Dear Everyone,
First, I'd really like to say that we are soooooo lucky and blessed to have friends and family who care for us when these things happen. We had people to take the boys and make them feel better, people bringing us food, and people calling with support. We have truly delightful friends and we are wealthy beyond measure in all the ways that truly matter. Such tiny words for such a big feeling, but THANK YOU! Even if all you did was think about us, it mattered.
I figured I'd better send this out as a final update and recap of events this week. It's been a heck of a week. If you are not a details person, here's the summary: Grace was really sick, was at Children's on Tuesday, got diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, got better after a blood transfusion, and on Thursday night we got to come home. She'll need more blood tests to make sure her red blood cells are doing ok, and if they continue to do so, we will not have any more problems. If there are problems, then we have to go back and get her blood tested. The simple explanation is that her body decided to destroy her own red blood cells instead of a virus, dropping her red blood cells (hematocrit) to dangerous levels. It also affected her liver and kidneys, but an ultrasound says they are ok now.
Longer version follows:
Here is a link to a wikipedia article that I find to be completely accurate based on what the doctors told us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_hemolytic_anemia
We will have final results soon, but they think we had the "cold antibody" variety, meaning that the whole thing might have been set off by getting cold. So I will be keeping her inside for a week, and after that, if it's kind of cold, I'll send her out in a snowsuit, and then fully dressed with mittens and hat. So if I look a bit paranoid for a while, it's because I am!
This should not be a long term problem, we hope. The prognosis is very good, and it appears to be a fluke. We sure hope so. She is in no way contagious. I begin to think this was a problem for a while, because she has always gotten cold awfully easily. We'll all be keeping a very close eye on her from now on.
I am really amazed by the level of expertise at Children's. They really jump on things quickly and are extremely thorough. If anyone is looking for a charity to donate to, or a place to volunteer, I can't recommend them highly enough. Wow.
I've been there before for other kids, and I'm amazed every time. I'm also amazed by our pediatrician, who with a little internet research, but being only a family doctor and not a hematologist, correctly diagnosed Grace's condition. I think I'll keep her. Thanks, Dr. Platz!
Thanks again and God bless!
Ann Marie, Francis, Gabe, Brandon, Grace and Dominic
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Living life right!
Wow. I know it's a good 10 minutes, but please take a sec to watch this. I think it could change a person's life. This is the last lecture of a dying professor at Carnegie Mellon. Thanks, Sister Juanita, for sending it. By the way, he isn't dead yet. He's busy having fun!
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw
Outta here!
Looks like we're going home tonight unless something unforeseen happens! Grace's energy is fantastic and she's trying to break a leg so she can land us back in here... ha!
It looks like this whole incident was more or less a fluke and it should not happen again. Grace looks like it never happened now. Tomorrow we need to go in for a blood test to confirm she's on the mend, but we can go home tonight.
Thank you for all of your prayers!! I'm sure that had a lot to do with it, and I do apologize for any panic we've caused. I'm just so glad to have the support we have. Let's keep spreading that kind of wealth!
God bless you all,
Ann Marie
It looks like this whole incident was more or less a fluke and it should not happen again. Grace looks like it never happened now. Tomorrow we need to go in for a blood test to confirm she's on the mend, but we can go home tonight.
Thank you for all of your prayers!! I'm sure that had a lot to do with it, and I do apologize for any panic we've caused. I'm just so glad to have the support we have. Let's keep spreading that kind of wealth!
God bless you all,
Ann Marie
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wed night update
Well, some folks are probably just getting back from Rosary Night right now. A little while ago Francis was here on his way home from work, and Joyce called so Brandon could talk to us, and Brandon was crying so hard for both of us. I wish we could be there, but we can't. Francis is completely exhausted. But it was so hard to hear him cry. I guess he's very worried about Grace, and I couldn't bring her out to see him, and I couldn't bring him in, either.
Here's the updated update:
The hemotologist (blood doctor) said it is hemolytic anemia. Tomorrow they will do tests to see precisely what kind, but they do still think it was a reaction to a virus, and the body started killing red blood cells instead of the virus. It seems to have stopped, but they aren't letting us outta here until they know for sure what is going on and watch her over time. It's likely, according to this last doctor, that we will be here for another day and night. They are taking blood and they did a kidney ultrasound today. I should know more late tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, it sounds like my mom would like to visit when we're ready, and boy, am I ready. Thanks, Mom! and thanks to Mom and Dad for trying so hard to stay in touch despite a lot of other things to do today.
Thanks you for all our prayers. I think things will be fine, but I'm waiting still for confirmation. Right now, we are pretty sure we'll never know what set off this fine reaction, but we're fairly unlikely to see it again.
Time to go to bed!
Here's the updated update:
The hemotologist (blood doctor) said it is hemolytic anemia. Tomorrow they will do tests to see precisely what kind, but they do still think it was a reaction to a virus, and the body started killing red blood cells instead of the virus. It seems to have stopped, but they aren't letting us outta here until they know for sure what is going on and watch her over time. It's likely, according to this last doctor, that we will be here for another day and night. They are taking blood and they did a kidney ultrasound today. I should know more late tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, it sounds like my mom would like to visit when we're ready, and boy, am I ready. Thanks, Mom! and thanks to Mom and Dad for trying so hard to stay in touch despite a lot of other things to do today.
Thanks you for all our prayers. I think things will be fine, but I'm waiting still for confirmation. Right now, we are pretty sure we'll never know what set off this fine reaction, but we're fairly unlikely to see it again.
Time to go to bed!
A beautiful picture
I really liked this when I saw it in a www.spiritdaily.com article. This is beautiful. Spiritually, this is what it felt like to be near him. You just knew he was Good.
I'm sure God has now granted him a greater ability to help the world now than he had when he was with us.
I'm sure God has now granted him a greater ability to help the world now than he had when he was with us.
Thank you, Papa.
Hospital Update
So far so good. Grace's energy went way up with a transfusion last night and her red blood cell count went up, too. So far they think she had an autoimmune reaction to a viral infection, but there's no reason yet why her body would attack red blood cells. Our pediatrician's best guess was hemolytic anemia, but apparently that's genetic, and we don't know of anything like that on either side of the family. They just wheeled her out to get an ultrasound for her kidneys. Dominic fell asleep in the wagon, so I decided to stay with him. She's very cheerfully going for a ride in the wheelchair. She's really in pretty good spirits, and people were amazed yesterday that she had energy when she was so anemic. Her color is pretty good now, certainly a lot better than yesterday morning, when she was yellow. Now she's just pale.
