Cryoanalgesia - what fun, what fun!

This is the Probe! Actually, I saw the probe my doc used and it was twice as long, seriously, as this one. No kidding. Twice as long. I'm not sure why; and I'm not sure why I looked. This was the second time I've gone for this procedure, and I believe it's working. I suppose that's why I've gone twice. At least it's taking some of the edge off. I think.

It's also possible I may have it done on the left side. Call me crazy, no seriously, call me crazy. The first time I had it done, I opted out of the Versed. The Versed, although a wonder drug for making one extra sleepy and forgetting what's going on; exagerates my migraines. So this time - Just give me the Versed already. I'll deal with the migraine, and I did. Like always, every stinking day OF MY LIFE! oh, boo hoo.

So in short, here is what he does: Versed, yum, (at first). Then he makes this nice incision in my occipital lobe. Yeah, the back of my head - oh I have lot's of curly hair, which he is jealous of and makes comments of shaving me each time he sees me. He's bald. He is not shaving me.

Then comes the fun part, more Versed to get, uh comfy and stupy, but still feeling pain. The long probe has now entered the back of my skull to freeze the nerves that are causing me so much freaking PAIN!! Wait, so is the probe. AH AH AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Zap zap zap.

So is it worth it? I suppose I'll find that out over the next few weeks. As for now, the pain on my left side is becoming more unbearable, and I'll be getting an occipital block on the 12th and he'll be scheduling me for the cryo (yipee) on that side.

Here's hoping it WILL work, as we are planning on vacation this year. Which means driving to Virginia Beach, despite the outrageous gas prices. Hello Scopalomine; hopefully, good-bye to some car-sickness. I don't travel well. At all.

This year we are taking Vanessa with us; and I can't wait. She has never gone and she is so excited. We haven't been in two years; as last year I was just too icky to travel. This year shouldn't be too bad. I can't wait to go. No, I can't wait to BE there. I'm planning on sleeping on the way there. Frank is a dream, he drove the entire trip! I should probably drive some of it for him this year if I'm feeling better.

Oh, and better news; if the pain gets too unbearable, the infusion center is up and running. And I've utilized it. It's so much better than going to the hospital. So so so much better. Those days, I hope, are over. I can only hope. As for my meds, I'm just praying they'll continue to do their trick; because, there really is nothing left for me to try. As I truly have tried every round out there. Every. round. available, that is. for me. Outside of allergies and adverse reactions.

Enough of me. So, in honor of our faithful vetertans - like my grandpas and dad, Philip, etc - hang a flag, go to a parade. Which reminds me, our Marisa will be in a parade on Monday. her first parade. She is playing a snare drum. Watch for pictures.

Happy Memorial Day. One week for our Philip to be home with us. YEAH!!!!!!

Just for fun

Try this for fun: www.Joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

My song was The Ballad of the Green Berets by Staff Sgt Barry Sadler. How patriotic, considering Philip coming in today.

If you can't get enough of Mark Wood:

MARK WOOD CAMPS - SUMMER 2007!
So you've always wanted to work with Mark Wood up close and personal and learn some of his amazing violin methods? Well, here's your chance!
JULY 6-7: MARK WOOD CAMP - Chicago, IL. There's still some room to be a part of this amazing experience which is open to all string players from a variety of ages and skill levels! The weekend will culminate in a wonderful concert event!! Call 815-467-7698 for FULL details and pricing information.
JULY 16-21: International Fiddle School at Vanderbilt University - Nashville, TN
JULY 23-28: San Diego Mark O'Connor Strings Conference - San Diego, CACLICK HERE FOR MARK'S COMPLETE CALENDAR!

MARK TEACHES PHYSICS WITH DR. ALTMAN!
While in Oswego, NY where he spent a week working with students as part of our Electrify Your Strings program, Mark met physics professor Dr. Altman, who found his 7-string fretted Viper to be a PERFECT vehicle to demonstrate some incredible physics theories!CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EYS TOUR ABOUT TO COME TO AN END!
By the next newsletter, we'll be continuing to update our Electrify Your Strings website with TONS of photos, stories, video clips, etc. from the 2006-2007 "Orchestra Rocks" tour that is just winding down... But for now, visit our "Experience" page (click on link below) to see (and hear) for yourself some of the amazing schools we've visited this year...Visit the EYS website!
Many thanks for being a part of the Mark Wood & Wood Violins community! Stay tuned for MORE EXCITING NEWS...Visit the official Mark Wood website for all the latest updates!

So, yes, I'm putting in my plug for Mark Wood. I believe he is doing something completely wonderful for educating our students. Learn about his cause. He sets kids on fire for music; something that is fast fading from many school districts. It came close to ours in my Freshman year.

I wish for you all, a wonderful weekend.

Guts, Gizzards and Gonads...Oh My!

Ah, the arrival of Spring. Tulips, Daffodils, Petunias, Dandelions. Yes, I do love the sunny, yellow Dandelions. A fistfull of them, when they come in from the front or backyard, is my absolute favorite.

I am not opposed to their smiling faces on my front lawn. Frank, on the other hand, is. The kids delight in them as they turn into, what we call, "blow flowers." They pick them, and make a wish, before they blow their little seeds across his lush green carpet of lawn. I'm just sure that Frank cringes each time he sees this.

With Spring also arrives the little bunnies. The baby bunnies; hopping along the flower beds, eating the clover, and the little buds of early springtime flowerheads. And along comes the Evil Kitty, Miss Nala; and the baby bunny is no more. No, the sweet little Thumper has not only been killed, but dismembered. Again.

This should not be a surprise to our family, but each year, at this time, it is. With the arrival of the first pelt of baby bunny, we all feel the same discontent toward her. We look at her with the same disregard.

Yesterday is when it happened. With the baby bunny, that is. Three days ago, maybe four, we saw the little field mice. One on the deck, one on the porch. Two weeks ago, there were the chipmunks. We've come to expect this from the cats. Not so much Bosco; he just plays with them, throws them in the air, just mice mostly. But Nala, she has the killer instinct down. Waay down - deep. Like Hanibal Lechter deep. Scary.

The kid's step-mom was quite terrified when she saw the chipmunk laying on the porch, dead, with his little teeth and paws - all dead-like. At first she was all sad, until I told her what happened. "Cat." To which, she just grimmaced, "OH! Nasty." I tried to explain the difference between the two cats, but she doesn't like cats. at all. So it didn't really matter. She was just mortified by whole deal I think. So Frank just bent over with a grocery bag and took care of the little thing. That may have grossed her out a bit, too.

Good thing she didn't see what Nala did yesterday! Overheard in my house: "Mom, Nala got a baby bunny!! Well, part of one, I think. Yep, it WAS a baby bunny!"

Then there was lots of yelling at the cat. They refused to let her in the house. She decided she wasn't going to come in anyway, she had to show me MY prize. Thankyouverymuch, Miss Naly. Off to the deck she scampers away. to dismember her bunny.

This morning, Marisa again refused to let her in the house. And as I looked out on the deck, I could see what remained of the bunny; some intestine, guts, and the other assorted insides and pelt. As if that wasn't gross enough, when Rocco went outside, he decided to dine on it. I hate. that. dog!

OK - speaking of dogs: Did anyone catch this stupidity this week??Implants for Neutered Dogs!! No kidding. They are called, get this, Neuticals - testicular implants for dogs that look and feel (cause I need to feel fido up) like the real thing - are said to boost a pet's self-esteem by replacing what was lost.

Made from polypropylene (at $119 a pair), solid silicone ($249)OR liquid-filled "ultra-plus" model ($889). Neuticles were intoduced in 1995 by Misouri inventor Glenn A Miller. He claims more than 230,000 pets in 49 countries have "Neuticled."

