I Finally Saw NARNIA: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

MOST AWESOME MOVIE! Loved that part that began with the air-raid and ended with the Professor telling Lucy that she won't find her way back through "there" again.




Biblical comparisons - this was pretty cool for me since I call myself a scripture infant.

• Forgiveness of sin: Aslan forgiving Edmund (I LOVED THAT PART!!!)
• Sacrifice and resurrection: can not remark more here without giving away the movie to those who have yet to see it
• The bible commonly interpreted differently by different people: mis-interpretation of the Ancient Word by the White Witch

Those were the real obvious ones to me, there were others but it would be too detailed for those who want to see for themselves.

Paige and I were very happy to have finished The Magicians Nephew just minutes before we headed out the door to go see this movie. It made us feel rather educated about how Narnia came to be and the story behind the story. Oh, and the Neevil - Paige was happy that we got to see the Neevil.

My first video blog!

(Man, I hope this works!)

Here is that 2 minute video of Kira on her 2nd day of life!

What I did on my Christmas vacation

Well, it was not really a vacation but here is a recap of the past several days:

Thursday December 22: Up at dawn, wake the kids, prepare for work, whisk the kids to their respective schools and off to work I go. Arrive at 8:30 to find limited power in the building. Basically we had back up lights and phones. By 9 a.m. we hear that there is a fire at the substation and the tech guys all agree that it will be an all day fix (based on the last substation incident). Between 9 and 9:30 a.m. we lose phones and I decide to call it a day - I have plenty to do at home. 10:13 a.m. I arrive home, pop a heavy duty pain killer to relieve the pain in my face and throw a load of laundry in while I wait for it to work. Mark W. calls from the church to let me know the power is on and tells me that it is my decision as to whether or not to return to work, (after realizing that the beginnings of the loopiness that is an effect of the pain killer, I decide to NOT make the 40 minute drive) I decline. I don't recall most of the next few hours - I probably fell asleep. 2:15 p.m. I head out to begin the picking up of the kids, back home by 3:30 and throw in another load of laundry, receive a phone call letting me know that a cousin, Judy Charles, who had been battling an illness for quite some time had passed away. Evening comes and with that brings an enjoyable Christmas Eve (eve, eve) service at Granger Community Church. Following that we head over to Dave's sister Sherry house where we visit with her and his sister Kelly and their children and we do a bit of gift exchanging. By the way Kelly, thanks so much for buying Dave one of the EXACT same things that I had already wrapped and placed under the tree...he loves it. We leave and arrive home somewhere between 10:30 and 11 p.m. Everyone heads off to bed...hey, did we have dinner?

Dave enjoying the gift that KELLY bought him.

(I will take some credit, I bought the new DVD player)


Friday December 23: Rise and shine - well Dave did - at 6 a.m. and wakes Breanna to send her off to school. He returns to wake up Paige and as we expected she acts like a hibernating bear. Really, what do they do the last day before break? She gets to stay home. We all sleep in some more. When we finally appear from our cave, we head South to shop for last minute gifts. (Thanks again Kelly, Dave loved the gift). Paige and I head one way, Dave another. When Paige and I are done she spots Dave to let him know that we are walking over to TGI Fridays and to meet us there for lunch. We enjoy lunch (sort of - I wanted a burger but I'm "not allowed" according to the medical professionals taking care of my jaw) and then head back to pick Breanna up from school who professes cruelty upon realizing that Paige was allowed to stay home. We gear up to head out to my sister Amy's for more visiting - she calls to tell us to wait because she is not home. 4:30 she is home, we pack up the truck and head toward LaPorte. We enter and Breanna presents Scott (sister's boyfriend) with the Ghetto Lightsabers that we made him from wrapping paper tubes - 2 minutes later they were destroyed in battle with his 6 year old daughter Kateri. We all take turns holding "the cuteness" (Breanna's nickname for the new baby Kira), chaos follows as Scott riles up all of the kids that can walk - that would be 6 of the 7 that were there. Amy makes a comment about how the baby and I have the same number of chins - she thinks its funny to jab at me about my weight. Good times. Gifts exchange, all appear happy, we load up the truck and travel toward home during which we poke fun at the tacky inflatable Christmas lawn decorations and poorly planned light displays. I think we had dinner. Off to bed we go.

