Day after meltdown...

Okay so is it wrong to still be in bed at noon the day after Christmas?

Mike the biggest kid of all stayed up until after 3 playing Halo (insert hand striking forhead here)

We had a good Christmas I got all sorts of quilting books
Mike gets to go indoor skydiving
Austin got his Darth Vader that transforms into the death star
Miranda got the Twilight book and an appointment to the orthodontist (yes she thinks this is a great gift)
and Wade got his Leapster and thinks he is as big as his brother playing gameboy.

We had a wonderful family breakfast and dinner with my folks and my brother.
Overall it was a wonderful Christmas, No trips to the ER, No one burned anything down, no appliances stopped working (okay the flame went out on the burner to my moms gas stove but we got it re-lit no explosions so it was all good.) As far as holidays go this one was one of the better ones.
Look out new years! ;O)

Merry Christmas

I hope you all are having a Very Merry Christmas!!!! Try while all the craziness of family life and food and presents to remember a babe in a manger born some 2000 years ago.

More Christmas stuff I have been working on...

My Grandfather painted these quilt blocks with the help of me and my siblings during the 1980's he passed away about 3 years ago and so my grandma is moving, she found them and gave them to me because I am the only one that has any desire to quilt.

Well I have been working on making these wall hangings for my siblings for Christmas so they could have something from grandpa that we worked on together.

I gave them tonight at our family Christmas party. I think they really liked them.

Merry Christmas

20 Things to remember:

1. Faith is the ability to not panic.

2. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you prayed, then don't worry.

3. As a child of God, prayer is kinda like calling home every day.

4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

6. Do the math and Count your blessings.

7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

8. Dear God: I have a problem. It's me.

9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

10. Laugh every day - it's like inner jogging.

11. The most important things in your home are the people.

12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.Come on in.

14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.(I don't think fabric counts!)

16. We do not remember days but moments. Life moves too fast so enjoy your precious moments.

17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it's just hearsay.

18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again.Just be sure to flush when you are done.

19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you're seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

No matter the storm,when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting. Leave gentle fingerprints on the soul of another for the angels to read. I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well

5 days 5 freakin' days UGGGG!

I have been busy so sue me for not bloging more. I know my mom lost the address to my blog so she wont see the quilt I have been working on. These are two of the 7 quilts I have been working on for Christmas. I am mostly done but not close enough for my liking I am going to have to get my butt in gear and get back to binding the ones for my siblings. Once that is done I only have one left to back, quilt and bind. Oh yeah it will be done by Christmas sure no prob! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Lost X Files Christmas episode

Another one from a friend Merry Christmas!

Lost X Files Christmas episode...

Mulder: We're too late. It's already been here.

Scully: Mulder, I hope you know what you are doing.

Mulder: Look, Scully, just like the other homes: Douglas fir, truncated, mounted, transformed into some sort of shrine; halls decked with boughs of holly; stockings hung by the chimney, with care.

Scully: You really think someones been here?

Mulder: Someone or some thing.

Scully: Mulder, over here--it's fruitcake.

Mulder: Don't touch it! Those things can be lethal.

Scully: It's O.K. There's a note attached: "Gonna find out who's naughty and nice."

Mulder: It's judging them, Scully. It's making a list.

Scully: Who? What are you talking about?

Mulder: Ancient mythology tells of an obese humanoid entity who could travel at great speed in a craft powered by antlered servants. Once each year, near the winter solstice, this creature is said to descend from the heavens to reward its followers and punish its disbelievers with jagged chunks of anthracite.

Scully: But that's legend, Mulder--a story told by parents to frighten children. Surely, you don't believe it?

Mulder: Something was here tonight, Scully. Check out the bite marks on this gingerbread man. Whatever tore through this plate of cookies was massive -- and in a hurry.

Scully: It left crumbs everywhere. And look, Mulder, this milk glass has been completely drained.

Mulder: It gorged itself, Scully. It fed without remorse.

Scully: But why would they leave it milk and cookies?

Mulder: Appeasement. Tonight is the Eve, and nothing can stop its wilding.

Scully: But if this thing does exist, how did it get in? The doors and windows were locked. There's no sign of forced entry.

Mulder: Unless I miss my guess, it came through the fireplace.

Scully: Wait a minute, Mulder. If you are saying some huge creature landed on the roof and came down the chimney, you're crazy. The flue is barely six inches wide. Nothing could get through there.