Are you KIDDING ME???? I can't wait to have Rockhead neutered! But that will be the day before I implant ANYTHING back into those hangers. I'd put a pic up of those rocks, but I'd probably lose my site.

On a better note - Philip will be coming home on American soil tomorrow!! Halleluia!! Thank you to all of those who prayed for his safety. Please continue to pray for our military, for our country. He will be home with us in 2 weeks. His Dad, Mom, Sis, Niece and even his Uncle from Italy are all meeting him in NC on Saturday. We are putting the finishing touches here on his room/family room right now.

A Chronic Blankey

If you suffer from chronic pain, or any chronic illness; and throw in a little wrench to your day - like say bronchitis; it makes things........interesting. If you add in oh, let's say um, the flu for instance, now we're talking vacation. A week, maybe two, if you're lucky - all to yourself - on the couch, then the bed, then the couch.

Of course, neither is comfortable, what with all of the body aches, the chills, did I mention the spinal pain?? I don't ever recall having pain running the length of my spine before like that. I didn't know I even had a spine really, but it's quite lengthy for someone of my stature (five feet) short. And the muscles that seem to unfold and wrap themselves around me; I felt everyone of them. For five straight days!

Now, for those of you who don't suffer with migraines; I know what you're thinking! "Duh, take Ibuprofen, dummy!" The thing is, I really can't. Well, I can't take too much due to something called rebound headache; which for me, is quite terrifying. And I've been there. However, after day three of absolutely NO relief from my heated cornbag, I caved. I took three - and they worked! It was like taking Morphine that one time in the hospital for my migraine. An instant of relief. Aahhhhhhhhhh!!!! But it came back. Naturally.

Guess who else came back! The storm. The dark and terrible storm of migraine has reared it's ugly head, and refuses to leave.

That is just par for being chronic. It comes on quick, it triggers the monster, and it's slow to leave. Whatever "IT" is.

I have been a mumbling fool the past 2 weeks. That is, when I can stay awake. I can't concentrate to make a sentace. I don't feel like I make sense. Simple things are seeming very difficult.

And it starts with that little itty blue pen dot of a lihgt. You're not sure if you see it at first, you know you do, deep down. But it's only there for a split second before it's gone. You wait to see it again, looking, searching, but you don't see it appear. Then you hear it, searing out of the distance, to the right. And it pierces the inside of your ear like the tine of a fork; sharp and jagged, cold. Louder and louder as it pierces. As it digs deeper, you feel the force of another object in the top of your head, like a railroad spike hammering in; 'BANG! BANG! BANG!' Topped off by the blow to the back of the skull that vibrates for the remainder of the day. No more light. No more sound. Your stomach is now reeling. The monster is back. You've been wrapped again in your chronic blankey. Migraine.

Well, Tickle MY Ivories

I totally love those socks! I must say, he was just fabulous, simply fabulous! What a charming man, that Harry.

He opened up with "Come by Me" and it was sooooo good! I was just moving and singing in my seat. What a blast. If you haven't seen Harry - GO. See. Harry!!!

His set design was very N'Orleans style, with street lamps and dark lighting, along with low- hanging ceiling fans; just three, which barely ran. I'm guessing the background picture was of the French Quarter, perhaps one of his favorite buildings.

His band, who were just as get-down-and-boogie in the Louisiana way as you can get, were all dressed in black suit and tie; as was Harry. He joked and complained about his high-heeled shoes, and co-miserated with us gals. What a down-home guy.

He played songs I've heard and a few I'd hadn't. But I so enjoyed him. Frank just enjoyed ME enjoying him. That's not to say he didn't enjoy the show.

When he sang the old Hank Williams, "Jambalaya," I jumped out of my seat!! My father used to sing that when I was a little girl, so naturally I had to sing along with Harry, too. It was so much fun. That was by far, the calmest crowd I've ever seen, I must say.

I would see him again if he comes back. Oh, and guess what is coming back? The Phantom! And Frank is working on our tickets. This time we will be taking the kids. And next year, Evita is coming!!! I wonder if they can get Antonio to play that part? Hmm..........

And the Mother-of-the-Year-Award Goes To..........(child whispering second edition)

Well, Me! No thanks to the 14 year old that currently resides under the roof. Please allow me to explain.

Let it first be stated, that on several occassions, too many actually, I have said this: "You will recieve ONE wake-up call and after that, you are on your own. The big, yellow vehicle which arrives at our door at 6:40, via our tax dollars will wait for 30 seconds. You get two trips from the red vehicle parked in the driveway; after that, you walk."

Today, was the "after that." At 5:40, Cinderfreakingrisa recieved her wake-up call. I didn't see her again until approximately 8:00 when Nick and I were eating breakfast.

Now, I must rewind to Friday. Friday was the banquet for Winter Drumline. As banquets go, this was an event for parents and the kids alike. Or. so. we. thought. On Thursday, while I was at the desk doing some uh work, I noticed the paperwork, minus the permission slip. I figured that Frank must have taken care of it. He also had noticed it, and thought the same. Thankfully, I asked him about it; and we both realized why it was missing - Marisa had taken it.

So I called her down to the office and asked her about it. Her explanation was this: " I didn't think you guys would want to go, so I just handed it in."

Naturally, the Mom in me is hurt; the growl in Frank is pissed. It's just the way we react. Now, there are still two other parents who have yet to be invited; her father and step-mother, and she has taken it upon herself to uninvite them as well. already. Naturally, she sees no wrong in her actions, as is her way.

My next statement is this, "I'm sure we can still go and just purchase our tickets at the door." Because, afterall, I do want to go. I am the supportive kind of parent. For the past two, maybe three years, I was unable to be a part of their concerts and events because of my illness. I was in and out of the hospital. Or recovering from being on the meds from being IN the hospital, and too sick to attend. So now that I am finally getting somewhat healthy, I want to be there!!

Her response to my statement was this: "NO, you can't! You can't just show up and buy tickets, Mom!" She clearly didn't want me there. It was more than obvious. And Frank let her have it. Thank you, Frank.

Now, this was on her father's weekend, which is Fri - Sun; and I drop the kids off at 5:30. I didn't know what time the banquet was, as she had taken the paperwork. She knew! As we were pulling up to her Dad's, pulling. up. to. her. Dad's, she says to me, "why don't you just drop me off?"

At that point, I would gladly drop her off, alone in a field nearby....... and make sure she arrived safely to her Dad's. But NO WAY IN THE WORLD was I taking her to the banquet and just dropping her off, as she suggested. The nerve of her even asking, well, she wasn't even asking really as much as suggesing.

Anyway, as I'm just starting my way up the road from her Dad's, he calls my cell, furious with ME! ME! Because I didn't drop her off! Are you kidding me?? Because the banquet starts in, get this, five minutes!! oh yeah.

So I try to fill him in with all of the details, but he is, rightly pissed, because he has dinner ready, on the table, and has company. I suggest he not take her. Hey, I wouldn't. But that's just me, because you know what, after what she pulled, it pretty much served her right. She didn't want any of us there in the first place. She has now put everyone in an uproar, which she care less about. He decides to take her. I definitely would have made her wait until I had eaten my hot dinner at least.

On Sunday, she comes home; not with an apology mind you. Oh no, not her. Those are rare if ever. She had a lousy attitude, which she blamed on her sister. I told her to leave it at her Father's house, because I didn't want it here. I say the same to Frank when he comes home from work with it. Don't bring it home, please.

She just sits and sulks and mopes with this rotten attitude, refuses to let it go. It just festers and gets worse as the night goes on. She brings it to dinner. Christina helped me to get dinner ready, set the table, clear the table; her attitude was bright and helpful. No snotty, brattiness. If she had been bratty at her Dad's, she left it there. I told Marisa to fill the d/w and we were going to bring Lexi home. So when she was done, she wanted to go walk with her friend, I said yes.

