Hiding . . .

I am hiding for a bit--be back soon. I should be back around this weekend. Then my surgery is Monday so I will be out for a few days. Hope all is well in your corners.

The internet is BAD!

The internet is very bad for wandering eyes like myself who search on You Tube for sinus surgery. BAD BAD BAD . . .I am canceling the surgery right now . . .ok, I know that is rash . . .but still you should SEE what they do to your nose innards . . .

The next president--I can't believe it!!! :) :)

Not so thankful Thanksgiving-

Guess who is having surgery the day after Thanksgiving? I went to see the surgeon today, and after ruthlessly shoving a tube in my nose, he determines that I have very large cysts taking residence in both of maxillary sinuses. Apparently you could see the invaders while he was in there, but I was tearing up and couldn't keep my eyes open. He said there was very little to do but remove them.

Now, he said it shouldn't be as bad as the last surgery where he had to make my sinus cavities larger and fix the septum. There's a possibility he can do the whole thing through the scope and get both cysts out. Then again, he said that because of the size he might not be able to get them very easily. In that case the best way to get the suckers out is through my mouth. Yes, I know, doesn't that sound horrid? It is called a caldwell luc procedure--check out the photos if you dare . . .The first option would have me laid up for a few days, the other he said about a week. I asked him if they both would require the nasty nose vacuum, and he said they would. Sheesh . . .the second type has a better chance of eliminating the cysts and preventing them from coming back like they did this time.

So I figured I would need to have the surgery well in advance of flying for Christmas, and this was the best time we could come up with. Darn it . . .

On another note, they had the computer on with the pictures of my brain, and it was neato to see by brains and eye balls and stuff from the MRI. Looks just like it does on TV.

Little Tyke . . .

So cute-I hate to leave him . . .he only wanted to hold MY hand the last few days in the parking lot, and her has been so snuggly . . .he says he won't fit in my suitcase though and refuses to try. Stubborn 4.75 year old . . .

San Diego-Day 3

Today was my whirlwind tour of San Diego. Sorry Rebecky, but LaJolla was not in the cards for this trip. I started on the tour at 2:15 and got back to the hotel at 10pm . . . The tour was great, and here are some highlights. I have to say that I am sooo mad at my camera. We have rechargeable batteries--three of them to be exact and all three were charged before I left. None of them worked for more than a few pictures, and I had to buy regular batteries which the camera just ate up quickly. Not good for mass picture taking. Oh well. Maybe someone will get us a new one for Christmas. Here's a photo of a coast guard ship from the ferry to Coronado.


A neat picture of a ship on the bay. Nice photo if I say so myself.



















There's a thing called Urban Trees, where there are sculptures such as these along the road that borders the bay. This was an awesome one . . .














Cactus garden in Balboa park. There were some FUNKY cacti in this place. The views were fantastic . . .wanted to stay longer, but I didn't have much time to gallivant while on the tour.












Also in Balboa Park--there were lots of globes that were decorated with earth saving themes . . .I liked this one best. They lined on of the walkways, and also surrounded the fountain.










Balboa Park--beautiful and so not enough time to see everything . . .

This morning started with me accompanying my co-worker and her partner to the courthouse so they could be married. It was amazing to see them, and the other couples who had come to be joined in marriage. I am amazed to hear the commercials here in California that are in opposition of same sex marriage--some are down right mean. I also heard someone in Philly donated $900,000 to California to help the fight to ban same sex marriage. I know there are all sorts on many different sides of this issue, but I have to say, for a brief moment today I felt like there was hope that I, and others like me, could feel the experience the same things that other people get to experience.

Sigh . . .ok, I need to go to bed as my presentation is tomorrow at 8am. Wish me luck!

(ps--this is so not checked for grammar and spelling, so please forgive me. I am BEAT!)

San Diego--Day 2 in pictures

OK, so these aren't in the order of my day, but I am tired and it will have to do. Here's a shot of some of the shops that I went to today. I skipped out early on a session and went to check it out. It looked like a little village of shops. This pictures doesn't do it justice, but it was cute. I got a gift for DP and a cute pirate shirt for Little Tyke.







This is a shot of only HALF of the HUGE convention center. My day started at 6:30 am for the social work business meeting. This was held in a hotel to the right of the center.











Near the Seaport Village where I went shopping-there was a park and you could see the boats going by and this was just a neat shot. A little fuzzy, but good. Great walking areas here--though the grass is funny. I haven't figured out why it is weird, but it is. Sort of like a mix between astroturf and real grass . . .is it a California thing?






What's this? I died and went to heaven . . .oh no. This is just the pool area at the hotel my stuff was in today. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT--look how freaking cool it was. It went most of the way around this restaurant on a hill. Very nice . . .











Another picture from the park I was walking in by the water.












The sight right outside of my hotel. Look at those trees. The grassy area must be an informal dog park area. Lots of dogs, and poop bag stations.

Tomorrow I am going to see my co-worker get married, then I will go to lunch, and then off for the trolley tour. I am excited. I had dinner with my boss, her daughter and friend, another nurse from Philly, and someone else I can't remember. We watched the Phillies game until it was rained out. Fun times. Then I headed to the rooftop pool and hot tub. Now, I am beat. Till tomorrow . . .

San Diego--Day 1

My day started off really early this morning--I was at the airport by 6am. It was early and I didn't want to get coffee cause I wasn't sure if my butt would fit in the potty on the plane. (It fit fine, so next time I am getting the jumbo size!)

They told me to go to gate C25, which I dutifully did after getting a bagel sandwich that I would leisurely enjoy when I got to the gate with plenty of time to spare. Well, I get to said gate and the destination says Minneapolis . . .Uh, I am going to San Diego. She says they told me the wrong gate . . .really I needed to be at A23 (my SEAT number was C25?), which was seriously about 2 miles away. At this point I am hot because I had on long pants and long sleeve shirt and fleece. I start to strip, and high tail it to my gate. I stop to go to the bathroom, and realize I am sweating like a pig. Damn it.

