Girls, Girls, Girls

Yes, we are going to be in trouble. Not only do we have the "hi Michael P" with the giggle and wave at the store, he is surrounded by them at his soccer practice! They had a break, Michael sat down and then the girls came over by him.

Anywhoo, he LOVES, soccer. He ran the whole time and had a blast. On Saturday, his team and the other parks & recs teams get to practice with the varsity boys from the high school. He can't wait Saturday. His team name is The Snow Tigers because white is their team color.

He has always thought he wanted to be goalie until he played that position yesterday. He says the goalie is "not where the action is". I think he has really found his nitch. He really is pretty good. I think they have an indoor soccer league here for kids.

Who knows, maybe we have the next Beckham here.

Doing Richard

Well, as I said earlier, my goal was to start working out again. Monday, I got up at 6:30 and did the "Dance Your Pants Off" video with Richard Simmons. This morning the alarm went off and I kept hitting snooze. The day is not over yet.

Many people will laugh at this cute, funny little brillo-fro headed man. Not me! I know when he is saying "you're made of steele" he can see just how hard I am working. He is very encouraging. However, when you are first starting to work out, you find him a little more than annoying. His work out takes about an hour. I switch between several tapes, although, I use this one more than the others. I only use the "Disco Sweat" one for his "You did the munchies so you do the crunchies" abdominal work out. I have been known to shout "shut up" to the TV when the people who work out with him are excited to "feel the burn". I know the tape is edited and those people had breaks! Cheaters!

I have a work out ball that I use as well that I have a DVD I use to go with it. That one is only about 5 minutes long and the first couple of times I didn't feel anything and thought "no big deal". After a couple of days, I realized there were muscles I have never used before.

Lastly, I work out with the "fitness on demand" that we have with our cable. I like to do one of these 10 minute work outs before I go to bed. I always do the abdominal ones. There is a clock that the perky "ab nazi" says "shows just how fast time flies". What ever! Sean, who just lays on the bed, usually half asleep, will laugh when "ab nazi" says "come on, you can do it" or "this one is a little more challenging, so be ready to feel the burn" and I yell "oh you *itch".

Between all of these work out, the walking I do at work and the trek up "cardiac hill" for school, I should be able to advance to something else by Christmas.

Frdog...

Yes, that is what I believe Hydie is. She pretty much always, always lays flat like this, usually with her head down, kind of looking like a frog.

Neither Molly or Sadie lay like this. When they lay down, it is like a typical (Sean would say "normal") dog with hips at their sides and front paws out kind of like a Sphynix.

Not Hydie. I don't think I have ever seen a dog look like this when they are laying down. She will come in from outside and just "plop", not quietly, on the floor and look at you.

With my luck, it is some sort of highly expensive hip problem.

Maybe she is practicing for some sort of Doggie Olympics. Maybe she really is a frdog. Maybe she is getting ready for a Luau!

Limbo anyone???

Arrrrr Me Hearty

Yep, I'm officially a Pirate. I know, I had classes for two weeks, but that didn't count because only the nursing classes started.

Now it's one big fight for parking along with hundreds of others. I thought that leaving at 9:00 for a 10:00 class would be more than enough time since it only takes about 20 minutes to get there, but you'd be wrong. I did manage to find a close spot after driving around for about 15 minutes. Thank heavens! It was looking like I would have to park down by the soccer field, a good 1/4 mile away! Not that I mind walking, but no matter where you park, you have to walk up "cardiac hill" which consists of 78 uneven stairs.

When I was in high school, I was a Trojan. Spare me, I've heard every joke. I think it means I have evolved actually. Trojans showed up in a horse and fought with swords. Pirates are up front about their intentions. They're there to take your stuff and maybe make you walk a plank.

I am just so happy to even be in college! I never really thought I would go. I have the "Park University" sticker in the back window and will someday have the "Park University Alumni" license plate holders. I'll be soon getting some "Pirate Gear" and may attend a few sporting events. How fun!!!

Gosh, I hope I don't have to grow a beard and loose an eye. Arrrr.

Who Needs Sleep

I am a person who requires little sleep, however, when the need for sleep catches up with me, I crash hard.

I can get by on as little as 3 hours of sleep and still function. After about 4 days, I have to recharge and then, why I don't know, I just start the process over again.

When I was in LPN school, there would be times I would be up until 2 in the morning writing clinical paperwork, go to bed, get back up at 5:00-5:30 to study for a test, be at school from 7:30-4:00 come home and then work from 7pm-7am.

For what ever reason, this past week I have had a hard time sleeping. I have slept off and on all night then up for good at 6:30. Last night started my "stretch of 3" meaning 3 days of 12 hour shifts at work.

Last night kicked my butt and today I really needed to recharge. Did that happen? That's a big NO.

