Very very behind!

I am so behind in my blog reading and writing!

I promise I will get back on track soon . . .none of you are forgotten . . .

Hope all is well in your corners!

What a situation

There's a situation at work that is making me slightly ill.

We have a young man-23yrs- who has MR and brain damage due to a seizure disorder where he used to fall and hit is head all the time. His mother immigrated to the US from Jamaica when he was younger to give him a better chance at good docs and such. He ends up at our facility about 8 years ago. He had some serious behaviors like running away, hitting others, etc. He was very active--loves riding his bike, running around with the maintenance department, etc.

He also had very bad scoliosis that was affecting his breathing. The social worker got his home state to allow him to stay at our place post 21 until he had the surgery to fix his back since when he went back to his home state for adult programming he wouldn't have the insurance to pay for the surgery. TONS of hours of advocating for him lead him to the surgery. He has the surgery and the next day the cage that was holding his spine together popped and he is now a paraplegic. No feeling from the waist down. A year later he still asked when we will allow him to walk again . . .

So in the midst of this he is non-compliant with personal care--once being totally toilet trained he is now in diapers and doesn't like people to see him naked. He pulls out his catheter which has causes lesions that have become infected. He has injured a number of staff during his aggressive outbursts . . it goes on. He is a huge liability the agency says and they charge me with the tasks of making his home state take him back--citing that we said we'd keep him until the surgery was done and they could place him in home state.

They have nothing to meet his needs--mom isn't a good advocate . . and we send a discharge letter for the end of this month. They have nothing for him and as a result he will go to a state center. This makes me so sad on many levels. People here are burnt out because of him, and we are not an appropriate placement for him. But it makes me so sad when I tell them my concerns about where he is going and they say they don't care. I know they are frustrated, but this kid is bound for a life of being drugged up to assure compliance and I am saddened by the fact that people are just congratulating me for getting him moved.

He will go on Monday, and his mother told me the other day that she know I didn't care if he dies, as long as he got out of our place. This hurt--because I know in part that this is not right for him. I feel angry and upset about this . . .though I know I am fighting a losing battle . . .

These are the days that being a social worker and seeing the ills of the world suck big time. In reading Cheryl's blog about her experiences with school social work I know I am not alone in feeling like life is hitting us over the head faster than we can dole out resources--

GRRRRRR.And there are no other social workers where I work . .I work with all clinical behavior folks and today I tried to explain to my supervisor how I was feeling and she told me I was becoming too involved and that I needed to separate and know that this was not what was best for him. I told her I knew that but I still had feelings about it . . .

In other news things are shaking up a bit here at home and I am excited to see what is in store for us.

Hope you are all well in your corners of the world.

Brain hurts

My brain is so full that it feels like it is about to burst and roll off of my body. A ton going on lately and I am trying to stay afloat . . .

Busy time at work--graduation was last week and it is my job to make sure that everyone has a place to go after graduation and it was down to the wire.

It has also been raining-like every day for the last two months I think . . .it gets old after a while and I am ready for some nice weather...the only good thing is that we haven't had to use the air conditioner yet this year and that is great!

Meeting Miss Daisy and other random notes

It's been quite a week. We went kayaking last weekend and it was absolutely fabulous!! I can't explain how free I feel on the water . . .gliding through this powerful source of life and being . . .just small me on this great big lake and the trees and birds and animals. It was just great. I even tried a sit inside kayak this time and did great. I was afraid my bum wouldn't fit without a great deal of WD40, but I did well and actually kind of liked it a bit better. I will do a thorough comparison before we ever get one- for the amount of money we spend to rent, I am thinking we should just buy! The place we rent from sells their supply at the end of the season, so maybe we'll go that route.

Then it was just a busy week at work. We had the memorial service for one of the students that passed away a little over a month ago and that was just sad .. .I mean happy to remember him, but the family put together a slide show and it is just rough.