I get to the gate and they are boarding. I open my sandwich to eat before I get on the plane, and realize the food is cold, AND they made it on a cheddar jalapeno bagel--which if you know me, you know I can't have spicy food. I eat the egg out of it, and the bottom of the bagel and trash the rest.

I get on the plane, all the way four rows from the back, and I get there and there is no more room in the overhead thing. Lady tells me to go toward the front. I turn around and there are a ton of people behind me. I can't move, no one will help. I stand there looking like I might cry. Finally the bag gets stowed 10 rows up, and I take my seat.

I am sitting next to two very interesting folks, and we end up chatting at the end. We watched Cinderella Man--which I wouldn't have normally chosen, but it was good. Indian man next to me is veterinarian headed to LaJolla for the USDA conference, and girl next to him is from Scranton and going to same conference as me. Just returned from two years in the peace corps. Good talk all around. We land and I get to cab very unceremoniously.

Get to hotel and I am not quite dried off from morning sweat, and now I have new sweat because it is 84 in SD today, and I am still in long sleeve pants and shirt. They don't have a room ready for me yet, cause it is only 11am here . . and I have been awake for hours, I am sweaty, and I need new clothes on. I take my stuff to the potty and put shorts and shirt on. I feel slightly better, but still wish I could change in room. They will call me when it is ready.

I go across street to convention center and the place is bigger than our airport I think. HUGE-there are like 12,000 people at this conference, and this is nothing compared to what it will look like tomorrow. I go to the opening session and they call to say room is ready. I go back, unpack, talk to DP--HI!!!, and then go back for new member session and check out co-workers poster presentation. The exhibit hall is HUGE and has a ton of stuff in it and I can't process that right now. Maybe tomorrow.

Somewhere along the way I go to a little cafe and have diner--by myself. A nice panini, salad, and diet soda. I haven't ever been to a real restaurant by myself, and I am working my way up to it. Even though I have some co-workers here, I don't know them all that well, and none have been overly excited about contacting me to hang out. I saw one and her partner while I was eating, and they stopped and chatted for a few minutes. They are getting married on Tuesday here in CA and they are excited. We are all supposed to go watch, but I don't know about how I feel about that--nor do I know how I would get there.

So much to take in. The trees I have never seen before, the beautiful area I am staying in, the people running around with fake blood on them for the Zombie Walk?? I want to get to the water some time, and there is a cute little shopping center near the bay which I may be able to take the little trolley to. The same little trolley does a little historic tour which I might try and catch at some point.

All of this after some sleep . . .it is after midnight in my head, and I need to sleep. Till tomorrow.

Hey good looking, what'cha got cooking?

Some folks have inquired about the recipes I have made, and so I thought I would post the recipes so far that we have made. All three have been great, and they all came from The book . . . . ???
Stay tuned . . .


***UPDATE***

DP says I can't post the recipes due to something like copyright infringement . . .so I don't know what to do. What's so bad about some jail time . . .can I post the recipes if I give them a pseudonym and not list the book . . .don't people share recipes all the time?

Addie's Corner-Episode 6

Well, looks like the little fellow is NOT going back to where he came from, and so I have had to learn to live with him. Seems I now have to share EVERYTHING with him--good thing I poop my brains out and need special food--since that means at least I don't have to share that with him. He is on my bed, in my kennel, with my people . . .what is up with that?

He sleeps funny, too. You see this picture--he is always upside down and spread eagle. Does he not have ANY modesty? This was a picture of him on the makeshift bed he made on the floor in the mom's room. Right after that the mom's thought he was really cute and said he could sleep on a big boy bed. Now I even have to share the end of the bed with him since he sleeps in the bedroom now. Oh well, since there's no heat on yet, he makes for some good warmth!




Sometimes when I need a break from the little whippersnapper, I go into the crate. I still seem to think I can fit in there-and even if I can't I will squeeze myself in there for some peace and quiet. Though sometimes my solitude is infiltrated . . .








However, at the end of the day, after all is said and done, and after he has stolen my people, eaten my sticks, played with my friends, laid on my bed, drank my water, played with my toys, jumped, humped, and thumped on me . . .

He ain't heavy . . .he's my brother and I love him very much.

Medical Update

Hey there folks. I am not sure if I talked at all about my headaches on this blog, but the last few months I have been getting these horrible headaches, and nothing has really touched it. It was getting to the point where sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache. One night I even cried and cried it hurt so much.

Well, it finally got to the point where I took myself to the doctor. She thought it might be a sinus infection gone wrong, and so she prescribed and antibiotic and muc*nex. Days later it wasn't better and I was sure I had a brain tumor. They told me to get and MRI and luck was on my side and I got in the same day to have the MRI. I guess when you say you need a brain MRI they feel it is important.

I went and actually had a headache during the test which I thought was a bonus. They did the test normal, and then shot me up with something to make my head glow. The test is done and they said they would call back in 24-48 hours. I get a call this morning and they tell me that my sinuses under my eyes, and somewhere else are completely blocked up, and one that is blocked up has fluid all stuck in it. No wonder I have headaches and am dizzy--especially when I lay down. During the worst headaches, the only thing that relieved them a tiny bit was sleeping sitting up. The doc told me to call the ENT right away and see if I could get an appointment.

Here's the kicker--I had surgery in 2003 for my sinuses--fixed a deviated septum and enlarged my sinuses which couldn't drain. Here's the other thing--you all know how much I despise George W--well, that sinus surgery was so awful I wouldn't even wish this on him. I had to wear a nose bra for days afterward since you can't blow your nose, and you have to have a dedicated DP who will stick q-tips up your nose to pull out goobers. And this was only having been together for a few months. So, nose bra, no blowing of my nose, and weekly trips to get vacuumed out.