Mulder: But what if it could alter its shape, move in all directions.

Scully: You mean, like a bowl full of jelly?

Mulder: Exactly. Scully, I've never told anyone this, but when I was a child my home was visited. I saw the creature. It had long white strips of fur surrounding its ruddy, misshapen head. Its bloated torso was red and white. I'll never forget the horror. I turned away, and when I looked back it had somehow taken on the facial features of my father.

Scully: Impossible.

Mulder: I know what I saw. And that night it read my mind. It brought me a Mr. Potato Head, Scully. IT KNEW I WANTED A MR. POTATO HEAD. Scully: I'm sorry, Mulder, but you're asking me to disregard the laws of physics. You want me to believe in some supernatural being who soars across the skies and brings gifts to good little girls and boys. Listen to what you are saying. Do you understand the repercussions? If this gets out, they'll close the X-files.

Mulder: Scully, listen to me: It knows when you are sleeping. It knows when you're awake.

Scully: But we have no proof.

Mulder: Last year, on this exact date, S.E.T.I. radio telescopes detected bogeys in the airspace over twenty-seven states. The White House ordered a Condition Red.

Scully: But that was a meteor shower.

Mulder: Officially. Two days ago, eight prized Scandinavian reindeer vanished from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Nobody - not even the zookeeper - was told about it. The government doesn't want people to know about Project Kringle. They fear that if this thing is proved to exist, then the public would stop spending half its annual income in a holiday shopping frenzy. Retail markets will collapse. Scully, they cannot let the world believe this creature lives. There's too much at stake. They'll do whatever it takes to insure another silent night.

Scully: Mulder, I --

Scully: On the roof. It sounds like . . . a clatter.

Mulder: The truth is up there. Let's see what's the matter...

Liver Update...

So after spending 3 hours in the hospital for a 15 minute test (they couldn't get ahold of my cardiologist for the echo cardiogram to compare) they found absolutely nothing in my liver.
No mass, No clips from old surgery, nothing. So I am a little confused about what they saw before but it looks like I am not going to drop dead from liver cancer this week ;O)

More tests! BLECH!!

When they did my echo cardiogram on Monday they saw a spot on my liver so today I get to go have an ultrasound on my liver to see what the "mass" is. Sigh! The Dr says he thinks that it is probably just a clip from when I had my gallbladder out 11 years ago. Lets hope! I will keep you up to date.

A parent's night before Christmas

'I got this from a friend and thought it was a laugh so here you go!

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house

I searched for the tools to hand to my spouse.

Instructions were studied and we were inspired,

In hopes we could manage "Some Assembly Required.

"The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,

While Dad and I faced the evening with dread:

A kitchen, two bikes, Barbie's town house to boot!

And, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!

We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat....

Let no parts be missing or parts incomplete!

Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;

If we can't get it right, it goes in the basement!

When what to my worrying eyes should appear,

But 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,

With each part numbered and every slot named,

So if we failed, only we could be blamed.

More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,

All over the carpet they were scattered about.

"Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!

Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!

Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand."

"Honey," said hubby, "you just glued my hand.

"And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact

That all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact

To keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night

With "assembly required" till morning's first light.

We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,

Till our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers all hurt

.The coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin

Before we attached the last rod and last pin.

Then laying the tools away in the chest,

We fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.

But I said to my husband just before I passed out,

"This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.

Tomorrow we'll cheer, let the holiday ring,

And not have to run to the store for a thing!

We did it! We did it! The toys are all set

For the perfect, most perfect, Christmas, I bet!

"Then off to dreamland and sweet repose I gratefully went,

Though I suppose there's something to say for those self-deluded...

I'd forgotten that batteries are never included!

I had to add this I thought it was funny too...

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.

We should've known ONLY a woman would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

Its just been a long day!

I am to tired to thing of anything clever to say so here is a cute picture of my furbabys

I am putting one of these in my yard!

The wind always blows at my house! Its just something you learn to live with when you live at the mouth of a canyon,

however the wind the last two nights has been so awful! Its been around 30mph with guts that are much higher I hear the nails in the roof creak when the wind gusts. I HATE that!

My poor Wade just is scared to death of the wind so he ends up climbing in bed with me. When that happens I have Mike (my own personal space heater) to my back, Wade (who likes to sleep with his feet in my stomach and my arm under his head) and two cats at my feet. I wake up feeling like a pretzel if I get any sleep. SIGH!

