Sigh... I just love art

I did a little online shopping today. I bought this cute, dark mirror at http://www.etsy.com. I love the artists other works but at the moment, this is the only one I can afford.


If I had the money, this is what I would've bought. She takes thrown out furniture, paints it and then sells it. All of her stuff has this type of whimsical feel to it. And I'm in love with every single thing she's done so far. I wish she could come paint my entire house. How could you ever have a sad day when your house looks like that??

To view more by this artist... http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6860701

Is this wooden or metal? Metal is smoother. The wood ones hurt my back.

Well, it's been one hell of an emotional roller coaster these last 24 hours, let me tell you. This morning, I was trying to hurry up and get the animals done so I could finally go to sleep since the eldest child decided to boycott sleep. In my hurry, I managed to forget that the dogs have been jumping the fence. I let them all out and went to take care of the kittens. I spent a little longer in there than usual so I could watch the female hopping/wobbling across her enclosure. Then I went to let the dogs in. They came in and I told them to go to bed (their crates) and I noticed that Tarin was missing... then I noticed that Mia was missing. I freaked out. Here I am, alone with two kids and my dogs are running around the neighborhood at a time of morning that is busier than rush hour. I called and called but of course, they didn't come. I jumped in the car and drove down the road to make sure they hadn't been hit and hopefully to find them. I drove through the trailer park since it has some water around it and that's where they came from the last time. No dogs. I kept trying to call my husband from my cell and this was the one time he wasn't picking up. I was on my way back to the house when I saw them prancing around in the middle of the frickin' road, my road, the busy road. They were lucky that I was the only car coming towards them at the time. There was a car behind me but I hit my hazard lights as soon as I saw them and he must have seen them too because he stopped in the middle of the road to let me get out of my car. I caught them both and then realized I had to walk to the driver's side of the car (facing the road) with both of them because my doors were locked except for that one. I held onto one dog with my hand and shoved the other one in between my knees while I threw the car door open and shoved them both inside. It wasn't till I was sitting right next to Mia that I realized they had once again been into some nasty, stinky water. My husband called immediately after I found them. On his way home, he grabbed some things to try and keep them from jumping the fence, including some cattle fence from my mom's house. He spent all evening in the pouring rain putting this thing up so we could keep them safe. Afterwards, he lets everyone out to go potty since they hadn't been allowed out while he was working on it. He then left to get pizza. After about an hour, I started to wonder where he was but wasn't too worried yet. Then I went to let Rocky outside for a while and I noticed that Tarin and Mia weren't in the backroom with the other dogs. Come to find out, my husband had been out looking for the dogs the entire time. They had broke a panel on our privacy fence to get out of the yard. The electric fence should've prevented them from even trying to get out, except, it's apparently broken. He came home when I called him and we talked for a few minutes. He hadn't found them and everyone he talked to hadn't seen them. About a half hour after that, I went down to get the mail. Right after, I went back out to sit on the porch to, hopefully, see them somewhere. I saw my husband at the bottom of the driveway in the car so I headed down there and then I saw Tarin directly across the street and frantically screamed his name. Unfortunately, I didn't see the van coming from over the hill. Both my dogs were in the middle of the road when Shawn started honking his horn and flashing his lights at the van. The guy slammed on his brakes and just missed hitting Tarin. All the while I was running for the road screaming. We got both the dogs out of the road and I carried Mia back to the house. That's saying a lot, the dog isn't a light border collie, she's more on the chunky basset hound side. :) And she smelled like a rotting animal. Shawn made sure the driver was ok and he said he was fine, glad that he missed them. Now, the dogs don't go out without one of us following their every move. Three times in less than a week that I thought I would never see them alive again. Mia got a bath tonight. Tarin will probably get one tomorrow. I did Mia first since I sleep with her and didn't want my bedroom smelling like whatever the hell that was. We're going to get a new electric box and see if that's the problem.

A little while ago, I checked my mail and got some rather good news, in my opinion any way. I have a co-signer for my "elective" surgery. If I hadn't found someone to co-sign, I wouldn't have been able to get the surgery till... well I don't know when. I had been a little depressed at the idea of not having it done this year. Or more so, depressed that I didn't know when I would be able to have it done. I'm not looking forward to the initial pain or the scars (which will fade with time and they give you some prescription cream to help them go away faster) but I will be so glad to look... well halfway normal. I can't say completely normal because implants never look normal as far as I'm concerned. But it'll be better than what I have to look at now.

