And they're.... off

The house is definitely going up for sale and we will definitely take a loss on it. I'll just be relieved when it's all over. And again, my realtor is just absolutely awesome. I couldn't imagine going through all of this without her. If we buy in this county when we go to purchase another home, we will definitely be using her. (she only does this this county) Her son is about a two years older than Evan so she's going to give us his old clothes, which is really nice of her. We just love her and I feel like she feels the same towards us.

I may have annoyed my husband. Actually, I'm sure I annoyed him. One of the other fosters I work with closely, wants to go away for the weekend to see her dad. He's got cancer and I don't think there's been a time that she's asked me to watch her fosters to go see him that I've ever said no. If it was one of my parents, I would want to spend as much time with them as possible. Therefore, when she asked if I would watch her two foster dogs, I said yes... without telling my husband till after the fact. I know, and so does he, that he would've been fine with it, for the same reasons I am. He'll be better when he sees they really are well behaved dogs. (two labs) I just hope they are fireworks friendly or I'm going to have rearrange my dogs so that they can be crated while we're gone.

Jasmine has been a little clutz today. She fell and smacked the bridge of her nose on a metal bar, she stubbed her toe on the baby's swing, she knocked over a huge thing of bubbles, fell in the bedroom and bruised her legs and I know I'm missing a few things. If she drank apple cider, I'd be wondering if it had turned. :) haha The tears have been a flowing most of the day. And if you know my kid, you know she doesn't cry over little things. She has to really bust her butt to cry. Oh, she fell off her bike as well. (for the first time since she's been riding it) I just wanted to wrap her in bubble wrap by the end of the day to keep her from breaking any bones. I'm just grateful the day is over and she's asleep. Although, she could always roll out of bed and hurt herself that way. Not that it would wake her up. She's knocked her head on the corner of the side table while she was asleep, leaving a knot and never did her eyes open.

Shawn is on shutdown for the next two weeks, starting Friday. We'll be spending that time getting the house ready for sale and open house. We hope to have it completely ready by August first but it may be even sooner. The realtor told us not to fix anything, nothing, nadda as we won't make it back in the sale and we'll just be throwing our money away. Therefore, we only have to figure out what we're selling in a garage sell, what we're throwing away and what we'll be keeping and eventually putting into storage. I'm so unattached to most of the stuff here that I'll be putting the words FREE on some of the things that I just want gone. Going out of business sale folks. :)

Quickly, Quickly now

Quick update before I go back to cleaning. The realtor is coming tomorrow to help us figure out what is best to get taken care of before the house goes on the market. She's also going to try and help us out with our mortgage company. She will deal with them from now on, not us. I swear, I have the best realtor in this area. I know she's probably a little more expensive but she's worth every single penny. I have never felt more like someone I was paying was really truly looking out for my best interest, not just their paycheck. I hate to, but I must get back to the job at hand for now.

Kitties Named

All kittens have names now. Unfortunately, overnight I went from six kittens to five. One of the females died during the day today. There was nothing we could've done. We believe she died of a heart defect as that was what her symptoms were pointing to. She didn't appear to be in any pain, just really sleepy, which is how she passed, asleep. I was hoping not to lose any from this litter too. This time, Jasmine was able to say goodbye to her since we knew she was dying. She's doing better with it since we have had so many die in the last few litters. It's strange that you find so many feral strays out there that manage to survive without any care and yet, in fosters and shelters, you lose a lot. Their names are - Kade, Rylee, Yasmine (which was the one who died), Dharma, Everett, and Ryder. They really are a great group of kittens as far as personalities go. We have a bit of everything. The trouble maker, (TM) the TM sidekick, the lover, the one that's a little aloof and the doofus. (hey what's over there, BAM... there's a force field around this area of the room... the humans call it glass) I had help from the other volunteers on these names. I really hate doing names. (if you hadn't noticed since I always recruit you all for help) When I name my own animals, I search for a name until I find the one that just feels "right," however if I did that for every foster I got in... well I'd be searching through thousands of names to find the "right" one for that animal and then they get adopted and the name changed. All my hard work down the pooper. At least they are no longer, blue, Green One, Green Two, Yellow, girl with no collar, boy with no collar. =)