Yes, you heard me right. Once a week for about a month I had to go get a long thing stuck up my nose and they vacuumed out my sinuses. It made me want to vomit every time, and I think once I passed out. I can't remember because that was so traumatic I have blocked it from my mind. Imagine you are vacuuming on the floor--you know the slurping noise it makes, and then something stops it up and the whirring stops--that's what it sounded like in my head and the stopping was only when it located a big goober that needed to be extracted from the deep depths of my head.

I can't tell you how much I am not looking forward to a second round of this. How do your sinuses even get blocked beyond repair?

I have to say, I am glad it wasn't a brain tumor, and glad that the pain wasn't all in my head--I mean it IS all in my head, but you know what I mean. The ENT was able to get me in the day after I get back from San Diego. What fun to look forward to.

I will keep you posted.

Grab a cup of something and settle in-

Hi. How are you all doing? I am ok. I went to the doctor today to see what is up with these crazy headaches I have been getting on on off for the last two months. Also some weird heart racing. No big deal. I get there and they take my BP and is it high--usually is at first. Doc comes in, talks to me for a bit, takes it again, and it is higher. She pokes around and thinks I have a sinus infection which may be causing the headaches. I have a long history of sinus issues and so this is not a far cry from what could be happening. She listed to the ticker and declares that fine as well. Obviously she is concerned about increased BP, so she prescribed antibiotics for the infection, and tells me to come back in three weeks and we will talk more about headaches if they are still there and check on BP. She also took blood--lots of blood. I am supposed to have my BP taken three times between now and the time I go back, and I am not sure how I am going to do that short of going to her office, which is a about 35 minutes away. I really like this doc and have stayed with her through various moves-much like the mechanic, I don't want to switch. I went to a cardiologist a year ago after my mom's open heart surgery to check on BP, but as soon as he took me off the birth control, it was better than normal. I am not on BC now, so I am unsure as to what could be causing this. I am sure worrying about what's causing it is causing it to go higher. Probably the brain tumor that is growing in my head as we speak and will soon burst out of my eyeballs.

Then this evening I talk to my brother. My brother who moved to TX over Easter and who I haven't seen since. Well, he is having a hard time. My SIL was diagnosed with bi-polar I guess like two years ago now, and it is not being managed very well. She had been hospitalized a few times, and then they decided together they would move to TX where she could take another lawyer job, make a shitload of money, and live the slower paced life. Well, needless to say the shit hath come very close to the fan, and my brother is stressed and has threatened to take Little Tyke away and leave. Which I am sure is not helping the situation, but he doesn't know what to do. I have told him what to do, of course, and he isn't listening and it is making me mad. He seems to think he can just reason with her and try and bully her into treatment, and I keep telling him it will not work. He asks me what to do, and I tell him to seek out a couples therapist that can help them determine together how to manage this. He has been supportive all along, but he is getting impatient. He revealed to me tonight that he has been seeing a therapist privately before they left for TX, though he paid in cash so as to not have anything on record in case he needed to deal with custody issues. Now that he is a stay at home daddy, he doesn't have the cash he had before to do this. She is seeing a psychiatrist once every three months--and they have her on so many meds that I can't imagine how they are monitoring it every three months. Her therapist has told her that she doesn't need to be going to therapy so much, and so she doesn't go. I think she is far from being able to manage this on her own.

My relationship with my brother has been so complicated. This man that I care about so deeply now is the same kid who did horrible things to me as a child, and who I nearly destroyed myself over. When I hear him talk, I hear how scared and vulnerable he is, and how he wants someone to help him make sense of things---it makes me sad (can I feel sad? can it be ok to feel sad for him, who did THAT?). Of course I want to be there for him, but I struggle as well with the feelings that come up. I hear him on the phone with Little Tyke, and he sounds like such a great father, and you can tell he is trying so hard. I want this to be easier for him, I want him to listen to me to get support for himself (why won't he listen--is this how it was when I didn't listen to people . . .). I want her to feel ok about herself. She is a brilliant, high powered lawyer who is freaking out right now and can't get out of bed because the TX bar application specifically asks if she has bi-polar disorder. She is worried that she will not be admitted to the bar and will lose her job over this. I can't blame her . . .I don't think that is even legal, but what do I know.

I know that is sucks to think of their relationship struggling so much. They have been together since high school, and he sacrificed a lot for her to put her through school. I hope they can find a way through this in a way that is honorable for all. I hope that Little Tyke is spared any harm from her inability to be near him and love him as he should be loved. I know they are all trying--it is hard to sit back and not have the words or the ability to help.

I will see them in about two weeks, and I am very excited. Little Tyke talked to me today on the phone about our plans to go trick or treating, and he instructed me on what I was to say when I got to the doors. He also told me about the dog that bit him in the face, and how he had to get stitches. He said is burned a little, but he was a big boy--all 4.75 years of him.

I miss them . . .I am sad for them.

Explanation needed . . .

Someone P L E A S E explain to me HOW on GOD'S green earth Sarah Palin is an expert on autism . . and how she knows so much about autism . . .Does he NOT know that the child that Sarah Palin has has DOWN SYNDROME????

OMgoodness . . . McCain just makes me angry on so many freaking levels . . .

Ok, I need to calm myself down before bed.

I did sign up to drive folks to the polls today. Goodness knows I need to do something . . .

Seven things you might not know about me . . .

So Lynilu had tagged me on this last week sometime, and well, I am slow . . .but here goes . . .enjoy!

7 interesting things you might not know about me...

1.) I almost died when I was a baby. Had something wrong with my liver and they took most of it out when I was 5 weeks old I think.

2.) Because of said surgery, I had several blood transfusions and was tested for HIV for years after and I never knew why I had to be tested so much. This was before they tested blood for HIV . . .