Jibber-ibber-ish

I'm a wee bit stoned right now so you'll have to forgive anything that doesn't make sense. I took a migraine pill a few hours ago and when I had absolutely no relief, I broke down and took 25mg of Ultram. Now I don't feel like my brain is about to erupt out my skull but I do feel a bit... odd. I was going to take a vicodin but I was unable to find them where my husband claims to have left them for me. Then again, my head hurt so bad that I was frantically pulling pills out of the cabinet till I found anything that looked like it might take away the pain.

The kitties are all still alive and seem to be improving. The black one needs to go to the vet again due to an ulcer on his eye but other than his eyes, he's getting better. I'm still hand feeding them but have very slowly began transitioning them to canned food.

We went out to eat and then grocery shopping today. (Sunday) While we were gone, we had left the aussie's and border collie outside. When we got home, two out of four dogs were missing. I felt sick. We live in a quiet neighborhood but it's a busy road and there is a busy road a block or so over as well. My husband drove around for a long time looking for them but found nothing. After coming home, he went to look again. I didn't think he'd find them and I'd spend the night worrying. When he finally came back home, he had found both of them a road over. They are both in need of a bath. I don't know where they went but they smell like a swamp and are wet and dirty. I don't know of any water close by so I can only imagine what they went swimming in. My brain has had as much writing as it can take for now. If I continue, it's just going to be jibberish.

Oh what a night

I've decided that I haven't taken up drinking. Instead I am, de-bitchifiying. Yes it's a word, go look it up. :) I just got to a snapping point today with the kids. My husband had to go to a friend's house right after dinner, which would normally be no big deal. However, the second the walked out the door, it was like Jasmine had snorted twenty pixie sticks. She hadn't but it sure seemed that way. She was into everything, wouldn't stay out of the kitten room, (she's not allowed in there without one of us as she can't be trusted not to try and give them medicine or even drown them... I'm not kidding) trying to go outside anytime I looked away... just being a massive pain in the ass. Evan wasn't too bad but having to take care of his needs while she's driving me insane, just makes everything seem that much worse. Once he got home, he had to almost immediately go to bed since it was 11:30 at night. The messes Jasmine had made by that time were as follows, she pulled out every. single. plastic. bag. out of the cabinet we keep them (until we remember to take them into walmart to be recycled which almost never happens so there they stay), she threw confetti type paper all over the living room... right after I cleaned the floor. I made her clean it all up but I have to stand there and supervise the cleaning or she won't do it or she'll get distracted or or or or.... the list goes on. Which takes away from the cleaning I could be doing instead. After he got home and went to bed, I was trying to do the dishes when I heard a huge crash from the living room, followed by screaming. I don't know what she was doing but she later said she was jumping. I had a dinner tray out from dinner in front of the couch and she must have been trying to jump on the couch or even from the couch to the tray and well, crashed. There was pop covering the floor that had been on the tray, she was screaming, which in turn woke the baby up, who started screaming for a bottle. Jasmine landed on her head of all things. She's going to have a bruise for sure and took off a very thin layer of skin. Shawn came out and wiped up the floor but I was still going to have to wash it since it would be sticky. I went into the bedroom, where he was back trying to go to sleep and grabbed the empty bottles to feed Evan. That's when I told my husband, 'Someday, you are going to be woken up by that little girl saying "Daddy, mommy said she was going bye-bye.' and you will find a note saying 'Sorry, lost my mind, went to Narnia. Be back in a month." He laughed and said to say hi to the evil witch while I was there for him. I went, fed the baby and then said to hell with it. I grabbed what was left of my Bailey's, tossed in some milk and chocolate syrup and watched Top Design. I figured if I didn't "chill out" soon, I was going to Narnia... or at the very least I was going to yell the rest of the night till my head exploded. My mellow didn't last long however as there wasn't a whole lot of liqueur left in the bottle. It was good enough to get through a little cleaning and get everyone ready for bed. For the overreactor's out there, this isn't an everyday thing, I won't actually take up drinking, etc. I actually don't like to get drunk and only drink things that are fruity or taste like chocolate shakes because they taste oh so yummy. You can quit freaking out now. And yet, I'm fine now.