Then on Friday I got to meet my blogger buddy Daisy! and her man friend. It was awesome to put a face and more of a personality to this person who I have been blogging with. Though I was nervous that I would be stood up, and my friends were glad DP was going along in case Daisy ended up being a blogger-phile or something. It was nothing like that! We shared a great meal at Bahama Breeze and chatted about just about everything. I think it was a wonderful start to a great new friendship. Our next mission--GAY BINGO!! I can't wait. Thanks Daisy and Man-Friend for a great night and a warm welcome!

Yesterday we did a whole lot . ..since it had rained all week, we still hadn't buried our last guinea pig friend who died earlier this week. He hung out in the freezer until we could get out there and properly bury him. He died very suddenly--I noticed one day he wasn't looking too well and then that night before we went to bed he died. I think it was because I changed his food-I felt he needed something more exotic . . .and I have serious food issues. DP thinks it is because she was wondering what would could do with the corner in the living room without a big cage there . . .either way he was joined many a friend over the rainbow bridge!

We also went to the dog park where we had a super dog meet up. Three of our friends came and the pups played for about 2 hours. After that they went for baths and I went to get my friend for respite care for the afternoon. We then went to this sad strawberry festival . . .which should have been named " old folks festival". There was one little pot of strawberries and lots of older folk. We were disappointed that there weren't berries to buy, but we had a bowl full and then went back to deal with the garden and the 'hog. This will be another post later.

Then we went to a local fair. Now, this fair was sad because it was small and nothing like DP and I remember a fair being like. Oh, and tit was also on the grounds of the old Franklin Mint Museum which is just now all empty and overgrown and sad looking . . .It was a lot of overpriced games with crappy prizes, and just about anything you could want . . .fried. We did partake of fried oroes as we have seen them before and always wondered. They were yummy, but I could do without eating them again. We did that and then took our friend home.

Then we assembled our new grill that we got for our anniversary. Our cute little Weber Q was not working right, and we decided to upgrade to the real Weber Performer:

We put it together last night without killing each other . . .though we got to the last piece and realized the work surface was broken. No problem . . .we called Weber and they are going to ship a new one right away and send Fex Ex to get the old one. How it that for service. I have never used a charcoal grill before, but I am excited to learn. We also got a veggie basket and pizza maker for the grill . . .hehe . . .I am excited. Rebecky is coming over tonight for our first cook out.

Well, that's about all for now. I am off to church now . . .we have our grand opening for our new building today which will be our worship space until the final phase is done . . .but not for a few ears. I am actually thinking about trying to church hop for the summer and see what I can come up with. I love the church I go to now, and the people are amazing, but I want something that I don't have to feel bad about with the whole gay thing . . .and we found a few churches nearby that are welcoming and affirming churches . . .and I think DP will even check them out with me. Can't beat that!

Ok, over and out or now . . .stay tuned for the more about the 'hog war going on!

So much going on

1. Went to my first prom--at work they have a prom for the kids. this one guy who is such a mess-i mean his family is a mess, involved with the local children and youth . .i am working so hard with them to get them in home help--he is a day student--well, dad said they weren't coming because they didn't have transportation . . .i vowed to find a way next year to get him there . . .wouldn't you know about 45 minutes in he shows up with his whole family . . .I just about cried. if i wasn't in a room full of people i think i might have. the resilience of families amazes me sometimes. now, if he misses the evaluation i set up for him on Friday again, i might have to go postal . . .

2. Meeting Miss Daily this week and am very excited . . .

3. Got season passes to local water park by my folks . . .I think my mom is sucking up as she is being very nice and I know this sounds weird, but it feels kinda uncomfortable . . .not sure what to do with that.

4. Therapy is kicking my ass. not much more to say other than the fact that sitting still is harder than i ever could have imagined. the journaling thing has been going well and she is being much more strict with me and not letting me get away with shit. good stuff.

5. work changed out insurance coverage and i am afraid i will not qualify as seriously mentally ill anymore--not that this would be bad, but the amount of visits you get with the therapist if you are normal is not a lot. i used to qualify no problem for SMI but we are worried they might question how SMI i could be and not take any meds . . .