We get home, pick up Nick and Chrissy, go to Dunky D and get some goodies. Oh, did I mention we didn't get any for Marisa. Well, I didn't THINK SHE'D WANT ANY!!!!

Naturally, she didn't get that lesson.

So this am, when she woke up late, and I still hadn't recieved the proper apology, and I won't go into detail about the hand-written bickering I DID get, I informed her that she inded must walk to school today. To which she started to sulk.

Ahem, my award please....


Guess who just WON TICKETS TO SEE HARRY CONICK JR TONIGHT??? MMMMMMEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! I won. I can't wait. I can't believe I'm going to see Harry live! I need to go shower! I'm freaking out. What am I going to wear? I gootta go.

UPDATE:
It's 5:30, and I need to get ready to see Harry, but I have a migraine! Can you freaking stand it?! Go figure

Our Money Pit

Aahhh, home; the very idea of it makes one reflect on memories of sheer bliss. Happiness. Comfort. The smell of basil, garlic and meatballs; good sauce cooking on Sunday. Cherry-flavored pipe tobacco. Those are the smells I remember growing up around my Grandparents.


I remember the smell of Pine Sol; oh how I hate that smell. My mother would clean on Saturdays, like a maniac. No, more like the Tazmanian Devil. Pine Sol was her weapon of choice. It burned our eyes - she used it everywhere. She preferred we would get out of her way, way out of her way. "Go play in traffic!" She would lovingly yell at us as she'd show us to the door.


Two years ago, we lost our family room to a flood. I lost more than a family room, I lost sanity and tranquility. I lost orderly, cleanliness and lack of neatness.


I lost the ability to work, because of Migraine (not the flood), I am no longer able to multi-task, organize, and clean like I used to. My home has become almost as much of jumbled mess as my mind; almost. It's easier to to pick apart the house, room-by-room. I am learning to focus. But it is NOT easy. I still find myself trying to multi-task, and I get lost.


I did finish the bathroom, finally, and it is beautiful. The family room, that is mostly finished. It's painted, carpeted; the furniture is in place. I have the curtains purchased, but not hung. I missed my family room when we lost it two years ago in the flood. The kids have missed it, too. It's nice that they can retreat to it again. It will be even nicer that Philip will have a place to rest his head when he comes home. This is where he will find solace. This is the place he calls home.


On Saturday, we had a man come to measure an area for a privacy door for Philip, just at the bottom of the stairs. Nothing big, a folding door. While he was here, I asked him to look at the door leading to the back yard, which is in desperate need of replacement, which he did.



Now, just prior to his arrival, I had been up on the deck, which is quite large, about 16x30 FEET, and about 10 or so feet up above a concrete slab. Anyway, I noticed a few of the boards were oddly loose next to the house. Now the boards aren't really boards, as much as they are the composite material. Are you hearing, "Houston, we have a problem!"??



So I go wake up Frank. "Frank, we have a problem on the deck."



Ok, the guy just came in from working 3am to oh, what 9, and wanted a few hours, which I gave him - all of the hours he asked for. Probably not the way to wake him up; however, it did get his attention. Right! Now I'm seeing the potential for a major problem on the deck, but he's asking for another half hour of sleep. Are you kidding me???



See, here's the thing, I am an alarmist. And, the man of the house - er, the fixer of things. Things that need to be hung and put together-kind-of-thing. Or we call someone. Which is seriously, between the two of us, not a big deal. I'm ok with it, he's ok with it.


He is also better with the um, female things. Seriously. He can so totally hang out with my girlfriends, and "get it." And I totally don't care and think it's fun! As a matter of fact, when Menopause blows into town this summer - and I mean the musical, not the hormonal episode, I'm going with a gaggle of girls, he is serving wine and dessert at home. And he can't wait. Neither can I.



Back to Saturday. Apparently, the deck thing, bothered him. He woke up. The door man came soon after. Now, I was busy doing something so Frank brought the guy to the deck to show him the boards; and he immediately went down below saying, "this is NOT good, not good at all."


Nope, he wasn't kidding. What was supposed to be a simple installation of two doors; has turned into words like, "backhoe," and "collapse" and "danger" "insurance company" or "small construction equipment." I started to feel my knees begin to buckle, and I felt faint, as I mentally watched my children falling to their deaths as he told us how unsafe the deck was. I wanted to run and puke.



Apparently, all of this here snow on the deck

And this. Has caused our deck, which was improperly installed; to move away from the house by almost two inches in some areas. Some 10 feet up, mind you. Oh, and that's not all! Yeah, there's more, so much much more. Hence, the title. Oh, but please, let me take this little commercial break and take a pic of my pretty new bathroom makeover, because it is pretty, if I must say so MY freaking SELF. Thank you Judy for your painting. I can't paint anymore. But I did decorate.

The bathroom is sort of this color. Previously, it screamed this color! Yes, I like this better, too. Under the chocolate brown sheer is my very neatly organized closet. Hmmm, why didn't I get that? The room is taken up mostly by Nick's pool, I mean the jacuzzi.




It's too big to even get in the picture. It can fit like three people. At least two adults. And comfortably. It's too big for me to relax in, cause I'm too short, I just go under. My feet have nothing to touch to keep my head above the water. I've used brown and white for accents. So this is what you see when standing at the door.



The umm, office. It takes two shower curtains to decorate the pool/tub.



Now back to our regularly blogged blog: The Money Pit problem! And oh what a problem it is summing up to be. First he said not to allow anyone on the deck, because, "It could collapse at any time now!" That didn't sound good. That is where I was picturing blood and guts and brain matter splattering everwhere, from my children, onto the concrete below, that we were standing on. Under. the. deck. in. quesion. RIGHT of falling in collapse AT ANY TIME! Hey, bring it on. ok? OK!


Then he says, (you know it just gets better), I think you should call your insurance company, you have serious problems here. You're going to need to get a backhoe here to push this deck up to the house OR dismantle it completely. Hmmmmm, CHA-CHING!!! Let's see, now, back hoe, OR dismantle our wee little deck.


It was at that moment, the cartoon world took over in my backyard. Toontown became real, it was just something so unbelievably beautiful and scary at the same time. I looked at Frank, and seriously, at this point, after I heard the words "collapse" and "backhoe" there just wasn't much more I was hearing but something from the teacher in Peanut's comics. And suddenly Frank's eyes started to roll, like he was getting ill, you know? But they were turning green-like, $$$ these, and they just started to roll and roll in his head. And then steam started to blow out his ears. And funny, I was the only one who noticed it.


Anyway, the man decided to go get some lumber and make some trusses to stabilize the deck where it was pulling away. Thankfully, we were smart enough three years ago, to have someone do that in the middle of the deck; which is what saved us from having it completely collapse. We still need to have the concrete dug and the beams buried four feet, but this will keep us safe on the deck until we do. It's just fortunate we had someone who knew enough to look out for our safety; and we have the good Lord on our side. I am just thankful, so very thankful, that noone was hurt.


Apparently, whoever installed the deck, did so by nailing the main support beam, rather than bolting it into the house. Idiot. Unfortunately, we are finding a lot of the problems he had done on the house, and fixing them. Hopefully, we will find them before anyone gets hurt by them. What a cost they are to find. That's the price of home-ownership. I still love this grand house. Even if it is a money pit, it's our money pit.

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Hey, I'm being interviewed here! By Jeff, you know, Jeff right? View From the Cloud? Just go check his site out, he's pretty funny. No, wait.... he interviewed me!!

Yes, and I can interview you just for the asking. I know, it's so cool, but first these are the questions he picked for me. He says it's harder than it looks and I haven't yet tried to answer, so here goes.