The vet didn't expect the black kitten to make it. That was Tuesday and he's still here. He actually seems better than the white one today. Although his eyes are usually gooped shut when I get in there and then there's so much nasty stuff when I finally get his eyes open... it's just awful. But he's moving around a lot more than he has been and is very happy to be eating as I am now almost exclusively hand feeding them. It turns out, they were all dehydrated so they all got fluid but it also appears that Kasima is drying up from being sick. She still has a little milk but not the same supply she should have. They've been nursing off her but in between, I am feeding them as well to supplement what they're not getting. I am bottle feeding a baby and two kittens. The white one has some congestion in her chest and a stuffed up nose so I've been having a harder time getting her to eat. I've been trying to do smaller amounts with her but feeding her more often since it's so hard for her to eat for any length of time. If need be, I can put them on sub-q fluids but I'm hoping it won't have to come to that. They get very sore when they have to be stuck in the back several times a week. Only time will tell what happens. I really have taken a liking to this little black male. Even when he was so sick that I thought he might not make it through the night, he was still purring so loudly that I thought it was coming from the mother. He's so loud that you think there's no way that much noise could come from something so small. To me, he just seems like he'd be a very happy and upbeat kind of cat if he makes it. Short of taking them everywhere with me, I'm doing just about everything I can for them. It just depends on their immune system stepping up now.

Some photos

I'm trying to decide if I want to do several entries with photos or just overload you in one entry with various photos. I guess I'll just see where it goes.

First off, THIS is why I foster even though a lot of times it hurts like hell. Particularly when you lose one. Is there anything more sweet than that? And no, I didn't pose them like that or anything. I walked into the room to get ready to finish up their medicines for the night and do yet another round of feeding when I saw them sleeping like that. Can we all say a big awwwwwwww. :) The white one is female, the black one is male. This is a crappy picture of mom but it's the best one I have at the moment. She's always moving when I try and get a photo.

These are the flowers that a certain cute but aggravating little girl brought to me today. That little girl snuck out the backdoor while I was in the other room. I figured she wouldn't go outside since a) she didn't have on any pants and it was in the lower 50's and b) her daddy was outside cooking on the grill. I was wrong. Daddy found her in my daffodils picking flowers as a "present" for mommy. Even though she got scolded by daddy for being outside, she still came in proud as could be with her present. Then asked for pants and a sweatshirt so she could go out and play with daddy.

Jasmine has been playing with a lot of her toys lately. She recently got a easter basket from her grandpa. His wife was out of town at the time and wasn't able to make the basket herself, leaving it up to my dad to pick things out. He grabbed one of those things that is already done for you. Typical man move. Therefore, we now have what we call amputee barbie. Jasmine is always asking me if I've seen her leg or arm. We even had the head pop off once. She's also been enjoying a toy we had hidden. I don't know how she found it but we heard when she did. It's a microphone that amplifies any sound that goes into it. Can you tell by the look on Evan's face what he thinks of that thing??? Yeah, that's pretty much the look he gets on his face every single time she gets that thing out. Actually, come to think of it, he gives us that look anytime we do anything he finds... odd, which in this house, is a lot. Speaking of Evan... who's a cute baby? Who's a cute baby? You're a cute baby!

That's all for today. I'll leave some photos for tomorrow or the day after... or whenever I get around to posting them.

Just some jabbering

I found a few flower seeds I want to order later this week. One is a giant morning glory. The blooms get up to six inches! As I said to my husband, I must have this flower. I wasn't going to do morning glories this year but when I saw this rare flower, I decided I could buy some pots and use them on our small deck. They are chocolate morning glories for anyone who is interested. I'm also going to order some sage from the same person. I've been wanting to get some for a while to cleanse my house but never got around to it. They combine shipping so why not. Yes, I'm an atheist who wants sage to cleanse her house. As I've mentioned before, I have fairly strong feelings about native american way of life and I feel like if anyone has it "right" it would be them. We haven't had anything too weird happen here in this house but better safe than sorry. I would like to do away with any bad juju that may be lurking. (that's my own made-up word btw) Good juju is welcome to stay but bad juju must make a hasty retreat. I've seen enough weird juju type shit to feel pretty strongly that ghosts do exist. My tattoo artist is a pokagon indian. He moved into this house a few years ago and things got so bad with the bad juju in the house that his three kids started sleeping in bed with him. He had an elder come into his house and cleanse it with the sage and hasn't had any problems since then. It still took the kids a while to move back into their bedrooms but whatever was in that house was absolutely terrorizing them, particularly his son. I will also be getting some sage for my mom's house, which is the first she's hearing of it. It definitely has bad juju. I will eventually have to live there when we sell this house and I want the bad juju gone before I come back. The juju in that house is quite frankly, a bitch.

I named the momma cat tonight. She will be Kasima or Sassy Kassy. Kasima is an Arabic name meaning beautiful, elegance. Which is exactly the two words I put in the search engine to find the cat a name. She exudes both of those things. She's a lovely cat overall. She's one of the nicest cats I've ever had, personally or as a foster. The white kitten is still not showing any signs of illness but the black one still has drainage from it's eyes and nose. I actually had to spend a few minutes with a warm rag trying to get the one eye opened. I was hoping Kassy would clean the eye during the day and encourage it to open back up but I eventually realized she wasn't going to do it. Hopefully they'll either be going to the vet in a few hours or I'll be running to the vet to get some medicine. I'm not naming the kittens until I feel we're out of the woods.