6. will have to decide in a few weeks with my doc if i need to take blood pressure medication which is such a bummer for me. she said that even though i was getting healthier, the fact remains that everyone in my family has high BP and it just may be a genetic thing. frustrating though when you are finally on the right track and losing weight.

7. I am up to 20.8 lbs lost . . .this week i think period is coming and i have been a bottomless pit today, but i am trying to be ok with that. got a fancy schmancy pedometer which keeps me motivated!

8. Everything is in the garden now, though something has scurried away with the tops of three of our tomato plants and two whole pepper plants . . .i am pissed . . .don't mess with me and my garden damn it!

9. KAYAKING tomorrow and I am so damn excited I can hardly stand it!!

How is everyone???

Weekend Stuff

We went to the folks house this weekend to paint my childhood room. The room was purple to go along with my white canopy bed and unicorns! I loved that room . . .except when really bad things were happening. Those unicorns and I went to so many places during those times.

It was indeed bittersweet to finally be able to paint over that room, those memories, and everything else to go along with it. I have finally found a place in my world to forgive my brother . . .and this totally helps to get rid of those remaining memories. We redecorated and it looks like a grown up room now!

I even found it in my heart to be decent-no, nice to my mother. I think we had a good weekend.

All together it was good . . .and I needed it to be good.

Therapy today

There was a bit of a scare the last few weeks with therapy. Mainly my company was switching insurance companies and there was a few days there where I wasn't sure my therapist was going to be covered. I have been seeing her for about 8 years and she and I are finally working on some good stuff. The rest was about keeping me alive and well, still good stuff but not the down and dirty kinda stuff that I needed to get to.

When I thought I was going to lose her-and yes I know that sounds dramatic but that IS a big deal--I started to re-evaluate what we were doing and how things were going along. I realized that we were getting too comfortable in our ways--mostly me avoiding the hard stuff and staying super surfaced. Well, today I decided to journal about it. ** Sidenote-->Oh and also, before I qualified for the SMI benefits--serious mental illness--and now with the new company I likely will not qualify. While I still have the dx's, I don't take any meds and they could say well, how seriously mentally ill can she be while not on any meds. In that case I would only have 20 visits per year. I need to check on this tomorrow at the benefits fair . . .

I had looked through a number of my old journals and I was struck by how much stuff happened my last year of high school and freshman year of college that I just don't recall. Scary to read your own writing and not know where it came from. I was deep in the doo doo of life, and I am just thankful I made it through. But reading it I was aware just how powerful of a tool my journal was for me. I used unlined sketch books so I could draw, write, paste things in, keep notes and cards, etc. I was seeing an art therapist for a while and so I have all those pictures. I saw one today that I thought I might take out and put in a frame. It was of a safe place--which of course for me was a big comfy chair, a book case, a carpet, and a bookcase. It looked divine! I can see why I would have chosen that as my safe space.

So I started writing about how it felt to read those two journals--of 10 . . .and then I wrote out some things that I wanted to work on with shrinky dink. I was scared as I read it to her, as I didn't want her to feel offended--and then we quickly assessed that we needed to work on the intense judgement and criticism going on in my head AT.ALL.TIMES. All in all it was a good session and we decided that I would bring my journal each week and at the end of the session we'd come up with something for the following week along the theme.

I am feeling better, therapy was good, my tummy is full, and tomorrow is my weigh in day. I saw a number this morning I don't recall seeing in a VERY long time. I hope it is still there tomorrow for the official weigh in day. I feel really motivated and not so hungry all the time.

Thanks for coming along with me. I so enjoy the fact that I have blogger friends who are interested in my world. Hope all is well in your corners!


Oh, another question for you social work types--any information or resources on therapists being in therapy--thoughts about it? I have often wondered how this affect my ability to fully engage . .

The Write Stuff

I have always loved to write. When I was young I used to journal about all sorts of things. When I was in high school my friend and I had a ntoebook that we woiuold exchange during each period change and it was just reflections of how we were experiencing life.