Saturday December 24: Rise and shine at 7:15 a.m. wake the kids and load them up in the truck, we all remain in our jammies except Dave (party pooper), and head to my Mom and Dad's for breakfast. We arrive 5 minutes ahead of schedule and are jokingly told we have to leave and come back. Mom is in the kitchen starting breakfast, Breanna joins in, I leave ...too many chefs ya know. Paige sets the table, I chat with Pops and then pour beverages. Breanna decides to make scrambled eggs on an electric griddle...you have to make your own mistakes...and the eggs run off the edge of it into the grooves. Mom finishes at the stove and Breanna tries her luck at making the eggs in a regular skillet...SUCCESS! A yummy breakfast of french toast with strawberries or blueberries, sausage, and eggs is served. Fabulous conversation, we all stuff ourselves. Mom and I clean up the mess and do the dishes - I wash, she dries since she knows where things go. We exchange gifts, and everyone is happy - Thanks Mom, Dad and Santa. Dave finally talks to his Dad and nails down a time for us to visit. We leave my parents house around noon and head home to reload. I decide it is a good time to visit Osco's to pick up some cream for the rash on my face...only to learn that ANY shopping on Christmas eve is a bad idea. Arrive back home at 1:30 (ish) and away we head toward Dave's parent's house. Great visit, gifts are exchanged all are happy, especially Paige who received 2 out of the 3 items in the Princess Alexa collection that she has been longing for. We head downstairs to pretend that we are the ping-pong champions of the world...in reality we SUCK. Breanna's Dad picks her up at 3:00 or so and is to return to our house around 9 p.m.. We visit some more, ping and pong some more. Leave around 6:00 and head toward the Landry household to see if our secret Santa recipients are home - no they are not. We change course and go to Dave's sister Bobbi's home. We visit, Paige receives the 3rd piece of the Princess Alexa collection and believes that life can not get any better. Paige continues to entertain her Aunt and is therefore invited to spend the night on Monday. Around 8:00 we contact the Landry's (who are Bobbi's daughter Jenny and her husband Dennis) so we head out to play Santa. We arrive, the baby is sleeping - darn it, and they wont wake him. So we give them their gifts. Paige receive a little girl type make up kit and proceeds to make Jenny look all glittery while Dave and Dennis talk sports. I realize that it is 9:30+ and tell Dave that we need to get home for Breanna. As we get in the truck Breanna calls from my parents house so we head back there to pick her up. She hops in the truck pretty upset because her Buscia keeps referring to her as a lost sheep because she does not attend a Catholic church and her relatives from Texas called her a Satan worshipper because of the way she dresses. Way to go J***ski family, way to make her want to visit more. For those of you who don't know - Breanna loves to dress goth and likes heavy metal, anime and read about vampires and witches and such. There are no pentagrams drawn under her bed, no animal sacrifices in the basement, the symbols she writes with are CHINESE. She is WAY too happy to be a depressed, gothic Satan worshipper. Not to mention that she attends church with us every weekend and goes to the High School Ministry there whenever possible. So, obviously a bad end to an otherwise delightful day for us. She was very relieved to arrive home as were we all sometime after 10 p.m.. I know that we did dinner - Wendy's right before they closed between Dave's Parents house and his sister Bobbi's. So, home we are. I go online and pull up the Santa Tracker and he was in Florida - Cape Canaveral area. Paige is not worried. I tell her she needs to get ready for bed, so milk and cookies are put out but no teeth have been brushed. I check NORAD for Santa again and he is in the Big Apple. Paige sees the proximity of New York and Indiana and decides she better start hauling her but to bed. Teeth are brushed, jammies on, parents kissed goodnight. I do my last minute thing and go to bed while Dave and Breanna stay up to "wait for Santa".