So what I am thinking is I am cheap by nature so if I was paying for my electricity while the stupid wind blew maybe I could have a better attitude about it.

What do you think? Think the neighbors would appreciate having one of these in my yard up close they are several story's high and I think they might have something to say about it blocking there view. I don't live by the Kennedy's, so none of my neighbors are in congress to make a fuss about losing there view. Tee Hee!

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly,
and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and
I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep,
her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me,
angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell,
a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy,
my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment,
or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud,
and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough,
I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble,
I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?", I asked without fear,

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here.
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve.

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.

Then he sighed and he said "It’s really all right, I'm out here by choice.
I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me."
"I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,
' Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home."
"I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother."
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long."

"For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Please remember and support our troops and all they do for us this Christmas season and in the coming year.

let there be light(s)

I said I would make him do it even if it snowed and sure enough we got snow last night. I am mean I know. But with the exception of icicle lights on the peak of the house (both because he wont climb up and we have snow) we have Christmas lights! WOO HOO!

I want to say my husband is wonderful, he hates to do this but he does it for me.
Thanks my sweetheart!

Fun and the 24 hour flu bug

So I thought it best not to have a picture today seeing as how I have been "driving the porcelain bus" the day before yesterday and Miranda was doing yesterday. So far no one else has caught this especially fun bug.

So Mike dragged my tree upstairs and I put it up yesterday I still haven't strung the beads.
I no sooner went upstairs than I hear crash bang crash! I come down to find the kitten under the tree surrounded by what wad left of 3 red glass balls.
GRRRRR! she would whack them off the tree and then pounce on them and knock them into the base of the tree or the wall until they broke. Rotten cat!

Mike swears he will help me put up lights tomorrow. We will see I am sceptical. It takes longer than this for congress to pass any bills ;O)

bill day BLECH!

Today is my least favorite day of the month! Paying bills day. I hate it!!!!

So please excuse my foul mood.

I have about half my inside decorations up WOO HOO! It may take an act of congress or me paying someone else to get my outside up. Maybe if I keep posting here about it that will shame him into doing it, ya think? Nah.

I get to go back to the Dr to see my heart on the 10th. I think I will have to hit a few quilt stores and Mrs Backers bakery while I am down there. I am never going to lose any weight I have no self control. SIGH!

Okay enough stalling back to the dang bills.

Its the Monday Malaise

So I am being a slug today. I have done some Christmas shopping on line, and a load of dishes and even got myself and Wade dressed. That's about it. I found some good stuff for the boys but a 12 year old girl is a HUGE pain to shop for. I know she wants some "toys" but she is to old for most of them and she has a lot of the electronic stuff mp3 player and the like. I am NOT buying her a cell phone and she doesn't do the girly girl stuff SO I am banging my head on the wall trying to figure out what to do for her.

Anyway I never did get my other tree up yesterday and I still have boxes of stuff to put up. Guess I better get my fanny in gear Monday or not.

The tired after the holiday

Well tomarrow is Monday and everyone goes back to school and work, This will be the first time I am alone with Wade since my surgery so that is going to contribute to my tired.
I think I will be fine but I am already tired from all the fun and festivites of Thanksgiving.

Oh yes it was a tradidtional Thanksgiving for us the turkey on the bbq the flame went out for a while and the one in the oven didn't want to cook so we didn't eat until amost 7:30.
We did luck out no fires or major damage to my sisters house but Mike did mess up the carpet with the gravy.

The red shoes now have a good home and are being used. :O(

I didn't manage to get Mike to hang the lights but I did get one of the trees put up. So it almost looks like Christmas around here. Maybe I con get the other tree up tonight but I don't know. We will see if I can beat Mike into it.

Turkey Day

Isn't this a nice scene! Its what they(I am not sure who they are) would have you believe Thanksgiving is supposed to be. Not at our house man, We have the annual Thanksgiving disaster.

That's our tradition.

One year my mom set the oven on fire with a dishtowel and turkey drippings, another year my dad flooded the basement when he put the peelings from 20 pounds of potatoes down the garbage disposal at once, I have even help move the tradition along by knocking over a candle onto the table cloth one year and starting a fire. We have had the oven turned off half way through the turkey cooking, we have had burnt pies, we have had half the family have intestinal flu.