Kittens

The little gray kitten just died. I had been with it for over an hour, keeping it warm but I had to come feed Evan before he woke up the house. Sometime in that half hour, he died. His mother was with him on the heating pad and the other two kittens were around him. That was so much harder than the first kitten I lost last year. I think it was because I was there while he was in the process. With the other kitten, it was a shock. He was so young that his eyes still weren't completely open. He never even got to really see the world around him. It's times like this that I wonder if I could keep doing this if I lost litter after litter. It's happened to some fosters. They just end up with sickly kittens over and over. I really hope at least one of them makes it.

Beauty of a day

We had quite a nice day today. The temperatures were in the 70's with little wind. Jasmine and I got started on the flower beds. They're so big that we only ended up getting one of them done. I have to dig up every single freaking perennial in the bed so it's been slow going. We planted some mammoth sunflowers at her begging. Not sure if they'll make it past the last frost or not but it made the wee one happy. She actually didn't do much helping. Mostly she stood by asking how much longer and telling me where the giant bugs and spiders were... and then she would roll down our hill a few times, come back and do it all over again. After I became super frustrated with a tree that had made it's home in the bed last year (I just couldn't get that damn thing out of the ground), I gave the gardening a break for the day. Initially we headed to the backyard to play on the swing set but that was put on hold when Shawn's grumpy old border collie started a fight between herself, Molly (the flat coat retriever) and Cash (the doberman). Poor Molly got beat to hell. She was limping most of the day but seems to be a little better now. She stayed inside most of the rest of the day and she seemed pleased with that plan. Eventually we made it out to the swing set. While Jasmine examined the slide to make sure it was completely and totally free of bugs (she's terrified of anything bug-like... so opposite of her mother), I played with the dogs. I never thought it was possible for that many dogs to play with a human and not start fighting from the excitement. We only had one occasion of growling and I sent that dog off to lay down and, you know, think about what he'd done. haha I actually think he just got too hot so he went to lay in the shade and it happened to coincide with me telling him to beat it. Once it started to get dark out, we ran and got a pizza. It was quite a stress free day. Too bad the next few days will be rainy and chilly. I'm so looking forward to more days like this.

I see this baby hooked up to all these machines... and all I can do is cry. http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

My tongue may have third degree burns... but it was sooo worth it

I made quite possibly the best brownies known to man tonight. If you've ever eaten at T.G.I.F.'s, it tasted very similar to their dessert, brownie obsession, only not quite as rich. It was fantastic. I even woke my husband up to have him try and it and I cannot repeat on here what he said but it was a positive review. :) It had 14oz of caramel mixed into it... mmmmmm yummy.

My kittens are all still alive but I really don't expect the little gray one to make it. I haven't seen him eat anything and I have to force him to take milk from me. I'm not sure if he just doesn't want to eat or if his nose is so stuffed up that it makes it hard for him to get anything. The white one still looks pretty healthy and is a food hound. The black one is still eating but looks like hell. As long as he keeps eating really well, he has a fighting chance. I would hate to lose all of them.

Headaches and kittens and tigers... oh my!

All day I've had a migraine brewing. I only have one pill left for my migraines and I've decided to save it for an earth shattering, blow your brains out to stop the pain type of migraine. Shawn said he had some stuff from his doctor but he'd never taken it. I decide screw it, what can happen, it gets worse? Well, the pills didn't do anything and now I can't stop shaking my leg. (this habit of mine tends to drive every single one of my family members absolutely insane... I rarely even realize I'm doing it till I get yelled at to quit) Turns out, the pills were loaded with caffeine. I may just as well have drank four cups of coffee. My kids have been unusually loud, even for them. Thanks guys! Just wait till you hit your teens... you are so getting embarrassed every chance I get.