Sunday December 25 THE BIG DAY: 5:00 a.m. I awake for NO APPARENT FREAKING REASON. So, I get a great surprise - StarGate is on at 5 a.m. on Sundays! YAY! So, I watch StarGate, then The Twilight Zone comes on and about 15 minutes later I spot a little blonde head poking out of the hallway. She comes in my room to let me know that Santa has indeed been there and crawls into bed with me. We watch Twilight Zone and something wakes up Dave and while he is out of the room for a minute we kill the TV and head out so as not to keep him up. I head for the kitchen to begin making the giant baked french toast and apple bake, and the egg casserole /baked omelet that I had planned only to find that during my trip to the store I FORGOT THE EGGS! Paige spots her stocking and lovingly cuddles the stuffed "dingo" that he left in it. I stress some more and Dave decides to stay awake and try to comfort me with assurances that instant pancakes will be fine for breakfast. I am still heartbroken but Hungry Jack pancakes and bacon it is. Breanna wakes up and we decide to dive into gifts before breakfast - growing up with my parents that would have been sacreligious if there had been a religion - but hey, I was starting my own traditions this year! So, gifts are opened and adored. I move on to the breakfast thing - the pancakes sucked. Everyone reamains in their jammies all day and we eat whatever we feel like - mainly pie. The day continues with Breanna retreating to her room to enjoy her individual gifts, Paige slowly and gradually opens each package and enjoys each gift in it's own time. Dave naps, I nap. Later in the evening I ask Paige if she wants me to read a story to her - of course she does. So, I decide to read to her one of my Christmas gifts (I receive the first three of the Narnia chronicles in hardback! YAY!) so we begin reading The Magician's Nephew. We read almost half the book before we called it a night.

Monday December 26th: We wake up and veg out some more. Paige and I read several more chapters of The Magician's Nephew before we take her to her Aunt Bobbi's house to stay the night. (Princess Alexa and a gaggle of stuffed animals and such joined her) Went to the visitation of my cousin who passed away. Need a pick me up so we headed to Blockbuster. Watched the movie The Wedding Date and fell in love with Dermot Mulroney all over again, and The 40 Year Old Virgin is FREAKING HILARIOUS! Went to bed at 1 a.m. because I was enjoying the deleted scenes and the gag reel.

Tuesday December 27th: Dave gets to stay home but I return to work. After work I grab Dave and Breanna and head over to pick up my father so that we can attend my cousin's "wake". Because I have missed so much work with my Dad's surgery and my bronchitis and Mom's hospital stay I decided it best to skip the funeral. Dave dropped Dad and I off but we arrive later than expected and it was almost over. So Dave drops off Breanna at a friend's house, returns for us and we go back to my Pop's house and visit with him for a couple hours. I learn that I really dont like Lofthouse Sugar cookies covered with frosting and sprinkles and am reminded why the medical professionals have advised against me eating that type of food. Hard foods make my face and jaw hurt. So, around 4 ish we travel to fetch Paige from her Aunt's house and then we go pick Breanna up from her friends house. We come home eat dinner, except Paige who says she is not hungry. Go to bed after reading some more of The Magician's Nephew...or did we. We do go to bed. 11 p.m. Paige comes in our room and is shaking Dave awake to tell him something. Moments later I hear him in the living room with her, and she is vomiting. So, I get up, they are in the bathroom and she is over the toilet getting sick. He is watching over her so I go and fetch the Pepto. She cleans up, rinses her mouth, takes Pepto, brushes her teeth and heads out to the couch. I hang with her a second to see if her belly hurts or if she needs anything. Dave sits up with her for awhile. Sometime later Dave returns to bed and then I hear a horrible noise and Dave pops up like a jack in the box. I dont do well with vomit so I let him be. By 5:30 he is beat, has only had 2 hours sleep - vomiting and bowel issues from Paige all night and so he has called in to work to let them know he will be late. He makes more money than me and tells me that I get to stay home and take her to the doctor, plus she is still awake so I go hang with her on the couch. She is hungry of course so I recall the diet they prescribed the last time she could not keep food down. The B.R.A.T. diet is bananas, rice, apples or toast. So, Paige would like an apple and some Sprite. I cut one up for her. Three pieces in she is done. Comes back to the couch and says that she thinks she is gonna puke. When she is positive she gives the signal and I spring up and throw open the bathroom door and lift the lid just in time for her to hurl in the proper place. She is cleaned up again. She lays down on the couch with cartoons and I lay back down to get more sleep and wait for the doctor's office to open. She wakes me at 9:00, my face is killing me. I call the doctor. Her pediatrician is booked but another can see her at 11:40 - works for us. She is SO hungry and weak she starts counting the minutes until we leave. I talk her into showering/bathing and by 11:00 we are ready to go. So, while we wait for the good doctor we continue with The Magician's Nephew. The doctor confirms that she has a virus. I will not share the treatment he prescribed here. It was pretty traumatic for Paige, but it was administered at 2:07 p.m. and the doctor said she had to wait an hour before she tried any food. By 2:40 she was sleeping and is still sleeping. It is currently 4:13. The doctor said that it is pretty contagious. So, here is to praying that the virus has been contained and that she can hold down some food and that I don't catch the darn thing and miss even more work.

