Someday she'll laugh...until then I will

It seems like just yesterday that Victoria stood in front of my parents house before she headed off to Kindergarten at Sacred Heart.

It is hard to remember her as such a little girl. She was so sweet and innocent. I remember that I didn't even cry this day. I had expected that I would, but the excitement that Victoria had made me excited for her. I remember I sat in the car before leaving and just smiled thinking of all she had to look forward to.
Today, she left for High School.....and even though she is so excited, I find myself with my eyes welling up. She will be going to college in 4 short years! She is at the beginning of such a great adventure, and I am at the beginning of having to start letting her go(at snail's pace of course).
It sounds so cliche, but it has gone by in a blurr. I am going to make a point to remember as much as I can.
Starting today!!! Here is a great memory for Victoria's first day of High School! Even though the USD 231 website listed 183rd terr and Spruce as her bus stop, it apparently is not. After 25 min of waiting at that stop (and seeing the bus turn down our very own street) Victoria walked back into our house (mad as hell) missing the bus. I called to find out that they switched it closer to our house (2 doors down) but failed to inform us. So, laughing at her the whole way, I had to drive her to her 1st day at Gardner-Edgerton High School. To top it off, we only made it 5 min before school started. I eventually got her to laugh too, I told her the only thing she had control over changing here was her response to it. If she laughs then it is a funny event not a bad event. Someday, she too will find it as humorous as I do. It isn't every day that your 'too cool for school' 14 year old misses the bus on her first day. Love you Victoria, I can't wait to see what other memories you make during your time at GEHS.

I'm blessed to be a woman

I just finished reading one of the best books I have read in a while. Funny thing is, I would have never chosen to read this book on my own. I just finished a bible study for the summer "Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible". The study is about a few of the Patriarch Women in Genesis. Sarah, Haggar, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel. During the study, the girls mentioned that they loved another book that was about Leah and Rachel. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant is a novel based on the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah. It is more than just the story of Dinah though. This book tells of life in early biblical time. It tells of the bonds of sisterhood, motherhood, and the blessings of being a woman. The red tent itself is the tent that all women go to during their menstrual cycle. This is also the place women go to give birth and to recover after. In truth, this is a sorority of women who are able to share their lives with one another. These women cherish each other, praise each other and take care of one another in times of crisis. If a women has a hard childbirth and is ill or doesn't make it, these women become each others wet nurses and they are all mothers to each others children. The story of Dinah and her mothers is very powerful in many ways. It is empowering as a woman, mother, sister, and daughter. I felt as though I had a new realization that women can be successful just being a woman. In this day and age we feel like we need to prove our worth as women, but this book reminded me that being a woman is proof enough of our success. I had a very real intrigue in reading this book, and truth be told it is a great reminder that the people in the bible are in fact human, and had human experiences. The bible has so many stories, but are so brief that we almost miss the purpose. My friend Cori and I were talking that it may sound like blasphemy, but if the bible were this detailed, it would be much more fun to read, and the message would be so much easier to understand. I can't wait to find more books that are similar to this one, I urge you to read it.

My little Wheezer

Saturday night I came home from work and Colby told me that Devon (who had been fighting a cold for a few days) was wheezing. I listened to him with my stethoscope and sure enough, what used to be upper airway congestion was now in his lungs. Even though I take care of kids who are sick and have breathing difficulty (as I had done all day), I called one of my best friends to confirm that I should in fact take him to CMH urgent care. You see us nurses have this inability to accurately and unbiasedly assess our own children. We have this fear that maybe we are over reacting and if we bring a non sick child to the ER/Urgent Care that we are jeopardizing our RN credibility. Of course this is silly, but true. Anyway Ashley who has a little girl with frequent breathing issues urged us to go. We got to CMH South at 9:20 and waited until our hair turned Grey. When the Dr finally came to see us at almost Midnight, she listened to Devon's chest and then said "Oh...he IS wheezing". Ugh...Yes, that is why we brought him here and it didn't just start, so I wonder what she had been told. We were rapidly given an Albuterol treatment (which Devon HATED) and had a chest x-ray. We were told that his x-ray "wasn't THAT bad" and given another treatment, shown how to use the inhaler/spacer and sent home. Only problem...he is still wheezing. If he were my patient at work, I would call the RT and have them give him another treatment. If only I had the same bag of tricks at home as I do at work. Devon is happy as seen in the photo, but he feels like crap. I am going to take him to our PCP tomorrow and figure out what to do next...unless he get worse overnight then it's back to ER .