Meow 6x

I have babies!!!! :) The six kittens arrived safe and sound this afternoon. They all pretty much look the same. There are a few little differences between them but at the moment we cannot tell most of them apart without their paper colored collars. For now, they have no names and are just being called whatever collar color they have on. (Blue, 2 Green, Yellow) They were sent to me to help socialize them better as they were considered a little skittish. They are going to be easy however. They are all very sweet and within a few days, they won't show any signs of fear when we walk in the room. (it's only initially but once we speak, they come running already) Very nice kittens for sure. They are on medication for a very slight cold that is on it's way to clearing up. I am in kitten love! We let them out for a while this evening and there was kittens everywhere. Running, jumping, tumbling, biting, hissing and purring. I have a feeling the next month is going to be filled with lots of laughter at these guys expense. (we had one try and jump through plexi-glass earlier... whoops)

How long will we hear about this?

Am I the only person with a memory these days? Why is it that when a horrible person dies, we are expected only to say nice things about them? My dad's father was a racist, a shitty father and a shitty grandfather, why should I deny that just because he died a few years ago? Why should we ignore the fact that Michael Jackson was more than likely a child molester? (and I believe that he was) He was a guy who had his fifteen minutes of fame but that doesn't suddenly make the horrible things he did just go away. I for one, will not be sad about his death. Farrah Faucet died today as well but her death will go practically unnoticed. She fought a very hard battle against colon cancer and shared that fight with the world, if only to be a friend to someone in need that was going through the same thing. Cry for Farrah, not Michael.

Going, going, gone

Good news? My laptop is once again working thanks to some guy my husband works with. Thanks husband and some guy! My fosters are at petsmart looking to be adopted. (the kitten has a pretty good spot at a home already)

Bad news? Yeesh. My husband had a meeting today for his work. Approximately 300 people will be laid off at the first of the year. My husband isn't in that number. However, they will be going down to minimum hours. We cannot afford our house payment on those hours. We will lose our house. We are in a frenzy to get it on the market and sold by the first of 2010. My husband has two weeks off in the beginning of July and another the beginning of August and we will spend those three weeks, cleaning, and fixing what we can. We will lose money on the house and will not end up getting what we paid for it. Right now, I'm trying not to freak out. It is what it is. There's not a whole lot we can do to change it. No matter what, we will not be homeless. I am grateful that we are in a better position than most that are in a similar situation. We have somewhere to go even if our house was to go into foreclosure. (ick, bad word, bad word) We'll be moving back in with my mom for a time. In the end, it will probably help everyone at least financially. (if we don't all kill each other first) We can help my mom with her bills and save money for the next adventure in house buying. I've learned my lesson off this house. Don't ever leave the dogs unattended in the house, particularly while sleeping or away. Don't buy a house as expensive the next go around. Don't leave the dogs unattended in the house. Oh wait, said that once... well it bears repeating. Buy a house in the husband/wife approved school zones. Ok, now that I'm writing it all out, I'm starting to feel sick. I've been stress eating since early today. Thankfully, I have a lot of low fat (but still yummy) snacks on hand right now. At least I won't gain 20lbs on top of it. haha

On Friday, I will be getting six new fosters. They are brother and sister gray tabby kittens. They look so much alike that the current foster has paper collars around their necks in different colors so that she can tell them apart. I'll be getting them to help socialize them. They are a bit on the wild side and skittish. I will have them for around three weeks so we'll have a lot of work to do with them in a small time frame. Jasmine is really good as socializing them. Most of my kittens are extremely friendly and relaxed mainly because of my daughter. I'm glad there are six this time around and not just the one. Poor Eleanor never got put down since she was the only kitten!