Isn't she pathetic looking?

New Pics of Kira

I do not like to blog about the same thing two posts in a row....

.....but she is AWFULLY cute.

Breanna wanted a picture of herself with "the cuteness"

'Tis the Season to be Jolly

So, it is the holiday season and many people are in an uproar about how people are being greeted at the doors to local shopping establishments. Should they say Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays? I think the person offering the greeting should be given the option to say whatever they want based on what that person celebrates. I know that even though I celebrate Christmas I would not be offended if someone wished me Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or whatever they are celebrating - heck I would be happy if they just simply said Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, or Good Night so long as they were polite. I know that I have on many occasions wished people "Happy Holidays" and not meant to imply that I do not celebrate Christmas. When I have used the phrase "Happy Holidays" it is usually to encompass all of the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Years in the event that I do not see the person(s) after that moment when I am wishing them good tidings. I think that the only times I actually use the phrase "Merry Christmas" is on the day or eve of Christmas, "Happy Thanksgiving" only leaves my mouth on the day or eve of that holiday also (there are exceptions) but I usually just encompass everything with Happy Holidays if it is to someone I barely know and wont see on the day that holiday will be celebrated. It has never had anything to do with being "PC" or not believing in Jesus.

So, just so everyone is clear. I am a Christ following, Jesus loving, Christmas celebrating woman! I put up a tree every year. I sign my kids gifts from Santa (although I have been known to sign the teenager's gifts from people like Jack Skellington, Voo Doo(a cat), Oogie Boogie, Stewey, and Emily the Strange). I think that this year, just to mix things up a bit I will sign at least half of them from Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit.

Here are a few fun Christmas links - one is serious and the other funny

Teach your children who Santa really is (Print this off for your kids)

Foamy the squirrel is sick of the Christmas vs Holiday arguments too (cover your kids ears on this one!)

A stranger in a strange land

I have never been to a foreign country but I think I may know what it will feel like when I do. As a new Christ follower and even fresher church employee I find myself uncomfortable in my own skin when asked to "share" in things common to those who have lived here longer than I have.

The "country" of Christ should not be a scary place to be, and as a matter of fact I really enjoy living here, however - I find myself finding it difficult to learn the language. Well, only one certain dialect is hard for me, Public Prayer. I have no problem with personal prayer, and as a matter of fact, more often than not the things that are going through my head these days are conversations with God. In my head, He and I converse quite well and he understands my fragmented thoughts. Unfortunately, my problem is with being able to form words on behalf of someone else. I can pray silently for someone without any problem but, just like the "impromptu day" in public speaking class, when it comes time to stand up and speak out loud (with no prep time) my brain shuts down and the only thing I can do is ramble in a disorganized manner or be stunned into complete silence. I like to take time to organize my thoughts before speaking.