1. When was the first time you knew you had an official migraine? Hmm, "official" meaning diagnosed? That would be 15 years ago; but looking back on my history, they now see I've had them pretty much since early childhood. Casually starting at age 4, with car-sickness/motion-sickness and working it's ugly head into the headache phase.

2. Whose idea was it to get a snake in the first place, and when did you get it? Definitely NOT mine! The first snake, Hyrup, is Philip's. He just decided to come home with him one day, shortly before he enlisted in the Marine's. The kids instantly fell in love with it. I gradually accostumed to him. He is now a part of the family.

3. How and when did you and Frank first meet? Probably 15 years ago in church.

4. How do communicate with Philip and how often? He tries to call once every week or two weeks, but that's not always possible. So his Dad has a Myspace account to keep in contact with him on an almost daily basis. This way he sees pictures of him and his brothers on the hummers and some of the things they are doing, and able to post. He has mostly female friends on his network. No surprise there.

5. Who is your favorite writer or poet? Maya Angelou! I love Nicholas Sparks and Nora Roberts, too.

That wasn't too hard. Thanks, Jeff! Now, I'm going outside for some beautiful sun and warm air. Going to go walk the beast. Have a beautiful day! Oh, here are the directions:

DIRECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW MEME
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

WARNING: SNAKES ON THIS BLOG!

LEAVE NOW IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE SIGHT OF SNAKES!

This is a disclaimer to any and all family and friends, and friends of friends and family; THERE IS NO LONGER ROOM AT THE INN. NO VACANCY. ALL ROOMS ARE FULL. NO STABLES. NO CRATES, PENS, CAGES, TANKS, BOXES, NO PET BEDS OF ANY KIND ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS DAY FORWARD. SERIOUSLY!!!!! NO, SERIOUSLY, AND I MEAN IT. WHY??? WELL, this pretty much says it all. This is NOT Hyrup. This is Pancakes. (tell me about it! strange enough that I have to foster the things, I did not name them, ok!!) nuff said there. right - Pancakes and Hyrup. the snakes. Can you stand it? Aren't they sweet? HA! get it?

So, before boy number 3, Philip's good buddy, left Monday night; he gives me his weepy-eyes and sad story bout how he would just LOVE ME to watch his snake for him while he's gone. I cannot say, "no." What is my problem with that little two-letter word? It has such power over me. Not so much really, as the animals do. So now we have 2 snakes, 2 fish, 2 cats (snake bait), and 1 dumb dog. 3 kids. We are totally out numbered. Let's not forget that Rockhead is still waiting for his little princess to go into heat so he can get his! And Frank is holding out for a pup on that; hmmm...... I just keep reminding him of the yummy sound he makes when licks his jewels over and OVER AND OVER again, non-stop, which makes Frank growl and yell and want to um harm the dog physically. Again, I do not want another ball-licking, poo-dropping, insane idiot. Albeit, I love my dog, but he is plenty to deal with.

Just look at the size of his head!!! Trust me, there is nothing in there. Nothing. It is completely solid. Like a brick. And just as heavy. When we sit in the livingroom, he rests his head on the coffee table because it's too heavy. I will get a pic of that for you. He is sweet though. Idiot.

No more pets. No more foster pets. Each of the kids has something of petdom in their rooms. Nicholas gave up the fish to Christina yesterday since she has the "beach theme" going on in her room and she was the only one without a pet. Now, he and Marisa each have a snake. So, 2 out of 3 of my children living under my roof essentially have a "pet" living in their rooms that could strangle them to death. Hmmmm, reassuring for a great nights sleep for me! Maybe I should consider going back to iguanas! I mean, the only thing I had to deal with then was a little bite or salmonella, maybe a tail-whipping. What am I thinking!!! I'm DONE!!! DONE DONE DONE!!! NO MORE. no more nomorenomorenomore. NO M O R E.

On a brighter, more normal note, the sun IS shining here. Talk to me!! Oh yeah. AND it's supposed to hit 60 today. Color me happy. OOOOOH and I actually got a clean bill of health yesterday. Amazing. The skeptic in me is waiting for the bomb to drop as today is my least favorite and scariest day of the year. don't know why, but this day has forever been etched in my brain as a day of doom. I'm not a supersticious person and I will walk under ladders to make other people crazy. I don't read my horoscope, or things like that. But, April 19th, for whatever reason, don't know why, scares me. I'm not going to stay indoors because of it. Or avoid life. I will say this, because it was weird, Nicholas woke up, came down to me and the very first words out of his little mouth were these, "something bad is going tohappen today." Which freaked me out, then I happened to look at the calander and whammo. today! Yeah, so with that, I'm going to go shop for my pretty new bathroom. take my boy to lunch.

Have a beautiful day ya'll.

Deborah

It Just Keeps Getting Better.........NOT!!!

Migraine With Aura May Be Linked to Heart Disease Mortality


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Information from Industry
An Effective Treatment Option for Migraine Prevention Lives are interrupted and negatively impacted by migraines. Learn more about how migraine prevention may make a difference.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 09 - Data from a new study point to a possible association between migraine with aura and an increased risk of coronary heart disease mortality in women.
"There is substantial evidence that migraine may increase the relative risk of stroke, but the relationship between migraine and coronary heart disease (CHD) is less clear," Dr. Jie Jin Wang and colleagues from the University of Sydney, Australia, write in the April issue of Cephalalgia. "A number of previous studies have suggested an association between migraine and chest pain, but not CHD."
The Women's Health Study recently reported that migraine with aura, but not migraine without aura, was associated with an increased risk of CHD events in women. In the present study, the investigators sought to clarify the issue in a population-based cohort of 2331 Australians ranging in age from 49 to 97 years.
Overall, 233 women and 69 men reported a history of any migraine. Of these, 119 (11.3%) women and 44 (6.5%) men gave a history of migraine with aura, and 114 (10.8%) women and 25 (3.7%) men gave a history of migraine without aura.
The subjects were followed for a mean of 6 years. During that time, 30 women (2.8%) and 30 men (4.4%) died from CHD-related causes. A history of migraine with aura was associated with a non-significant two-fold increased risk of CHD death in women (age-adjusted relative risk 2.2, p = 0.11). The association remained after further adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors.
No CHD deaths were observed in men with a history of migraine.
"If confirmed in other populations, these findings imply that there may be biological links between migraine and systemic cardiovascular disease," Dr. Wang's team concludes. "The nature of any such links are unknown, but may involve pro-coagulable states or a generalized vascular disorder."

Do I dare ask; what next?? Too late. It's already out there. Of course it's vascular! Ok, but cardiovascular? Come on!

I think I'm being badly affected by, well, duh migraines; yeah. But also the major lack of SUN that just refuses to shine over here in the north east where we are experiencing vast aMOUNTS OF GLOBAL WARMING SO BAD THAT THE GAS PRICES HAVE RISEN AGAIN!!! AGH AGHH AGHHHHHH!!!!!! Even though my bathroom is starting to look pretty with it's new color of almost like this, robin's egg blue, the fumes are killing me. And the fumes from the rug that was installed yesterday. Pretty (ha) stinky.

And what is wrong with people today? That someone would just wake up, and go off and kill 32 people. It makes absolutely no sense at all. And I'm complaining about a migraine from paint fumes. Oh, and lack of sun. Those poor people will probably never sleep well again, or be able to look at strangers the same way. Life sometimes makes no sense when you are left to survive.

Spring Nor'Beaster

These are the hyacinths that are being covered by the new falling snow. The snow that is coming in from the coast line. The snow, that is mixed with sleet, and is quite heavy. It is gritty, like sand. It has completely covered the primroses that came up lastweek.