3.) I played the trumpet in high school and was in the marching band, jazz band, and concert band. I would occasionally be known to play a tuba or two as well.

4.) I sleep with a very large U shaped pillow in my bed to help me sleep due to my herniated disc problems . . .have such a hard time sleeping without it when I travel.

5.) I have journaled for years and years and have a ton of journals stored up, and when I was 19, a therapist I was seeing for therapy (who I ended up dating) encouraged me to "let them go". So now I don't have the journals from those early years, and I regret this often.

6.) My parents had people round the clock in the hospital with me when I was born since I was in a very bad neighborhood and was the only white child in the nursery.

7.) I used to not shave my legs cause I thought I was making some kind of feminist statement . . .now I think that overly hairy legs is kinda icky. I have been harassing SOMEONE about this for weeks now to no avail . . .

8.) A bonus-->when I was heavily into drugs in high school, I ran a weed ring through the drive through window at the McDonald's I worked at--that is until I got caught and fired . . . but I made some killer money and also knew how to make a bowl using a courtesy cup, tin foil, and a straw! Who said I wasn't smart!

There you go. Hope it was entertaining!

Ridiculously Cute . . . .

I couldn't resist . . .I promise I will write soon. Lynilu has tagged me and I will get to that in the next few days . . .but in the meantime, check out these pictures. The one photo shows Riley with his new friend Bergey from puppy training class. We had a play date at our house on Sunday and it was fun!

National Public Radio

We know and love it as NPR, and for years I thought it was only for old people who had nothing better to do with their time but sit around and listen to their radios at the kitchen table.

Boy was I wrong. I was turned onto NPR a while back when I saw a TV show talking about Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. It is a weekly news quiz show that is funny enough to make me question if I have actually peed myself. I often wondered what people were listening to in their cars to make them laugh out loud, and I can safely say that this must be on the dial for some of them. I don't actually dial into NPR, though I do have it as a preset just to say I have it, but seems BBC news is always on when I tune in, so I listen to the podcasts.

I have also enjoyed Car Talk, where people call in and talk to these guys about car troubles--could be a woman who wants to know if it is ok to date a man who lives in a van, or suggestions on how you can butter up your mechanic--which you know I am all about!

Then there is Story Corp, not to be listened to en mass on the way to work, as you will find yourself crying, snotty nosed, and without tissues. Here they share interviews of people who have like 3 minutes in a booth to talk to or interview someone on something. Often times parents and kids talking about days gone by, or how old aunt sally met uncle homer in 1912 in the middle of a blizzard. You know, real tearjerker kind of things. Not all are that way, there are some funny ones like the woman whose mother bought her an inflatable bra in the 1920's and things went horribly wrong in the airplane and she was taken into custody after her boobs grew ever so large and then exploded--sounding like a gun. Again, too funny.

Who knew NPR could be so enlightening, fun, and laugh out loud hysterical! Take a listen and let me know what you think!! I am getting smarter by the week, and you can, too!!!

What a crock!

DP and I decided this week that we should make something in the crock pot. So we got out our cookbook-entitled "Not your mothers slow cooker cook book". We perused some good ones, and settled on some meatloaf and potato thing. Seemed easy enough and thus we have dinner cooking as we speak.

Thing is, it is weird, as a person who sorta has some OCD issues, to leave a heated thing on cooking in the house all day long. Something seems very wrong with that.

Secondly, I have been home for a few hours now smelling this yummy yummy dinner, and all I can think about is food . . .I want to eat NOW!! We have another 2 hours for crying out loud. I will never make it-or I will simply eat so much other stuff that I won't be hungry for yummy dinner. I am also seriously procrastinating on finishing my paper which is due tomorrow, people. GRRRRRR

I also can never resist the urge to go open the top and look in. I know this lets out a ton of steam that has been building for hours, but I need to interact with it somehow--I can't believe it doesn't need me . . . to do ANYTHING.

That's just a crock if you ask me!

Can't help myself

Look what I found on my desk this morning when I got to work--HOW FUNNY!!!

Officer Down

Last week an officer was shot in the line of duty. I happened to be relatively near where it happened, and actually had to pull over since the amount of cops responding to the scene were massive. It amazed me that no one dies at the hand of cops going to these sorts of things--I seriously thought someone was going to get hit.

In any case, today is the public viewing and funeral for this officer, and today on my way to a visit I saw many many squads on motorcycles from other towns going to the funeral. For some reason it just makes me so sad.

I know any of us are at risk just in every day life, especially those who are in certain higher crime areas, but I can't imagine the struggle of families who's relatives are cops and firefighters and in like professions.

Not much else to say about it--just sad that this has to happen. Not to mention the sad state of affairs of the gentleman who did it. We talked in our social work supervision last week about what has to happen to to a child to have such a history of aggression at an early age. I am reading a book--that I should have read in graduate school-called Ghosts from the Nursery talking about the history of violence in young children. This guy was an adult, but he had a significant juvenile record. They reported that when he shot him at close range in the face, he then stood over him and continued to shoot him. That's anger . . .that's serious rage . . .that's sad. Just and FYI, the suspect was later killed by another officer.

Just sad . . .

I love my mechanic!!

How many people can say they love their mechanic? Well, I do. I have been going to this same Meineke for years now . . .seems that no matter how far I have moved away, I still end up back there. There are three guys that have been there all along with a few gems that have come and gone. There's Eddie who owns the place-and he is rarely around--but when he is, the service times are outstanding--though I have to say that I am a bit sad at the reduced amount of time I got to spend with "my boys"!! There's this guy Jim who is just an overall nice guy who just got married for the first time at age 50 or something like that. Then there's Kenny. Kenny and I hit it off from the start, and he thinks I am just some crazed lesbian woman who has serious OCD issues around her car--which in all honestly used to be very true! He is always very patient, and appreciates me for who I am. He shows me things when he tells me something is wrong or needs to be fixed, he has extended credit to me on occasion, and he is just very funny. We have good laughs together and I enjoy going there. I don't, however, enjoy spending the money to go there. But at least I always know that they are fair and are doing what they need to in order for me to remain safe and to spend the least amount of money overall.