Today I found myself in a meeting in which my team was asked to partner up and pray for each other. Instantly I could feel myself become flush and filled with anxiety. I love my team. I pray for them on a daily basis...just not out loud or in their presence. I partnered up with Ed Villalba, a man I have come to have great respect for. We had a short conversation in which he asked what he could pray for on my behalf and even offered some time - outside of our meeting - to help me overcome a personal struggle that I am dealing with. He is a kind and generous man. So, he prayed for me. When it came my turn, I started and because I was SO nervous and unprepared I believe that I asked God to help me find the words but so much noise was in my head that I could not hear his response, I could not quiet my fear. In the end, as I felt tears begin to roll down my face, I asked Ed to help me and with so much grace he finished our prayer time together. He directed me to scripture to comfort me and as always, it does.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." (Romans 8:26)

The villagers were correct

So, I like to admit when I am wrong. On Wednesday I joked that I was treated like Frankenstein's monster while I was at work. So, on Thursday I went to visit the fine Dr. Eric Tripp who asked that I correct my co-workers. The proper comparison is that of typhoid Mary . After assessing my fluid ridden lungs, listening to my pleas of "don't tell me it's pneumonia again" and calling it bronchitis, he kindly handed me three prescriptions; covered his nose and mouth with the lapel of his lab coat and politely asked me to leave his presence.

Great news for those of you who, like me, hate to take medication. There is a new antibiotic called Zmax which is "a one-dose-only treatment for mild-to-moderate acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults. " So, considering what the medication is specifically used to treat, I wonder - was the good doctor humoring me?

Dad's Homecoming

Dave and I had the great honor of being the ones to escort my father home from the hospital on Friday. We also were able to witness the removal of his "retention sutures". This was a treat for me because as most of you know, I enjoy blogging these kind of pictures. My dad seemed a bit amused or maybe annoyed that I told him it would go well with the picture of Scarlet's leg after surgery. ( I am giddy with excitement - on Wednesday they are supposed to remove the staples from his chest...I hope they will let me take pictures!)

To bring some of you up to speed - the bypass is done by using veins harvested from otherparts of the body - in this particular case they used mainly the right leg. Isn't it sexy?

So, he is home and doing well. He has follow up appointments with half a dozen different doctors through March of 2006 and physical therapists and home care nurses visiting 3 times a week and more prescriptions to add to his list (which he hates to take) but best of all he is still here with us and seems to have a more positive attitude than I have seen from him in a very long time. ( I LOVE YA POPS! Welcome home!)

Time flies when you have a blog...

I hate it when I have a favorite blog and it does not get updated for weeks, or months. I do not want to be that kind of blogger. So, here is an update on things in my world.

Pops is coming home from the hospital tomorrow! Whoo Hoo! He has been on the physical therapy floor since last Friday and they tell him he has improved so much that they are releasing him a day early. I have not been up to see him since Friday afternoon because I have come down with a horrible case of "ick" which I have to see my doctor about today. I don't want to spread it to my Dad so I have to keep up to date over the phone. I spoke to him Tuesday evening for over two hours. It was really nice. I dont recall a time that Dad and I just talked on the phone like that. I learned some things about him that I did not know before. He seemed to be in a really good mood. I hope that being given a second chance, wait this is a fifth chance, on life that he will have a positive outlook and look at his life as the gift that it truly is. So many people love him very much. I hope he realizes that now - especially with the steady flow of visitors he has had.

Let's see, what else is new? Really not much is going on in my world right now. Being sick does tend to keep one down and not provide much to blog about. OH, a word about being sick. I became ill on Friday evening. Felt HORRIBLE by Sunday, went to work on Monday and probably should not have but I have to get my kids to school every day so since I was up I went, could not sleep Monday evening because I was having difficulty breathing so I did not go to work on Tuesday (which I kicked myself for) so I went in on Wednesday only to be treated like a pariah. I think that I know what Frankenstein's monster must have felt like when the villagers were after him...the only thing missing were the torches. I understand them not wanting me to spread my illness, but I was hired to do a job and I can do some of it from home but not all of it. I did start feeling worn out around 12:30 and I left early and went to try to get in to see my doctor - had to wait until today. Hopefully he will tell me that I am not contagious and that I can go in to work.