I had a bunch of journals that I took to college with me. Then when I started dating the therapist I was seeing--yes, I KNOW there's a post but not now! Anyways, she thought it would be therapeutic for me to burn those journals and I did just that. What I would give to know what my little head was thinking back in the day. I feel like so much of that stuff is out of reach for me . . I don't know that it is important for me to know, but I'd have liked the option.

Now I have 10 large sketch books that I have journaled in and have kept. I have told DP that should I die she needs to be sure that they get destroyed. The things I have written about over the years are raw, they are crazy, and they are a look into my past that is sometimes scary. Since blogger has come around, I have stopped journaling as much . . .and I wish I could get back to it.

I did get a journal that had prompts, and that seemed easier than thinking that I had to write pages and pages all the time. But I feel stuck again. I feel like I need to re-evaluate where I need to go with therapy, and I haven't the least idea where to start. I thought I would write about it but I am stuck . . .any ideas?

More random thoughts!

Oh, and BTW--the girl at work who has an EDO and I finally chatted . . .I am hoping that perhaps rather than allowing her to be a trigger we can be supportive of each other. We will see.

What's in a number

I have been thinking a lot about food. In fact it seems I think about food a lot. The more I try not to think about food the more I think about food. I am sooo tired of it. I am tired and weary of the fight with the number . . .how it can single handedly change the way I can feel at any given moment.

Truth be told, I am feeling better about food lately since WW, but I still feel like it has way too much control over me. I had a few bouts of purging, but then I was able to stop it. Then there was the weight gain over Easter that was hard to take since I was trying to be very good about the food. My mother and father also made a comment to me at Easter about my food which I had a difficult time with--they mentioned that I hadn't stopped eating since I got there---which I know wasn't true, but they said it and I went off. Then they acted surprised when I reacted that way-and I reminded them that teasing me about food isn't a good idea. Should I have to remind them of this after almost 20 years of being eating disordered . . .this is not a new thing.

I feel easily triggered the last month or so. There's a girl at work who I know has an eating disorder, and we have had to work together more and I watch her and what she does and sometimes I feel jealous that she is so good at it, and I can't be anymore. I don't want to identify as that anymore, but sometimes it is hard to take. Then I have changed my therapy day and my therapists specializes in EDO and the girl who goes before me is clearly anorexic and I couldn't help thinking about it when she came out. I don't know if I need to say anything more to my therapist, as it seems dumb.

I just often think about a day where I look in the mirror and I feel good about myself--no matter what number should appear that day. I feel like I am starting to rely more on how I feel and hunger signs--which is relatively new, but they are weird too. Imagine that--listening to your body and not feeling like it is a big fat trader . . .

Oh, and by the way, I am finally nearing a number on the scale that I haven't seen in a very long time--in fact next week I will probably see it which is why I suspect I am having feelings around this now. I think I am worried that I might not find the elusive happiness that I have always said would come with being smaller. What if it has all been a lie and that I could be happy RIGHT.NOW. In fact, I have a friend who lost over 150lbs and I saw her and we chatted for quite a bit and I said to her "You MUST feel better now-healthier . . .?" and her response . . ."not really". What if I get there and I still feel all this crap??!!??

Not sure where I am going, or what I need. Just some random thoughts from the couch--where I have been most of the day--sick, and wanting the rain to go away.

Just testing this mobile connection. Maybe this will help me stay posted on my blog. We will see.

What fascinates you?

Ok, back again. Damn facebook for killing my blog . . .Oh well, it is what it is. But I am here to pose this question to you . . .

This came about as I was at a training this week and there were two sign language interpreters. Now when there are interpreters present, I am hard pressed to actually pay attention to what I am supposed to be paying attention to. I am not sure when I became so enthralled by the moving hands, the mouthing of words, the seemingly secret club they were all in. The one the other day even winked a number of times. I wanted to be in the club and I could only watch and pretend I knew what they were expressing.

I have thought in the past that I should utilize this fascination for good and take a class or something, but alas I am limited by the few signs I know.