Oh, and they loan me a two toned ancient truck when they need the car longer than expected, and the best part--they let me bring the dog. They feel as if Addie should be their shop dog--which I almost agreed to since sending her there daily would be much cheaper than doggy daycare! They said they would have to change her name to Moe and give her a spiked collar. Wasn't sure how I feel about that now, so for now she'll just go visit.

Everyone should have that kind of mechanic in their lives.

Politics

OK, so I know who I am voting for, but if you were to ask me why, I would just say cause I don't want another republican in the office. Though I truly believe that this person would do a good job, I just feel so overwhelmed by the he/said she said of it all. One will say the other did such a horrible thing, and then the other will come back with a comeback . . .and then the evening news will run a story saying the most of the claims made by the candidates are not true.

So my question is--who the heck to you believe . . .how do you make a case for either?

I just feel very frustrated with the unknowing of it all. Seems like everyone is lying these days.

Some fun!

Jenster has tagged her readers to answer the following questions . . .

Ten years ago I was:

Oh, bad times . . .very bad times. I think I was in the hospital for my eating disorder and cutting stuff. It was also the last time I did any drugs!!! I was still in college-barely. They wouldn't let me into the social work department until I got my act together. I was living with a christian family that took me on as their "project". I drove a purple neon . . .I was a mess!!


Five things on today's To Do List:

1. Observe kid at school and see new family

2. Resist the big container of cookie dough in fridge

3. Run the pups like crazy before the downpour comes

4. Order some clothes from Land's End--need pants bad!

5. Call brother or dad to find out how brother is


A snack I enjoy:

Anything that is a carbohydrate!! I am not picky--> bread, pretzels, bagels, you name it!


Things I would do if I were a millionaire:

* Pay off debt
*Fix up my house with a beanie shack!
* Give some money away
*Open a kennel or some other animal related endeavor
* buy lots and lots of books and create a wall to wall library with comfy chairs
* help my family


Places I have lived:

* New Jersey
* Poconos
* Philadelphia
* Various suburbs of Philadelphia



Oh, fun and easy post!! Except the remembering how unwell I was 10 years ago. SOOOO thankful for now, and being exactly where i am!!! Thanks Jenster!

Oh, the weather outisde is . . .

BEAUTIFUL!! I want to live in a place where it is this temperature all the TIME!

The best is when I can wear shorts and a long sleeve shirt. I am happy as a clam when it is like that. When I don't sweat before I even step out of the shower . . .

Ok, so Lynilu has called me out, and I am here to give an update! Wish I could make it as exciting as Amy Poehler in SNL, but you will have to deal with just me . . .

Work has been good. I had a very important meeting today with a local educational place to try and sell myself and my program to them as a contract service. I felt really confident and I presented myself very well. I recognize that if they choose not to go with it, it has nothing to do with me myself--it has to do with them as a program. Important distinction!!! Made me realize how far I have come--and that I am going to be ok. My grant ends the end of January, and without promise of additional funds I will be unemployed. I am ok with that. I am working as hard as I can to be in a position to have other options for myself.

School is going--I am less excited about spending the amount of money I am to take this class, but it is a means to an end. I had to email the professor the other day as we discussed a case and the class kept talking about how crazy this family was, and how crazy the mom was. I couldn't believe that in a school of social work that she would allow such things to be said. I somewhat firmly believe that we are what we think--so if we think that people are crazy and view them that way, then are we really giving them a chance at being anything different? I recognize we all need to blow off steam, especially in this field, but I was feeling that was just not cool. Tonight we were talking about self injury, and people were being stupid with their comments--and I finally couldn't take any more and I raised my hand and I told them that I was a person who used to cut and do those things, and I am not weird--ok, well, maybe I am weird--but you know. Several people came to me afterwards and thanked me for putting a real face on the issue. Damn, and these people are going to be social workers . . .

The kids are good. Riley is growing like a weed, and Addie is holding her own. I have embraced the use of the outdoor kennel, and we haven't been issued a warning from animal control that our dogs are being a menace, so I assume they are behaving when we are gone. We put straw in their houses, and they both seem to like the kennel. Riley has started a new training place due to scheduling conflicts with the other place. He is really smart--even more so than his sister I feel. We won't tell her though.

My brother in Houston still has no power, though their house was mostly spared any damage. I think they have a few windows that need to be replaced, but other than that they are ok. I am going to visit them next month, and I sure hope they have electricity by then!! Not too much to ask. I am going to visit after I go to San Diego for work. It is quite a sacrifice I am making to go to CA for three days to present for 12 minutes. They asked me at work if I would mind going for them . . .um, let me think about it . . .NO!!! I am really excited and scared at the same time, but that's another post.

I hate--dislike very much-Jenny McCarthy . . .

Weird sightings today--a man on the corner of a major intersection doing crunches on the ground . . .mid day . . .just on the ground doing crunches.

Ok, no more. I have had to draw a line in the sand and cut back on some things. I realized that I was out most nights of the week and so I have had to allocate one night a week that I am home, nothing to do but watch TV in my pj's. I have cut back on my women's hometeam group and will only go every other week when I don't have my social work supervision group. That frees up one night a week. Important self care that is hard for me to do . . .growing all the time . . .

There you go . . .I will try and be slightly more regular in my attendance!

In the doghouse

I should be in the doghouse for not writing . . but alas here I am.

This weekend has been hot as heck, especially today. We went swimming in the neighbors pool that was only half full since he was draining it . . .we were desperate.