I am pretty sure this is why mu Uncle and his family have Thanksgiving at there own house and don't come and do the family thing with us. :o)

So as you sit down to your peaceful, lovely, Norman Rockwell meal tomorrow think of me we will probably be putting out a fire or trying to get my moms dog to stay outside so she isn't on the table.

Remember how blessed we all are to live in this free country and remember to include our troops in your giving thanks this year especially the ones that are far from home and missing out on this family day.

the saga of the red shoes and the broken toe

I love these shoes! Alas I can't wear my loverly(sexy) red shoes :o( See last year when I broke my toe and they fixed it they shortened the tendon in my big toe and it will NOT allow me to wear these hot shoes for more than about 5 minutes without much pain.

So here's the deal if you want these shoes I will send them to you they are a size 8 1/2 they fit more like an 8 they have been worn for maybe 30 minutes max, they have about a 4 inch heel and a peep toe.

I am so sad :O( let me know.

Welcome Trixi

This is Trixi she got her name because I was reading the "Dresden Files" books by Jim Butcher and in one of his books he has a character who is called "Trixi Vixen" (she is a porn star) but I just loved the name Trixi so she got it!

She loves to sleep in between Mike and I at night, she purrs all the time and loves to curl up in my lap. I think for the first time we have a relatively normal cat. She has the softest fur and just loves to be loved on she even lets Wade pet her and if I was a cat I wouldn't let the 3 year old any where near me.

The other cats have mostly accpted her and Ginger and Trixi act like they are older sister and little sister its very cute!

Tired and feeling run down.

No picture today, I just feel run down I did way to much yesterday. I went to the grocery store even using the cart ( Man I hate that I feel like a 90 year old woman driving that thing around)
I should respect my own limits but I have always been to stubborn for my own good and when I get tired instead of stopping an going to lay down I keep pushing.
Today I am paying for it, I am wiped out big time.

This morning a dear friend of mine lost her beloved father in law. Moments like this make me so very grateful for my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the saving ordinances we have that ensure our families are forever.

I know the this time will be hard for her and her family but I know that the love of our Saviour and the knowledge that they will be reunited one day will help and be a comfort to her and her family.

I want her to know of my love for her and her family and that they continue to be in my prayers. May the Lord bless and keep you and provide you with the comfort you need at this time.

To Halo or not to Halo that is the question

So this is the "other person" my husband is seeing almost every night.

First let me start by saying I am totally against ANY first person shooter games, Its not just a Halo thing.

My husband loves this game, he gets online and kills other people with his friends from work. He works hard and he deserves his free time. He doesn't go hunting, he doesn't go to bars, he isn't a member of a bowling league, he doesn't go hang out with his buddy's and play poker so I really don't want to begrudge him the couple of things he likes to do.
I just miss him at night, when the kids go to bed he is off to play and I usually end up watching the news alone upstairs cause I just can't stand blowing people up. ( gosh you would think I was some sort of bleeding heart liberal or something)

So the question of the day is this I would like to spend time with him do I just give in and learn to play Halo so I can spend time with him? If I do can I ask him to quilt or scrapbook with me a couple times a week to make it fair? Do I leave him alone maybe he wants that time to play with "the boys" and doesn't need his clingy wife bugging him?

Maybe he will just read this and it will all get worked out ;O)!

Busy hands = Carin's not going crazy

I have been wanting to "do stuff" I hate having someone else help me keep my house clean and all that sorta stuff. (control issues I know) So I have been working on my "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt, for anyone not familiar with this quilt it is made entirely from 3 inch hexagons had pieced together to this flower shape. It was really big in the 30's and 40's

My Grandma gave me a whole box of material from the 30's and 40's so I have been using these fabrics to make my quilt more authentic. I have built up loverly calluses on my finger tips from hand piecing, and have gained new respect for the quilters of the past.

This block has some really cute red hexagons in the center with pussy willows with little cat faces. Gotta love the sense of whimsy in the 40's.

So this has kept me busy while I can't do anything that might put a strain on my heart. I have about 8 more flowers to do to have enough for a queen size quilt, I will need to make some half flowers and then I need to surround all of the flowers with green then use white hexagons to attach it all together. I guess I have enough to do to keep me busy for a while.

The saga of Carin and her lopsided heart

This is the "normal" location for a PFO defect.