Eye spy a green bush... ;)

Well, my eyes still suck. :) They've gotten quite a bit worse in the last year. I was 1.75 in the left and 2.00 in the right. Now I'm 2.50 in both. I had a pretty good feeling they'd gotten worse and when they asked, I told them the same. I can never be positive though. Someday... I will have lasik, someday. Until then, I'm stuck with sticky contacts. I'm starting to think my doctor is more uncomfortable with me passing out than I am. I was supposed to have the pressure checked in my eyes last year but she said we'd do it this year since I have a tendency to pass out. (which I DON'T understand because I have no problem with them touching my eye) I reminded her of that today and she said we'd wait another year. :) I was actually hoping to have it done today so I could see if it was going to happen a second time. haha

Yesterday, I started trimming our hedges. It's the first time I've done it. I had no idea how heavy that trimmer gets after a few minutes. Not to mention, awkward. It has a switch on it that you can push and it will stay on continuously but I had images of dropping the thing on my foot and watching as they were cut off to little nubs. I figured at least if I dropped it without that on, I would just end up with a nice bruise. I didn't exactly have a safe way to cut the main hedge. One side is on a hill, one side is next to railing, another is next to a two foot drop which holds my flowers that I just planted. It was... interesting to say the least. I had to stop halfway through yesterday as I ran out of daylight. I really didn't want to finish it today as it was 91 degrees and humid as hell. My husband told me to wait till it got cooler in the next few days, basically telling me the damn bush wasn't going anywhere. Eventually, I went outside and finished it off. Now I'm glad I did. Not only is it done but tomorrow is an ozone action day. I have asthma and spend as little time outdoors on those days as possible. Now if only the pain in my forearms would lessen, I'd be a happy girl.

Must... Close... Eyes

I am so tired. Yesterday, I started feeling like I was seriously going to throw up so I took a pill for it. It's a prescription and it's also used as a sedative along with anti-vomiting. I've taken these before and never had the sedative be so effective. I think I've only been awake a total of about five hours throughout the day and I'm very much so ready to go back to sleep. I'm just waiting on Jazz to pass out. I just hope that once I wake up, it'll have finally worn off.

I am officially a registered bone marrow donor now. It's something I've wanted to for years but my fear of needles has held me back. But while I sit here, healthy and procrastinating for fear of a little stick, someone out there could be dying and need my marrow. I had also been under the impression that I had to go where ever the patient was in the US when they needed my marrow to donate. That's not true. I have about a three hour drive to one of the places that takes donated bone marrow and then they will get it to the person who needs it. If I would've had to fly somewhere, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Making my husband take a day off work to drive me somewhere is one thing, making him take a week off, is another. I could be called in a few months, a few years or never. There is another way to donate on the same site but I really don't think I'd be able to. They take all the blood out of your body, filter it through a machine to get out stem cells and then put what's left back in through another IV. I just don't think I could keep myself from passing out through a process that would take that long. I feel guilty as hell saying that but I just couldn't.

Tuesday I go in for my eye doctor appointment. It's the year that they'll be checking the pressure in my eye. It's pretty much a guarantee that I'll pass out during that test. It's why they've put off doing it for so long. It's not even a response that I knew I was going to have when it first happened. The doctor said there's some immediate response in some people that happens when an object touches their eye. I get to be one of those people. :) Maybe now that I'm aware that it happens, I can try and distract my brain during the process.

Bunny teefers

My mouth has a nice little infection growing in it. Anyone want a kiss now? ;) This is the second one in five months now. Add to that, my top left wisdom tooth is trying to grow into my jaw bone. I'm not sure how it managed to turn in that direction but there it is. I have Houdini teeth. I've been swallowing blood for a few days now. I should've just had the damn things removed when I had the chance, about three years ago. Jasmine was still a baby though and I was freaked out about the pain, taking care of her and the pain. Now I'm looking for a pair of pliers and a bottle of vodka. ;)

I finally got most of my plants in the ground yesterday. I can stop feeling guilty every time I look at the seed packets. I'm not worried if they don't come up this year, as most will bloom again next year. Although I would love to see some hollyhock flowers, I doubt it will happen as they have to grow quite tall. I've all but given up on sunflowers. I plant them, they sprout and then the rabbit comes along and chomps off their little heads. They never stand a chance. For living on a busy road, near the city, I have tons and tons of the little hoppers all around. We have babies running around the yard every year and usually from multiple parents. I plant food for them to eat, however they seem to like my tulips and sunflowers more. They never even touched the carrots I planted last year, snobs.