Today we built the doghouses that we got for the pups. They are these cute log cabin looking things--I know we are dorky, but we're like that. We also put the kennel flooring in-and we left a space for them to take care of their business. Looks nice. I took some photos and will update this soon with lovely photos of the kennel-I think Riley even posed in one of them.

Not much else going on. . .went back to church today for the first time in like a month and it felt good to be back and see some of my people.

Tomorrow it is back to work, and another busy week. Maybe it will be cooler and I can be less cranky . . .right now we are watching Catch and Release . . .cute so far.

Until next time-

**Update with Pictures**


OK, so here you can see the semi close up shot of the kennel with the two houses and the flooring. Watch, they will both try and cram into on of the houses. We got them from Petsmart.com









Here's Riley posing in front!







And just a cute picture for fun! His ears have fallen, which we are told is normal when they are teething! He looks so cute. Stay tuned for another installment of Addie's Corner later this week!

Did anyone see this??

Ok, I don't want to get into what I think of the whole political hullabaloo right now, but I thought this was absolutely almost pee-in-your-pants-funny from last night's convention!!

Take a look . .

Busy Busy

For the next few months I will be busy. I have gone back to school to see if I can finally finish up my certification to be a school social worker, and so I had the first class tonight. It was nice to be back in school again . . .

Then the clinical supervision that I was doing on Wednesday's has been moved to Thursday for the semester to accommodate me. Every other week I have supervision, and the other Thursday's we have puppy kindergarten with Riley. Monday's is therapy, and Tuesday will be women's group at the church starting next week again.

I would love to find a certification in professional vacationing. I think I would be very good at that. I think it could quite possibly be my calling in life.. . .

I don't think I could have kids . . .

These dogs are driving me bonkers . . .the little one eats everything, including his own poop. I couldn't get to it fast enough tonight and so he had a warm snack-- fresh out of the oven.

Then the big one feels the need to steal all the toys from her brother, even though for the last five months she has shown no interest in them. I think she also feels as if she's gotten a great squeaky toy since she goes near him and he squeaks.

Sheesh. I am exhausted. DP came home yesterday after being away all day at work, and I turned the kids over to her. I can see now why the stay at home person just walks away at the end of the day when their DP's come home. The house is a wreck, I can't pee in peace, the noise level is insane . . .

And to think we did this all voluntarily!

*beans goes to find her black and white striped referee shirt*

Picture of the day!

B-I-N-G-O

So, it was any other ordinary Saturday, when we--meaning DP, DP's sister, and her man friend and I decided that we would go play BINGO on the reservation. Now, when this idea was brought up a while back, I was very excited--I had always heard that gay bingo was fun. Well, I came to find out later that the bingo we were going to play was not in fact gay bingo at all. Oh well, it would be fun none the less. Right?

Let me tell you, this ain't your elementary school bingo, kids! This was hard core bingo, complete with old ladies with oxygen tanks, smoke filled rooms, and bingo boards the size of a small child.

When we arrived at the Menominee Casino we were wide eyed and unsure what to do. You would have thought we all had 5 heads the ways these folks were looking at us. We found someone to tell us that we had to get a special card in order to play, which we did. We stood in a very smoke filled room while we all got bingo cards with our names on them. Then we had the tasks of standing in line tyring to figure out what all the options meant. At one point a fairly grumpy old lady informed us that the line was back there, and what did we think we were doing cutting in line. Couldn't we see they were all waiting?(She was sitting at a table that she clearly felt was a line??!!??) Apparently anxiety was already high in the Bingo hall because the computers had recently gone down and they weren't able to sell games in enough time to be able to play warm up games. While we waited in line, a bus arrived with many, MANY older people who had these little pins on-I guess to remind them they'd come on a bus and to identify them?

We decide on what kinds of games we will play, and DP and Man friend walk away with electronic bingo boards, and sister and I have the paper boards. The electronic games I think are for those that want to say they are playing bingo, but really want to pick up a hot lady or man friend while looking about the room. Basically these machines did everything for you, and even beeped and told you to prepare to yell bingo when it was time. Good thing I stuck to the real thing for some authentic bingo experiences.

After looking through my three inch stack of paper games, it was evident that we would need one of those dot maker things--otherwise known as a dauber. Pictured here in case you didn't know what they were. I believe in the world of children, they are also known as Do-A-Dot Art. Clearly this activity was started by seeing some child playing with their great great great grandparents daubers in Florida somewhere! Someone thought "Hey, we could make a mint on this and market it to kids-then they'd already know how to use them in their golden years for bingo!! Anyways, I went and made my selection of a medium size dauber-in purple of course. Sister chose green. Man friend was awarded a FREE dauber since it was his birthday month. You can BET I am going back in December when we are here for Christmas to get my free dauber. It even had a birthday cake and candles depicted on the front. Ah, memories.

Well, finally it was time to get started, and we were playing what is called 9-on, where we had nine games going for each round. There were 27 rounds total, though some were special ones. I swear, I left there with a headache and seeing colored dots floating around the room. It was interesting to watch others play this game. Some came with enough gear to get snowed in for months. Multicolor daubers, little snow globe receipt holder things, coolers of food, smokes--they even served free coffee and soda! I still don't know what you would do with a 10 color selection of daubers, but more power to them.

In the end I left with nothing but a blogging topic, and a better understanding of what was happening in the gym on Friday's when I went to catholic school. My fondest memory of bingo prior to this trip was getting chosen to be the one who was allowed to take my teacher's dollar bill to the gym and buy her a hot dog w/ kraut and mustard every Friday during bingo. I wasn't ever sure why I was chosen to do this, but I remember it fondly.

We stopped off at the slots for good measure with $20. I lost all but $4, but in a last minute decision, I ended up leaving with $21.50.

It was a good day.

(PS--this post was not meant to be offensive in any way. So if you, or your grandparents, great grandparents, or great great great grandparents are a bingo player and felt offended, I am sorry!)