A whole team of doctors came through this morning, but that's mostly because it is a teaching hospital and they bring them around together and give them practice running a recap of the day's events and then a prognosis or plan. I understood about 1/4 of it, including that she has neither strep nor mono, and then that some tests haven't come back. But she isn't bleeding at all anymore, and for that we are all very thankful.
Gabe and Brandon were driven down for a visit today with the Felderhoff's (THANK YOU) and will probably spend the night with the Crockers again for stability's sake. We're missing Rosary tonight, but we know that everyone is praying and even Brandon's sister's mom has put in a request at their prayer chain at their Lutheran church. How wonderful! I think it's the best gift we could get. The Stzelec's and Felderhoff's gave us books and crayons and food, which was extra coolness. It was so good to see the boys and Dominic just about jumped off my back in excitement to see them again. Maybe that is why he's sleeping so soundly now!
I guess there's not much to report yet except that Grace is getting better, and there is a chance that we'll be discharged without knowing what the heck happened. Sometimes they just don't know. That is frustrating, but I know our pediatrician was intrigued in a big way and she won't let it drop if she thinks they shouldn't have quit on finding the source.
Thanks to everyone for being so kind. This is the way the world should always work.
I'll post more when I know more....
A whole team of doctors came through this morning, but that's mostly because it is a teaching hospital and they bring them around together and give them practice running a recap of the day's events and then a prognosis or plan. I understood about 1/4 of it, including that she has neither strep nor mono, and then that some tests haven't come back. But she isn't bleeding at all anymore, and for that we are all very thankful.
Gabe and Brandon were driven down for a visit today with the Felderhoff's (THANK YOU) and will probably spend the night with the Crockers again for stability's sake. We're missing Rosary tonight, but we know that everyone is praying and even Brandon's sister's mom has put in a request at their prayer chain at their Lutheran church. How wonderful! I think it's the best gift we could get. The Stzelec's and Felderhoff's gave us books and crayons and food, which was extra coolness. It was so good to see the boys and Dominic just about jumped off my back in excitement to see them again. Maybe that is why he's sleeping so soundly now!
I guess there's not much to report yet except that Grace is getting better, and there is a chance that we'll be discharged without knowing what the heck happened. Sometimes they just don't know. That is frustrating, but I know our pediatrician was intrigued in a big way and she won't let it drop if she thinks they shouldn't have quit on finding the source.
Thanks to everyone for being so kind. This is the way the world should always work.
I'll post more when I know more....
Grace in the hospital
Hi Folks,
I thought I would post my letter from last night, then post an update, though not much has happened in the middle of the night... it's 7am, figured I shouldn't call too many people at that hour!
as of last night:
Well, it has been quite a day. So far, Grace is resting peacefully, though she does wake up and wonder for a minute what's up with that IV in her hand.
We went to our dr. at 9:45 this morning. Wait a sec. Back up. We went to the ER with Grace on Sunday night. She had an ear infection. But then we went to the bathroom as we left, and she had peed blood! I brought her back in, they took a look, said no idea, follow up with your dr. tomorrow. Since then, she's been peeing blood. We went to our pediatrician yesterday twice, and she was up doing research at home long after her shift at work. She sent us to Children's and we got here around 11:30 am. We were in the ER til 6:30 and are now safely upstairs. We are also in isolation, so no visitors, and I'm not allowed to go socializing. Thank God for my laptop! No cell phone either, since I can't go in the common areas and I shouldn't use it in the room (but I might anyway, if I get desperate). They put us in isolation partly because of her cough, partly because the baby also has it, and because we still have NO IDEA what this is.
What we do know is that her red blood cell count is 14, which is very bad, and she is awaiting a blood transfusion sometime this evening. They did several blood draws today, and Grace has been very brave, but she has had it with an IV and oxygen sensor attached to her. We have watched an awful lot of tv.
We're here for the night, and as far as I know, the boys are at the Crocker's. Francis is going to work tomorrow, and I hope to maybe meet the boys in the parking lot tomorrow, since we're not allowed to have visitors, but I am allowed to leave Grace for a bit. I'll check my email a lot, and I'll send out a phone number later when I can. Meanwhile, Francis is at 206 851 9065.
We were hosts for Rosary this week, so please check your calendar and ask another host if you can come over. Something tells me this might take a while.
Thanks everyone for everything. We can sure feel the love and prayers over here!
God bless,
Ann Marie, Francis and the rest...
As of 7am 2/27/08:
We had a hard time sleeping in the hospital, but that was expected. Francis stayed here, figuring the commute was shorter that way anyway. We have a very nice view of Sand Point Way and UW and such. Grace had less blood last night, and she had a transfusion, which bumped up her energy significantly for a bit around 10pm. Then she slept all night. At 6am they had to do another blood draw, which woke us all up. Drat. But it had to be 4 hours after the transfusion ended. Grace is happily eating dried pea crisps from Trader Joe's, and we await breakfast, a shift change, and coffee. Also, test results would be nice. Hopefully after the shift change we'll hear something and I'll put it here.
Her energy and color are good, but she'd like to go to the Crockers and see her brothers. Thanks for all the kind emails, folks!
I thought I would post my letter from last night, then post an update, though not much has happened in the middle of the night... it's 7am, figured I shouldn't call too many people at that hour!
as of last night:
Well, it has been quite a day. So far, Grace is resting peacefully, though she does wake up and wonder for a minute what's up with that IV in her hand.
We went to our dr. at 9:45 this morning. Wait a sec. Back up. We went to the ER with Grace on Sunday night. She had an ear infection. But then we went to the bathroom as we left, and she had peed blood! I brought her back in, they took a look, said no idea, follow up with your dr. tomorrow. Since then, she's been peeing blood. We went to our pediatrician yesterday twice, and she was up doing research at home long after her shift at work. She sent us to Children's and we got here around 11:30 am. We were in the ER til 6:30 and are now safely upstairs. We are also in isolation, so no visitors, and I'm not allowed to go socializing. Thank God for my laptop! No cell phone either, since I can't go in the common areas and I shouldn't use it in the room (but I might anyway, if I get desperate). They put us in isolation partly because of her cough, partly because the baby also has it, and because we still have NO IDEA what this is.