See how it is weighing down the branches of my little tree! All I ask is this - WHERE IS MY GLOBAL WARMING?? WHY DON'T I SEE SIGNS OF GLOBAL WARMING?? It has been anything BUT warm here. We have only grey skies, no sunshine. I believe "global warming" is nothing but a political stunt used for votes. Look at my poor little tree.

This is Bosco in his Hawaiin get up. I'm thinking of sending it in to Stuff on My Cat. He doesn't mind the costume, and he actually looks pretty good in it. Can you make out the coconut bra? Nala doesn't like this costume, makes her look fat. I think I'll get a better pic, maybe with him sleeping or lounging with an umbrella drink or something. a better pose. One without me in the background.

Look how cute he is when he sleeps. Here he is with his tail over his nose to keep warm. I have got to get a pic of him trying to fit himself into the cat tree. He is too big, but he does try to get in, anyway, it's pretty funny. nala just looks at him in her ever evil way like, "what an idiot," then she just hisses at him and he sweetly meows at her and tries to make friends; then she attacks him. Evil little thing. Look how sweet he is.

I took the girls to get their hair cut on Friday, which is always difficult. I wish I had taken my camera. I had my neice with me, Kaila. She was an absolute blast and I can't wait to have her again. She is the same age as Christina, and only a little bigger than Nicholas - and there was absolutely NO fighting all weekend! All 4 kids got along great. They laughed, they played games! It was great. It was wonderful. Well, Marisa had already decided to go for a real cute funky cut. short and choppy. For Chris, I had decided, hers needed some much needed cutting. She, on the other hand, thought she was only getting about an inch off. not so much. There was a lot of poochie-lip and red face crying and Kaila was being very funny trying to make her laugh. She was cracking me up. In the end, the cut was great, she now loves it. Both girls have donated to Locks-of-Love, everything is great.

The bummer of the whole weekend was this: another death, this time one of the girls' classmates. An 11-year old boy, and very sudden. This was a complete shock, I'm sure to his family, but also to the kids.

So yesterday, I took Chris, Kaila, and two other girls to the wake; and it was just awful! But I do believe it was good for the girls, as they needed both closure and understanding. We met their teacher at the door, as well as a few of the other staff; and I was happy to hear there would be staff on hand for much needed counseling and support when they return tomorrow. (after the snowday). I suppose the snowday will give them some extra time to adjust.

When we were driving from the funeral home, they were all talking about going back to school and seeing his empty desk and locker. That is where they will feel the reality. The shock of his absence.

On a brighter note, Philip called and he will be home in five weeks! We are currently finishing up our family room, as I type this. The rug guys should be here any minute now to finish installing it. Then I can move the furniture back in and clean it, oh joy! I just hope it's not wet from all of the stupid snow! UGH!!!! The lady who is painting the bathroom called to cancel until tomorrow because of the weather, which I totally understand. And gives me some extra time to prep some of it anyway. It's exciting to get this stuff done. We've been waiting a long time. Little by little, something gets done. The money pit takes up more cash. But it's so worth it. I love this house.

I can't wait for Philip to get back home. He's bringing two of his buddies with him from Iraq, from his platoon. We have met them on his Myspace account, so we feel like we know them. But I can't wait to meet them, and hug them, feed them, share my home with them. Allow them to feel at home here. Watch them beat up on Nick with Phil and make him cry and giggle. I can't wait! This is Philip, that is a colored contac

When a Friend Dies

Tuesday, at the age of 49, a very dear of mine died. At the age of 49!! What do you say, rather what am I supposed to say to his wife and his boys? I was at a complete loss lastnight when I was with them. A loss for words. They, on the other hand, are at a different feeling or place of loss. They have lost husband, father, best friend, soul mate, lover, teacher, consoler.

How can I ever say or do enough to ever console any one of them in any way? He was so young. I look in the faces of his boys and I see him. Yesterday, she didn't know how she would get through today - the wake. And, no doubt, it will be hard. She is a very strong woman, much stronger than she knows or believes.

49! I guess I'm still not over the shock. And when I have to face him later today, it is going to hit me. I'm not even sure what will hit me. My mortality. My children's. Franks. It's funny how death puts life into perspective.

I can't stop thinking of her. I just want to hold her and tell her it will be ok; but I don't know for sure if it will be. I do know, she will be ok. Her boys lover her very much. The four of them, together, will get through this.

From Bach to Rock Your Socks Off

This is the only picture I was able to take of the performance, due to copyright protection, which I of course understand. But man, I scrapbook. AND Blog. But thanks be to Photobucket. see below. ummm. after this blog.

What an experience, let me tell you! He rocked the house, totally. Along with 170 stringers; violins, violas, cellos, bass, oh and the croud of some 500 maniac parents and teens. We were awed by, not only him, but the kids. This man has a vision. For music, and for bringing the love of music into the heart and soul of these kids. He's going in to the schools, with his son, his wife and his band, one being co-creator of the Tran-siberian Orchestra, to energize and "electrify,'' as he put it, their strings. Check it out:
electrify
mark wood

If your district hasn't had this experience yet, I urge you to seriously look into it, and soon. The passion he has redirected for music in these kids was something you must see for yourself. To see 170 kids, wow, one hundred seventy kids, with bows, bopping their heads, and jumping up and down, and quite literally getting into their music was just mind-blowing.

This same district, some 20 something years ago, was voting down the music program. Now, we are inviting legendary music to inspire our kids. When they played Puple Haze, and Eleanor Rigby, whoa. I mean, how often do you attend an orchestra concert for the school and hear those oldies? Like, never! Oh, then there was the light show, which is probably why my head is a little under the weather. It was all worth it. The best part, by far, was when just the kids, all 170 were playing Stairway to Heaven. Incredible. I'm hoping they will have a cd available for the district, because it was just, can you tell I was blown away.

He visits the schools, teaches them to find their passion for music, and to allow it come alive from within. And then they perform. Not only that, he teaches assemblies for the entire school in the district/districts, of all levels. This I believe is the 3rd year he has been back. My first time seeing him, certainly not my last.

We are fortunate enough in our district, to have Kristen LaDue, who teaches the orchestra. She has also played with the Syracuse Symphony and Tran-Siberian Orchestras. As a special guest lastnight, Mark's brother Greg performed, he also play with SSO. What a performance!!

Oh, and the Viper! Too cool. They raffled one off for $5! He hand-makes these incredible 7-tringed electric violins. (Kristen's is hot pink!) The young lady that won , was given a blue Viper, signed, on stage by Mark Wood, in front of us all. What a rockin night. These kids had the opportunity of a lifetime, and I hope they carry it with them through their lives.

Go to the link, get him in your district. Allow him to electrify and energize your music program to a whole new level. You won't regret it.