He is learning young

Tonight I washed Jake's blanket without his knowledge.  I made sure that it was done before bedtime or he would flip out.  Colby ended up getting it for him at bedtime, while I was laying Devon down.  When I was done, Jake was standing in the hall and said to me

Jake- "Hey, my blankey is clean and soft. Did you wash it for me?"

Me- "yes, I did, do you like it?"

Jake- (shaking his head while smiling with his teeth clenched) "I don't want you to do dat again"

Wow, all that was missing was a "Bless your heart" at the beginning and he would make a great Southerner.

Wanted: Help with Teenage Daughter

How in the heck did we all make it past our teens?  Seriously, I have more stress that is a direct result of Victoria than both boys combined.  We are getting out of debt, but she thinks she should be exempt from this, or at least that we should funnel more money to her than we do. She gets to go almost daily to the pool for an average of 5 hours each day, she spends the night or has someone spend the night at least once a week.  She went to the movies this week, she goes to the lake with friends.  Yet, we don't let her do ANYTHING (according to her).  Currently she is convinced that she will not be able to get a license until 17 1/2 because of new laws.  My friend Cori had her husband debunk this theory, but her friends say it is true, so it must be.  I won't let her ride with her friends driving, because they are so young and well, that is good enough.  I told her that when she has a license she can ride with them too.  I want her to have an understanding of what it takes to drive, so she wont be the obnoxious passenger that encourages bad behavior.  I have been told that one of her friends just got a new Mustang, and several others have cars their parents paid for.  Victoria has been told that we will match her dollar for dollar up to a total of $5000 total for the car she will drive (Not a bad deal if you ask me).  I am so tired of hearing about how awful she has it.  Any suggestions on how to fix or at least minimize this?  

signed,

Going Grey Quickly in Gardner!

Yes, we do need Health Care!

Last night Colby and I watched Michael Moore's Sicko. I had really never cared to watch it before, as I am not a huge fan of Michael Moore. I am a huge fan of good Health Care though. I urge you all to watch this film. It is a naked look at how broken our system is, and how far behind we are in comparison to Canada, England, France and even Cuba. In these other countries people don't have to pay out of pocket for their health insurance...nothing. Have a baby...Free, have Cancer treated...Free, have an extended ICU visit...Free. Drugs are all one price too. Why are we so far behind? Greed. Some ass hole (Kaiser) figured out that if they deny more things than they permit, they turn a profit. Dr's in HMO's are actually earning money for turning us away from needed procedures. This sickens me! In England, if a Dr is able to get someone to stop smoking, or lose weight, or lower their cholesterol he gets a bonus. Well done England! That is the way to get people to be healthy. Dr's in this country would make a fortune in weight reduction alone!

People who are against this bill in the US, say that it would mean that we have to pay for other people's medical bills. Wow, this from the proudest Christian nation in the world! For people who are so quick to quote the bible as a reason for everything, they seem to forget Matthew 7:12 "So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums the Law and the Prophets" You see it says EVERYTHING, not just what suits you. Even Jesus talks about helping the sick. I don't think he would like our health care system either. I would love for people to be able to go to their Dr to be treated and not have to worry that if they go, then they won't be able to put food on the table, because the co-pay is too much, or that when the bill comes, they can't pay for it. The most important thing we have is each other, if we can't be healthy, then we don't even have that. I urge you to put away the ridiculous thinking of Social Medicine and realize that what we have now is so much more debilitating than that. If Social Medicine is having health care that is free to everyone, and we can all be covered no matter what our pre-existing conditions, then bring on Social Medicine!

Oh, it's just an old Van injury

I previously posted about P90X.  Colby and I have been doing it for a few weeks.  That is until this week. Well, we did do 1 night.  I don't plan on stopping, I just need to heal first.  Ya see last week I did my yoga DVD one night and think I may have stretched farther than I should have.  The next day I sustained an injury to my Left hip while getting out of the van.  Yep, you read right.  While getting out of the van, I pulled a muscle and pinched  nerve.  Ok, I was holding Devon in one arm and trying to get out from the back row while reaching for my purse and trying to slide the door open at the same time.  Still this shouldn't be the cause of an injury.  I remember when I was in high school joking that if I had to break a hip, I wanted it to be because I was kicking my panties off.  (this was actually an injury that a friends grandmother received).  I know I didn't break it, but I am officially not as young as my brain thinks I am. (my brain thinks I am still in my early 20's by the way)