If you look at this picture you can see the thick part of the top of the heart next to the atrium, that would be where my defect was. The Dr Calls me his "weird patient"

So lets start when I go to go into surgery and they give me "some thing to make me relax" I didn't relax as a matter of fact I was asking them questions about my heart on the screen. Every few minutes they would come over and say something to the effect of "oh I see your still with us" and shove more drugs in my IV. I never did fall asleep I didn't feel anything but I watched the whole procedure.

So they send me back to recovery I am thinking I get to go home after I stay still for 2 hours to make sure I am not going to reopen the hole in my groin, I wait and wait finally I flag down someone and the Dr pops in to say you will be spending the night cause I want to make sure the device doesn't interfere with the valve in your aorta. So I sent my Grandma and my husband home and I sit down in recovery for another couple hours waiting for them to "find a clean room"

I have now had a turkey sandwich since midnight the day before and its 8:30 pm (Oh I threw up most of the turkey sandwich anyway cause of the stupid morphine they gave me to fall asleep that didn't work) The nurse brings me a tray from 2 hours before that is baked cod (oh my holy grossness) I was like I can't eat that. She is all I am sure when they get you to a room the can find you a sandwich. I was all okay.

They finally find me a room and I ask about said sandwich the nurse and CNA look at each other like sandwich we don't have no stinking sandwich. They found me some toast and little packages of peanut butter and jam. (Big dinner)

It took them until almost 11 to get my regular drugs from the pharmacy so I could go to sleep, then they came in every hour to check my vitals and tell me they changed nurses and crap. No sleep for Carin.

The Dr was in at like 7:30 said that as soon as I had another echogram I could go so I hurry and call Mike cause he has a freakin hour (or more stupid morning rush hour) by the time he got there they were ready to kick me out so he didn't even park they just wheeled me out and I was off.

I haven't had a headache for the first time in about a year, WOO HOO! My chest hurts like some one kicked me in it every time I do much so I have to take it slow. SIGH!

So that's my tale sad but true

I'm alive

Just a quick note to let you know I survived the surgery and I am resting at home. I will share the whole gory story later.

Austin's Saturday morning stress release

WARNING MUCH RAMBLING TODAY!!!!

So Austin has signed up for our local high schools little league wrestling group. He is practicing every Tuesday and Thursday and meets every (yes every Saturday).

He is totally loving it, I get all freaked when he does it. I have a really hard time watching him I am afraid he is going to get hurt.

He is good he had never wrestled before and got a second place medal at his first meet. I am glad he has found something he likes and is good, he liked soccer okay but his asthma made it really hard for him to play.

I think I need to get him some ear things so he doesn't get all weird mooshed ears.

I am so thrilled to spend my next couple of months worth of Saturdays in gyms at every high school around watching my son roll on the ground trying to take some other little boys head off. ;O)

Fall Leaves are so loverly!

I love the colors of fall! Now that Halloween is over it feels more like Fall. I love to get a cup of hot apple cider and curl up in front of the fireplace with a great book.

I am having a hard time getting it through to the kids its fall, Austin wanted to wear shorts to school today! I can see that I would get a call from CPS "Hello, are you aware the high for the day is going to be 54? Your child is in shorts and a T-shirt. We need to come visit and have a chat." Sigh I am glad I was able to talk him into long pants and a reasonable shirt.

Miranda has changed her hair for the season as well, for Halloween we put a loverly burgundy color on it.

Wade loved Halloween and has been feasting on chocolate all day!

This morning I was taking down Halloween decorations to putting up thanksgiving stuff and Wade locked me out, I was in my PJ's I hadn't brushed my hair and it was maybe 32 degrees. he did finally let me back in but it took about 10 minutes to explain what he needed to do to unlock the door, he locked the door just fine but unlocking now thats a whole different story.

Gotta catch those warm fall days ...

While they last!

Wade had a blast on the swings.

I love fall, I think I like it even better than spring. In the fall you can wear all your soft fluffy sweaters, you have a reason to build a fire in the fireplace, the colors of the leaves on the mountains are amazing, I don't have to mow the lawn anymore, still no snow on the ground so you can be outside for a while, they make the yummy apple spice cake donuts, Halloween ( my total favorite holiday!), school is in so I only have to chase Wade and not deal with the other 2 fighting and making messes all day, Did I mention fires in the fireplace (wink wink nudge nudge say no more ;o) )

Mike and I have joined a photography club here in Ogden and this is my action entry, the first time I have turned anything in to be judged I am totally freaking at the idea of someone picking "judging my pictures, I took some fun pictures of the moon for next months contest I am hoping some of them turn out.

no I am not dead just lazy!