Can't DIY that....

I'm having a great deal of jaw/gum pain. This is the third time in four years now. What am I supposed to do? I can go to the dentist, they will give me darvocet, an antibiotic and say I need surgery, which I can't afford. The cause is my wisdom teeth. They are in a nice little variety of impaction, horizontal (for most). Horizontal means that they are, well, coming in horizontal. They are coming in at such a strong angle that they are pushing directly into the side of my 2nd molars. They all have bony vertical impaction. This means my jaw isn't big enough to support those teeth and is all but impossible for them to up through my gums naturally. To have them removed, bones will have to be broken. One of the teeth is only a mesial impaction, meaning that the angle it is coming in at is less strong than the vertical. Kind of on a diagonal. In the end, this can and will cause many problems if I don't have them removed. They have managed to move my lower teeth to some extent since they've started pushing and shoving back there. They can cause abscesses and they can actually eat away at the 2nd molars below the gum surface. At this point I'm not rock meet hard place, it's more tooth meet bone place. I actually feel like my cheek is swollen, whether it is or not, I don't know and I'm not running to a mirror to find out. The earliest I could fathom paying my portion of the surgery (I have to have a special surgeon due to my lovely circumstances, which adds more money to the bill), which is around $1500, would be July and I honestly don't think I'll have it. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do yet.

In other, happier news, I went to Hobby Lobby on Saturday with my mom (among many other places to try and pass the time till my MIL left my house). I've been wanting to take one of their cake making classes and found out they are more than $100 cheaper than I originally thought. They also have oil painting, cookies decorating and a few others I was interested in. I was never able to take any of those fun classes when I was in school. I was so focused on getting as many high end classes on my college apps. that I didn't bother with most electives. I took the minimum required for most colleges and that was it. I had been trying to get things high enough that I would be able to get into Purdue, however, I dropped out of school and regret never taking any of those classes now. (although I can still say I had a 3.7 gpa when I quit, without taking a bunch of easy stuff) I still plan on going to college but it won't be for a few more years and a much less prestigious school. (Brown Mackie) I'm still going for my vet tech license. I'm sure it'll feel a little... ridiculous to spend that much on college and still be making less than my husband who didn't go to college or finish hs. But it's really what I want to do and have always wanted to do. Originally, I wanted to be a veterinarian but 8 years more of school after hs just wasn't going to happen and I wanted to be involved with patients in a less... authoritative way. Vet tech's and assistants have more time to sooth the clients fears than a vet would and also get to spend far more time behind the scenes with the animals. What was I talking about? Oh yes, classes. The older I get, the more I seem to be into the diy scene. I want to make my own cakes and cake decorations but I want them to look as if a professional did them. I'd also love to learn to paint. You know, there are a lot of things out there I'd love to learn how to do. I'm currently working on crocheting. It's going... slow. I guess I just like learning new things and deciding whether or not it's something I enjoy enough to keep doing. And now, I am off to relieve my pain with narcotics and see if I enjoy that. ;)

I won't be your doormat

Today's post by Beth got me thinking so I decided to blog about it. I do not consider myself to be weak or submissive. I stand up for what I believe in and speak up when I feel something is wrong. It has caused some embarrassment here and there for those who are with me but for the most part, I think they respect me for it. One of the things that irritates me most in the world, is when a man acts like he is above a woman. My husband has a friend who is like that and the guy really rubs me the wrong way. He has yet to treat me in a way that would cause me to cut him down to size but I know he has treated others that way. Of course, it hasn't been in my presence or I would've said something. He's a really great friend to my husband and it's the only reason I don't bitch more about them being friends. Although, I have been known to be very passive aggressive about it. (which, ironically, is another pet peeve of mine, passive aggressive people... haha) I just don't understand where some men get this idea that we should bow to them and thank them for letting us bask in their magnificence. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that she is capable of doing anything she wants with her life. I don't want her to ever feel like because she is a girl, that she can't do something a boy can do and even do it better. If I were to allow the behavior that some men exhibit, to go on in front of my daughter, I feel like I am agreeing with their views and thus, raising her to be weak. Now if she wants to be a stay at home mom and take care of her husband like a 1950's house wife, I'll be fine with that, as long as it's what she enjoys doing. And I'd better never, ever see a man treat my daughter as if she is stupid or my hackles will be up and there will be bloodshed. Hmmm, I seem to be in a mood these last couple of days. I surely hope the wrong person doesn't cross me tomorrow while I'm out and about (or that I'm not here at the same time my MIL is) or there may be some words spoken.