I got my kittens and momma today after going out to eat with my dad. Mom is a medium hair with some nice markings with three kittens. All three kittens could've come from a totally different litter, none of them look alike. We have one black kitten, one grey tabby and one mostly white with a few grey splotches. The grey tabby seems pretty weak. It hasn't even attempted to latch on, whereas the other two are very eager. Mom started with an icky eye some time today and two of the kittens have some eye issues. I've been treating them all and hopefully it won't turn into something more. I have medication just in case but if they get sick at all, it's unlikely the kittens will survive. If mom doesn't step up and start feeding them more often, she'll have to be caged. I don't want to do it but the kittens have to be fed. This is the first time in who knows how long that she hasn't been in a cage. At the other fosters homes, she was being kept caged away from other foster cats to keep her and the kittens from getting sick with anything. Tomorrow I'm going to take the large bunny cage out and wash it really well in case we end up needing to cage her. I'll let her out a few times a day to get some exercise but not for long. I need to go in there again tonight and turn on the kittens heating pad once more before I go to sleep. (it turns off on it's own) It always amazes me that these kittens do so poorly in shelter type situations and yet, so many stray kittens and moms seem to flourish when they have nothing. I promise to get some pictures up soon.

Tomorrow I'm going to start preparing my flower boxes for planting. They have perennials in them but they tend to look more like weeds so I'm offing them. They are large boxes, probably ten feet by two feet. The top box I'm going to put in sunflowers, lots of them and all different colors. I haven't decided on the bottom one. I'm leaving a few of the plants that are in the bottom, like the day lilies. I love zinnia's but they get so damned tall. I also have a very large area in the backyard that I'm going to plant some flowers... again I have no idea what, although I was thinking of going with flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. There are some beautiful tiger lilies that grow in that area as well, I just wish they were spread out a little instead of right on top of one another. Jasmine can't wait to help me dig in the dirt. We're going to buy her some small (strong plastic, not metal) gardening tools. Now I just have to get the little to cooperate and stay asleep while we're outside.

New babies

Either tomorrow or the day after, I will be getting a momma cat and her three kittens. They just opened their eyes today, that's how young they are. When I was pregnant, particularly towards the end, I thought there's no way I'm going to want to do any fosters for about six months but before Evan was even a month old, I knew it would be much sooner. I haven't had any fosters since... I want to say November. I miss the kittens mostly. Shawn doesn't want me to do dogs again, at least not for a while. If I do any, it won't be till summer when I can leave them out for long periods of time. And we'll have a kennel built by then as well if we need it. Things are getting back to normal much quicker than they did with Jasmine. It seemed like it took forever for me to feel "normal" again but with Evan, it's like nothing has changed. I'm sure it will be more hectic when he starts crawling but I plan on confining him to the living room with baby gates. Which reminds me, I need to get a wall mount for the tv before we get to that stage of babyhood.

Mommy, there's a worm

When a little girl wakes you up insisting there's a bad worm climbing around your room, insisting that it's going to climb on you, you should listen. I did not. I figured she was nutty and rolled over, went back to sleep. Not long after, she dragged my husband into the bedroom, who I heard say 'Holy shit, wtf is that thing???' Most women would get up, be alarmed, at the very least, curious. Not me, I stayed in bed, until the bug was caught on the wall next to my head. I really enjoy my sleep. I believe I glanced at the bug in the bottom of the pitcher my husband was carrying, told him they live all over the house and to please not kill it but set it outside. I actually think I repeated don't kill it a few times. And then I went back to sleep. :) My next post will give you a better understanding of what the "worm" actually was.

Pay no attention to the caterpillar

This guy lives in my house, well not him but his relatives. It's known as a house centipede and are actually pretty helpful bugs to have living in your house, even if they are a wee bit on the creepy side. They have up to 15 pairs of legs and run at a surprising speed of 16 inches a second. These suckers can really move. They can carry that speed across floors, up walls and even across your ceilings. They also have a pretty long life, you know, for a bug, up to seven years in the right environment. The reason I enjoy having these freaky little guys hanging around? They kill cockroaches, (which as far as I'm aware, we have none of) spiders, ants, termites, silverfish and many other arthropods. There's not really a downside to the house centipede. They are venomous, however, there has never been a reported case of them biting a human. The thought is that their legs, yes I said legs, are not strong enough to puncture human skin and administer their powerful sting. When attacking their prey, they tend to wrap their legs around the other insect, stabbing them repeatedly. Many times, they will still be holding one bug with their mouth, while killing another with their legs. They're also quite smart hunters. When attacking a dangerous insect, such as a wasp, they will attack quickly and then retreat, waiting for the venom to take effect before eating them. They can also detach any legs that may become entangled in a dangerous foes mouth or web, making a hasty escape. If you absolutely loath the idea of these horror movie creatures running through your house, the best way to avoid them is to simply buy a dehumidifier. They cannot survive without some humidity and would quickly retreat outdoors... or to your bathroom and shower. And no matter where in the world you are reading this from, you're still at risk. There's no place safe from a house centipede. I'll be keeping mine around and pretend they're pretty caterpillars that turn into gorgeous butterflies.