Doesn't that look interesting? I will have one of these put in my heart on November 6th to fix a PFO heart defect. I have apparently had it for my whole life it is just getting worse as time goes by. It is totally day surgery and I should be up and around in 3 to 7 days.

On a lighter note I am having a Halloween party for some where in the neighborhood of 23 12-14 year old kids cause they are to old to trick or treat, SO we will be having bloody fingers( peanut butter fudge with jelly) blood punch fruit punt with ginger ale and dry ice, brain jellos (yes I own a jello mold shaped like a brain!) and eye ball cup cakes. Should be fun and I don't have to go out in the cold with the other 2 WOO HOO!

I am wiped out (mostly from the heart condition but I will try to be more diligent about writing here, cause I know that you all sit around waiting to hear whats going on in my life. HAHAHAHAHA

12 she can't be 12...

Well Saturday is Miranda's birthday she will be 12!
I have apparently lost my old and addled mind because I have allowed her to invite 13 of her school friends to our house for a luau on Saturday.
I remember 12 years ago when she was born I remember being in miserable labor for 24 hours, I remember my blood pressure shooting off the chart and being told after 4 hours of pushing that they needed to "unzip me" , I remember being on the operating table and hearing her cry once then nothing and freaking out ( I didn't understand they had taken her to another room.),
She was so tiny and so adorable, I guess that a birthday party of 14 twelve year olds can't be any worse than that.
So we are going to have cupcakes with flowers on them arranged in the shape of a lea, we are going to limbo and I think that we should have a hula contest or something, I think that we will have pineapple sherbet and Miranda wants pizza (I suggested ham and pineapple or Spam and she told me I was "So Gross!")
Wish me luck!

Thinking Blogger Tag

Okay so my dear friend Marilyn must think I need to post more and tagged me in the "thinking Blogger Award" so I am supposed to post 7 weird things about myself. I don't think that should be to difficult as I myself agree I am rather odd.

1- I was in a car accident with a moose, spent a week in ICU and came out of it mostly normal.

2- I scored higher than my husband on the are you a geek test. (not to sure that's a good or a bad thing ;o) )

3- I married my husband on the 3 month anniversary of our first date. ( 13 years ago in August)

4- I can't stand the feel of chalk, terra cotta pots or dirt. For what ever reason the feel of those things just grosses me right out!

5- I hate sitcom's, reality TV, and almost everything on network TV.

6- I have been to the cadaver lab at BYU and got to see the way they dissect a human for an autopsy. I thought it was fascinating one of my class mates passed out.

7- I am not sure if I want to see any of the people at my 20 year high school reunion that is coming in September. And for those of you that can do the math remember I was like 4 or 5 when I graduated from high school ;O)

Who took all the street signs in Missouri?

So I went on a little road trip with my mom and my sister, we went to pick up some puggle puppies these puppies to be exact. Aren't they adorable! Thing was we had to drive from Utah to Missouri and back in 2 1/2 days.

The trip started out good we didn't have any problems except a small wrong turn in Lincoln NE, This could be attributed to my mother printing out an itinerary from some off the wall web site and not going to "Map Quest" like I told her. We even got as far as Kansas City with out to much trouble. Once we left KC it was a whole other story! Apparently they need more convicts to make road signs or something because once we got off the interstate and onto state highways they aren't marked, no mile markers no you are on state rt 7 nothing so couple that with the stupid directions and you miss a very important turn! So we use the "Onstar" that came with my mothers car because we are on a very dark unmarked road in the middle of southern Missouri and have no idea how to get where we need to be. The nice Onstar lady gives us a new set of directions and we set out again in good spirits thanking the onstar lady.

That was short lived the road she sent us down was like a roller coaster it went up and down up and down, it had no street lights no street signs and went completely around the "Lake of the Ozarks" it put us 3 hours behind schedule and put us to the woman's house to get the dogs at 1 am (her house it turns out is 4 miles down a dirt road make a rt at the dead end then past the feed lot your there Oh My HECK!)