What we do know is that her red blood cell count is 14, which is very bad, and she is awaiting a blood transfusion sometime this evening. They did several blood draws today, and Grace has been very brave, but she has had it with an IV and oxygen sensor attached to her. We have watched an awful lot of tv.
We're here for the night, and as far as I know, the boys are at the Crocker's. Francis is going to work tomorrow, and I hope to maybe meet the boys in the parking lot tomorrow, since we're not allowed to have visitors, but I am allowed to leave Grace for a bit. I'll check my email a lot, and I'll send out a phone number later when I can. Meanwhile, Francis is at 206 851 9065.
We were hosts for Rosary this week, so please check your calendar and ask another host if you can come over. Something tells me this might take a while.
Thanks everyone for everything. We can sure feel the love and prayers over here!
God bless,
Ann Marie, Francis and the rest...
As of 7am 2/27/08:
We had a hard time sleeping in the hospital, but that was expected. Francis stayed here, figuring the commute was shorter that way anyway. We have a very nice view of Sand Point Way and UW and such. Grace had less blood last night, and she had a transfusion, which bumped up her energy significantly for a bit around 10pm. Then she slept all night. At 6am they had to do another blood draw, which woke us all up. Drat. But it had to be 4 hours after the transfusion ended. Grace is happily eating dried pea crisps from Trader Joe's, and we await breakfast, a shift change, and coffee. Also, test results would be nice. Hopefully after the shift change we'll hear something and I'll put it here.
Her energy and color are good, but she'd like to go to the Crockers and see her brothers. Thanks for all the kind emails, folks!
Monday, February 25, 2008
If only...
I were this good. This is my biggest struggle. Really. It's a very destructive part of my personality. I hope maybe praying to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton might help me overcome it.
Never be hurried by anything whatever - nothing can be more pressing than the necessity for your peace before God. You will help others more by the peace and tranquility of your heart than by any eagerness or care you can bestow on them.
---Saint Elizabeth Seton
See also, this blog: http://amaidenswreath.blogspot.com/ for a website geared to young unmarried women who are more the "hearth and home Catholic" type. Even if you aren't that type, I find there is something to learn from everyone, even if they are vastly different from me. So interesting!
Never be hurried by anything whatever - nothing can be more pressing than the necessity for your peace before God. You will help others more by the peace and tranquility of your heart than by any eagerness or care you can bestow on them.
---Saint Elizabeth Seton
See also, this blog: http://amaidenswreath.blogspot.com/ for a website geared to young unmarried women who are more the "hearth and home Catholic" type. Even if you aren't that type, I find there is something to learn from everyone, even if they are vastly different from me. So interesting!
Cowboy Time, By Baxter Black
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I am oft reminded of this poem, and it comes from a book called Cactus Tracks, by Baxter Black. It reminds me of my ranch-raised youth, and also of my friends, but mostly of life in general. Here's what Baxter had to say about why he wrote it. I strongly recommend any of his stuff to anyone. He's on NPR, too. Even my husband, who barely visits the outside, rural world, just about died laughing on a road trip we took with one of these books in the tape deck. Enjoy!
I grew up a Southern Baptist. We were strong believers in Creationism. Then I went to veterinary school. There is an almost incestuous relationship between scientists that demands, "If you expect me to believe you when you say my horse has navicular disease, then I expect you to believe me when I say that this rock is twenty-five million years old." Scientists believe in evolution.
So I have spent a lifetime bearing the burden of trying to resolve Genesis and evolution. This was my solution.
Cowboy Time
If Genesis was right on track concerning Adam's birth,
And seven days was all it took to build the planet Earth,
Then where does carbon dating fit? And all the dinosaurs?
Plus all that other ancient stuff that happened on our shores?
Now, I believe in scientists. They aren't just lunatics!
But I believe in Genesis, which leaves me in a fix,
The answer finally came to me while making up this rhyme,
God made the earth in seven days, but... that was Cowboy Time!
Have you ever called the shoer, to set aside a day?
You scrutinize your calendar, say, "Tuesday'd be ok."
The big day comes, you take off work, alas, he's never seen.
You call him back and he inquires, "Which Tuesday did you mean?"
Did you ever place and order to get a saddle made?
An A-fork tree with padded seat and silver hand-inlaid?
As decades pass all you can do is sit around and eat,
So by the time it finally comes you've padded your own seat!
A friend came by on July 4th. He swore he couldn't stay.
But then he said, "For just a bit." He left on Christmas Day!
"A couple days", "a little while", "not a long", and "right away"
Should not be taken lit'rally in cowboyville today.
But like I said, the precedent was set so long ago,
The angels had to learn themselves what all good cowboys know.
They worried if they didn't work to keep the schedule tight,
That Earth would not be finished by the deadline Sunday night.
They'd never learned to think in terms of rollin' with the flow,
But God does things on Cowboy Time... to watch the flowers grow.
He bade the angels to relax and said, "For Heaven's sakes,
I'll get it done in seven days... however long it takes!"
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Kids are sick AGAIN -- Happy Birthday Francis!
I know that's not exciting news, but it's what's happening. I'm just going to do a random update post.
The kids were all well, and then Gabe lost his voice Thursday night. He was sick, then Grace was hacking up a lung and had a fever last night. Brandon's been crankY, which means he's about to succumb, and Dominic has boogers down to his ankles, and kept mom awake a lot, but is totally cheerful about it. WHY???? We were healthy, I swears!
We WERE going to go to Black Diamond today, to see Brandon's sister, see Stacie and her new baby, and see our godchildren who live in Auburn and their mom. We may or may not do that now, because they'd catch our crud, and all the families are school families, not homeschool families, and I'd hate to give them yet another cold. I don't mind traveling with snooty kids, but I'll just have to call everyone around 9am since it's Saturday, and we'll see if they have an opinion on what we should do. I've been looking forward to this day for weeks! AAAGH! It's hard enough to get Brandon and his sister together, without this!
On the other hand, Francis's birthday is today. He says he's 27 forever. Nice try buddy. Hardy hardy har har! He got two books from me, Go, Dork, Go and Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, and from Dave he got a $50 gift certificate to Emory's on the lake. The Crockers love us so much they took all four kids for 3.5 hours and we went home to have time with complete sentences and thoughts, then went to Red Robin for fish and chips (it's Friday after all) and dessert. We had a great time! That was the best part: alone time!
We are hoping Ethel and Bjorn and two little girls are moving to Everett, as last I read, they are in the final stages of buying a gorgeous home a few miles away. HOORAY! More geeky family type people to play with!