Wow, this is a REALLY boring post. Sorry.

For those who participate in Black Friday

Well kids, here is a list my husband sent me in an email...no he did not create it, he just shared it with me because when he read it he could actually see me doing list item #13.

Things to do at Wal-Mart while your spouse/partner/friend is taking their sweet time:

1. Get 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in peoples' carts when they aren't looking.
2. Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. Make a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the rest rooms.
4. Walk up to an employee and tell him/her in an official tone, 'Code 3' in housewares and see what happens.
5. Go to the Service Desk and ask to put a bag of M&M's on lay away.
6. Move a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. Set up a tent in the camping department and tell other shoppers you'll invite them in if they'll bring in pillows from the bedding department.
8. When a clerk asks if they can help you, begin to cry and ask 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'
9. Look right into the security camera; use it as a mirror, and pick your nose.
10. While handling guns in the hunting department, ask the clerk if he knows where the anti- depressants are.
11. Dart around the store suspiciously loudly humming the Mission Impossible theme.
12. In the auto department, practice your Madonna look using different size funnels.
13. Hide in a clothing rack; when people browse through, say PICK ME!
14. When an announcement comes over the loudspeaker, assume the fetal position and scream "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!
15. Go into a fitting room and shut the door and wait a while; and then yell, very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

Update on Dad's Open Heart Surgery

Well, Pops had his surgery yesterday morning. We were all pretty scared when he went in and at the same time trying to be positive. I must say, it is nice having a nurse come out every hour to tell you all is going as scheduled and he is doing fine.

Surgery was over sometime between 11 a.m. and noon. We were able to see him by 12:30. It was hard to see him like that. My 17yr old niece barely walked into the room and started crying. She could not look at him. I must say it was diffiucult to see "Superman" hooked up to so much equipment. I did not want my kids or my younger niece to have the same issue that the other one had so I took a picture and shot some video to help prepare them and make an informed decision about going in to see grampa. Kimmie chose not to go. I do not know if the video link will work so here is a picture to give you an idea:

So, his nurses Open Heart Recovery are of the Nazi type....I kid, I kid.... they are just very dedicated to doing their job and sticking to the rules. There are only 4 times a day when you can visit him and that is 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m. , 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and only for 30 minutes each time, only 2 visitors at a time and no children under the age of 12. So, today I had to video tape Paige in the waiting room blowing kisses and waving and he was up and feeling better and sent her a video wave back. So, if you have not guessed by now he is off the ventilator, all tubes are out of his throat and the chest tube has been removed. He will probably be back to the Heart and Vascular center tomorrow evening. I can not say enough about the nurses up there...lovely people who treat their patients like family. And treats the patients family just as well. So, that is the good news of the day.

Happy Birthday Breanna

Our day began at 6:30 a.m. where I strolled into Breanna's room and lay down next to her sleeping self. In a Gilmore-esq way I began reciting the story which was a historical retelling of the day she was born that started something like: "At this time, 15 years ago I was on my way to the hospital to be induced...."
She whined about being awakened and at one point during the whining I recall referring to the stretch marks that she gave me as a gift 15 years ago... which she counted. Anyway, she received jammies and a kick-butt bath/spa set and the best of all a bag filled with tic-tacs, gum, altoids, and deodorant. Attached to the deodorant was a ribbon with different denominations of money tied to it - total of which will not be disclosed. Also, reminding her that she is going to be sent to Chicago on an overnight shopping trip next weekend with the kids from the the GCC high school ministry LIFELINE http://www.gccwired.com/listTemplate.asp?pageid=26 (someday I will figure out how to make the link and the word all one entry)

So, now we are off to visit her grandfather in the hospital and do a mini celebration with him.

