeks max! With treatment, we may be able to keep her around a little while longer. TALK ABOUT A LET DOWN!!! So, we go from pneumonia to lymphoma! HUGE difference! That night, many people came to see her. We had half the church there and many family members were there too. She has a lot of prayer cover right now. Dawn called all the people that she could think of and asked for prayer, Bro. Specht did the same. LJ put it on the church website (http://www.mvacc.org/) and many, MANY people are praying for her. The entire church campground, our entire church, both of our families, churches all over the country that have a connection with our church and families, people who listen to WNZR, people that my mom used to work with at the Naz, and who knows who else! So, we were faced with making something of a decision Thursday night: 1) give "comfort measures" and just let her have antibiotics to try to get rid of the infection or 2) begin "aggressive treatment" which at the time just consisted of giving her prednesone (sp?) which is a steroid to help shrink the swollen lymph nodes so that she could breathe better. So, we began option #2. When we came back on Friday, she had improved drastically. Thursday night her oxygen on the ventilator was at 60%, when we got there Fri. morning, it was at 50% and as I was reading her scriptures on Friday morning, it was put down to 45%. They had done a chest x-ray again and said that her lungs had greatly improved also. Her white blood count had come down too. So we got a lot of good news Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, they decided that KCH couldn't do much more for her than pump her full of antibiotics and keep her on the ventilator. So, they decided to move her to OSU medical center and we got there at 8:30pm on Friday. They began her oxygen at 55% because of the move, but it's back down to 45% now. We left OSU at 10:30 last night after we got to see her and went home and crashed at 1am until 7 this morning. We headed back down to OSU at 7:30 this morning to make it for the 9:00 visiting hours. When we got here, they said that they were going to go down the ventilator tube and take some samples of the fluid in her lungs but they decided not to do that because she was doing so well. They also did another cat scan and they found that there were "infected lymph nodes" in her stomach area as well. So, essentially they are saying that her whole torso is filled with lymphoma. Now, I know that my God is good and He's a healer and a deliverer! Bro. Sciscoe, came to pray with her earlier today and he said that his church had a prayer meeting this morning. They had focused prayer for her and after that, he felt like God had dispatched angels to her room and that God had the spirit world under control. I know that God is in control of all that is going on and the Enemy doesn't want her to live because he knows that she has a huge ministry and testimony that are going to affect so many people's lives and souls! So, here's what we're going to do. Tomorrow night, at our church, we're going to have a Faith-filled Intercessory Prayer Service for her. Anyone and everyone is invited. My mom is inviting people, mom-in-law is inviting family and friends, it'll be on the church's website, on WNZR and everyone is calling everyone. Please feel free to come! It'll be at our church (see above website) at 6 pm tomorrow night. God's going to do a great work with this!
Currently she is on the 11th floor, 1140, room 1140G (G as in God!). She's allowed to have 2 people in her room at a time over 12 yrs old. The visiting hours are:
5-6 am & pm
9-10 am & pm
1-2 pm
She is not allowed to have flowers in her ICU room, but she can have cards and pictures and things like that. Thank you for your prayers!

Thursday Thirteen #4 Long Time Comin'!

2007-07-26T09:16:00.001-04:00

13 Things About Fair Week

1) Trash pick-up at 6AM every morning.

2) The sweaty hands INSIDE the latex gloves at trash pick-up leading to a pool of sweat that falls out when you take them off...yes...absolutely grody, discusting and absurd for me to put that on here, but oh so true.

3) The totally awesome breakfast that gets served after we've worked so hard picking up trash. THANK YOU LADIES!!! (Yes, ALWAYS make sure you wash your hands and arms thoroughly before touching anything at this wonderful breakfast!)

4) Thank God for Wednesday and Friday mornings because it was only harness racing the previous night and that really doesn't pull that big of a crowd and that crowd isn't near as rude in ignoring the trashcans. So, we get done picking up trash early those mornings! Woo-Hoo!

5) The "Dear Heavenly Father" look on everyone's faces on Thursday morning when we see what a crowd of PIGS are drawn to Tuff Truck on Wednesday night. To quote Jaquie this morning "It looked like someone just vomited all over the track, you couldn't even see it!"

6) It ALWAYS rains during fair week at some point in time. At the beginning of this week, the weatherguy was calling for NO rain ALL week long...and somehow, miraculously...it's raining!!!

7) After it starts raining during fair week, parking cars is always so much more fun *SARCASM!*

8) After it starts raining, the mud runnin' that goes on during parking. Especially by those testosterone-filled overgrown BOYS that swear up and down that they have a real truck when it's just a 2-wheel drive TOY!

9) The laughter (by us) when the TOYS can't get up the hill and they are sliding everywhere!

10) The crashes and dents and dings that happen when a TOY slides down the hill into another unsuspecting customer.

11) The screaming and hollering that goes on when the unsuspecting customer comes back to the crash, dent or ding and it hasn't been reported because there are so many that we don't see happen.