Let's see... I found out that dividends are amazing. You don't have to do anything but stay at your job for a while, and they give you stuff. Then we get to pay off debt like crazed people. All the dumb debt will be gone probably this month or next month, and after that, we'll attack the car payment and student loan, as well as fund things like Lasik surgery for Francis and a second car someone wants to sell us which would be very nice to have outright.
Yes, I know there will be a reckoning when it comes to taxes next year, but that's why I'm going to meet a CPA in April. Oooo! Look at us! We are grown ups!
Other family news:
My dad is retired, but sshhh... don't tell him!
My sister Bonnie is turning 21 soon. I bought the last part of her package last night. Let's see if I can get it in the mail.
My cousin wants me to call her because she has no email. Maybe I'll do that today.
My inlaws are trying to move to Marysville, but we don't know how that's going exactly except when Dave tells us what they said.
Dave is getting his car fixed and is starting the process of learning about homebuying. Go Dave Go!
My mom might have knee surgery, so I hope that goes well. Surgery stinks, but walking is sort of important.
One more piece of news: we planted two blueberry bushes and a peach tree. We are fixing up our yard to look somewhat cultivated. I swear I'll post pictures, but I need to go shopping for those rocks still.
Time to go spend time on finances and correct papers. Paperwork on a sunny day. EEYUCK.
Happy Weekend to everyone!
And to start the weekend off right, I visited www.lolcats.com:
The kids were all well, and then Gabe lost his voice Thursday night. He was sick, then Grace was hacking up a lung and had a fever last night. Brandon's been crankY, which means he's about to succumb, and Dominic has boogers down to his ankles, and kept mom awake a lot, but is totally cheerful about it. WHY???? We were healthy, I swears!
We WERE going to go to Black Diamond today, to see Brandon's sister, see Stacie and her new baby, and see our godchildren who live in Auburn and their mom. We may or may not do that now, because they'd catch our crud, and all the families are school families, not homeschool families, and I'd hate to give them yet another cold. I don't mind traveling with snooty kids, but I'll just have to call everyone around 9am since it's Saturday, and we'll see if they have an opinion on what we should do. I've been looking forward to this day for weeks! AAAGH! It's hard enough to get Brandon and his sister together, without this!
On the other hand, Francis's birthday is today. He says he's 27 forever. Nice try buddy. Hardy hardy har har! He got two books from me, Go, Dork, Go and Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, and from Dave he got a $50 gift certificate to Emory's on the lake. The Crockers love us so much they took all four kids for 3.5 hours and we went home to have time with complete sentences and thoughts, then went to Red Robin for fish and chips (it's Friday after all) and dessert. We had a great time! That was the best part: alone time!
We are hoping Ethel and Bjorn and two little girls are moving to Everett, as last I read, they are in the final stages of buying a gorgeous home a few miles away. HOORAY! More geeky family type people to play with!
Let's see... I found out that dividends are amazing. You don't have to do anything but stay at your job for a while, and they give you stuff. Then we get to pay off debt like crazed people. All the dumb debt will be gone probably this month or next month, and after that, we'll attack the car payment and student loan, as well as fund things like Lasik surgery for Francis and a second car someone wants to sell us which would be very nice to have outright.
Yes, I know there will be a reckoning when it comes to taxes next year, but that's why I'm going to meet a CPA in April. Oooo! Look at us! We are grown ups!
Other family news:
My dad is retired, but sshhh... don't tell him!
My sister Bonnie is turning 21 soon. I bought the last part of her package last night. Let's see if I can get it in the mail.
My cousin wants me to call her because she has no email. Maybe I'll do that today.
My inlaws are trying to move to Marysville, but we don't know how that's going exactly except when Dave tells us what they said.
Dave is getting his car fixed and is starting the process of learning about homebuying. Go Dave Go!
My mom might have knee surgery, so I hope that goes well. Surgery stinks, but walking is sort of important.
One more piece of news: we planted two blueberry bushes and a peach tree. We are fixing up our yard to look somewhat cultivated. I swear I'll post pictures, but I need to go shopping for those rocks still.
Time to go spend time on finances and correct papers. Paperwork on a sunny day. EEYUCK.
Happy Weekend to everyone!
And to start the weekend off right, I visited www.lolcats.com:
Jason Bourne
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Homeschooling Conferences this spring
Tis the season... where there are graduating homeschoolers, there are homeschooling conferences. On May 2nd and 3rd, there will be a Catholic homeschoolers conference in Tukwila, and Laura Berquist will be there! Yay! She wrote Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum and started Mother of Divine Grace School. In fact, she is the one who signed the check sitting on my table, waiting for its fate at Wells Fargo. I work for them, but I'm taking next year off to see what life is like with no papers to correct. I think I might like it a little too much. But in any case, I've only met Berquist daughters, not Mrs. Berquist herself, so this will be neat. Here's the website:
http://www.nwcatholicconference.com/
Come join me! :) I don't know how I'm doing it, but I paid for it today, and I plan on going somehow... four kids? Is that torture? Probably. No... definitely. But I don't know which of us will be tortured worse, me or the kids. Flip a coin?
The other conference will be put on at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, the following weekend. It is put on by WHO, at
www.washhomeschool.org.
They are the umbrella organization for homeschoolers in WA and lobby in Olympia for our rights. I have been meaning to go for years, and now once again I cannot go. That weekend is Gabe's 8th birthday and also his first communion. Oh well. Someday I'll go. I'd actually love to go to that one. It's good to get a non-Catholic perspective once in a while, and also a non-traditional homeschooling dose. Unschoolers have a lot to teach people. I know, sacrilege, call the cops, the bishop, you name it. But it's true. A little perspective from unexpected places is often just what the doctor ordered. That's why I read so much.
I've noticed Amazon can't track me, either. See my previous post for a typical sample of what I order. Catholic, computer, psychology, kids books, money books, fantasy, how to books, farm and garden books, and on and on. It's so funny what Amazon recommends sometimes.
Anyway, I hope to see some of you at one or both of them. Peruse websites at will!
http://www.nwcatholicconference.com/
Come join me! :) I don't know how I'm doing it, but I paid for it today, and I plan on going somehow... four kids? Is that torture? Probably. No... definitely. But I don't know which of us will be tortured worse, me or the kids. Flip a coin?
The other conference will be put on at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, the following weekend. It is put on by WHO, at
www.washhomeschool.org.