Child Whispering - 101

oh, i neglected forgot to mention the part yesterday, during the butchering job, where nicholas was growling at me and telling me to "call frank" or "i'm telling frank," i can't really remember which statement it was now. because it was yesterday. so when he got home, i told him, in my most mocking and shaking of my head way, "you can go tell frank on me now" - to which, he threw off his coat and bookbag, and ran up the stairs. the 2 of them went to chris and his head is now fixed. he does look much better. so i didn't take the cosmetology class that was offered at boces when i was in high school. so what! and let's face it, if i did, i wouldn't remember anything anyway, now would i? uh, big fat NO!

i have that handy (or so i thought it would be) list of chores on my refiriderwhatever, the food experiment in a cold box. each day, when the girls get home they are to gleefully, skip to the list and find their chore of the day and happily do it. also, there are listed chores with a *, that are to be done twice a week, such as bring your smelly laundry down, AND sort it, if you want it done AT ALL. (i need to interupt this program for just a moment!)

my girls have stupidly decided that although, they are not, repeat, NOT fashion models, they are starting a trend, well just one, not naming names, (cinderisa), so she'll grab like a ridiculous looking trashy too small, for real, TANK TOP(???) and wear it over say, a t-shirt. both too small. but she'll put a zip-hoodie over it on her way out the door, thinking i'll not 'get it' !! cuz i was born yesteryear and all. duh. whatever. so, me being the person who washes and dries AND folds (yippeee) the laundry ( i know, it's exciting here,), i have intercepted the ugliest crap from big white box. let me tell ya, this girl has close to nothing, i mean NU THING to wear anymore. it's getting pretty comical. because the respect is right there with the amount of clothing, and i'm so bored with the whole conversation of " you know, cinderisa, one day, you need to understand that you are not my peer, you are child, i am adult. you need to earn respect." blah blah blah. like no other parent has had THAT chant before. blue IN the face.

then we have the other nameless child, (catmawler) does it never end!!!!!!!!!!! she is my litte ocd in training. she must keep her whites (sneaks) white, her room is always neat and tidy. she even dusted it yesterday. she has a flair for fashion. that is one of her nicknames from frank. but, there is always a but. what is it with tight? i don't get it. she wants to wear capri's already, hey, i understand the idea, but it's not yet that warm! where IS global warming anyway, because it ain't here, that's for sure. still waiting! i am literally sitting here with my warmed-up corn bag heating my freezing cold fingers. and i do this on an all day basis to keep them warm. i'm always cold.

where was i going with all of this stuff??????? right the chore list. perhaps, i should tke a pic!yes, i know, i'm so clever. now getting them to actually go to it, AND do the chores is another thing. i've devised a plan - i'm making nicholas rich. he is actually very good at his chores, he enjoys doing the chore at hand, even doing his sister's stuff. soooooo, i may even pay him to do their stuff when they complain about what they "had to do last time!" what a great idea. cha-ching cha-ching nicholas! oooh ooh ohhhh, i can just see the looks on their mad little faces now. bumma

today, we get to go to the smelly bottle joint, this should get my head reeling, return all of the, mostly ginger-ale bottles and get the boy a prize. i told him, whatever comes back, is his. he's looking at the 5 bags out there like he's cashing in a small car, as in radio-control. and, don't they always look like you're going to get like maybe 10 - 15 big ones? you valiantly, or as in my case, go in with your nose in your shirt, empty the bags, wash hands with clorox wipes, his hands, too, then the purell comes out, gag a few too many times. the eyes well up with water. "wait did you get those 4 bottles that you just dropped?" like they're going to short-change you a big 20 cents and make a profit there. it's really going to screw up your day, right! just get on with it!!! gagging, burying nose now into the armpit, thanking God for secret antiperspirant because it smells so good. "ok, $6.45. have a great day. next" you now have, not only upset stomach, but puzzled look on your face AND anxious, dancing buzzed boy waiting to spend lots of money. not a problem, just think of the looks on the girls faces when you tell them that you dipped into THEIR allowance too! OH YEAH!!!!!!!!! NOW i'm feeling better. this is where the whispering begins.

clever parent that i am, wait, i need to tap a shoulder. better. hey, i feel a need to give credit where it's due and all. right. i'm more of a laid back and sarcastic type. i allow them to fall on their faces in my humor and wit, unless, of course, it requires more"hands on", if you know what i mean.

in my father's house, it was a little more, um, loud! i heard sounds like, the belt buckle coming undone; that thing scared the living hairs off my neck! oh, his footsteps could outrun horses, and loud? let me just tell you, he meant for them to be heard. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! "you just WAIT til I get you kids!" it's funny now thinking about it. or when we were in the car, ticking him off. if he pulled over - man, we were dead meat! i'm not that kind of freak parent. he'd first start swinging his arm around before he'd actually pull over, we'd be ducking and laughing. those were the days

frank, on the other hand; he has a sort of react first kind of thing going on. something happens, and it's not allowed to just sink in. he reacts, with a sort of raging lunatic kind of frustration thing. BLAH AHHHH HOOOO AAHHHH ARRRR WWWWOOOOOFFFFF ARRRRFFFFF GGGRRRUUUUUUFF FFFF RRUUURFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!! and then it's out of his systme and he comes into the real world, thinks about everything, mulls it all over, and all is right again. he will generally apologize where he was wrong, ask for apologies from the accuser, and we all go about our business.

me, i just sort of sit and watch it all unfold. literally. when he has his outburst, i watch. when he's done, i'll go to the office/scrapbook room/mess hall and we'll talk, or i'll lecture as he likes to put it. i like to point out his "strong" points. this after, or afterwards, i'll go to each child and let them know where they were wrong. one of the girls is great at apologies. never ever ever needing to be told, nor should they ever be asked for an apology. it should come natual.

the other girl, refuses to see she is wrong. as it is, the sun does rise and fall on her. what was i thinking?

when they bicker over who did what - nick gets to cash in. today is his day. mine too. i got the flyer for christmas tree shops. and there was this oh, so cute bird house calling my name. it's almost time to start playing in my garden. i hope i can do that this year! i at least have plans to.

oh, i must show you what makes a migraneur like me happy! look what frank brought me home yesterday. i know, i'm a lucky girl! you are going to be so jealous.

this is what i found in his lunch box when i opened it! i screamed with joy. they are earplugs! AHHHHH! i wear them to bed.


there are so many, that my nightstand drawer is overflowing! YEHAW! i have said it before, little things make me happy. this made me happy.

now why and how did that paragraph get down there?

down on the bottom of the list, it states that if they don't do the chore, they lose tv, phone and mp3. well, due to catmawler's unruly brattitude toward littleman, she hasn't had her mp3 since she got it, and, now this is funny, her dad called lastnight and asked if her could have it because tita (her stepmom) could use it. hey, why should it sit around anyway. so yeah, of course she can have it! i mean, i don't know how to program the thing anyway! (idiot) then he asked about her dig cam. well, she's working on losing that, but not yet.

oh, her little friend lost another little g.pig. mr. fuzz died yesterday. so sad. why do we torture ourselves and our kids with pets? why why WHY? when nicholas leaves every other weekend for his dad's house, he hugs his fishbowl. hugs! a fishbowl. "goodbye ozzy, or fuzzyball, whatever it's name is" goodbye ally" (he had to rename the fish due to losing a game of matching spiderman to ally). he's so sweet. so what happens when one of them die? oh yeah, he will be heart broken. I can see the little bugger sobbing over the tidey bowl funeral now. thanks, jamie!

last year when i had to put my shephard down; ugh, thank God, my aunt is my vet, or rather the dogs' vet - she is wonderful. we had to bring rockhead with us to say "goodbye" can you stand it. he licked his face, and laid next to him crying. i cried, frank cried. thea was wonderful. it was TERRIBLE!!!!! when my friend terri had to put zach down, i had to be there with her! and frank, and nicholas. we all cried. it was so sad. i mean, you know you're doing the best thing for the dog. but zachy looked up in her eyes, like to say, "thanks man!" we just lost it right there. thea was there for that, too. for kids, you're supposed to be, what STRONG??? not me, ain't happening. i'm like cream of wheat whenn it comes to my pets. i've had to put too many down, dig holes. cinderisa dug a hole for crying out loud. and yet, we continue to do this to ourselves. and them. for the unconditional love.

yeah, and the idiot still lifts his leg in my basement. but i'm telling you now, come nxt week, when it gets painted, and the week after that, when the carpet gets laid, if he even THINKS of lifting his leg, i'm calling my mexican friend, well, after he recovers. yes, he'll be in recovery first. because he'll have fallen down some stairs or something.

so gayla, when i get cesar here, i'll let you know, girlfriend! oh yeah! mi casa es su casa. hasta manyana baby.