12) The dreams that you have every night and you wake up quite often feeling like your arms are still waving the cars on down the aisle. Sometimes you find one arm straight out poking your husband/wife in the face and the other rotating at the elbow in a circular fashion, waving the darn car on...

13) The way your body feels at the end of each day and you don't know if you can go on. But somehow, God gives you energy and strength the next day to keep you going so you can do the work of the Kingdom...again.

It's Fair time again.....Boo Hoo!

2007-07-24T12:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, first of all..I realize it's summer and a super-duper busy time of the year...but comment people! Comment!!! Maybe my life isn't all that interesting or something, but some of you have found it to be because I have 400-some on my counter thingy. Ok, I'll stop crying about that.
So, it's fair week. I knew I was going to have to get up Monday morning at 5:15 to pick up trash, and as much as I'm not a morning person, I committed to it, so I went. Problem was...Sunday night I went to bed at 10:30ish and laid there for I know at least 1:30 before I fell into a good sleep. And even after that, anything and everything the dogs did woke me up. I got somewhere between 4 and 5 hours of sleep that night, and if you know me...I don't function on that little sleep. Lady started scratching her side at 5:12 and woke me up, so I stayed up and got ready to go. When I got home at 8:30, I took a shower (thank God!) and went back to bed at 9:00. I "slept" until 11:00. But I really only got one hour to MAYBE and hour and a half of sleep (NOT the full 2 hours that I was in bed). >:-( I got up at 11 out of pure discust because I knew I had to get things done (which I didn't...) At 3:15 until 3:45 I went back to bed because fatigue had really hit me hard at that time and I was supposed to leave at 4 to go park cars at the fair. I just laid there...no sleep for me. So, when we got back home last night, we ate and hit the sack at 10:45. I zonked out! When my alarm went off at 5:15 this morning, my body wouldn't get up. I hit the alarm and slept for another 9 minutes (why don't alarms do 10?!?!) and dragged myself into the livingroom to call the pastor and ask him if it was okay if I didn't come this morning. I knew that if I would've gotten into a vehicle, I wouldn't have made it there...they'd have found me in a ditch somewhere between here and there probably. I felt bad, but the only thing that was taking the guilt away was last night Sica and Ren were talking about how they were both going to be there this morning. I'll definitely be there in the morning, but I'll have the kiddos. So, I'll have to get up earlier...closer to 5ish. That'll be fun! I get to pick them up after parking cars tonight. Fostermom works Wed and Saturday this week. Saturday will be crazy because of their visitation being the first half of the day, then someone's got to go back over there to pick them up again afterwards.
Update on Superhubbie's sis...she's slowly getting more energy back. But the air quality is absolutely horrendous. She's still having trouble breathing, but most "healthy" people are right now also. Her detox ends next Wed! She told mom-in-law that she thinks she has gained back some weight, but she really doesn't know where she started. On Wed, we're cooking a speacial dinner for her. I really think that once she gets through the detox and can eat what she wants we're going to see a very speedy recovery. I went over today and hooked up the ol' Super Nintendo and we played Super Mario, she seemed to loosen up a bit. It was fun. Well, I really need to get some things done before 4, so I gotta get goin'. Until next time...

I have no clue...

2007-07-19T12:41:00.000-04:00

Here I sit with the purpose of blogging, but my mind is blank. So, I'm not responsible for the randomness of what is on here today. The first thing on my mind it GOD SENT THE RAIN! Hallelujah! It rained last night for the first time in what seems like 4 years and it's a gloomy rainy day outside and I'm not really minding it. Praise God for the rain!
I have so many things to do around the house today but feel no motivation. We dropped the kids off again last night because Fostermom had to work yesterday. She also has to work tomorrow, so we're going back up there to pick them up tonight. They may be going with the Dennison bunch to camp tomorrow night, but that's unsure yet.
Oh, my good Lord, it's Thursday! I haven't done a Thursday Thirteen yet! I'll have to get on that. Problem is...I don't feel creative today, so it may not be great....
So anywho...I really need to at least do dishes and laundry today before we go pick up the kids tonight. I'm hoping that I'll get motivated sometime soon.
Please pray for my grandpas, on both sides. The one on my mom's side has prostate cancer and they are going in today to place "markers" for future radiation "treatments". I'm a firm believer that all radiation and chemo do are kill people. Please pray for his healing BEFORE he takes the radiation. He's not a christian either. On my dad's side, my grandpa has leukemia. I don't think he's doing anything about it though. He's just dealing with grandma's dementia right now. I haven't heard anything else from that side. He is Apostolic, he's got the Holy Ghost and he's okay as far as that's concerned...it's just hard to take.
Sis-in-law (Superhubbie's sister) is on her step 2 now, which is boosting her immune system. Step 1 was getting the toxins out of her system. She's on a slow hill up, but she's working on it and she is doing better even though she still looks frail, she's not going to changer her appearance overnight. Well...I really oughtta get going....too many things to do...

Woo Hoo!!!