They are the umbrella organization for homeschoolers in WA and lobby in Olympia for our rights. I have been meaning to go for years, and now once again I cannot go. That weekend is Gabe's 8th birthday and also his first communion. Oh well. Someday I'll go. I'd actually love to go to that one. It's good to get a non-Catholic perspective once in a while, and also a non-traditional homeschooling dose. Unschoolers have a lot to teach people. I know, sacrilege, call the cops, the bishop, you name it. But it's true. A little perspective from unexpected places is often just what the doctor ordered. That's why I read so much.
I've noticed Amazon can't track me, either. See my previous post for a typical sample of what I order. Catholic, computer, psychology, kids books, money books, fantasy, how to books, farm and garden books, and on and on. It's so funny what Amazon recommends sometimes.
Anyway, I hope to see some of you at one or both of them. Peruse websites at will!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
I bought clothes!
For the first time ever, I successfully bought clothes at the age of 31. Really successfully. I bought the right clothes at the right price and all in about 90 minutes. At Macy's. I kid you not. I really did!
I bought:
two belts
one bra
three dressy shirts
two skirts
two dress casual pants
one pair of jeans (DKNY)
Grand total: $230 and it all fits well! Did I mention I'm actually happy with everything I bought???
I discovered the purpose between "petite" sizes, too. I'm a 12 petite because, guess what? I'm short. I keep thinking I'm 5'4", but last time I had a check up, they were darned sure I was really 5'3". Drat. Maybe my crew coach was lying. Or else she had a lot of wishful thinking. For those not familiar with rowing, you really should be 6 feet tall, or else be a cox'n. That person gives the orders, and they are like jockeys. SMALL. I'm not that small, but I was pretty small when I started crew, and that's what I started as. But freezing my butt off and giving orders while getting little exercise was not what I had in mind, though now that I bark orders at my kids all day, I think I'd do better now. But I've never heard of a 150+ lbs cox'n. Oh well. Someday, I'll say hello over at the Everett Rowing Club. Maybe Brandon and Dominic will be tall enough to row, and the other two can be cox'n's. Ha. For the record, when they allowed for my weight, I was the third or so strongest on the team. That means they did an adjustment based on my weight in the boat versus how hard I could pull. Ha. That surprised them.
Boy, that was a little digression!
In other news, it's time to get a baby gate that swings open for our stairs. The baby is EXCITED to get to the top of the stairs. He's very, very fast. He also rolls down them rather well, which is why there is a fluffy green bath mat at the bottom (thank you, Rachel).
The baby was so excited, he woke up easily all night.
Babies are guaranteed birth control devices when they want to sleep in your bed. ARGH.
Tomorrow I will try to post pictures of my yard. I have been digging like a gopher. It has stairs now, but it needs rock. Time to go rock shopping. My kids think I'm weird.
Bye for now! Lunchtime for the munchikins.
I bought:
two belts
one bra
three dressy shirts
two skirts
two dress casual pants
one pair of jeans (DKNY)
Grand total: $230 and it all fits well! Did I mention I'm actually happy with everything I bought???
I discovered the purpose between "petite" sizes, too. I'm a 12 petite because, guess what? I'm short. I keep thinking I'm 5'4", but last time I had a check up, they were darned sure I was really 5'3". Drat. Maybe my crew coach was lying. Or else she had a lot of wishful thinking. For those not familiar with rowing, you really should be 6 feet tall, or else be a cox'n. That person gives the orders, and they are like jockeys. SMALL. I'm not that small, but I was pretty small when I started crew, and that's what I started as. But freezing my butt off and giving orders while getting little exercise was not what I had in mind, though now that I bark orders at my kids all day, I think I'd do better now. But I've never heard of a 150+ lbs cox'n. Oh well. Someday, I'll say hello over at the Everett Rowing Club. Maybe Brandon and Dominic will be tall enough to row, and the other two can be cox'n's. Ha. For the record, when they allowed for my weight, I was the third or so strongest on the team. That means they did an adjustment based on my weight in the boat versus how hard I could pull. Ha. That surprised them.
Boy, that was a little digression!
In other news, it's time to get a baby gate that swings open for our stairs. The baby is EXCITED to get to the top of the stairs. He's very, very fast. He also rolls down them rather well, which is why there is a fluffy green bath mat at the bottom (thank you, Rachel).
The baby was so excited, he woke up easily all night.
Babies are guaranteed birth control devices when they want to sleep in your bed. ARGH.
Tomorrow I will try to post pictures of my yard. I have been digging like a gopher. It has stairs now, but it needs rock. Time to go rock shopping. My kids think I'm weird.
Bye for now! Lunchtime for the munchikins.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
my last 12 hours, or what I do at night....
I ordered books today. Lots of books. I have my 10% to work with, and I think I just spent a third of it on BOOKS. I love Amazon.com. I could have bought them all more cheaply, but then I have to wait a coon's age for them to show up. So I ordered them all new. Half of them are gifts. We have birthdays coming up, and first communion, and adoption day, and even my dad's retirement. I need to look for something in person for him, though. He's kinda picky.
I fell asleep last night at around 8pm. I was exhausted from being woken up a lot and cleaning up all the piles of paper and unfinished projects downstairs. There was a lot to do! Now it's all messy again, but the "project type" mess is gone.
The kids built a tent in their room because the Cross's kids showed them their ideas on Wed. night and they decided to give it a go. Pretty good design, and all three slept in it last night.
I think I will give you a run-down of how my night went last night. This is not abnormal in the slightest, in case you were wondering... Oh, and Francis is usually on the couch because I can't sleep with that much more noise in my room at this point. We'll get back to normal when the baby starts sleeping.
1. 7:30pm Feed baby, put in crib, decide not to go downstairs because exhaustion has set in. Crawl in bed with clothes on.
2. 8:30 or so: Fell asleep.
3. 9:00 or so: Francis comes to see if I'm ready to get the seats out of the van because we're getting our very own queen bed frame today from Craigslist, and the people are willing to meet him outside his work. Francis was in a rear-ender on Monday, so he's not allowed to lift. I say, "I can't get up, we'll do it tomorrow."
4. Around midnight, Grace wakes up screaming. Has to go potty. Isn't really awake to know that, so she says her tummy hurts til I put her back. Then and only then does she have to go potty. All better.