My Family Keeps Me Blogging

Oh, yes, indeed. My family keeps me with full-bodied information to blog. I am forever finding myself saying, after a round of laughter, I must blog that! Most of the time, if I don't write down at least a morsel of the information, it's lost, forever.

But this morning, as I was getting myself ready for another fun-filled day at the other place I live ; the dentist office, only not for me this time (big smile from me, oh and very clean and shiny I might add!) oh, this time it's for the catmawler.

Back to the story - I was getting ready, Nick was watching Dora, the dog was sleeping; until he heard the sound of the squeekie toy on the tv. Now Rocco has this strange , hmm what is the word i'm looking for here??? not infatuation. maybe lust, no desire, no not taste, passion, i hate when i can't pin point stupid words. So anyway he is crazy for squeeky toys, ok.(think, "cukoo for cocoa puffs," crazy). He hears this toy just a squeeking away, "squeek - squeek - squeek -squeek" and his radar dog ears are zoomed totally in on the show! He's looking, up at the tv, his head nods left, then right. his ears are perked. more "squeek. squeek. squeek."

By this time, i'm in hysterics, trying to get nicholas to watch him, but no, he's too busy with his self-made carwash, which was actually pretty good (made of tinkertoys), he's even got sound effects and bubble-sound effects to go along with it. which are making my ears tweak and jerk, and my face is now getting this strange sort of twitching motion going on when he does it, but that's ok, because at the same time, my foot is sort of oddly feeling this pulling force to kick the daylights out of this stupid carwash that's making him make these hideous noises. what is wrong with this kid?! get my foot washed, yeah get a pedicure, yeah! where was i going with this??

the squeek.

anyway. boots lost the stupid toy. but rocco was tuned in. and it was hillarious. when dogs are tuned in to something they must have, it's pretty funny. so, blah blah blha, map, swiper, gooey bridge, and they finally find the squeeky toy again. and of course, rocco had to be pointed to the tv once again. i had to call frank at work, he was busy, but i made him wait, hey, what could he be busy doing (at an auto parts plant?) while i told him, laughing hysterically about how the dumb dog was watching the tv and tilting his head at the squeek toy. wow, is my life entertaining, or what!

for my next trick, and i'm sorry i didn't get a picture of this. and it's only because he cried. again. fuzzy needed another haircut. ok, just to set the record straight; i DID ask him on several occasions, by the way, if he wanted to go to the salon to finish - he. said. no. poor little guy. so i just kept going.

you know how plaid has that light spot here, dark spot there? yeah, that's nick. then there was the crying and, "i don't want to go to school!"

so i tried the old, shift the blame trick that the kids always use on me. tit-for-tat, you know.

"well, you know, nick, i asked you if you wanted to go, and you kept saying no, you wanted me to do it! arent' you happy with your decision?"

he should be coming off the bus any minute now. he'll either run in crying, with a hateful look towards me. or he'll come running as if nothing happened. either way, the child has only one speed - run.

bus! he's smiling!!!!!!! he said they all smiled at him. i so happy. i need to hug on him now

ciao

out of the mouths of babes

some things in life are just too cute to not post about. case in point, my son, nicholas. this child, like most 6-year olds, has nothing in life to worry about. other than what color bowl to use at breakfast. he demands his spiderman spoon and fork for each and every meal. don't forget the ritual at bedtime! spray the pillow with lavendar(i started this), then prayers, hugs, kisses, he must pray first, then me. i must make mine a long prayer. if i'm feeling too sick or tired and have frank tuck him in, he flips out, because the routine isn't up to spec.

oh, and need i forget, the little ladies man has yet to leave the house without applying gel and water, and more gel, to his slick locks. he is in kindergarten. kindergarten. the names trinity, and annabelle, brooke, iris, pheobe, and kemryn send him running with the biggest smile on his face. he is the only boy at his table, with 4 little girls. we make fun at home, and he loves it! such a little ladies man. when he was 2, i told him to say, "hubba-hubba" to the pretty girls at the beach and the pool when we took our first trip to Virginia Beach. they loved it. he was adorable.

what i was really getting to was this: the first little adoption that took place from my sister Jamie, was bosco. then came ozzy and harriet, or i think their names are roxy and harry; but i call then ozzy and harriet, anyway, they are 2 goldfish that belonged to alyssa and aiden. and since we took such great care of bosco, alyssa decided we would make wonderful parents to the fish. they now live in nicholas' room. so does hyrup, the snake. who has been adopted by his brother, who is in iraq. yeah, i know, we are something arent' we. something.

so, the flipside of ownership is this; they need to be cleaned up after. who does this? well, not me, that's for sure. that actually gets handed down to cinderisa and the catmawler. it's in the contract, it's part of the "earn your keep" and "if you want it to stay" deals. hey, works for us.

last week, after the first cleaning-of-the-fishbowl, it was found that the fish needed a net to be caught in, since the catmawler was using one of my drinking glasses. my. drinking. glasses. to catch and allow the fish to swim in while she was cleaning the bowl. altogether now - eeeewwwwwwwww grooooossssssss. i know. so, frank and nick went to the pet store, got a (rather large, duh) net and also got hyrup a meal while they were out. hey, why not. so they get home, nick checks out the net, and it doesn't fit. bummer.

yesterday, while we were shopping, we grab a small net. when the kids get home from their dad's, nick is of course totally jazzed, and cannot wait to check out the new net. catmawler is all, "you want me to clean the bowl?" these kids are really strange, honest. so frank and i are just sitting on the couch doing like nothing, and the next thing you know, nicholas comes running down the stairs, all excited and yelling, with net in hand, "look mom, i caught one! i caught one!" there was a little gold fish IN the net. poor little dying gold fish. so through our laughs, we were trying desperately, i might add, to explain to him that the net wasn't meant for fishing. it was very cute.

kids do say the funniest things. and blondes, let me tell ya, my blonde has got some of the most strangest remarks we've heard yet.

here's just one example:

on the thruway, and i wasn't in the car to hear this one, but i can imagine her saying it, the van passes a tow-truck, towing another truck from the rear, which she missed. so she says to frank, "frank, why is that truck driving backwards down the highway?" because all she saw, was the front of the truck. and she was serious.

on a daily basis, we get remarks from her like this one. to which we just shake our heads. in amazement mostly. she'll be starting softball in a few weeks. oh, this was funny! last year she played, her first year. she'll kill me for this, she played 2nd base or maybe short stop, i don't know, all of the girls were pretty much crowded around 2nd base at the time, but chris got the ball, and the girl ran to 2nd base, and she didn't know what to do, and everyone was telling her to throw the ball, so what does she do? she threw the ball AT the girl. yep, at her. well, frank and i bust out laughing at her. because we firmly believe you should be able to laugh at yourself. they were the last place team, and received a bobble-head trophy, which they were very proud of. we still laugh at that, and so does she.

this year she will be playing with bigger girls, so i told her to be careful when she throws the ball AT girls bigger than her. of course, she's pretty big for an 11-year old. not fat-big, just big-big. i was always the shortest with the smallest feet. my nick-name was tiny toes. my kids feet are bigger than mine. well, anyway. kids are funny. i love my funny kids.

what i meant was.....blogoPOTEphant

yes, i'm still here. and, actually feeling much better, thank you. thank you. now, it's a stomach thing. whatever.

here's my weird for the day: have you ever placed the toe part of a stocking over your cats head? it's amazing how incredibly small a cat's head is, seriously. not like i've realy ever done that kind of thing, but i'm just really imagining it and all. but they do this kind of backwards sway, to the left and right kind of dance; and you have to play the garbage truck "ding ding" to it, cuzz if you don't, it's just not as good, you know in your imagination, ahem.