2007-07-17T09:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, first of all...Jana has my black kitten now! His name is Lucky and the kids love him! I'm so happy I don't have 5 cats, only 4 now. Although, Patches was around on Saturday the 7th and when she came back last week I was going to take her to the vet to get her rabies shot, well...she never showed up last week! She didn't show up until midnight this last Sunday night! So, I took her yesterday. I can't believe she left for that long! I thought maybe she found a new home, but she came back skinny. Poor thing.
Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market and one other place to shop and then came home. On Sunday morning we found that Joe's wallet was missing. Dear Lord! I was really, REALLY worried. He thought he had left it at that store we went to, but they didn't open until 10 am on Monday. We searched high and low, looked at his mom and dad's and in all the vehicles. We couldn't find it. I called the store Monday morning and she said that she didn't see it, but she wasn't the one there on Saturday and that she would have someone in the afternoon call me back. So, I went online to check the checking account and it was okay. So I walked back into the bedroom and low and behold...the first place I look, THERE IT WAS! I worried so much about that stupid thing and here it was on MY dresser instead of his under my guitar books! But, OH what a relief!
The kids are coming out tonight, Fostermom's got to work tomorrow and Friday. I'll have all three this time. The wall for their bedrooms still isn't finished, the siding on the house is getting there, the electrical issues haven't even been touched yet. I hope that we can get these things resolved soon, I'm tired of stressing over them.
Welp, I've got to go get some things done that I won't be able to do tomorrow because the kids will be here.
BY THE WAY JANA...I have no clue where your new blog is!!! I didn't get the message.

¡hasta luego!

Really just MISC...

2007-07-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

Saw sis-in-law today. She's doing a great deal better. She's on step 2 of her detox (a few days early by doc's orders!) and well on the way to recovery.
Check out these cool lookin' moths that we found over the last couple days. The green one's just plain purty and the other one's just sweet!

See the cross?!?! Cool huh?
Also, Superhubbie and I were driving the other day and saw this bumper sticker. It kinda has that "Whoa!" effect to it doesn't it?

The Dolan's are getting the black and white kitten tomorrow! Yay! I only have one extra cat and I kinda want to keep her (the white one). So, we're good.

We dropped the boys off last night at camp and can I just say...I really don't like taking them to a chaotic place. There were so many people and the kids just wanted to run! It was really stressful for me. Well, Superhubbie and his dad are working on the siding of the house. I got done mowing the grass and I probably ought to hit the laundry now.

the kiddos...

2007-07-13T11:39:00.000-04:00

We're going to camp tonight and we're dropping off the boys. I've really become attached and they act like they still don't want to leave. They love Fostermom, but it seems that they love being around here more. I do have to admit that 2 is easier than 3, but these last 2 weeks has been good for me because I have been able to ease into "motherhood" a little more easily than having all three dropping in my lap all at once. Really, the transition into "it" hasn't been as painful as I had expected. Yes, a lot of things are changing, but it's not really all that bad. They love me and I love them. It's weird really...how people can walk into your life and hold your heart in their hands in a short period of time. They need stability and I hope the court gives it to them on July 26-28, we find out if they go up for the big A word. Please be praying, many kids' lives are at stake here. Well, this weekend's going to be full of work. So, I'd better get the kids' stuff packed up and ready to go back to Fostermom's. Later!

Sister-in-law update...

2007-07-12T15:26:00.000-04:00

I found out yesterday that they also did a test on Monday at the doc's for any kind of hodgkins or non-hodgkins lymphoma to see if anything like that is in her body. It came back NEGATIVE!!! Just thought y'all would find that tid bit interesting....Praise the Lord!

Happy 4th Anniversary Baby!

2007-07-12T11:46:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I know I haven't done a lot of blogging as of late, but I've got 2 very young boys running around my house. Do you blame me?!?
So, last night on our way back from camp, we dropped by Meijer's to get some things for mom-in-law and I ran off and got Superhubbie a card, I can't go shopping without him apparently (well, I can, but haven't had the chance). He knew I got him one after I rejoined him because he saw it in my hand, but I went over to the self check-out and the boys were like "Missy, what are you doing over there?!?" I said, "being sneaky" and after I got done, I decided that for some reason, the lady at the desk for the self check-out was the person to talk to. She was around our age and looked friendly, so I talked to her. Told her why I was being sneaky so she didn't think me suspicious and then she said, "Cute boys" I told her about their story and how they weren't ours, yet. She seemed excited for us. As we left she told us Happy Anniversary. It was nice, because I've learned that nobody really tells you that after your first year anniversary. Until you have kids, but then they have to be old enough to be aware of all that stuff. So, it seems like it's just another year...
BUT, since I've resigned from my teaching job, I've got much more time to do things that I enjoy. I began doing our Wedding Scrapbook a couple weeks ago and fell upon my journals from then. I have 3 volumes: The Courtship, The Engagement (which is MIA at the moment) and The Marriage. I was reading the first volume and it reminded me of all the reasons I love Joe. The things that my job and life seemed to have taken away from me. I told him the other night that I had practically forgotten who we were. We, are Joe & Missy Potter, the two that everyone was pushing for to get together. The two that would put a smile on every one's faces when we came into a room together. The two that are absolutely and totally in love with each other and it shows. I hate the way life gets in the way of relationships. It has even tried to get in the way of our relationship with God at times too. I love being married to Joseph Potter, he IS the love of my life (besides Jesus) and I will love him forever. Happy Anniversary Baby! And MANY more to come! :)

Thursday Thirteen #3

2007-07-12T10:56:00.000-04:00

13 Reasons Why I LOVE having the kids around...

1. The way Middlechild strokes my back or arm when he's sitting beside me. Even though he hasn't said "I love you" much, he says it every time he does this.