Weekend

It's going to be a long weekend. And yet, once it's over I'm going to feel like it went by too fast and that I didn't actually get a weekend. In a few hours I have to take the fosters in for their spays. I'm not even going to bother going to sleep. If we weren't so broke this week from Jasmine's birthday, I just would've paid the $25 to take them in last night so I wouldn't have to take both kids out at the crack of dawn. I'll come home and hopefully get a few hours nap. That just depends on the kids. I lock our bedroom door so Jasmine can't get out but if she's being loud (hopefully she'll lay in bed and watch a movie) then Evan can't go to sleep, thus I can't go to sleep. When Shawn gets home from work, we'll have to go get the cats. And after that, it'll be time to start thinking about dinner. I also need to get the house cleaned up for Saturday and I'd like to plant some more outside. Saturday, Shawn's mom is coming over to give Jasmine her birthday presents. (despite the fact that she's a jehovah and doesn't *celebrate* anything) I have plans with my mom that just so happen to be the hours that she will be here. When did I make those plans? After I found out she was going to be here, of course. ;) It will be a kid free day for me! I don't get those very often. Jasmine usually wants to go everywhere I go so the most I get is an Evan free day. Sunday, we head to my dad's house to do Jasmine's birthday stuff over there. *sigh* When I was a kid, I loved that my dad's parents were divorced. It meant more presents on birthdays and holidays for us. When you're the parent, it means a hell of a lot more work dragging the kid from house to house. I still have plenty more pictures to post but I'm not sure I'll get around to it tonight.

Jazzy's B-day

Jasmine's birthday went awesomely. She had a blast. Probably more fun than she's had in all her birthdays combined. (you know, the whole three others... haha) I invited her best friend, Nathan, whose parents also happen to be our best friends. (convenient, I know) They shot everyone with silly string, beat the holy hell out of a pinata, ate cake and played with Jasmine's gifts. (even though he's a boy, he played very well with her dollhouse stuff!) They also ran around like sugared up monsters outside. I have to say, they are two really well behaved children. They shared (without being forced and without whining) hitting the pinata, stayed where they were supposed to, even while the adults were inside and overall were very polite and just awesome kids. I wish all kids behaved like that. (the zoo experience reminded me that some people just should not be allowed to breed once, let alone four separate times!!!) It made it enjoyable for everyone that they were good. (you really never know what will happen when you add that much sugar to the equation) I have a few photos that I will upload within a few days. I don't even have them on the computer yet. She ended up with enough wheels to play for weeks without getting bored. A big wheel from her best friend, a bike with training wheels (sniff, sniff... it was bittersweet when we bought that... she's still my baby, she shouldn't be old enough for a b.i.k.e. yet!) and a plasma car from my mom. If you've never seen a plasma car, they are freakin' awesome. There are no pedals, no motors and you don't use your feet to make it move. You simply turn the wheel slightly from side to side and it glides along. I showed my mom and Shawn how awesome they were... in the middle of Target. My husband couldn't get me off it fast enough and my mom just wished she had a camera to take a picture of me in the middle of the store on a kid's toy. :)

Zoo Photos

These are some of the photos from the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. I decided to split them up for two reasons. The first, my computer suddenly started messing up and I can't view or alter any of my photos. (after I uploaded this bunch it started) Secondly, there are a lot and I figure people will appreciate it more if I don't give you a twenty minute entry. :)
These were made from real plants, although I'm not sure what it was exactly. Jasmine liked them a great deal. There was a giant horse made of the same stuff that I meant to get a photo of before we left but I forgot. By the end of the day, I was hot, exhausted and getting a little frustrated with kids.