My minute as a restaurant critic.

I just had to share this with everyone. David and I both have Fridays off of work and we like to go to breakfast on those days if possible. Well, today we tried a place recommended to us by his parents. A little place called Carol's Cafe over on 4th Street in Mishawaka. This place is tiny - REAL tiny. We are talking 4 booths and the counter and all cooking is done behind the counter. The staff knew everyone who walked in and called them by their first name. It appears to be run by a family. What made me want to blog about this place is the fact that, not only was the food we ordered good, the servings were HUGE. I can not stress this enough. HUGE. I ordered the "German Special" which is potatoes, eggs, sausage, peppers, onions, cheese and a zesty sauce all fried together and served with toast. This could have served Dave and I both and still have enough to bring home for leftovers tomorrow. However, Dave had the "Bridget omelet" which could have easily fed two grown men or 3 grown women. I felt rather full and barely cleaned off a quarter of my plate and the "to-go" box was FULL. Dave made it through half the omelet and there is plenty for him to warm up for a meal tomorrow morning. I highly recommend this place if you are into the little diner/greasy spoon atmosphere and only if you are NOT on a healthy diet. I also want to send a shout out to Paula, our waitress who was very nice and provided excellent service and kept my coffee mug full. A bonus feature: on the tables is assorted flavored creamers for your coffee - I enjoyed the butter pecan.

Coming Soon:

A picture of Breanna dressed as a nun blowing out candles on a twinkie cake... check back next week for this and other interesting tid bits...until then, enjoy an eyball picture

This is the ONLY picture I have of a RIGHT eye. And of course who else would it be than the one and only, Mr Right himself - my husband David. (The other 65 eyeball pics I have are of the left eye. If you are willing, and I haven't taken your eyball picture before I would love to add you to my collection, or if you were not happy with your last one - please let me know)

The Drama of the Nose

Well, as some of you know, Paige has had the unfortunate privilege of having had her nose broken twice within a six month period. The first time happened defending the honor of a friend. A boy at her afterschool daycare pushed down her friend, so Paige pushed him down, and he got up and punched Paige in the face. After surgery I was not 100% happy with the correction they did but it was a great improvement (I can't seem to locate the BEFORE surgery picture of the first broken nose)

Six months later....she was at a friends house down the street playing on their trampoline and apparently she fell onto the springs and her knees flew into her face and broke her nose AGAIN. It was not quite as obvious to look at unless you looked at the x-ray but I do have a picture of her before surgery this time:


















This is after Surgery # 1 - I could still see the bridge of her nose is pushed to the right of her face a little bit but I think that only I, as her mother, could see it.





After Surgery # 2 I was MUCH happier

You probably can not see what I am talking about but I joked that her second broken nose was because God wasn't happy with the first one either and it was His way of saying "Do it right this time!"

As a precaution her doctor decided that it might be a good idea to have one of those masks made that the pro basketball players wear. So, here is Paige showing you what $600.00 worth of specially molded plastic looks like:

Amazing Paige

So I am just going to give you a glimpse at her doing something great! Climbing a rockwall all the way to the top - barefoot. This happened in June 2005 - many of the boys and the Army personnell running this rockwall were amazed and embarrassed by her speed and strength - wish I had videotaped it.







Here she is ringing the bell at the top (I have NO IDEA why the sun looks like that in pictures I take with my phone.)



And then - since she likes climbing so much....




She started climbing back DOWN - until we told her that it was okay to let go and let the harnesses do the work for her.