5. Sometime between #3 and #4, about 15 teenagers or something like them were outside with some of the worst bass in a car I've ever heard. Considered calling cops after a while, but then I'd have to get out of bed. Considered ear plugs. But I'd have to find two of them at the same time... in the dark. Hmmm... Eventually a car drove up to get one of them and someone must have been complaining so they all left Let me add it was pouring down rain. I would completely understand on a warm summer night, but this was weird. Must be mid-winter break. I could check the district calendar, but y'know, it doesn't really matter too much to me. I should check though, because Brandon's speech therapy is on Thursdays when there is school. All of this occurs to me in the middle of the night.
6. Baby wakes up crying around 3 am because he can't breathe through his nose, which means he can neither nurse nor suck his thumb, which makes him a sad panda. So I take him downstairs and give him a dose of his antibiotic (because if it was day time, we'd be doing this three times a day anyway, and we just started, and I'm desperate for the stuff to start working), and a dose of motrin, because he has a fever. A great big green booger is wiped up by mom, and then he can breathe again, so he nurses and goes back to sleep.
7. I think he nursed at 5 again, but I'm not sure.
8. Francis starts the process of taking those seats out at 6am. I can hear him, so I go down so I can yell at him not to move objects when his lower back is in pain from the car wreck on Monday. I remove seats, kiss him goodbye, and start this post. I am now finishing it at 9am. Had to feed kids and Dave is on his way to a first time homebuyer class. Children made fun of Brandon (with Dave's help) because Gabe was writing down what he wants for his birthday (May) and then Brandon wanted to write down what he wants for Adoption Day (April), and Dave suggested coal and things of that nature.
Sad Panda here says I should stop typing or he'll eat my keyboard.
Here's what else I did. I bought books! Almost all are gifts, silly me. Here's the list:
I fell asleep last night at around 8pm. I was exhausted from being woken up a lot and cleaning up all the piles of paper and unfinished projects downstairs. There was a lot to do! Now it's all messy again, but the "project type" mess is gone.
The kids built a tent in their room because the Cross's kids showed them their ideas on Wed. night and they decided to give it a go. Pretty good design, and all three slept in it last night.
I think I will give you a run-down of how my night went last night. This is not abnormal in the slightest, in case you were wondering... Oh, and Francis is usually on the couch because I can't sleep with that much more noise in my room at this point. We'll get back to normal when the baby starts sleeping.
1. 7:30pm Feed baby, put in crib, decide not to go downstairs because exhaustion has set in. Crawl in bed with clothes on.
2. 8:30 or so: Fell asleep.
3. 9:00 or so: Francis comes to see if I'm ready to get the seats out of the van because we're getting our very own queen bed frame today from Craigslist, and the people are willing to meet him outside his work. Francis was in a rear-ender on Monday, so he's not allowed to lift. I say, "I can't get up, we'll do it tomorrow."
4. Around midnight, Grace wakes up screaming. Has to go potty. Isn't really awake to know that, so she says her tummy hurts til I put her back. Then and only then does she have to go potty. All better.
5. Sometime between #3 and #4, about 15 teenagers or something like them were outside with some of the worst bass in a car I've ever heard. Considered calling cops after a while, but then I'd have to get out of bed. Considered ear plugs. But I'd have to find two of them at the same time... in the dark. Hmmm... Eventually a car drove up to get one of them and someone must have been complaining so they all left Let me add it was pouring down rain. I would completely understand on a warm summer night, but this was weird. Must be mid-winter break. I could check the district calendar, but y'know, it doesn't really matter too much to me. I should check though, because Brandon's speech therapy is on Thursdays when there is school. All of this occurs to me in the middle of the night.
6. Baby wakes up crying around 3 am because he can't breathe through his nose, which means he can neither nurse nor suck his thumb, which makes him a sad panda. So I take him downstairs and give him a dose of his antibiotic (because if it was day time, we'd be doing this three times a day anyway, and we just started, and I'm desperate for the stuff to start working), and a dose of motrin, because he has a fever. A great big green booger is wiped up by mom, and then he can breathe again, so he nurses and goes back to sleep.
7. I think he nursed at 5 again, but I'm not sure.
8. Francis starts the process of taking those seats out at 6am. I can hear him, so I go down so I can yell at him not to move objects when his lower back is in pain from the car wreck on Monday. I remove seats, kiss him goodbye, and start this post. I am now finishing it at 9am. Had to feed kids and Dave is on his way to a first time homebuyer class. Children made fun of Brandon (with Dave's help) because Gabe was writing down what he wants for his birthday (May) and then Brandon wanted to write down what he wants for Adoption Day (April), and Dave suggested coal and things of that nature.
Sad Panda here says I should stop typing or he'll eat my keyboard.
Here's what else I did. I bought books! Almost all are gifts, silly me. Here's the list:
Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item | |
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| Did you purchase this as a gift? Print or E-mail a Gift Notification for this item |
Friday, February 8, 2008
A happy adoption/foster care story
Hello All,
Here is a couple Rachel introduced us to. We're so glad for them, as it's been a long time waiting. Happy Adoption Day, Christopher!!
Here is a couple Rachel introduced us to. We're so glad for them, as it's been a long time waiting. Happy Adoption Day, Christopher!!
Hello everyone! We wanted to share some good news with all of you...we will be in front of the judge on Monday at 8:00am to make our adoption of Christopher final! For those of you who have been following this long, arduous journey, we started the process of becoming adoptive parents in Oregon in November 2004, made the move to Washington where we had to start over from square one, and then took custody of Christopher in October 2006. Despite all the bumps and jolts along the way, we are so glad we stuck with it and feel honored to become Christopher's forever family. Thanks for all of your support and prayers along the way!
Peace be with you all,
Jeffrey, Stacey, Calvin, and the soon to be Christopher Lauren Eklund
Thursday, February 7, 2008
St. Patrick's and Holy Week!
Wow, I didn't realize it was right smack dab during Holy Week! First time in 40 years, folks. Oh no, Wiebers, what are we going to do?
Fr. Iweh says he's "black Irish" ya know. Maybe he'll give us a dispensation. (For those who don't know him, Fr. Iweh is from Nigeria... :))
Here's an article from the Seattle Times:
Fr. Iweh says he's "black Irish" ya know. Maybe he'll give us a dispensation. (For those who don't know him, Fr. Iweh is from Nigeria... :))
Here's an article from the Seattle Times:
Luck of Irish not as lucky for church calendar
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times religion reporter
With Easter coming early this year — March 23 — St. Patrick's Day will, for the first time since 1940, fall during Holy Week, that most sacred of times leading up to Easter.