2. The way Oldest has attached to Superhubbie so much that while we're watching a movie on a Sunday afternoon, she climbs up on his lap and they both fall asleep sitting in the recliner before the movie is half way over.

3. The way Youngest is so smart! He usually learns his lesson the first time he goofs up.

4. The way Middlechild is just like Superhubbie so many ways.

5. The way the dogs (mostly Woody) plays with them - it's a sight to behold!

6. The way they lit up when I cleaned up and decorated the guest bathroom, put a dresser in there, put their clothes in it and told them that it was theirs. It gave them even more of a sense of belonging.

7. The way they keep me on my toes! I can't be a couch potato like I enjoyed in summers past. I like this!

8. The way I don't eat as much when they're around. I've lost 4 lbs. in the last 2 weeks!

9. The way Youngest goes to comb his hair and only combs over the front 2 inches because that's all he sees in the mirror.

10. The way Middlechild woke up from his nap and pulled a tooth all by himself.

11. The he woke up the next morning and I saw such a smile on his face when he found a dollar under his pillow from the Tooth Fairy.

12. The way they love coming out here and never complain, wanting to go home.

13. The way they know in their hearts that we belong together without anyone saying anything to them about what we want to do.

I HAD NO IDEA!!!!

2007-07-10T10:21:00.000-04:00

I knew I was getting into a lot with trying to get 3 kids. I've got 2 of them this whole week, it's only Tuesday and at some moments I think it's time to pull all hair out of my head! I had them quite a bit last week except for maybe 2 or 3 days max. Those 2-3 days were used to get caught back up. We got all three on Saturday and had them all until Sunday afternoon. Now I've got the boys all week until Friday night. Fostermom's nursing church camp this week and Oldest is there too. Youngest tried to drown the white kitten last night. He got to stand in the corner while we watched David and the Giant Pickle (Veggietales if you didn't know...) He hated it! We have found that making him sit in time out really doesn't hit him like it should. So, we're experimenting to find something else that works. He's also not to even touch the cats today, even over at mom-in-law's house.
Some of you don't really know what's been going on with sis-in-law. She's been kinda sick for a while now and I know many of you have been praying. She's lost a lot of weight and she's had trouble breathing. She went to a doc yesterday to basically get a computer eval on different things in her body. The lymph system test came back normal. PRAISE GOD! The lump on her neck (which I figured was just an inflamed lymph node because she's been sick) could have possibly been filled with the C word and that was the fear. But since that test came back normal...it's just inflamed and not the C word! I've been sure that God healed her all along, but the Enemy puts doubts and fears in our minds sometimes and it really makes us wonder. So, the doc put her on a detox for a month because her body is filled with toxins (obviously from the one chemo treatment that she took over a year ago...did you know that chemo will stay in your body for a year and a half?!?). So, her diet is limited, but other than that we're praising God for his answer to prayers. We've had so many people tell us that God already healed her and that God told them so. I HATE the Enemy for making mom-in-law worry so much. It's been really hard on her lately. But HALLELUJAH, I knew she was healed!
We're going over there today to can some beets. Yummy! The boys will have fun going over to Mamaw's.
Oh, one last personal note...Jana: The black kitten isn't all black, it's got a lot of white on it. You could call it socks or something. So, tell Pat not to worry. Also, are you going to the Ladies retreat thing in September? I have thoughts of going, but I thought it would be cool to room together. If you're thinking of going, let us know and we can add you into one of our rooms we have set aside. We'll have a blast! Well, that's all for now....Adios!

Wow! It's been busy!

2007-07-03T09:42:00.001-04:00

Ok, you know the kittens I found last week? Well, I got to to know them better and look at them closer and look:

Do you see it??? Look at the eyes! One's greenish and the other one is icey blue! Isn't that sweet?!? Mom-in-law said that from the looks of its markings, it's got siamese in it, as it gets older it'll get more points and markings. That's pretty neat too.

Then, my hummies (aka: hummingbirds) have multiplied and are eating like CRAZY! I have officially counted 6 now, but I think more have come just in the last few days. I had Superhubbie buy another feeder a couple weeks ago and he bought a much bigger one. Well, I filled them both up yesterday after I had filled them BOTH up the day before! It's become a ritual to fill up the smaller one (pictured) every morning, but the bigger one is depleating much faster now too. I can't believe it! I told SH that it's more like a swarm of hummies than a flock (you know...flock = birds, swarm = bees). The way they sound, it's like this HUGE swarm of bees flying around. You wouldn't believe how much they are fighting over those two feeders. Plus mom-in-law got me a snapdragon hanging basket for "mother's day" and (I've actually kept it alive!) they love it too! They sit on my (sp?) bugamvia (another plant, native to Costa Rica) and use it as a perch. So, they've become like my little 'pets' too. So, I've got all kinds of animals running around here. Here's a pic so you can see my cute new friends.