Meowzer

My stray kitty is back... and extremely pregnant. I normally wouldn't be able to tell from a distance but she's very skinny, except for her giant, low hanging belly. I figure I only have a matter of days to catch her before the babies are born. I spent a good deal of time in the garage trying to do just that tonight. I let her know I was bringing out canned food (I swear, cats, even feral ones, know the sound of a metal can means good food) and then set it inside the garage door, with it open wide enough for her to get in. I then, sat inside one of the cars and waited... and waited... and then for a change of pace, I waited some more. She never showed. Damn street smart cat. My plan was to hit the garage door button while I was in the car and the garage would be closed, hopefully with the cat still inside. Eventually, I got frustrated and put the food out by the trash (which is where I found her earlier in the night, eating) and went inside. It wasn't till about five hours later that I found the food had been eaten. (I can see the plate from my kitchen window) I'm going to have to get smarter than this cat and soon.

Happy Bunny Day.

I don't wanna grow up, I'm a toys r us kid

You remember the friend you had in high school/college who was great for parties and whatnot but you never really did anything outside of that venue? That friend sent me an email wanting to hang out. Ok, really she sent an email with the subject drink. Uhm, let's see, I became an adult with children and cannot pick up and get shitfaced whenever I feel the need. I don't know, maybe she just didn't know what else to say. I offered dinner, as long as I can bring aforementioned children. To be honest, it's not something I totally look forward to. From what I can tell, she and her husband haven't bothered to enter adulthood and have continued just as they were in high school. At some point and time you have to say we're adults and drinking till we're puking every weekend just isn't that cool anymore... it's kind of pathetic. I'm willing to give them both a chance. Mainly because her husband was a huge part of my growing up experience and one of the few people who was always really there. I'll try not to look at it with such... judgemental eyes I suppose. For now.

Munchkins

Each time I start my blog for the night, Evan starts to wake up. Let's see how far I can get before I'm sticking the bottle back in his mouth. We've been having a mildly fussy week with him. He has mild to moderate eczema and it causes him to try and itch his face. At one time, it was so bad that you couldn't touch his face without the skin just sliding off and he'd start oozing. It was pretty awful. He has it throughout his body but it's definitely the worst on his face. We have it pretty well controlled right now but it still bothers him. As long as we keep up on his daily regimen, we only have what appears to be slight dry skin. If we miss a day or two however, it quickly becomes red and starts to build up. The hope is that it'll get better as he gets older. On the upside, he's getting better at finding his thumb (or at times his entire hand) and shoving it in his mouth. He will only take a binky for a few seconds at a time and if we do manage to convince him to keep it longer, the second he falls asleep, it falls out and he wakes up.

I've still been using the neti pot and it definitely seems to be helping. I'm positive I would have a great deal of congestion in my sinuses if I hadn't been using it. Now that I have the hang of it, I haven't gotten any down my throat and I have my little helper with me. As soon as Jasmine sees the blue pot come out, she gets a few kleenexes ready for me. When I finish with one side, she hands me a kleenex and then waits for me to finish the other side before handing me another.

We went to the store... I bought several bags of straws and then put them in a zip lock bag. :)

Did "the" pot today

I finally did it. After some urging on my aunt Jeri's part, I decided to give in and try the neti pot. My husband and grandma had both told me to try it. I was worried it would burn or cause me to choke and that it could have a rebound effect on my sinus infection. So far, so good. The first attempt didn't go fantastic. I must have been leaning the wrong way or something and most of it went down the back of my throat, causing me to cough and sputter. The second attempt was much better. It doesn't burn or hurt at all. And you honestly don't notice the solution going through your nose. I know it's hard to believe but it's the truth. And I feel a bit better. I think I'll do it tomorrow as well and hopefully notice even more relief.

If my aunt is reading this, can you PLEASE email me so that I know you're ok. I emailed you but I'm not sure if I have the right address anymore. Larry, I know you're reading, please tell her I'm concerned.

