10 years old, really?

I was reading through my frequently visited blogs yesterday morning and one of them was talking about this little girl in California. She is a student, a softball player, a normal little 10 yr old girl. Except she has breast cancer.

I remember when I had lumps removed when I was 18. I was told "It's nothing, you are too young for breast cancer". Or when I wanted a mammogram at 27 and 30, "You are too young to have this test done." I am 2 decades older than this little girl and I am being told I am too young... yet her little body that hasn't even developed yet has it.

This little girl is just barely older than my daughter... I couldn't imagine having to make life changing decisions for her... mastectomy or not, lumpectomy or not, chemo, radiation, etc. I had a hard enough time thinking about it with my mom without going hysterical.

My thoughts and prayers are with Hannah and her family.

If you want to read about Hannah, here is the link: www.ourlittlesweetpea.com

"It was scary and my head almost popped off"

On Friday night I got a phone call from my ex husband asking me for my address. When I asked why, he said that the Riverdale police needed it since the kids live with me. Ends up they got in a car accident on Riverdale Road. The short of it is that he rear-ended someone. I asked if the kids were OK and he said they were, but had seat belt marks on their necks. I asked if anyone hit their head, thinking about Drew's seizures and he said that Ty did but it wasn't bad. His girlfriend had to come get them and his car was towed. I spoke to the kids later that night and they said it was scary but they were OK.

The next day, Ty called me to tell me she was sore. She said her body hurt and she had a headache. I asked if we needed to take them to the Dr but their dad told me that they were OK.

When I got them back on Sunday evening Ty was complaining of a headache and felt like she was going to throw up. I made her a doctor appointment first thing in yesterday morning and we went in.

Because it was an auto accident, I had to claim it under his auto insurance and pay a $70 copay. Wasn't expecting that, but what can ya do?

The doctor started looking her over and made a face when he looked in her right ear. I thought maybe he saw something from her surgery or something. I wasn't expecting him to see anything. I thought I was just being a worry wart mom. Ends up, she had bleeding behind her ear drum due to trauma from the accident.

He rushed us off for an MRI. They had to call a place in South Ogden to see if they were comfortable doing it on a little kid or if we were off to Primary's. They said if she held still, we could do it there.

Off to the Imaging Center we went. Drew was a trooper... he sat there so nicely and didn't fuss or anything. I went in to the MRI room with Ty and just hung out at her feet for a while and sang to her. She had to have a helmet looking thing on her head to stabilize her and it had a mirror on it so she could look at me. She did a great job. Only time she wiggled is when I made a funny face at her and they had to redo that scan. Oops!

Ends up she does not have a subdural hematoma as he was concerned about. The bleeding he saw was a hemotypanum but the bleeding had stopped on its own. We are to watch her for any new symptoms as brain bleeds can take up to 2 weeks to show up, but he feels she will be fine and it may take a few days for the headache and nauseousness to go away. Thank God she is OK...

Drew said it was scary and the seat belt squeezed him so much he thought his head was going to pop off! LOL

PSS: What would your personal ad say?

Amy asked “What would your personal ad seeking someone else say? (you know, SWF seeking boyfriend, friend, etc.) In 200 words or less.”

Mine would probably read something like this:
Independent women with two kids seeks someone who is family minded, loving, over 6 foot tall (b/c wearing high heels is important!), outgoing, and funny. This person needs to be able to take care of themselves financially, be mature, and cute. This person needs to have a faith in God, willing to have fun, and like to snuggle. Being a baseball fan, a budlight drinker, and loving DMB is a plus. I do require good communication, honesty, and love… if you cannot give that, you need not apply.

Wow... I am glad I have Bryan so I dont have to worry about all that! LOL

It's a kidney rock!

Bryan is dealing with kidney stones… I have never had one before (knocking on wood!) so I don’t know what to expect. All I know is for the past 5 days or so he has been moving slower, holding his side, and moaning a lot.

The kids have been really cute through the whole thing. Ty hugs him so gently and spent some of her allowance on candy bars that she is for sure will make him feel better. Drew on the other hand wants to know why he swallowed a rock. Doesn’t he know he’s not supposed to put things like that in his mouth? I tried to explain it to him, but Drew told us last night “Since we are waiting for Bry-dad’s rock to come out his pee-pee, we should all stay home with him tomorrow” so I am not 100% sure what he is expecting! LOL Bryan said if we are all sitting at home for him to pass his stone, he is for sure going to work!!

But I think he appreciates the kids being so sweet about it. I just hope the dang thing passes soon, I don’t think I’ve had a good nights sleep in days! LOL

I am the puppet-master!

Drew came home with 2 tub socks and said he had to make puppets. When I asked him details he kept saying "I dunno" so I found the instruction sheet wadded up at the bottom of his bag. He is to make the littlest goat in "Billy Goat Gruff". I asked him why he has 2 socks, was one incase we messed up? No. He has to make another one for the morning class. Ok, do we make 2 goats? I dunno...

After an email to his teacher I find out that Drew was so excited about making puppets that he wanted to make 2 and the teacher needed a Dwarf for the morning classes skit.