Unbelievably cute dogs!

I know everyone says and thinks their dogs are the cutest things ever. I know several of my regular readers have adorable pups of their own--some really crazy readers have MANY dogs!

For those of you who don't appreciate dogs, or don't like them. I am sorry. Here goes . . .

Addie, Riley, and Molly--DP's parents dog from the same litter!! How cute are they! This was in a rare moment where they weren't trying to put each others heads in their mouths!!











Addie showing her little brother who is in charge. Though when Riley is on the deck, he is all sorts of vocal and assertive! Very funny to watch because he will get all excited and fall off the deck and then he sees Addie and is like, "Oh, shoot, retreat, RETREAT!!!" Then he, or Molly will head under the grill where Addie can't quite get to them.








After all the messing around, Riley goes to the chair on the deck where he just sacks out. Sometimes I will go to the other chair and he will crawl up and just look at me. He needs the stair on the deck to get into the chair, so that is the only one he can get in for now. He won't fit in that chair for long!! He now weighs 20.9 lbs!! His sister is only .2 lbs smaller-though he looks so much bigger!





Hello in there . . .

This is Molly. Yesterday Riley put the whole thing on his head and was walking around with it on his head. They do this sort of drunk looking walk when they are carrying this around, I think because they can't see.










Could these girls look any more guilty?????












This is Addie before her morning cup of coffee. Good thing she has that big mug of joe to get her going!! How telling is that picture. This must feel like doggy day care everyday for her, and this morning the pups and Addie were so low key and droopy. I think it is all catching up to them. Just in time for DP's sister to arrive with her dog, Willie. I think mom and dad should just hang a kennel sign out front!!!

What have I been up to!

Oh so very busy around here. Life with three puppies, a DP, her family, and lots to do has been hectic--but we are having lots of fun.

The other day we went to see DP's sister in Minneapolis--which by the way is really hard to say sometimes, especially with a lack of coffee in your system. It has been known to come out as "Minne-ne-min-opolis" at times. Oh well-much funnier in person! It was a good time. We were able to see the site of the bridge collapse, which consequently is right behind their house a few blocks up. They are doing amazing reconstruction, so you can imagine the traffic concerns still.

Then we went shopping around town. We went to see some tile, glass, and pottery places. I bought a few tiles at this really neat store called Clay Squared and we found some neat numbers for our house. They had to make one of the numbers we needed, so they will ship it all out together which is nice. We won't have to worry about it breaking on our watch! Then we gallivanted around some more. We went to another place called Saint Sabrina's tattoo and piercing place to get my earrings switched out. I got my earring put in there a few years ago when we were visiting and they were really nice--clean, too which is always a plus! While there, I talked with the woman who helped me, who is one of the piercers, and I noticed that she had self-injury scars that were tattooed over. We talked about this a bit, since I was told that I couldn't tattoo over my scars. It was nice to talk to someone-weird as it was at a tattoo place-who was in a good place about her scars. She said she covered them up because it was easier than telling people why she had them in the first place. While there, we also saw a girl--who was CLEARLY in the rebellion phase of her life who declared to us that she was getting her cl** pierced. Hmm, so my lady goes from piercing THAT to working on my ears. I guess the work isn't boring!

We then went to this great store that had all eco friendly home stuff. I can't remember the name of it, but not only did it have great products, but it also had really neat free info you could take. We also went to Bibelot, which is a store that I would spend way too much money in if we had one close to us. Very fun to go to new places and see new fun things!! We were able to get some holiday presents checked off the list. Oh, there was a neato pet store and trendy baby store as well that we were able to get a present in for my little tyke nephew--who is going to be 5 in January--not so little tyke I guess.

OH, REWIND!!

The first day we were there, we went to The Mall of America. For those of you who know me well, you know that I hate malls, and typically hate to shop. You won't believe then when you hear that it was MY idea to go to MOA. I figured I needed at least to say I had been there. Well, we did all three floors-and the first floor twice! We had a good time, a good meal, and I can now say I have been there!

Well, that was that. I have a puppy update in me as well, but I have to take a break. The computer access here is ify, and sometimes really slow. The pictures take a long time to load.

DP's sister is coming to town today with her boyfriend, and they will be here for the weekend. We are going to this large art fest in Green Bay this weekend called Art Street. I am very excited to see what they have to offer, especially the pottery. We will also try our hand at BINGO at the Casino tonight. Should be loads of fun. Maybe we will even do some nickle slots. Always a good time--with our $20 limited stash of cash that is!!

Hope you are all well. Stay tuned for the puppy update!

Addie's Corner- Episode 5

What a trip. I don't even know where to begin . . .all I know is that the moms got up soooo early the other day--I was still sleeping, which means it had to have been early because I am a "Rise and Shine" kind of gal, and that means EARLY!! I lay there in my bed hoping they would go back to sleep-but they didn't. I think the clock read 4am. At least they fed me and then I got to get in the car. They bought me this new thing for the car which helps me from not falling down between the seats. I don't have such good balance in the car, and sometimes I get marooned in between the seats when I fall. They said it would be dangerous to try and un-maroon me while travelling at high speeds, er, I mean the speed limit of course!! This lets me lay on the seat in all sorts of positions and get comfy. Good thing cause we drove and drove and drove some more. Here I am posing with my new car hammock! Aren't I pretty?







I saw a lot of this while we were driving. Moms said they never expected me to be such a good traveler--they told everyone they talked to on that little phone that I was so good. We stayed in a neato hotel in Maumee, OH where they had the neatest park with trails and little kids I could sniff after. I got to run around the hotel room like a little banshee and not even get in trouble. I slept the whole night-until they woke up early again--then I saw more and more of this!! OHH, while we were on the trip, we stopped a couple of times at these big places with lots of cars and people, and I had to stay on my leash. I didn't like that part so much. I was so distracted by the cars and people, and can you imagine that there were people who DIDN'T want to play with me--sheesh. Clearly they missed out on supreme cuteness. I had to pee and poop on my leash (well, not ON my leash casue that would be unrefined and I am NOT unrefined!) and that isn't so fun when you are used to complete freedom in the bathroom department if you know what I mean. I managed though.