The same could be said for the guitar. I could watch someone play the guitar for hours . . .and I even bought one from my friend and vowed that I would take lessons from her once I finished graduate school. I bought a dvd and a book for dummies or something. You think I ever did anything with that?

I wonder what gets in our way of following through with the things we'd most like to. Maybe it is lack of time, fear of failure, not being able to do it well enough. Well, maybe one day I will sign up for a class or two . . .

What about you?

Things

Things have been pretty crappy the last few days. The family visit this weekend didn't go very well, and ended quite badly actually. This has thrown me for a loop--though today was surely better than yesterday, and perhaps tomorrow will be even better.

We lost another resident yesterday, and another today. It is VERY unusual to lose 4 residents in a matter of a month an a half . . .people are starting to wonder about us. Though all but one had a reason for their death . . .still weird though.

Looking forward to therapy tomorrow, and the nice weather this weekend. The rain hasn't helped the foul mood.

I hope all is well in your corners-

Addie's Corner-Episode 7

This is me . . .playing with a ball. The moms have been taking us to see our friend Buergi and he and his dad have a HUGE backyard that we can run in. Riley seems to think he can outrun me, but that whippersnapper has another thing coming. I usually can run faster than him, but I am not interested in the ball once I get there. This makes the moms mad cause then they have to go get the balls. It's awfully funny!






This is my kid brother Riley--though he has gotten MUCH bigger than when I last had to talk about him. He weighs more than me, and people refer to him as the bigger one. Whatever . . . I have to admit, he is quite handsome. He was even asked to be photographed for a calendar that our local favorite pet store is making. His birthday is coming up next month. He'll be one year old! Right now he is a hunger strike . . .don't know why. He's clearly not so smart to go without food. I always approach each meal as if I haven't eaten in a hundred years!!! I would NEVER skip a meal!




Here's all of us-the three puppy-teers. Riley, Addie, and Buergi laying in the grass. We were all pooped after so much running after the balls and chasing each other. Buergi was in love with Princess, and kept following her around. He didn't know or care that she was old enough to be his grandmother . . .oh well. We accept all kinds around here.








This is our cousin Princess, and how she looked when she would run to the fence waiting for her mommy, daddy, and brother to come back from TX. She was very silly-and sometimes really crazy. So much so that the moms had to resort to herbal supplements. They were called "Quiet Moments" and boy did they help. She got it at night in her food and she was instantly a different puppy. Grammy says that she seems awfully depressed now that she is back home with them. She keeps threatening to send her back here . ..I might need the herbs if THAT happens.




Just me and Riley snuggling! We can really ham it up when we need to!














Riley really liked the snow. Here he is with his bowling pin that quacks. He loves that damn thing, but I have to say that at 6:30 in the morning, I am sure the last thing the neighbors want to hear is quacking. But he carries that thing around like a baby . . .The snow was great fun, though the quacker did NOT quack when it was full of snow.







This is me . . .again. Aren't I beautiful? I just loved the snow, and pretended that I was a snow plow by using my nose. This is what I looked like while I was playing in the snow. I also liked to eat it, though moms kept reminding me to not eat the yellow snow . . .and I kept reminding them that I eat my own poop . . .what's a little yellow snow among friends?

By far the best news I have to share is that with mom's new job, I get to go to work with her a few times a week. I have this really tall boy who comes to walk me . .though sometimes I get scared because he makes funny noises. He doesn't talk, but he's nice enough to take me for a walk twice a day. I also get to visit the classrooms. I have a few that love me very much, and they keep threatening to take me home. This makes me scared and sometimes I get my Ewok ears on. Once classroom even takes me outside with them when they go to gym class. I like to go out for gym, not stay inside. I had to pee in my pants once when I was so scared of the gym. I hope they don't take me there again. It is fun to go to work--I even have a bed there for me. AAhh, the dog's life is for me.

Well, I guess that's it. My paws are getting tired from all this typing. Maybe mom will let me write more often so I don't have to type so much at once. We'll see.