We went to Walmart to buy things to decorate the socks. Some felt, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners and we are set. We plugged in the hot glue gun and got to work. I glued my fingers into the inside of the sock and then just straight on put a glob of hot glue on my finger. Yeah, that was fun. I am now missing skin and I think its infected. But... the puppets are done and Drew is happy with the end product so I guess it was worth it. LOL!




I guess I didnt get a picture of the Dwarf and I dont know where the goat's mouth went in these pictures... Oops! LOL

Ouch!

A couple weeks ago I slipped on some water/ice and twisted wrong and my back is killing. I mentioned it to the doctor when I took Drew in for some stuff and he gave me muscle relaxers but I can only take them at night b/c I cant keep my eyes open on them. I finally called the chiropractor yesterday and went in for an appointment today and my disc is buldging and my right hip is dislocated. Makes sense why I cant bend over, move fast, etc.

He said I am so swollen that he couldnt get things back in place... he wants me to come in twice tomorrow to see how I am doing. He thinks by the end of the week I will feel alot better.

Too bad I planned the Sunday school activity to be this Saturday at the ice skating rink... guess the Bry-dad will have to skate with the kids b/c I am going no where near the ice!!

The President and French Fries.

Last night the kids and I went to Champi's for dinner and the section we normally sit in was roped off and had a reserved sign up.

Drew says "I think that President Obama is coming here, that's why it's roped off".

Ty said "Why would President Obama come to Utah? He lives in the White House. If he did come to Utah, why would he come here for dinner?"

Drew replied,"because they have really good french fries. Duh!"

There ya go! Champi's has president-worthy french fries!

What would you do??

I am going to throw a question out there to see what kind of response I get from my faithful followers (ok... the whole 5 of you who read this!) LOL

If you heard that someone’s girlfriend was cheating on them… and that the person she is cheating with has an STD… would you tell that person or keep quiet about it?

Easter at the Zoo 2009

For as long as I can remember, my family has gone to the zoo on Easter. We pack up coolers with drinks and food, everyone meets at the front gates, and we spend a couple of hours together.

Yesterday it was a little chilly at times, but the sun was shining and we had a great time. My brother, Jeff, and his family were there and I havent seen them in almost a year so that was neat.

PSS: Life Situations

I am trying to think of a time in my youth that has shaped who I am today, as that was the PSS question for the week, but I can’t think of one specific time but a couple of things have stood out as I have thought about this question...

•I remember when I was little kids I went to school with made fun of my great-aunt’s hairdo. They would wear their hair in big beehives and I was so used to it, I didn’t think anything of it, but I remember being so hurt that people would say rude things about people b/c of how they looked. I think that has made me remember to not judge people by appearance.

•I remember when my grandpa got Alzheimer’s and my mom was his primary caregiver and had to make the decision to put him in an assisted living home for his own safety. It was hard to have him not remember us, but I was so close to him that I wouldn’t change anything b/c I cherish the memories that I remember.

•When my brother was going through his drug problems, I would get so angry at him and so scared for his choices but my mom always stayed strong and supportive. It was such a hard, terrible thing that my family went through but her love for him never waivered. I have learned so much from my mom and I hope that I can be half as good of a parent as she has been to us.

I think I learned a lot from my childhood and I am a better person for the experiences I had. I feel I am a loving, accepting, nonjudgmental person b/c of what I have dealt with. I am no means perfect, but feel that I am able to raise my children better based off what I have gone through.

Easter Egg Hunt

Last Sunday after service, we had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids at church. Actually, we had two. The first one was indoors and it was "Resurrection Eggs". The kids had to team up and find a set of "Ressurection Eggs"... 12 specific things to do with Easter. For example, praying hands or a crown of thorns, or a leather strap.

While they were doing that, the junior high and high school kids went outside to hide the candy eggs. The kids had a great time and it was a beautiful day. Both Ty and Drew shared with the little kids to make sure everyone had enough eggs and candy. We sure love our church friends!

Swimming

Nothing quite like swimming in winter... so it's a nice thing to have Layton Surf & Swim nearby. A couple of weeks ago we went there with the church youth. It was fun to hang out with the mom's and watch the kids swim. They had a good time.

RIP Irish

(This is not a picture of Irish, just of her breed. I didnt have a picture of her available at the time of this post)

In 1997 my parents got a Dogue de Bordeaux puppy that they named Irish. This is an amazing dog. She is truly a gentle giant. I remember the day I brought Ty home from the hospital we stopped at my parents house on the way home and the minute we walked in the door, Irish felt she needed to protect her. If Ty made a noise, Irish was pacing between the baby and us to say "Hello... do something!".

These dogs are guard dogs... they are huge, like 140lbs and look scary but my dad trained her so well that she never was on a leash and would always listen to him. It was funny that she thought if you went on the grass you wanted to play and she would throw her body into you... often times knocking you down if you didnt expect it!

Irish is the granddaughter of the dog off "Turner and Hooch". Even though I would always "ewwwww!" when she would walk by me with drool or I would get upset with the dog hair, she was part of the family.

My dad had to make the hard decision to put her down yesterday... she was almost 12 and had hip problems and her quality of life was going down and he didnt want her to suffer. He said that was the hardest thing he's ever done.

Everyone is going to miss her and Drew knows she went to "Doggy Heaven" so wanted to know if she would be allowed in "People Heaven" when we get there so we can see her again. LOL

RIP Irish.