Scarlet O'Terror the Bionic Dog

I am sure you are wondering what the heck that ------>
is. Well, I love my pets. I have four furry ones. Two cats, Cinder and Ash; two dogs, Pity and Scarlet. Scarlet is a red doberman and contrary to popular belief, she is very loving and not so graceful (sort of like me). Well, one day last September she was outside for a few minutes and I heard this AWFUL scream-like sound. I went out and found her hobbling around and so I brought her inside where I examined her leg. To make a long (VERY LONG) story short - she broke her leg. A spiral fracture. There is no facility in the South Bend area to repair this type of injury on a large dog. So we could go to Ft. Wayne or Indy to have it corrected. My husband and I had to take days off work between the surgery and the follow ups to make these fun filled trips to Ft. Wayne with a dog who does not like to ride in cars. She also does not like to wear a cast. She chewed through her cast at least 3 times and of course this meant urgent trips to the vet to have it recasted - OH WHAT FUN. NO, victorian collars do not help. So the above picture is what Scarlet's leg still looks like internally. Metal plates, screws and wires. She is the bionic dog. Here are some more pics of her dramatic experience:


The cast and the cone...she hated them both



This is how her leg looked after they removed the cast and staples....she still has one small area that the hair never grew back...but hey, she is a dog and does not care. Besides, her name is SCARlet

Wasted Time OR Planning Ahead For Next Year

So I took a vacation and realized that I wasted a week. No, actually 10 days. No, a week. Excuse the confusion but let me explain. I wanted to take a vacation because I have not had one 15 months. I had no intention of going anywhere, I just wanted to do two things:
1) Get my Christmas shopping done before the chaos begins and
2) have some ME time.

Well I accomplished the first goal pretty much by the end of day three. When it came down to “ME time” I really was not sure what to do with it. So, this is what I can say I accomplished: I finished crocheting a blanket that I started LAST winter and this evening I began teaching Paige how to crochet (to the best of my abilities –which are limited because I can only do things that are square or rectangular.)

I thought I would spend my days reading or exercising or doing things around the house to get caught up with chores. None of those things appealed to me. I was too darn tired.

My first problem was taking a vacation while everyone else did not. This means I was awakened by Dave’s 4:14 a.m. alarm for work. Then again at 6 a.m. to get the kids up and get them ready and take them to school. Only to return home to decide, do I want to try to get more sleep? I did not. So I puttered around and ran a few errands and did some studying but really nothing worthwhile, well the studying was worthwhile but that should not count when you are supposed to be on vacation. I pretty much spent my days waiting for 2:00 p.m. to roll around so I could go about my normal routine of picking up the kids from school and becoming Mom.

I discovered that I would love to start scrap booking and realized that I did not have the spare money to purchase all of the supplies that I would need to do it properly (yes, I am THAT anal). I discovered that I would love to start making jewelry and had the same problem that I had with scrap booking. I discovered that I would love to hang out with my friends during the day – but guess what? They all work!

What surprised me most, I did NOT want to read. I normally LOVE reading. I didn’t want to do it. Another surprise, I wish I would have gone away somewhere by myself. I wish I would have planned better instead of waiting until my body and brain said “Hey, dude, we need a break.” I realized last night on the way home from church, as I was listening to Bon Jovi on the radio that it has been 16 years since I have seen the ocean. I took it for granted growing up having it so close for so many years. I did not realize until last night that I missed it. I know, I know – there is always Lake Michigan, but those of us who have seen the ocean we know it is not the same. Nothing compares to realizing how small you truly are when you stand at the edge of the shore and know that there is an entirely different world under those waters. Sitting on the sand, with your toes in the water at sunset and letting the sound of the waves hypnotize you…

I guess I will know what to do next year. Scrap booking and jewelry making on the Jersey shore with a friend I have not seen in 13 years. I can start saving for that! Hey, I accomplished something! I came up with a plan for NEXT year. I feel better now!

To Blog or Not to Blog...Why? is the REAL question.

I have tried unsuccessfully for the past week to get a blog up and running. Why? I believe it is because; I took a vacation and found myself wanting a place to publish my most profound ponderings. I do not really know if anything I might say would be truly profound, or even of interest to anyone else. I guess we all dream that we are the great reporters of life. That somewhere deep inside us there is a vast depth of knowledge that only we possess; that somehow it is our responsibility to let the world know some of our great wisdom. In reality, that is all a crock of malarkey. We all just want to be heard.