That poses something of a timing problem:
In the Roman Catholic Church, Holy Week is set aside for Christians to commemorate events such as Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and Christ's crucifixion.
No other religious festivities are supposed to occur — such as Masses celebrating St. Patrick's Day on March 17.
In the Seattle Archdiocese, minor adjustments have been made. A Mass for Peace in Ireland, which the archbishop has traditionally celebrated each St. Patrick's Day at a Protestant church, will be held this year on Saturday, March 15.
The Church of St. Patrick in Tacoma is moving its celebration to March 9.
Secular festivities, such as parades and celebrating with friends, technically can still go on during Holy Week.
"We're going to celebrate anyway," said Thomas Quinlan, a retired construction inspector in Purdy, Pierce County, who says he's going to meet friends for dinner, "maybe sing a couple of old Irish ballads."
Patrick McAleese, owner of Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub in Seattle, says he expects no difference this year in the number of people celebrating. "For us, St. Patrick's always has been a weeklong event, anyway."
The St. Patrick's Day parade, organized by the Irish Heritage Club of Seattle, has for several years been held on the Saturday closest to St. Patrick's Day to make it easier for families and other participants who might not be able to attend during the week. This year it will be held on Saturday, March 15.
John Keane, chairman of the club's Irish Week committee, said he's used to celebrating during solemn times, since St. Patrick's Day always falls during the 40 days of Lent, which this year began Wednesday.
"Lent is a time of penance. And here's St. Patrick's Day right in the middle of it," Keane said. "You can imagine there's a conflict there sometimes. I try to do some penance every year to mark Lent. But I kind of do give myself a dispensation around St. Patrick's Day."
In other places, the St. Patrick's Day scheduling conflict has resulted in more official moves.
The Vatican approved a request by Ireland's bishops to move St. Patrick's Day to March 15 this year for Ireland only. A bishop in Columbus, Ohio, has asked local pastors to celebrate the saint a week early.
Easter falls early this year because the Catholic Church follows a combination of the lunar and solar calendars in determining the date.
"We've not had such an early Easter since 1913," said the Rev. Thomas Murphy, chairman of Seattle University's history department.
Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
From Rachel herself...
Rachel's doing pretty good if she can think this well!
See below!
See below!
Dear Ladies,
I am sending this to all my favorite sisters in Christ. Even if you can’t come and help please keep my family and recovery in your prayers. Thank you for all of your prayers during my surgery. I am doing well here in Bend. The surgery went well and I feel blessed to have my husband, son and mother in law here to help. My son keeps me smiling. My husband serves with such generosity that heals my wounds like no medicine. My mother in law keeps Peter playing and helps all of us with the housework. The house is so cute, and the snow beautiful. God is so good.
At this point, we are planning on leaving Saturday February 9. I need at least another week or two of complete bed rest. The doctor found endometriosis all over so my whole abdomen is extremely sore. Then after the first two weeks I am home, I need help with Peter. I cannot lift anything heavy for four weeks, and Peter is heavy lifting. I also am supposed to be on partial bed rest. I can do some things, but mostly resting with small spurts of activity.
So my mom is coming starting February 10 and staying till February 17. While she is here I would love for Peter to have some play dates with people so he can get a break from being around a sick mom.
We would love meals starting February 18 for however long the mom’s group usually brings meals. I am allergic to dairy products (sour cream, cheese, milk, etc.). I use rice or soy milk in cooking. I use Nucoa and Smart Balance as a butter substitute. My husband also only likes onions if they are very small (it’s a texture thing).
Starting Feb. 18, I will need help for myself and Peter. I will still be on complete bed rest. Peter will be ready to have a play mate also. I would like helpers at our house to help with my complete bed rest:
Feb. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
Starting Feb. 25, I should be on limited bed rest and able to do limited activities. I will still need to rest and put my feet up a lot to aid with recovery. I also cannot do any heavy lifting. I would like helpers at our house to help with my partial bed rest:
Feb. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Mar. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Mar. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Mar. 17, 18, 19
Debbie Baker volunteered to help coordinate helpers for my recovery. I am emailing this to all of you but am hoping Debbie will do the coordinating. We are pretty busy here and tired.
So Debbie’s email is: bakd@comcast.net
Her phone# is: 360-456-2536
Thank you ahead of time for your generosity; it is a joy to know I have such amazing friends that are willing to help me out. I know you’ll love spending time with Peter because he is so much fun.
God Bless You and Your Families
Rachel
Monday, February 4, 2008
Parenting the good ol' fashioned way
I have to say that I read this and realized there was a LOT of truth in it. I hate to snatch posts from the Common Room so often, but this is one that MUST be passed along. What do you think?
Isn't it sad that so many times, in trying to 'save' our children we curse them?
More for My Children
A friend of Granny Tea's grew up in Mexico where she washed the family laundry in a stream using rocks. She grew up, came to America, made the American Dream, getting a good job in the Space Industry, making good money, bought an amazing house in a wealthy neighborhood and good schools. She didn't want her her kids to suffer like she had.
They never wore used clothes. They never lacked for a single thing. They had no chores, not even making their own beds. They were, consequently, lazy, unappreciative, and took the good life for granted. She came to work in tears sometimes because they were so rude. She would acknowledge that somewhere, somehow, she'd given them too much and it hadn't been good for them, but she couldn't bear to give them less, either.
Thank you, DHM!
I want 'more' for my kids, too, sometimes. And sometimes, that 'more' is selfish. I want things to be different for them so that I don't feel bad about them feeling bad. Mostly, as my Progeny will attest, I squelch that impulse, and they 'suffer' anyway. In a good way. Like this:
These Things I Wish For You
-- By Lee Pitts
We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse.
For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.
I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.
I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him.
I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days, when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.
If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.
I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.
May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.
I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.
These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.
Isn't it sad that so many times, in trying to 'save' our children we curse them?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
and just when we thought we were grown ups...
Another lesson in being a full-fledged grown up: furnishing or upgrading your home is a LOT of money.