And the boys were out yesterday. Oldest is at camp this week and next week. So, we took the boys home after church Sunday night and kept them until last evening. We've got church again tonight because of the holiday, so we're taking them home again tonight and we're going to see fireworks after church. I think we're going to have them through to Thursday morning. Then we'll have all three on Saturday and Sunday, then Oldest is going 'home' to pack for church camp for next week. We're going to keep the boys all next week because Fostermom is nursing at camp. I got some really cute pics of the boys yesterday blowing bubbles. Here's one for your enjoyment.

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!

2007-06-29T15:47:00.000-04:00

Ok, so you couldn't hear that "Good Morning Vietnam!" sound in my voice, but it was there, I promise! The kittens got kicked out on their rears today. They are officially outside cats. Last night when we went to bed, lights had been out for MAYBE 10 minutes and I heard stratching at the door of our master bathroom. I told Superhubbie to stop talking and listen and sure 'nuff...they were scratching at the door. You see, one of our other cats accidentally got locked in our guest bathroom once and scratched the drywall all up and it was really bad. We're still going to have to fix that little goof-up. So, we were quiet for a few minutes and the sound stopped. So, we went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, I wake up to the sound of one of the cute little kittie toys I put in the bathroom for them to play with rolling across the floor making all the noise I thought that it wouldn't make. For some reason, when I put them in there, I thought they'd play with them during the day....WRONG! So, this little plastic ball that has little pegs on the outside and little plastic balls inside was making all kinds of racket in the middle of the night. It quickly stopped and I very quickly fell back to sleep. I vaguely remember hearing it again some time later, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't sleep through it. But Superhubbie, I think (sleep is so vague many times), got up and grabbed the toy and put it on the carpet in our bedroom to stop the noise. You see, I wasn't coherant enough to get up and do that...sometimes he's not either, but he sleepwalks...so, things happen sometimes and he doesn't even realize it. I don't sleepwalk, so when I'm asleep...I'm asleep!

So, I got up this morning, introduced them to the rest of the family (animals) and put them out back with their bed and their food. Luna doesn't like them, like I knew would happen. She just sits there staring them down and growling like she did with Punkin. And Punkin (who I haven't posted his story yet, but will today) is trying to befriend them. Patches is her own woman and just pretty much ignores them. Woody stands on the ground as they have taken the top of the doghouse as home and looks up at them and whimpers like he wants to play, but can't get to 'em. The black kitten just puffs up and looks mean. Molly and Lady pretty much ignore them too for now. We'll see what progresses as time passes.

Punkin' is a male orange tiger bobtail (by force). He's not quite a year old yet. Joe found him last fall (early October) at the orchard that he worked at. He was only a few weeks old (maybe 6 wks) and had his tail mangled. Joe thinks one of the apple bins got put down on his tail before he had time to get out from underneath. So, Joe found him inside a Pumpkin bin, in October and he's orange. So, his name was obviously going to have to be Punkin'. We took him home that weekend and the following week took him to Dr. Price to have him looked at. He decided that his tail had to be bobbed off and he'd go head and neuter him while he had him there. So, this was definitely our most expensive cat venture thus far. Luna still doesn't like him...he's been around for almost a year and she's still evil towards him. So, our final (until this last Wednesday) rescue of cats. Here's Punkin':

Punkin's names:

Punkin' (official)

Punk (short)

Punkie (cute)

Punkster (cuter)

So, I got to spend some time with my mommy today! We went to the most wonderful Mexican restaurant ever! Fiesta Mexicana, duh! And we got to talk about all kinds of stuff, like we always do. I just thought it was nice and that I should add this in too, HI MOM! Then I went to the Health Dept. for a physical and to get the stuff to do a water test. Yup, it's all for the foster thing. Woo-hoo! All the hoops are not fun! I'm tired of jumping...it's only the beginning though.

New kittens...I didn't want anymore cats!!! Wwaaaahhh!