A dingo ate me baby! This is a dingo. (if you didn't realize that already... well tsk tsk) We had a dog years ago that looked a great deal like this or a little like a coyote/dingo cross. She had some... screws loose I think. At one point, she full out bit my brother in the face when he was playing with her. We were extremely careful with her after that and she was never allowed near Jasmine again. Otherwise, she was a really sweet dog. Back to the dingo... I drove my mom nuts after we saw the dingo with that phrase. Or she would ask if I'd seen something of ours in the baby bag and I would say the dingo ate it. :) After I got home, I started wondering where the hell that phrase came from. Well, it's not a funny story. A woman in Australia was camping and her baby went missing. She said a dingo had carried the baby away. She was convicted of murdering the infant but later acquitted when they found evidence that a dingo may well have gotten the child. Takes all the fun out of the phrase.

I love the 'Roos. Jasmine does too, which was apparent when she asked only to see them and them alone all through the zoo. Go figure, they weren't the first place we went. I loved this guy in particular. He just has that look like he doesn't have a care in the world. Just hanging out on a sunny day. If they wanted to, they could've come right up to us. The only thing separating them from the humans was a chain rope along the path.

The one in the cage back there was really restless. I don't know why it was segregated from the group. My guesses would be pregnant, sick or on time out. The two standing that are closest to that one, almost started fighting right after this photo was taken. That was definitely a tense few seconds considering how close we were to them. The guy giving the dirty look is the instigator. Such a bully.

This was on the log ride. Jasmine loved it. She also went on the sky lift which is basically a ski lift through the Africa section. I didn't go on that one because Evan wasn't allowed. I was worried she would fall off or would back out at the last second but she went up there with my mom and seemed to be just fine.

This guy is huge. No, I mean, really huge. It's impossible to see from the photo. He was as long as I am tall and was probably up to my chest at the top of his shell. He was really cool to see. His wifey was a great deal smaller than he was but said he likes them lean. :) Those are baby goslings sitting by the water. I have never seen so many geese in one place before. They were absolutely everywhere, as were their babies. They had a place where you could feed the geese and the peacocks. I guess I don't blame them for setting up shop in the zoo, free food, safety and plenty of clean water.

You know, giraffe's always look so sleek and soft. I've always wanted to touch one. I had one lick my hand when I was a kid but I've never been able to pet one. Jasmine could've cared less but I decided I wasn't going to drive all that way and leave without petting him. They are extremely coarse as if they have been rolling in mud all day long. They also smell horrible. It's not like anything I have smelled before to even give you insight into what you're missing. Very musty.

I wish I could remember what these little meerkat-like guys were called. They had an unusual name so it's no wonder I forgot it. (see previous entry about losing ability to recall, well, everything) They were adorable. It's no wonder that I like them so much though. My favorite animal to visit at our local zoo are the prairie dogs, who, if you weren't aware, actually make a barking noise.

This peacock almost became lunch. After Evan crying for what seemed like an eternity (he's been super fussy since coming down with this cold), he finally passed out, at which time, Mr. Pea (I think you can understand why I didn't use the second part instead) decided to let out his best... and loudest, mating call. He was about three feet from us. Lucky for him, Evan didn't move.

He was extremely close to us in this photo. In my opinion, he was probably the prettiest of all the peacocks in the zoo. (and again, there were a ton of them) He was not, however, the most unusual. There was a male and female pair of peacocks that were completely white. That I can definitely say, I've never seen before. To be continued.......

Bye Bye Brain.... see you later....

My memory has gotten so bad these last few months that I actually have to email myself so that I remember to do things the next day. Today I emailed myself to call the vet and make a spay appointment for my fosters and call my uncle to invite him to Jasmine's birthday party on Wednesday. (basically she'll eat cake, beat the hell out of a pinata and eat more cake) Then I forgot to check my email. Seriously, my husband was the one to remind me that I needed to do those things. I always feel like I have a million things to remember and sometimes other things get lost in the clutter that is my brain. Really, if you could see inside that thing... it looks like a recycling bin marked paper only. There's post it notes everywhere, paper tossed on the floor, hanging from the spiderwebs in the corners. An absolute mess. I should make a reminder to clean that thing out.