We find a hotel stay the night and start out the next morning with fresh instructions from the desk clerk on how to get back to KC ( she left out just one small detail a turn onto a highway along the way) so we are going along and my mom and sister who couldn't read a map to save lives(ours) have no idea where we are so I pull over look at the map and find that we are about half the state east of where we need to be. I see a MO Highway patrolman parked off to the side of the road and decide to go ask for help. I get out of the car with my map in my left hand ( It never occurred to me that he wouldn't be able to tell if I had anything Oh like a gun in that hand because of the map) as I approach he unlatches his gun and says "What do you'all need" I then explain we are lost and he chooses not to shoot me but to give me directions. (Go to the stop light, the only stop light in the county and make a left, follow the farm trailers and farmers until you hit RT65)

We are on the right track again. WOO HOO! So we head up 65 to 701 then onto I29 we are making good time and will be in to Utah about 6 hours later than planned but we will still be there on the day we planned. Not to be! when we go into Iowa we are supposed to turn onto RT2 unfortunately it isn't marked very well either so when I see a sign that says Counsel Bluffs 3 miles I know we are lost yet again. Lucky for us we could just turn west to Omaha and get on I-80 that takes us home.

We stopped in Grand Island NE and had dinner and a good laugh at this store

We where about 50 miles outside North Platte NE when the low fuel level came on to tell us we had 1.5 gallons left in the tank, we get between 25 and 20 miles to the gallon. So after much prayer and promises of church attendance we pull into a truck stop and put 12.75 gallons of gas in a 13 gallon tank. SIGH!

At this point we decided it was best to stay in North Platte, we stayed at the 2nd hotel we tried because we had the puppies.

Bright and early the next morning now a full day behind schedule we took off. Things went fairly smoothly until we got about 45 miles outside Rock Springs, WY. We are cruising along at 90 next to a semi and I say that semi sounds awful, we pass the semi still hear the noise, I say maybe its the road and go to change lanes, as I change lanes the tire explodes! It sounded like we where shot. Bits of tire flew everywhere none of them bigger than a dollar bill. My mom and my sister both claim to have been talking to me as I drove the car to the shoulder of the road but I don't remember it. Again we call "Onstar" they will send someone out to check out the car and fix the tire, we wait they are supposed to text message us when they get someone on the way. We wait and wait and wait! finally a truck from the other side of the road turns around we think its the "Onstar" people no its just 3 very nice men that saw 3 women and 2 puppies standing on the side of the road and thought we could use help. They changed the tire and looked at the car and said it looked ok.

This is what was left of the tire!

We had to drive 45 miles an hour because of the stupid donut tire into Rock Springs, we get there and everything is closed! I see a guy pulling in tires at a tire store he explains they closed an hour ago and I sniffle and explain about the blow out and that we are only 2 1/2 hours from home and could he please tell me if anyone else would be open. He agrees to put on a new tire for us (thank you push up bra and scoop neck shirt!)

That's it we got a tire we got food and got home at 10:30 that night.

I think I shall be avoiding road trips with my mom and sister in the future!

Staphylococcus Aureus EWWWW!!!!

Looks harmless enough doesn't it. Well I had a lovely chat with my Doctors office today in which they informed me that the reason I have been on 3 rounds of antibiotics and still have a sinus infection is cause its a staph infection and I need a whole new round of antibiotic that they "hope" will clear things up. What they are hoping is that it hasn't become drug resistant with the other 3 rounds of antibiotics and that I don't have to go through sinus surgery.

Woo Hoo can we say more fun than a bleeding ulcer?

Can I just tell you never to look up anything you have on the web!

This is what I found

"Staph infection can be simple and localized, such as with impetigo of the skin. It can, however, become widespread, by infecting the blood. It can thereby seed to various areas of the body, such as the bone, kidneys, or heart. If the infection goes so deep that it involves muscles or fibers that enclose muscles, it needs to be surgically cleaned. "

So yeah I am running around with a bottle of hand sanitizer and Corox wipes around the house to say the least. I am wondering if it would be good to put bleach in my dishwasher and I plan to throw away all the garbage cans I have thrown used tissue in.

I know I am totally paranoid but the last thing I want is my sweet babies getting some flesh eating infection.

So I start my round new round of antibiotics today and then I need to go back for another sinus culture (oh yeah big long q-tip up the nose is always a fun thing to look forward to) in 10 days, Wish me luck.