right, then we have miss priss-in-boots, Nala. she is our litle 6 pound wondercat; the terror of the underworld. she dices and slices, shreds, cuts, de-guts, dismantles any and all the little and not so little rodents in the hood. and one day, bosco will be a victim, too. i'm not kidding. she's nasty. she doesn't just bring the rodent to my doorstep, she dis-members it. violently. skins the thing, probably alive. she is the tony soprano of her kind. nobody messes with nala. not the 17 pound, mr frightened bosco. certainly not the 100 pound idiot rocco. the scars on his nose show that he has tried and been defeated, time and time again. oh, and she has thumbs. i guess her being small has made her feel a need to defend herself. but the bloody masacre is just gruesome.

now bosco's hunting technique's are much more comical. since the snow has finally decided, like it has a mind of it's own and all, to recede, the cat's have been on the prowl. bosco will find himself a mole and playfully toss it in the air a few times and expect it to play back. meanwhile, the mole, thinking he's (bosco) as vicious as his counterpart tony, is probably watching his life pass in front of his eyes a few too many. suffice it to say, not so eager to play, and stands up and screams obscenities at him. bosco it too cute, and just looks at him with his very quizzical look, and just rolls over and over in the grass. meanwhile, miss nasty is watching all of this, and devising an evil plan of her own, pounces in on the fun, while we are all smiling at bosco, cuzz he's stupidly cute; she cunningly chomps down on the mole rips it's head off, as we AND bosco are just stunned. then, the guts, like a grape, yes, they look like a grape, that is what is on your doorstep, it's not a grape, but a gutt!! she removes that, leaves the gutt and head and takes the rest with a growl. a growl. what. was. that. all. about?

yes, we keep her. because she is sweet to me. i am currently teasing her with treats. i'm giving them to bosco, and not her. she is winking at me. hmmm, where did i leave that hose??? she is particular about who she will go to around here. she waits until everyone is in bed, and then she'll jump up on me and do her little paw prance and purr and then she'll cuddle. she's a little sweetie. frank is always hissing at her, so she steers clear away from him. and of course there's the cat mawler, need i say anymore. she hides from her. she does trust marisa, and she'll sleep in her room on the big pillow. she does hide under christina's bed on the heat pipe.

cat's are a lot of fun. i've been giving them a lot of catnip today. just for the fun of it. she will not not not NOT play with bosco. she is so mean to him. and he is such a big sweetheart. maybe i should give her a bath. naw, i'll let chrissy do it. time for more nippy!!

oh, happy birthday, jamie. jimmy. and allie.

blogoplotephant...wha..?

just a few updates from my last post; first of all, i checked my email this morning and the first crazy mixed up piece of stupidity that jumped out at me was from none other than medco. a confirmation. they received my prescriptions. i mailed them. to their designated destination, lexington, ky; which by they way, is the same place my sister moved to. i mailed them on the same day she moved. this is the interesting part. i should have had her take them with her, now that i think of it. they left the same day - my family AND the prescriptions. one by car and truck, the other via the us postal slovice. she arrived the following day. looking back at the calendar, that was march 13. my scripts arrived, via usp, sometime yesterday. idiots.

more good news/bad news:

bad news: daimlerchrysler's suburban st. louis op will eliminate, wipe out, erase, delete, eradicate, unemploy, otherwise render without; right, i'm getting there- get rid of more than 1900 jobs at it's two plants in fenton, mo., which is actually and by the way 600 more jobs lost than previously announced. woops.

good news: (riiiight- this is why i want to be ceo if i grow up) 1300 top execs at the chrysler group received bonuses last week AND (there's more) the management board approved pay-for-perfomance increases late last month for all(more than 21,000) chrysler salaried workers to go in effect in july o7. the increase will be the first pay increase for the co's salaried workers since 05. (aww boo freaking hoo)

so let me get this straight. 1900 lose their jobs, just in those 2 plants. wait, how many are losing their jobs in our plant?? umm, i think roughly through replacement and buy-out 525. then come sept another 3-500. company-wide, says the hubster, the total is supposed to reach another 11,000. interesting. all these people losing their jobs, building cars, that you and i drive, mind you; while these execs are selfishly lining their pockets. and for what?

fine! i'm off that wagon

so what is a blogoplotephant you ask? me. other than a weird word i made up when i couldn't sleep lastnight, it's this: it is a blog, that starts out as one specific type, and just goes onto something different. i started my blog about migraines. i came across terri roberts, as many have, and she just invited me to start a blog. so i just went with it on typepad. then somehow, one day, i couldn't get on my blog. that's just me. i still can't find it.

first i went with blogoplotopus, but, no that was too easy. you know , right, you're thinking too easy. you should really try camping out inside my head sometime. the incredibly weird words and prases and visions that come - unless you have migraine and aura - seriously you have NO freaking idea what it's like. it's amazingly. weird.

so ian and i were conversing on the idea of us doing stand-up - (i know, i know ian) last migraneur standing. you should have heard us. we were pretty funny

anyway blogoplotephant, i had to look at the title, because my head hurts so bad right now, i forgot wah it's called. oops, here we go. if you are familiar with my reading, you'll understad. i have a habit of going from one subject to something entirely different. NOOO, really? i do. like my blog, from migraines to kids to whatever. different. i'm different. entirely different than anyone you would ever meet. if you are the type that doesn't want to be embarraseed in public, don't be seen with me. trust me there. htat will be your only warnign.

oh the stories robin could tell on that, right robin. like the night at, what was the name fo that club?? we were dancing and that freaky guy kept creaping me out, and i whispered something to him, and smiled at you an he left me alone finally, and you were all moving and grooving, like you did, you hot mama, and you asked me what i said to him, and when i told you, you grabbed me like i was going to be road kill, under YOUR tires. sweet memories. yeah, tell joe that one!! why don't you ever comment???? you need to get your own blog by the way. what was the name of that place i was never allowed to go back into with you?

so anyway; this is what i'm talking about. i cannot keep one conversation going. my brain doesn't work that way. it drives frank out of his ever-loving mind. i think he's getting used to it. unfortunately, cinderisa, is just. like. me. so, i'm thinking, which scares me when i think, because i pause and there's all actual sentence/thoughts that are in there, and then they go, i'm thinking of making a new blahg. (yeah insert the long cigarette, though i don't smoke, and gawdy accent and all) with some color and fun. but i need someone to help me, because let's face it, i'm an idiot. seriously. i don't know the lingo, like widget, i don't know what that is, i see the flying nun for crying out loud. see and that's not even right. someone please help me. this blinding white, i can't handle it an;ymore. i mean i'll still post the headachy whiney stuff.

oh, hey guess what. i think i'm going away for the weekend (ha ha hee hee ho ho, where life is sweeter all the time, OH NO!) oh, stink!

wait, ever feel like your life is a constant deer-in-teh-headlights deal? that's me. have you seen Open Season? that is my new favorite movie. yes, my favorite movies are mostly disney animated, and pretty much pixar, but it's pretty funny. anyhoo.

i'm going away for a weekend of wine and dine (think picc line, and hosp food)
four star hotel (university hospital)
600 count linens in king-size comfort, egyption cotton and luxury spa treatment(hospital bed, towel and washcloth)
room service at it's very best(nurses call button)
caviar, lobster, champagne, etc. etc. (toradol, magnesium, fluids, solumedrol, depakon, etc.)
hey, a girl can dream, right! my blahg, my dream

don't you want to be me today? no really, please! i would like to be somebody else today. i would like to know what it's like to be able to complet e a thouthg, one complet thought. imagine that. i can't imagine that. that is frustreation on my part. just read me, then try to leive it. it's a really good thing i have humor going for me, otherwise, instead of neurology, i'd end up in the psyche ward. (i hope they don't put me there. what if they put me there? i don't really get along well with others. i'm sortof you know sarcastic and cynical and all) whatever.

have a truly wonderful weekend