WOOF! Oh, and licks to all the pups out there . . .Lyn's pack especially. That lady is one crazy dog lady . . .we'd have so much fun if she ever came to visit. We could round up Sookie and the others and have a grand ole time!

Update -Part II

So where were we?

We had my parents crazy dog, Princess for a few weeks while they were in TX visiting my brother and Little Tyke--who I will soon need to rename since he is 5 already . . .damn . . .where did time go?














Here he is when he visited us a few months ago . . .
He was so happy that he could finally sit still long enough to be friends with the cat. He has been pursuing that thing since he was a baby and never has he been able to control himself. While the family was in TX, mom had to go to the hospital since she overdosed on the wrong insulin and that was just bad. They take such poor care of themselves and it is seriously hard to watch. I am working hard at realizing that I need to just love them for who they are . . .are realize that I probably won't get what I need from them . . .that is really hard.

I will give an update on the kids in yet another post!

We've been doing a bunch of kid sitting and respite to earn some extra money. We keep trying to be serious about saving money and paying down debt, and then we don't. We recently bought a new car--a 2009 Subaru Forester which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. I have never had a new car, and we knew we'd be getting one this summer anyways. Subaru was having a deal, and we went and looked and liked. We used our Costco card and got a killer discount as well. Though we had to go to Lancaster to get it, and one Beans should NEVER go to Lancaster when she has to pay attention. I am SOOOOO over focused on the buggies--to the point where I nearly crashed my new baby whilst looking at a buggy fest happening in a field next to the road. I swear one day you will see that I have accidently run over a small Amish army with my curiosity. In any case, I love not having to fall to the floor to get in my car, and having to hoist myself getting out of the Saturn.

What else . . .the stink bugs have returned, and we must flush about 20 of them a day. I wish to the good lord of bugs to take back his army and leave me the hell alone.

In other news, we have finally decided to have lawn people come to help us with the mud pit. We signed up for a 6 month treatment which include fertilizing, de-grubbing, seeding in the fall and some other things. The price was reasonable and I think DP agreed to shut me the heck up. Either way, bring on the grass.

I guess that's it for now. We are heading to mom and dad's for the holiday. Hopefully we'll see some friends on Saturday night. I have an appointment with a foot guy on Monday. Foot felt horrible the last few days . . .today perfect. I hate the not knowing what kind of foot day it will be. I guess it could be worse.

Hope you all have a good time celebrating whatever it is that you celebrate!

My weekend . . .in pictures.

The chairs we ordered from By the Yard. They are made from recycled plastic and will apparently last forever. They are really comfortable, and we hope they will hold up. We only had a few extra parts!









The area on the side of our house that has become a mud pit. We decided that it would make a nice shade garden.













We got the little fence, and it was going nicely until we couldn't figure out how to make the middle close. It is being held together with a cable tie. If we decide we like it we will maybe get a real fence in the future. Hopefully the birds will come even with the woofie friends around.







The garden before. We rented a rototiller from Home Depot and an mere hour later we had a garden ready for planting peas--which went in the ground today. We also put up the tomato cages and arranged the rest of the garden area for when our seedlings are ready to plant.
















The after. The soil looks and feels wonderful!














We also tilled a bit of the front of the house and planted some bulbs we pulled up when we moved, and a few that someone from work had given me. We also made a portion of our fence into a gate so that we can get larger pieces of equipment into the yard--such as the stump grinder that will be coming this week to get rid of the stumps. The gate thing was an undertaking, but done This will also work well to get RHB into the back yard if we need at times as well due to her wheelchair.

I am very excited about the garden this year. We got some new cages for the tomatoes since the one last year all broke. We also got some cages for the peppers, eggplants, and peas. We shall see.

My update . . .

Ok, so I haven't officially fallen off the blogesphere, but I sure was close. Thanks to Lyn and Daisy for bringing me back to my senses. So, you may be asking yourself what on EARTH has that girl been up to . . .well, I am about to tell you, so hang on tight!