A Crow's Tale

I was reading Beth's latest entry about the wood peckers that visited her house and it got me thinking about birds. When I was oh, about 12 or 13, a neighbor came home with two baby crows. Now I'm not a fan of him doing it or how he did it. He climbed up a tree to the nest and took the babies out. He then raised them from chicks. Once they were old enough to fly, he would let them roam the neighborhood. It wasn't long though, that he stopped feeding them altogether. It's a wild bird so it should naturally know how to fend for itself right? That would be the wrong assumption. Merlin (the crow that either didn't die immediately or just decided he liked the neighborhood) began coming to our house. At first we didn't know he was tame. My dad stood out in the yard and told one of the neighbor boys that if this bird lands on me, I'll shit. Well the bird landed on him. Not long after, we learned of Merlin's life. He would come to our house as soon as the sun was up, sit on the gutters and caw. One of us would come out (usually still in our pj's) and sit on the deck with him while he ate his breakfast. (provided by us) He would hang out until we went in the house but he never went very far. I could go out just about any time of day and caw a few times, then nearby I'd hear the flapping of his wings. He'd usually come by the house around noon, sit on the basketball hoop and caw for us again to feed him. All of us would spend countless hours with that bird. I've had tons of pet birds over the years but I think I felt closest to Merlin. He had the ability to leave us if he really wanted to, he was free after all. And yet, he stayed. He came to see us, not just for the food but also for the companionship. Many a summer day was spent on the picnic table talking to a bird. Over the summer, the neighbors noticed little things go missing from their yards. Little shiny things. It wasn't known until years later that all those shiny things, were found in the gutters of his former home. Everything from car keys to loose change, Merlin had it. Eventually, Merlin wanted the friendship of another bird. He didn't choose that bird wisely. The bird that Merlin began following around the block was a red tailed hawk. We would see the hawk out looking for food and Merlin would be trailing him by a few feet. One day, Merlin disappeared. We don't know if the hawk finally got sick of this black bird following him and cawing at him, if Merlin tried to befriend the wrong human or if he just flew off. Ever since then, I have a great affection for crows. It's a good thing too, my house is surrounded by them. So the next time you curse a crow for eating the seeds off your sunflower, stealing something shiny you left out or just making a racket, remember crows can be really great friends if you give them a chance.

I will complain

The best part of our trip was the way home. Jasmine slept almost the entire five hours back so me and my mom were actually able to have a conversation. I don't think there was much silence the entire way.

I think what started off as a cold, has turned into a sinus infection. I put myself on antibiotics today. Before you yell at me for making super germs and whatnot, hear me out. I also woke up to find out I have an infection in my gums from my damned wisdom teeth. The dentist will tell me what I already know. They need to be pulled and it's going to be expensive and require needles and surgery by an oral surgeon. I won't be going to the dentist for this if I don't absolutely have to but I do need a cleaning soon. I've pretty much been a big sack of whining pissiness, followed by much sniffling and coughing. Oh and then as I mentioned... it's snowing. Yeah that'll help my mood.

Jasmine has a massive canker sore on her lip. It's bigger than the eraser on a pencil. It finally started healing up today and doesn't look quite as gasp worthy. I think the canker sore was worse for her than having a cold. No, I know it was. The cold didn't make her cry. I've woken up to her the last several nights crying next to me and saying her mouth hurt. Whenever she gets them, they always get huge. Along with her being in pain, Evan seems to have a bug up his butt. I woke up to my husband saying to him, 'Your mother better get up soon or I'm going to lose it.' I'm sure it didn't help that as soon as I walked into the room, the kid shut up for the next several hours. He was a little whiny a few minutes ago but he's just tired. Now he's asleep in his swing. Ah sweet silence.

It's snowing. I hate snow.

On the upside

However, I did get an awesome deal on a jolly ball for the pit bull Rocky. (he's going to LOVE it) And the best magnet, ever. Most of you know I have a bit of an Aussie addiction. (well, any herding breed really) The magnet has the outline of an Aussie and it says 'Real dogs don't have tails.' I am so getting that put on a t-shirt.

Of all the luck

I'm on my mini-vacation. I take one night a year to go somewhere. One. And I'm sick. Maybe a bad cold? Don't know. I tell everyone, you don't start to feel better till you give whatever illness you have to someone else. Guess who started to feel better today? What's that Jasmine, your fever of 102 broke today and now you're running around the entire hotel like a maniac... hmmm I feel a tickle in my throat. Several hours later it's one of those tickles that feels like if you're not drinking something constantly, then you will cough. Only it sounds like a fake cough since there's nothing there. It's just a tickle. You try your best not to cough. You tell yourself it's in your head. Only to make it five minutes and end up in a worse coughing fit than you would've had if you had just coughed the first time you had the urge. Go figure, when I was leaving the house, I thought 'Maybe I should grab some sinus/cold medicine just in case.' Guess what I thought I wouldn't need?

The wee end of the deal

Why can't little boys pee and then poop? I was changing a very recently poohed in diaper a few minutes ago. I was concentrating on the pooh end, paying no attention to the wee end, when I hear liquid hitting my pillow and splashing on my leg. I quickly cover the wee end of things with a baby wipe and then the pooh end starts going again! I get him cleaned up (and hell I was lucky with that diaper because he hadn't done the pooh in a few days so earlier I gave him prune juice) and that's when I see just how much damage the wee end really did. He peed on the wall, me, my pillow, my bed and worst of all... in my pop. The only thing he didn't do during that change was puke.