2007-06-28T10:18:00.001-04:00

Ok, I must say...I love the end result, but I now loathe uploadage of pics! It took me FOR-EVA to finish the Thursday Thirteen! Well, I have some news...I'm mommy again...to 2 kittens. I took Superhubbie's dad home last night from church and on a back road I found 2 kittens. I tried getting them on the way over there, but couldn't get the black and white one to come to me. So, I didn't want to leave one alone, so I let the small one go. On my way back home, I saw them again...sitting in the middle of the gravel road (same place) and the black and white one ran off into the grass. Once again, the little white one just sat in the middle of the road. So, I parked the vehicle, got out and picked up the white one and the other one came right to me. So I put them in the vehicle and called Joe to let him know what's going on. The little white one is so skin & bones. The black and white one was really hungry too. Joe & I had gotten milkshakes on our way home from church and the black one was trying to suck on the straw of the milkshake cups! So, when I got them home and gave them some milk and dry cat food and some cut up fish that we had made the other night for supper. The poor little white one almost drowned itself trying to get to the milk! Needless to say...all of that food was gone by the time I went to bed at midnight last night. (Yes, that late...I was uploading pictures!) So, I don't know what to name them yet. I'm pretty sure the black and white was is male...I haven't got as sure of an idea about the white one. But here's a pic just to show you...yup, I'm a sucker! (Oh, I hate uploading! Dial-up is so slow!)

Thursday Thirteen #2

2007-06-27T23:28:00.000-04:00

Thirteen things the kids did yesterday on our "first day" alone w/Missy (no Joe!):

1)Walked in the door and ran like wild children with the dogs for quite sometime.

2) Ate lunch (ravioli...mmm, yummy!)

3) Got into Joe & Missy's cowboy boots and wanted to take pictures!

4) Played with playdough! Every kid's favorite!

4) Played with the dogs...

5) Watched Nemo (to give Missy some time off!)

6) Loved on dogs while watching Nemo...

7) Played with the dogs...more...

8) Ate milk & choco chip cookies that Missy made fresh for us.

9) Played on the broken down John Deere that is sitting in the back yard because it's cool to play on a tractor! 10) Colored and cut construction paper into BEAUTIFUL things that were unidentifiable once we got done with the scissors! 11) Played with....well...you know... 12) Crashed for 45 minutes until Joe got home (the dogs did too!!!)

13) Ate supper (grilled cheese & tomato soup)

Then we got ready and went to church.

Kids and cats...

2007-06-27T08:55:00.000-04:00

This'll probably be a quickie. I've got to go get the kiddos today and I've got to go shopping for lunch & supper today too 'cuz I wasn't planning on cooking for five. Fostermom's got to take one of her kiddos to the dr for her leg. She really didn't want to go with five kids, so I'm picking them up after Middlechild's summer school is over at 11:30 today at the school. It'll be my first day with them without help from the Superhubbie who always knows how to entertain these kiddies! So, pray for me?!? I'm pretty sure I'll be okay, they listen to me pretty well and they love coming out here. So, I don't think it'll be a problem. I just don't have a million things for them to do. They could play in the sprinkler, play with the puppies, hey! I do have some playdough they could play with, I'll see if I've got anything else. I'm sure I'll be fine. Just kinda nervewracking being "mom" by myself (no "dad" involved for the day) for the first time is all. So, I'll quickly introduce you to Patches then I gotta run.

Patches is a calico cat who used to be skin and bones. She is no longer skin and bones, I think she's saving up for a famine or something. I have no clue how old she is, I can just guess that she's probably around a year older than Luna. So, she's about 3-4 years old. I'm pretty sure that she's been fixed because we've not had the problems that we did with Luna at around 8-10 months of age. (Liz, you know what I'm talking about!) That gross, perverse problem of having a female cat in heat. YUCK! So, anywho...I can't really say much for Patches other than she's a princess that kills everything! Lately our animals have made our yard into a killing ground for birds, mice, moles, you name it...groundhogs, oppossum, rabbits, chipmunks. NOTHING is safe in our yard! So, I've caught Patchie with mostly birds, but a few mice. I don't know how she's keeping her shapely figure! We got Patches from Aunt Madge & Mark (that's Joe's side). They had found her and tried to keep her, but she was so skittish that they couldn't take care of her. So, we took her. She has s-l-o-w-l-y warmed up to us and now she loves us like crazy. But she hates it when "strangers" are in the house. She hides. So, here's Patches because I've got to get going...

Patches' names:

Patches (official)

Patchie (short)

Patch (even shorter)

Apachie (Joe thinks it's cute???)

And I forgot to add Luna's names the other day,

Luna/Loona (officials)

Lunie/Loonie (shorts)

Lunita (that's mine, with a Spanish flare!)

Lune/Loon

More than one of me?!?

2007-06-25T09:48:00.000-04:00

I do have to admit...I got sucked into the weird thought that popped into my mind of searching my name in Google. Come to find out, there are many of me. There's one that has my entire name, the only difference is that the Ann is spelled with an 'e' at the end. She's like my evil oposite! She's a little younger than me and she's into that book series that has my last name in it and she's not very pure in thoughts. There are other me's (that looks weird) that are big people in companies and stuff like that...but it's just weird! So, my thoughts got tired of looking at all of me, so I looked up my Superhubbie. Come to find out, he was married before (early 1900s) and he's already been dead and resurrected! He's been in multiple branches of military and he's also a professor at some univeristy in Texas! (He'd LOVE that!) He's been trying to get me to move to Texas since we got married! Probably the absolute most weirdest thing of all is that there is some book out there about the red hatters ageing or something and there is mention of a Joe & Missy Potter's decorated spruce tree getting run over by an old lady named Aggie. It's really one of those odd-ball things that your brain leads you into and then you're sorry you did it because now you're kinda freaked out by other people "stealing" your identity. Y'know? They're not really "stealing", they've been given it fair and square...it's just weird.