Now I remember why we've thus far relied on the kindness of others. I've literally gotten one of my best mattresses out of... a dumpster. Not kidding. Some people will understand this, others will go, ewwww! Ok, it was beside the dumpster, not in it. It was very good! It has been replaced since then with a $60 twin mattress from St. Vincent DePaul. The mattress Brandon is on is a futon from freecycle (www.freecycle.org). Ours we bought with our tax refund one year. Grace's we got from a friend and the bed off www.craigslist.com. I got Dave's mattress off freecycle, too, and it's the best one. Our couch is from a homeschooling friend. Our table is from a friend's grandparents. The dining room bench was $50 in a driveway last summer. The tv thingy is from a friend who was upgrading. The computer desk was $90 on craigslist. Our dressers are from friends, childhood, or the one I bought slightly damaged at Fred Meyer when we got married.
I am proud to say that I bought my laptop I'm typing on with my own money from Mother of Divine Grace, a school I correct papers for and Gabe is enrolled in as a correspondence school. I have my resources! And I've learned and am learning, some things need to be bought new. Shoes, for instance. Good ones. I bought a really good purse, too, because they kept breaking. This one was expensive, but worth it. A big leather purse from Franklin Covey! Another tax splurge.
Of course, taxes are coming up again and I have nearly got everything ready. We're using a CPA this year instead of HR Block because 1. HR Block screwed up, and 2. they know less than I do, I now realize. They just have a big book that I lack. One guy did know more than me, but he was the "fix other people's oopsies" guy, so I can't request him.
I'm looking forward to meeting a real CPA and making plans. We are (I hesitate to say) officially moving from survival mode to thriving mode. Thank God. We've been married over eight years, but things are really looking up.
With that said, the temptation is to upgrade. See? I came back to the subject. I started looking at nice looking queen bed frames on craigslist. They are about $300-$400. Francis was wondering where we could find one cheaper, and of course, I then showed him how much they are new! $1100 is the average price for what we thought looked nice. Reality check! We've never really been furniture shopping, can you tell? I had a really nice queen bed frame, but we moved to a place with a lot of stairs and gave it away because it was solid oak and we couldn't move it that far. Good thing, since we moved about five times more after that, but I wish I had it now. Yes, Mom, I know you are still mad I gave that away. I just had no choice that day.
Then we went to Home Depot yesterday. We wanted to get nice shades to block light in the bedroom windows. Price? About $700. Oh dear. Think I'll do savings and debt, then on the tax refund or my next MODG payment, I'll go get those. ARGH. We really do need shades, and if I'm going to do it, it has to be what I want and will be happy with, or I'll have wasted my money. ACK!
Now to shop for clothing. Also something I've never spent money on, and it shows. I'm using the book "Color Me Beautiful" to help me with that. It's a dated book but with good ideas...
Wow. Reality Bites.
Now I remember why we've thus far relied on the kindness of others. I've literally gotten one of my best mattresses out of... a dumpster. Not kidding. Some people will understand this, others will go, ewwww! Ok, it was beside the dumpster, not in it. It was very good! It has been replaced since then with a $60 twin mattress from St. Vincent DePaul. The mattress Brandon is on is a futon from freecycle (www.freecycle.org). Ours we bought with our tax refund one year. Grace's we got from a friend and the bed off www.craigslist.com. I got Dave's mattress off freecycle, too, and it's the best one. Our couch is from a homeschooling friend. Our table is from a friend's grandparents. The dining room bench was $50 in a driveway last summer. The tv thingy is from a friend who was upgrading. The computer desk was $90 on craigslist. Our dressers are from friends, childhood, or the one I bought slightly damaged at Fred Meyer when we got married.
I am proud to say that I bought my laptop I'm typing on with my own money from Mother of Divine Grace, a school I correct papers for and Gabe is enrolled in as a correspondence school. I have my resources! And I've learned and am learning, some things need to be bought new. Shoes, for instance. Good ones. I bought a really good purse, too, because they kept breaking. This one was expensive, but worth it. A big leather purse from Franklin Covey! Another tax splurge.
Of course, taxes are coming up again and I have nearly got everything ready. We're using a CPA this year instead of HR Block because 1. HR Block screwed up, and 2. they know less than I do, I now realize. They just have a big book that I lack. One guy did know more than me, but he was the "fix other people's oopsies" guy, so I can't request him.
I'm looking forward to meeting a real CPA and making plans. We are (I hesitate to say) officially moving from survival mode to thriving mode. Thank God. We've been married over eight years, but things are really looking up.
With that said, the temptation is to upgrade. See? I came back to the subject. I started looking at nice looking queen bed frames on craigslist. They are about $300-$400. Francis was wondering where we could find one cheaper, and of course, I then showed him how much they are new! $1100 is the average price for what we thought looked nice. Reality check! We've never really been furniture shopping, can you tell? I had a really nice queen bed frame, but we moved to a place with a lot of stairs and gave it away because it was solid oak and we couldn't move it that far. Good thing, since we moved about five times more after that, but I wish I had it now. Yes, Mom, I know you are still mad I gave that away. I just had no choice that day.
Then we went to Home Depot yesterday. We wanted to get nice shades to block light in the bedroom windows. Price? About $700. Oh dear. Think I'll do savings and debt, then on the tax refund or my next MODG payment, I'll go get those. ARGH. We really do need shades, and if I'm going to do it, it has to be what I want and will be happy with, or I'll have wasted my money. ACK!
Now to shop for clothing. Also something I've never spent money on, and it shows. I'm using the book "Color Me Beautiful" to help me with that. It's a dated book but with good ideas...
Wow. Reality Bites.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Joyce was right!
Ok, this sounds crazy, but I was desperate enough to try this remedy for the icky winter cold. If you coat your child's feet with vick's vaporub, and then put on socks or footy pajamas, and then put them to bed for the night, their cold will improve. No kidding. It's working pretty good over here. We had a baby with croup and went to the ER, and now it appears Brandon might get it, too, but we'll hope for the best. Right now it's all coughs and boogers.
Joyce has so many interesting suggestions. Very funny.
Don't take any of her advice for the dehydrator yet, until she knows what she's doing. Two lessons so far:
Don't dehydrate plantains unless you know how they are different from bananas. Yum. Cardboard.
Don't microwave something to make sure it's done. That's some crunchy beef jerky, that is! Much yummier than the plantains, though... :)
Joyce has so many interesting suggestions. Very funny.
Don't take any of her advice for the dehydrator yet, until she knows what she's doing. Two lessons so far:
Don't dehydrate plantains unless you know how they are different from bananas. Yum. Cardboard.
Don't microwave something to make sure it's done. That's some crunchy beef jerky, that is! Much yummier than the plantains, though... :)
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