How do I date? :)

So I have this friend, who I'm only friends with because she is my husband's best friends' wife. (following me still? haha) I say "only friends with" because I never would've met her otherwise. We only hang out as a group and have never done anything solo. She wants to leave the kids with men folk and go out to the mall and then dinner afterwards... alone... just the two of us. No one there to add to the conversation. Do you see where I'm going with this? It freaks me out a little bit to be completely alone with another person that isn't my mom or my husband, probably because I tend to only make plans with them. I'm not an overly social person. I don't have friends coming out my yahoo and to be honest, I like it that way. I already feel like my weekends are too short and I don't get to spend enough time with those closest to me, I don't need a bunch of people getting pissy with me because I never hang out with them. Wow, that sounded harsh. :) I guess what I mean is that I only want close friends, not just people I hang out with occasionally when I have nothing better to do. At any rate, that's the reason I don't have a whole lot of experience in one on one friend dates. Plus, I'm super spastic when I'm out shopping. It's one of the reasons I only go shopping with my husband or my mom, they're used to it and know what to expect. I may walk around the mall for hours looking for something in particular, only to go back to the very first store I was in and grab the first thing that had caught my eye hours ago. It's enough to drive some people mad. And I'm not the type of person to tone it down. I figure you'll either like me as I am, spastic-ness and all, or you can go home. God, it's like I'm going on a my first boy/girl date. This is ridiculous. It won't be for a few weeks as we're going to wait till we both have a little money so we're not just browsing for whatever at the mall. (that's another thing, I love trying on crap, even when it's something I know I probably won't buy... another annoyance for some... Beth, don't ever go shopping with me, we'll either die laughing or you'll want me dead after an hour) She definitely needs to get out and have some fun for once though. Neither one of us go out much without our mom's or our husband's... oh or those pesky children. She also got some upsetting news today, another reason she needs a break. A few months ago, she had an abnormal pap and they froze the pre-cancerous cells. She just found out that her most recent pap also had pre-cancerous cells and she needs to do the procedure again. She seems like someone who would worry non-stop after getting the phone call. I'm going to try and get her to loosen up a bit and maybe even have a drink or two. (she's not a drinker... at all)

I had my OB appointment today. A little disappointing. I wanted the IUD that doesn't have hormones and my doctor urged me to go with the Mirena that has a small amount of hormone. The reason being is that I cramp pretty badly under normal circumstances and with the paraguard (non-hormonal IUD) most women cramp worse till it's removed. (up to ten years) I'm not completely comfortable going with the Mirena but I also don't want to be doubled over in pain every month. (literally) It's also going to mean I have to be poked and prodded several times this year. I have to have the thing put in (he says it's pretty "uncomfortable"... I asked for davocet and he told me to take tylenol... I want real drugs if it's going to suck) then I have to have it checked a few months afterwards to make sure my body didn't say screw that, out you go IUD and I still have to have a pap done in July. What does my husband have to do? Nothing, zip, zilch. Just wait till he gets snipped. A friend of mine said when her SIL's husband had it done, they let her do the final snipping. Hand over the scissors buddy, I'm all for it. :)

Two more days

Friday we leave for Ohio to go to the Equine Affair in Columbus. I just told Jasmine about it tonight. Whenever something major is going to happen, she needs advanced notice but I've learned that when it's a good thing and you give her too much notice, you never hear the end of it. If I had told her sooner, I would've been woken up everyday at the crack of dawn with her asking if we were going today. I already have to get up early tomorrow (OB appointment) so I figured I'd just tell her and get it over with. Shawn and Evan will be staying home for various reasons, we don't have someone to watch all the dogs, driving five hours with a baby is insanity and Shawn doesn't really enjoy it in the first place. They're having a boys night out on Friday, a couple of Shawn's friends, Shawn and Evan are going to the movies. Hey, I'm ahead of the game for once, I'm already packed. Normally, I don't pack until a few hours before I absolutely have to go to sleep the night before we leave. This is the first year I don't have to pack diapers and baby crap. Just some clothes for her, some for me and some stuff to keep her occupied on the way down. And one of my husband's dirty shirts. :) Yes, I take his clothes with me and smell them when I miss him. It's either worthy of an aww or woah, crazy. haha He sleeps on my side of the bed when I'm not here and uses my pillows. (he won't be able to use my pillows this time because I'm taking those suckers with me)