Ok, now that I'm done with that (did I say WEIRD?) thing...I think I'll introduce you to a one of the 3 cats that we have. Loona (aka Luna) was named by Joe and I didn't like it, so I call her Luna instead. Same pronunciation and all...just different meaning. You see, Joe called her Loona because she's a loon...a lunatic...a crazy one. I told him that if he named her that, she'd live up to it. She did. I call her Luna, which means "Moon" in Spanish. I believe it was almost 2 years ago at the county fair, Superhubbie's mom found her whilst parking cars. Luna came bounding out from underneath cars toward mom-in-law and she was just a little baby at the time. So, she brought her to us. She's a gray tabby and she's very hyper at times, although she's slowing growing out of that. So she's almost 2 years old now. (once again...a rescue!)

Things to do this weekend...

2007-06-22T13:19:00.000-04:00

It's such a beautiful day again! What have we done to deserve such wonderful treatment, God? I just got done mowing the backyard a little bit ago, and knowing my Irish skin tone...I'm probably going to be feelin' it tonight and tomorrow! I dunno...we'll see.
So, I'm pretty much going to try (again) to lose this extra baggage (weight, not my husband!) that I've been carrying around for so long. The good news is, I haven't gotten any bigger for a year and a half...I've actually gone down some. But I've pretty much been at a plateau since around Thanksgiving time. You know all that good food...especially what my mother-in-law makes. The problem is...I live only 3 miles away from her and her doggone good cooking. She's been making baked goods for the Farmer's Market and whatever she doesn't sell, we've been getting some of it. That's not helping this body of mine one iota! But man is it good!?!
This weekend is going to be pretty busy around here. Tonight Superhubbie's cousin is getting married in Reynoldsburg. Then tomorrow, Superhubbie and his mom are doing the Farmer's Market until noon. That'll give me a little more time to get things done around here...work on more laundry, straighten up the house a bit, etc. Then, when they're done, they're going to come home and his dad is coming over to help work on the wall again for a while. At 4:00 I'm going to get the "kids" and we'll have them until Sunday night church service. They want to stay longer, but the middle child has summer school until next week...so he's kinda ruins it for them all...for now. That's okay though. We'll have fun! I think we're going over to mom-in-law's for pizza Saturday night because of the wedding tonight. (We usually have pizza on Fridays, but this week is messed up.)
You should see the kids with the doggies! The youngest tries to give Woody hugs and because Woody is so small and it's hard for him to trust people, every time youngest leans down to give him a hug, Woody growls a little. Youngest looks at me and says I'm just trying to hug him! But this last time they came out...we had a breakthrough! I wish I had my camera! They didn't know I was watching and he leaned down and hugged him for a long time and Woody just sat there like he had gained a new friend. It's adorable! Ladybug slept with Oldest and they both loved it and Molly just doesn't know how to calm down with kids around yet. I'm sure she'll learn. Middlechild just keeps trying to play like Molly does but it's after everyone's done playing. It's cute! So, everytime we have to take them back to Fostermom's, (keep in mind that they LOVE Fostermom to death!) they say in the cutest voice, "Nooo....I want to stay here forever!" It breaks our hearts everytime they have to leave. After the first time they came out, Oldest went home and cried her eyes out because she missed us so much. We love 'em all dearly. This is all in code obviously for security reasons, but you can at least get a look into what we're doing. Well, plenty to do, not enough time to do it all in...later!

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #1 (sorry so late)

2007-06-22T13:05:00.001-04:00

I know, I know...It's FRIDAY MISSY...NOT THURSDAY!!! I just decided that I'm going to take a shot at this fun little doodad I've seen on others' sites. I didn't realize it was such a big thing until I saw on Theresa's site the official Thursday Thirteen site. So...here goes...

Thirteen things I need to do before August begins:

1. Finish foster care paperwork (Yes, foster care...kinda gives you a look into the stay-at-home mom thing...)

2. Clean my house...entirely. (Big job for me!)

3. Paint the guest bathroom in blues and purples. (It'll be the kids' bathroom...yes, I said kids.)

4. Finish painting my bedroom in greens and browns (It's 75% complete at the moment)

5. Finish paining the livingroom in browns and tans. (It's half way done now.)

6. Take Patches in for her rabies shot. (That's one of the cats you haven't met yet.)

7. When I take Patches in, I must get the vet records for the foster thing.

8. Help Superhubbie get the gutters back up after we finish fixing the roof.

9. When the guys finish builing the wall between the kids' rooms, I need to paint them. (colors?)

10. Help Superhubbie take care of electrical stuff around the house.

11. Help Superhubbie finish tiling the kids' bathroom floor.

12. Help Superhubbie trim around doors and windows that aren't trimmed.

13. I'm sure there's more...but #13 is: Take all the "junk" to Goodwill so I don't have to trip over it all anymore.

My kids - part dos

2007-06-21T10:26:00.000-04:00

Molly is (roughly) a 3 yr. old boxer mix. We think she's mixed with some kind of hound...maybe beagle. This pic is a little older...she's most likely about 65 lbs now. We got her a month after we moved in to our previously mentioned home to give Woody some company while we were at work all day. She was a rescue too. You see...Superhubbie's aunt used to run a rescue and that's where we've gotten all of our dogs. Molly was found wondering the streets at 10 weeks of age. Mrs. Aunt took her in and asked if we wanted her...we met her on Memorial Day and took her home that night. (Obviously the answer was a resounding YES!) Molly and Woody are truly bro & sis at heart. They play and fight together all the time. Something I didn't mention in the previous post was our nicknames for Woody. So, here they are in no particular order:

Woody (official)

Woodrow (Wilson)

Budrow (pronounced Boo-drow)

Bood (shortened version of Budrow)

Boodie (nick for Budrow)

Molly's names:

Molly (official)

Molly Wally

Wally (short for the above)

Marly Warly (when we want to be goofy)

Marly (short for the above)

So, here's a picture of Marly and Bood hammin' it up.

Since I've got the time now...I'll talk about our latest addition and last doggie - Lady. We got her in March of '06 from the same aunt of Superhubbie. She (the dog...not the aunt) is an English Mastiff. Sweetest breed you'll ever meet! We really don't know how old she is, we think anywhere between 3 and 7 years old. The doggiedoc tried to tell, but she had had such a terrible life before we got her that she is aging a lot faster than she should. Lady has a long story attached to her. I guess her original owner bred her a lot and she was really attached to him, but he died about a year and a half before we got her. So, this guy's son took her and mistreated her. He abused her and starved her. He even threw her down some steps which broke her leg and she had to have surgery. He almost got the humane society called on him, but he gave her away to someone that he knew just so he wouldn't go to jail. The people that got her next were druggies and didn't find the money to feed the dog that they had, but could find the cash to kill themselves with their addictions. By this time, Lady was down to 75 lbs (she should've been at least 150, maybe pushin' 200. So, when we got her, she was in bad, bad shape. She loved everyone that she came across though. Sweet, sweet dog! Lady has, after 15 months of being in our home, she has made it back to 120 lbs and I doubt she'll get any heavier. The doggiedoc said that we're basically just making her life bearable at this point. She has a lot of health issues. But we love her...she's like a great big teddie bear.

Her names are:

Lady (official)

Ladybug (Joe came up with this)

Buggie (short for the above)

Bug (short for the above)

Buggie-Wuggie (just goofy-woofy)

So, here's a pic of Buggie layin' in the sun and havin' a great day.

Well, those are my puppies! Now you'll know who I'm talking about when I say something about Budrow, Marly and Buggie.

My kids...I mean - My pets

2007-06-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Yes, this is the second entry today, but I'm just getting started...so gimme a break, huh?!?
Ok, I talked about all of my pets in my profile. I should probably introduce you to those I'll most likely be talking about throughout my little bloggy thing.
Firstly, I'll introduce you to my doggies. Since it takes a while to upload on dial-up, I'll do different pets each day so I'm not wasting my entire day doing the up-loadage.
We got "Woody" shortly after we got married, but shortly before we moved into our "owned" house. (Y'know the bank still owns it...we just got to put our name to it is all! That's how those things work!) Anywho...Woody lived with the in-laws (that's my in-laws) for a few months before we actually got to have him because we were renting at the time. (Liz...I know how you feel about the pet and rent thingy...doesn't work) Before he came to our house, he had already been in nine other homes in his 10 months of living. He didn't really know how to trust people until long after we got him because he didn't know when the next time he'd be passed along to the next house. Woody is a (roughly) 4 yr. old Jack Russell Terrier. He bounces off the walls...but we luv 'em anyhow. So, without further adieu...HEEERRRE'S Woody!

Beautiful day's thoughts...

2007-06-20T14:58:00.000-04:00

It's such an absolutely gorgeous day today! It's not too hot like it has been the last few days and it's nice to be able to leave my windows open and let the breeze blow through the house. I love days like this!
I started last week on EC and quickly ran across the lizness and discovered that many of my own "loved ones" are on here doing this bloggy thing. I finally talked myself into creating my own bloggy thing and joining the par-tay. Becky (the muffin) was right! It sure is addictive!

So here I am...I figure I'd probably better explain myself on my choice of bloggy titles. Some of you may remember my mom's choice of "theme" for my surprise 18th birthday party. It was "the Spanish-speaking leprechaun". The reason for that is, well...I speak Spanish AND I was born on St. Patrick's Day (the best thing about the latter is that I am part Irish me-self laddies and lassies!). Therefore I AM the SPANISH SPEAKING LEPRECHAUN!!! *as I do a little jig around my pot o'gold* (I really don't have one y'know...leprechauns never tell their secrets!)

....when Irish eyes are smilin'....