Why is it when you need to sleep:

• your dogs bark at EVERYTHING, including "I think there might be something out there" crap.
• your phone rings 7 different times and 4 of them are "sorry, wrong number"
• the UPS man, who was supposed to come yesterday when you were awake, comes today and rings the door bell 3 times back to back
• trucks that back up with the "beep, beep, beep" are on your street

I am not someone who can just hit the pillow and I'm out in 30 seconds. Sean can do that and it drives me nuts. He can wake up and go right back to sleep.

I have to unwind and have some sort of noise. I usually have to have the TV, the ceiling fan and the oscillating fan all on. Then, with each interruption, it takes me that much longer to get back to sleep.

I guess it's time to invest in some ear plugs.

UGH!!

I have been trying to post a couple of blogs, but I can't upload any pictures! It's a free site, what are you going to do.

I have had every intention to get back in to working out. I was working out twice a day, here lately, it has been once or twice a week. My plan is to get up around 6-6:30 and do one of the Richard Simmons that I have before I get the kids up for school. Then, before bed, I'll do one of the 15 minute "work out on demand" that are free on cable.

Since I have given most of my clothes away, I have no choice but to get my rear back in gear. My hope is that by "saying" this, where others will read it, I'll actually do it.

I'm starting this on Monday.

Back To The Books

Wednesday, the kids started back at school. They each got the teacher they wanted and each have several friends in their classes.

Monday was back to school night. When Noelle met her teacher, she said "Leya and I really need to sit together" to which the teacher responded, "if you think it would be a good idea for you two to sit together, I'm thinking you shouldn't". Well, that burst that bubble.

Noelle has no one with the same name in her class. Big surprise. She has been called "Nicole" before. She used to just answer, now she will correct them and say her name is Noelle. The other day, someone was calling her "Holly" which has never happened before. When he said he didn't know why he was doing that, she said "probably because of Christmas". She is always quick to point out that she is NOT a Christmas baby, and that she was born in the spring.

Michael has another "Michael" in his class this year. The other one goes by "Cole". I have asked Michael if he would want to go by Mike or something. He said nope and I think he has pretty much given in to the fact that he will forever be known as "Michael P" since that is what pretty much every kid at school calls him. We will be at the store and some boy or girl will say "Hi Michael P". If it is a girl, she is usually giggling and waving.

When we were having this "do you want to go by something else" conversation, I told him that I will always call him Michael. He said "well, of course you would, it is my name". I then told him that one day his girlfriend may call him "Mike". Without missing a beat he said, "well, she'll have to hit the road if she thinks that's ok".

It will be interesting to see what he thinks when he is 26 and dating...maybe.

He's A Live Wire

Well, Michaels EEG & MRI appear to be normal. All went well yesterday. I forgot to take the digital camera with me so the only picture I have is the instant one they took after his EEG.

He had 26 electrodes on his head that were then wrapped in gauze to keep them in place. He took a short nap for that test. The lady who did the test had to first mark his head with a red grease pencil and then use some gritty stuff on those areas before using some super thick "sticky stuff" to hold them in place. She did her best to wash the stuff out when she was done, but alas, he had to go to his MRI with "crazy hair".

They put some "numbing paste"on the area where his arms bend (AC) in case he had to be sedated or have contrast. He was able to lay still and watch a movie. I wish I had a picture of him on the table because he had some goggles for the movie and a big headset with a mic for sound for the movies and Tom the man running the MRI. He looked like a fighter pilot. Since he was not "wiggly" he didn't need the sedation, however, he did need the contrast. They first tried in his right arm, no luck. The left one didn't look good so they went for his left hand. It, of course, had not been numbed at all. I had the joy of holding him down while big tears poured out of his brown eyes. The contrast burns just a little (a lot) and I had to keep reminding him to breath.

When that was over, he sat up, said he was starving and we were off to McDonalds. He is back to his old self. Rough housing with the dogs, going 90 to nothing and full of his usual hugs and kisses.

We should get the final report in 3-5 days, but so far so good. I'm sure this will fall under the "we will never know why it happened and it more than likely won't happen again" category.

That's just fine with me.

wired for his EEG sleep study

You Know You're Loved When...

You come home and find a dozen red roses with a card from your husband telling you how proud he is of you for going back to school and how he believes in you.

TGIF!!!

What a week this has been and I'm glad it's over!

First, of course, the computer crashed, second I had two major tests this week and third Michael started having panic attacks. (please note that these are NOT listed in order of importance)

I order our new computer on Tuesday and I am using it now. I love Dell and I don't care much for UPS. My answer to "what can brown do for you" is "follow the instructions I left you on the door". After sitting at the UPS distribution center for an hour and 45 minutes I brought home the new computer.