Speaking of Jasmine... she'll be turning 4 on Wednesday. How did that happen? She's still just a baby to me. A really smart baby but a baby nonetheless. This is the first year she really asked for certain things on her birthday. She was very specific. She wants a STAR pinata, a pink cake, presents and candy. She got all of those things and then some. I bought some candles without really looking at them. They were on wooden sticks. It wasn't till I had everything home that I realized two of the candles were in the shape of a star (the other being the number 4). Find right? I also bought a cake pan in the shape of a star. I believe the bike she is getting even has stars on it. However, I will not be putting star decorations on her cake. Only because I couldn't find any. :)

Tomorrow we're heading about two hours away to Fort Wayne. They have a children's zoo there that we've never been to. Funny, considering we've been to almost every single one within four hours of my house and yet we managed to miss the one that is rated in the top ten children's zoos. We'll be taking many photos. I plan on hijacking my mom's camera while we're there for the sole purpose of blog photos. ;)

Brain took vacation

Watching the new show Nurse Jackie on Showtime. I've been looking forward to it for months. I believe this will be the first show that follows a nurse and no the doctors. Although I'm sure this isn't exactly what the nurses out there were hoping for. :) She appears addicted to pain medication but it's the first episode so who really knows. At least it's funny.

I feel like crap again. It's the worst at night. You know, the time when I actually get to relax and sit in silence. Why can't I feel like crap the rest of the day and great when they give me a few moments to myself? Evan takes his massive doses of antibiotics as if he believes me to be poisoning him. Only six more days until he stops looking like a pink fountain. I can't form proper thoughts at the moment so I'll postpone writing any further till my brain works more betterer. :)

Yikes

Omg. I went to google and put in the words I love my brother. I was looking for something like a necklace or picture that was geared towards brother/sister relationships. While I was out today, there were plenty of sisters necklaces and plaques but nothing if your sibling happens to be male. I put in those words and two of the first five results were about some girl who was in love with her brother and sleeping with him! And they weren't the same person, these were two different women. Yes, I had to click on the link because I thought it had to be some kind of joke. No, it was them asking for advice on how to handle the situation with their families and friends. And there were people who thought what they were doing was good! Just... ew. I still have yet to find what I was actually looking for however. I found onesies for babies saying I love my big brother and t-shirts that say I love my little brother but everything is for kids. I may end up forced to special order something I suppose.

More photos and a little whining

Boy child was crabby and sniffly all night long. This morning he felt warm but I figured it was just this cold thing we all have. By early afternoon I called my husband to see what time he was getting off. (I wanted to know how much longer it would be before I was to take a nap, I'd only had three hours of sleep) We had briefly talked about taking him to the doctor but I brushed it off and said we'd wait and see. However, the kid was driving me nuts with his crying, not sleeping and not eating so I called to see what the nurse thought we should do. Eventually, made the decision to bring him in. He has the cold but also has an ear infection. That's why he wouldn't eat. I thought it was from all the crude in his nose. They want us to alternate giving tylonel and motrin. I'm not a fan of ibprofen at all. However, I figure that stuff is probably irritated and the motrin would help that. Plus, it lasts eight hours. He's been the happiest he's been in 24 hours. I may give him another dose of motrin before I switch so that I may get some sleep. Eight hours vs. four makes a huge difference. Hopefully, the antibiotics that I have to force him to take will kick in sooner rather than later.

Boy child before he started getting sick. You know, back when he smiled. :) This along with the others (except for the next one) were taken by my beautiful and talented aunt Jeri.

This is Jeri and it was taken by Jasmine. I'm sure if Jeri hadn't laid on the trampoline it would've been a picture of her feet/trampoline only. :) Jazz had trouble holding up the heavy camera so her photos were on a... downward angle.

This is probably my favorite picture taken of Jasmine, ever. I just absolutely love it.