For starters I started my new job in January, and it is great. I mean, I finally feel like I love what I do, I am making a difference, and it is the right balance of having time to do my work, and to see co-workers, families, and kids. There's a group of us that has lunch together most days and it is nice to laugh and to know there are other folks out there doing similar things and experiencing similar struggles. This also means, of course, that I am actually GOING to work each day, and that took some adjusting, and still is a lot. I don't expect any sympathy, I am just sayin . . .also at work, we have had two kids die in the last month or so, and that has been extremely difficult.

Chronic pain . . .never thought if it really, until I realized that on any given day I was in enough pain to put me at a 6-7 on a scale of 1-10. It has taken a lot to work through the pain in my heel, and just in the last few weeks my other heel has decided that it wanted to hurt as well. Just walking to the other side of the room has been excruciating. I had to switch insurance companies when I changed jobs, and now the insurance I have doesn't allow me to see the guy I was seeing for a while without paying a LOT of money. I went to my family doc to get a referral for another foot guy, and she also gave me an anti inflammatory and a pain pill. I took the pain pill the first couple of nights last week, and it was enough to zonk me out, but not sleep at night so I had a few somewhat sleepless nights. However, the anti-inflammatory on the other hand has been amazing. So much so that there have been some parts of the day that I have little to no pain what-so-ever. I will still make an appointment to see the orthopedist, but I am glad to have some pain free time. Doc told me she was shocked at how flat my feet are and wonder if that doesn't have a significant impact on how I feel and my feet.

Speaking of how I feel, DP and I have been doing weight watchers, and I am down about 11.5 lbs in three weeks. The progress has been slow, but steady and I feel like we are on a much more manageable plan. In the past I have done extreme things and they lasted for a while, or I became totally obsessed. Right now there's a balance between eating well, and having some yummy stuff once in a while. We have been experimenting with different grocery stores in the area, including Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and other generic stores. We've always gone to the others at times, but we have been rotating and it is keeping things interesting.

Well, there's more, but I need to eat . . .stay tuned for some more tomorrow.

Hope all if well in your corners.

Weight Loss

Thanks Lynilu for persevering with me to try and get the weight loss tracker on the page. I started weight watchers two weeks ago and we have been doing really well.

Stay tuned for all this and more to be posted . . in detail . .by the end of the weekend as promised to those of you that saw on facebook!

be back soon!

I should come back

To blogging that is. Things have been very busy . . .and to top it off we lost another student today . . he died on campus and it was really very traumatic for everyone. I knew this guy, so it made it that much harder. Spent most of my day talking to staff and informing them and then families. Makes no sense at all . ..two otherwise healthy boys in the last month dying . . .the one died while at home, but this guys dad asked rather suggestively "haven't you had someone else die recently" sort of implying we are in the business of killing people . . .we told him the other one died at home and somehow he was comforted by that.

Though someone I know and love and work with on Facebook today wrote "Heaven is a very different place tonight :) " while I wrote "today sucked . . big time . . "

I guess it is all in your perspective--though I wished I could have more of her perspective.

Blast from the past!

Caroline posted something that made me think and research things that I used to lvoe and adore as a kid! Take a look!!

They're leaving . . on a jet plane!

No matter how much snow we get tonight, the parentals are leaving on a jet plane tomorrow--I don't care where they go, but they will go. I called dad to say that if the weather was bad today up there then we would drive up there and drive them back . . .his response "Gee, you REALLY want to get rid of us, don't you!"

They are coming in to our house today and then tomorrow I am supposed to take them to the airport. We are supposed to get about 6 inches of snow--which means in these here parts (due South of where Jenster is from!) everything shuts down and the grocery stores get cleaned out of milk, bread, eggs, and apparently cherry yogurt.

Oh well. I just want this trip to be a good one for them. Mom hasn't flown in over 40 years, and dad hasn't flown in a long time. They are going to TX to see my brother and his family. They will stay for about 3 weeks. Then they will come home and they will be radically different for the experience! This is my hope--that they find renewed vigor for life, and realize just what they have been missing my staying holed up at home for the last 10 years.

Should be very interesting!