My first two weeks of my bridge program for my RN are over (happy dance) and I have a week off before it gets "really intense". One of my instructors from this program reminds me so much of one from my LPN program. Gerry is very much like Elaine. They both are laid back, teach from their own life experiences, tell you like it is if you like or not and don't believe in surprises. It's nice when someone tells you "you need to know this for your test" and guess what, they were right!

Michael started having panic attacks Monday night. It has become quite obvious that the seizure scarred him more than he let on. He went and spoke with someone on Wednesday and is taking some medication just for now. I think when all the testing is done this coming Monday, he will be much better. It had gotten to the point where he would not sleep or eat. It was so bad Wednesday before he had his appointment that skipped going to the zoo. After Wednesday night, our little guy was back.

Next week, we are taking on the garage. The plan is to have a garage sale in the next week or so. The kitchen is still a work in progress. Hopefully once the garage is done, that can be finished. Then it will be time to come up with a new project for Sean.

Crash & Burn

Computers, don't you love them! When it doesn't really matter if it works, everything is fine. You can play games all day, surf the web and check your email hundreds of times with no problems. You need to look up an article for your nursing class, it crashes.

I don't feel our computer is all that old. We got it four years ago. According to a friend of ours, "if it was a car, it would have 'historical' plates". Our computer has been slowly telling us it was having inner conflicts. When you would turn it on it would give some message saying something failed to load. It gave no options other than "ok". I figured if this was something major we would have other options.

It turns out our computer was acting like a child who comes up to you saying "mommy I don't so feel good" only to just finish the statement before hurling.

I tried to fix the computer myself thinking that I could reload windows and things would be fine. Three hours later, Sean is home, I am bawling and I still have no article. Thank heavens for the library and thank goodness there was a seat open for me.

Today, after consulting with people who know something about computers, which obviously is not me since my dad said it sounds like our hard drive "went way south", we have a new computer headed our way from Dell.

It should be here next week.

99 Bottle Of Bottles Water

You can always tell how well a trip is going to go with in the first five minutes on the road.

The van was a little "packed" when we hit the road, late due to the nurse following me. Noelle & Michael are in the very back with their "back-pack o'crap", Jack & Riley, tummies full, are quietly wondering "how long will I have to sit in this thing" on either side of Amy, I'm getting comfortable so I can take a nap and my mom is at the helm.

I don't remember if it was mom or Amy who asked "who wants to sing 99 Bottles of Beer"? The next thing you know, mom, Amy & both kids able to speak are singing. Michael suddenly changes the song to "99 Bottles of Water on the Wall". Noelle continues to sing the beer version. Michael says "Noelle, you can't drink beer" and Amy says "I could drink a beer".

Everyone had eaten breakfast before we left so our goal was to get to Council Bluffs. I crawled on the floor and slept in front of Amy and the boys. We stopped at McDonalds to grab a bite and feed/change the twins. When we were done, I went out to the van and saw that one of the back tires were low. We went to a gas station next door to put some air, (that you breath for free, but have to pay for to put in your tire) and I saw that we had picked up some sort of nail! This is the second time in less than a year that some sort of road garbage has decided to attach its self to one of my tires.

The first place I see is Wal*Mart. I get out of the car, go over to ask how long it will take to fix and the girl smiles and says three hours. Knowing that we can't wait more than 2 hours and 59 minutes, I start to look for some place else to go. Suddenly I saw the beautiful Chevy bowtie symbol and headed in that direction. I walked up to the body shop manager, hair looking wild and some sort of stain on my shirt I picked up from the floor, with my entourage in tow, and explained our situtation. He looked at us, checked out the tire and said they could fix it. He looked at me again and then those behind me. I'm sure he looked at us and had two thoughts; this lady talking to me looks like she has been sleeping on the floor and how fast can we get these people out of here before all four of these kids go nuts. We were out of there in less than 30 minutes! We were on the road and back on schedule.

We stop by to see gramma & Ronnie, unload the TV and air conditioner and visited with them for a while before heading to the hotel for some much needed rest. Saturday we spent a wonderful day visiting with gramma and mom was able to catch up with a couple of her cousins. We had a great lunch with some burgers Amy & I picked up from a burger stand by the lake. Later, back at the hotel, Amy took the boys swimming. Jack really didn't care for the pool. Riley on the other hand is like Michael & me, part fish. It will be a lot of fun to swim with him when he is older.

Sunday, we headed for home after saying good-bye to gramma & Ronnie. All the kids were accounted for and the load was lighter. It was a nice, uneventful trip home. We will have enough time to recover before we hit the road in September to head to Minnesota.

<---nail in the tire (yes, I take pictures of everything)

How To Pack A Van

Dad packed the van for us. As you can see, he has done this a time or two before. The trash bags on top hold the two pack and plays. When dad was loading the back I noticed that the window area grew smaller & smaller. When I expressed my concern, he said "that's what side mirrors are for".