The moms got me some new toys to play with in the car, and this was by far my favorite. I call her elephant, and I like to chew on her and hug her. Here I am sleeping with her nearby to me--keeping her safe of course.

Finally we arrived at grandma and grand pop's house. There I got to meet grandma first, since grand pop was out fishing in Canada-wherever that is. She was really nice and she pet me and loved all over me. Finally someone who fully appreciates my cuteness!! Then it happened--the moment I had been waiting for months for . . .





I got to meet my kid brother Riley. Here is is being silly. He and his sister Molly--who is really my aunt, and mom and dad will eventually be grand pop and grandma (sorta like a bad Kentucky soap opera!!) have been hanging out here for a few weeks. Well, now that I am here I can take charge. I have let them know their place--which is on the deck, and when they try and leave I herd them back. It's a good system I think--though I keep getting yelled at when I try and put their heads in my mouth. I don't know why, but for some reason that makes the people yell at me. They say I am a good babysitter though.

The kids found a plastic Folgers coffee can-kids these days are starting to drink coffee so much earlier then when I was a kid. This is a picture of me monitoring the situation. I like to be sure everyone is doing ok, and not getting into trouble. It is exhausting work. I was so tired last night that I slept until 6:30 this morning, which is REALLY 7:30 our old time . . .

They like to sleep under the grill-strange kids they are. This was this afternoon where I was making sure that they stayed out of trouble. Good thing they have me around--could you even imagine the kind of trouble they would get into without me. I have some big responsibility now--to be a good big sister and make sure they grow up to be just as perfect as ME!! I am sure you will hear more from mom about how this trip goes. She is getting all anxious and stuff about bringing Riley home-said something like maybe needing a tranquilizer for the way home. Not sure if that is for Riley, or for mom. Stay tuned!!

WOOF!!

Introducing Riley . . .

There's a lot to say today, but I am exhausted from two days of driving and meeting the new pups. I will leave you will a few pictures to entice you to come back and hear more.

Here he is hiding under the grill . . not so sure of what to make of the big woofy--Addie--that has come. He was used to ruling the roost and now he has to answer to his big sister!!

Oh so ready!!

I...can't...wait...to...go...on...vacation!!!

We leave soon, and the list of things we have to do seems to grow by the minute!! Tomorrow we will take Addie to daycare to play for a few hours, and then she will get a bath to smell pretty for meeting the new family.

SO much to do, so little time!!! I will blog I am sure while we are gone . . .but until then . . .


See YA!!

oh-and today at work they asked me if I minded going to a conference in San Diego . . .um, let's see . . .HECK no. I haven't been further west than Minnesota. I am very excited. we'll see if it really pans out. a paper we wrote got accepted to the American public health association and we have to do a 12 minute presentation. whoo hoo!

Garden Update

These are just some of the many many tomatoes we have gotten. The week before we left we had a ton of tomatoes and ate BLT sandwiches two nights in a row. One night we had a tomato that filled up the whole piece of bread. One slice was that big!! Seemed while we were away though that the tomatoes overpowered the cages they were in and the cages have started to buckle. One has even broken and we aren't very sure what will happen to that plant. Lessons for next time--only one plant per cage, get square cages, and leave more room in between. We also came home to one of these nasty ass bugs I blogged about before-and it had the larvae on it-made me want to puke. I didn't-but we did capture it and tied it up in a bag. Filthy bastard!


These are some of the peppers. These are the long ones-but we also have had bell peppers as well. We have been cutting and freezing these. We had picked some of these earlier in the season before they were ready, but realized that they needed to be much longer and larger before they were just right. Unfortunately dad's peppers didn't grow, so we hope to have some to bring to them when we leave on Thursday.






While I wish I could say that this is the pumpkin that was the size of my ass, I would be lying like a very large sac o' potatoes. But we did come home to find this growing in the mulch/weed/crap pile in the side of the house. There is another tiny one next to it as well. This is where we put the pumpkin plants that we pulled from the garden. Apparently it was real good at transplanting itself. I am a bit worried since this little guy is hanging from the middle of the fence. I hope once it gets larger that is can keep itself up--and that my woofy friend doesn't think of it a a snack!



Now this, my friends, is the very large one that scared the poopies nearly out of me. It is hard to see, but it is very large. It has started to turn orange, but it is very big. I think it is growing larger and larger by the day-- (but then after the way I ate this week, so is my ass). Maybe at the end we will take a side by side comparison for all you playing along at home. Seriously, can you just imagine not having any idea this thing was lurking and then -POW-there it is?





That's all for now folks. I will keep you posted as usual. Oh, the cukes continue to grow fast and furious, but none have been edible. Very bitter and yucky so far. Maybe the ground is just not right for them this year. It is only our first shot at this after all.

Darn these blasted Olympics . . .

i don't think i will sleep for the next week. i don't like that the Olympics are shown at night and i can't resist staying up to watch. It is 2:15 AM and i am still awake . . .wide awake . . .not one ounce of sleepy in me. i can't wait for gymnastics to start-though i am really sad that chellsie memmel is all but out--she worked very hard to get herself back in the game and now she has a sprained ankle . . .

DP is off babysitting tonight and i am so horrible as it is going to bed when she isn't here . . and now i have the Olympics to keep me up even more!

Sheesh . . .

BTW--how freaking cool was the opening ceremony with those tiles things. my dad and i were trying to see what was making them go-he thought people and i said surely it had to be hydraulics. nope, he was right. amazing!