And me, jumping. Jasmine wanted to see someone do a front flip on the trampoline. My uncle played the I'm too old card so I went out and tried. I did it too, twice since Jasmine wasn't even looking at me the first time. Have I mentioned that I'm only four months postpartum? :) Had to throw that one in there. haha

Quick photos for once!

This is my foster mommy, Kasima. She's much prettier in person. She's a really laid back cat. No new situations seem to upset her. Not even in my crazy house. :)

I jokingly tell them that they're digging their own graves. It started as a tiny hole and has... expanded. It's Tarin's favorite place to lay. Due to the aussie's long fur, they tend to get warm quickly. They have a dog pool but after a while, the best thing is a deep cool hole.

The baby chicks. Today they have quite a bit more fuzz. This was taken two days ago. I didn't realize how sad I would be when they left till I started talking to my mom about her barn swallows. Every year they have one or two clutches and then it's over. No more tweeting birdies. :( These guys are absolutely silent however. When mom and dad come to feed them, they just open their mouths and wait. I think it's a way to keep predators from finding them.

I'm going over the fence.. and I'm not leaving till I find a dead body. No one knocks off an old man in my neighborhood and gets away with it.

We have all come down with this cold/sinus infection. Jasmine... does not cope well when she isn't feeling good. She would sleep a max. of two hours and then be up for several hours. During the time she was asleep, Evan would wake up. She's been extremely whiny and emotional. (i.e. balling her eyes out for little or no reason... I asked her if I could get her anything and she started crying as if I just asked if I could feed her hot coals) She did her usual round of vomiting today. I knew it was coming. She always throws up when she gets sick. Too bad my couch was her target. I didn't start feeling too badly until about 11pm. There's a lot of sinus pressure on my left side. It's left me with a headache... which is about the time Evan decided to start crying and crying and crying. He doesn't seem sick so I'm not sure what his problem was. I've been a little more cranky than usual with me and Jazz being sick. All last week Shawn was sick and avoided being around us to try and keep us from getting it. But that made me bitchy as I was then dealing with two kids all week long with absolutely no break. Now we have this week where he is getting over it and I have one kid that is sick, I'm sick and I'm sure the other will get it causing me to feel as if I'm still not getting a break. Not his fault at all but it's my party and I'll be pissy if I want to. :)

Yesterday, I met my neighbor. My husband always whines when I ask him to go over there and talk to the guy. The only time I send him over is when we know about something serious going on in the neighborhood that would concern them. (like a few weeks ago when there were numerous break-ins) I would make fun of him to no end about how anti-social he is with the neighbor guy. I've met his wife. I wasn't a fan of hers but at least she seemed somewhat... normal. Jazz and I were out front planting some gladiolas when one of their tiny dogs got out of the fence. As I've stated many times on here, we live on a very busy road so I snatched him up before he could make a run for it. I walked over, knocked on the door. You would expect someone to be... I don't know... somewhat grateful that you kept their dog from death but I shit you not, the guy looked like he would've rathered the dog got hit by a car than had me at his front door. All he said to me was "I'm sorry." I can't portray the creepiness of that phrase through text. Have you seen that movie, "The Burbs," with Tom Hanks? That was the first thing that came to mind after meeting that guy. And all he said to me were those two words. I got the hell out of dodge and apologized to my husband for ever asking him to speak to that guy. I'm a pretty good judge of character and let me tell you, that guy has serial killer written all over him. My husband thinks I'm slightly overreacting but agrees that he's more than a little weird.

Good boy, rest now

It's been a little bit of a somber day here. We found out in the mid-afternoon that my aunt and uncle had to have their border collie, Ringo put to sleep. I'm glad we all got the chance to visit with him yesterday. Particularly my husband, who absolutely adored him. Ringo is the reason we became interested in border collies. He was so in love with that fluffy herding dog that he knew he wanted one of his own. Mia has been the ideal dog from day one. It's so shocking as he looked so good while we were with him. Very full of energy for a 14 year old dog and happy as he always was. Something happened (I don't know exact details) and he had some internal bleeding. Due to his age, they decided his best option was to be euthanized rather than risk having him suffer in any way. He was a wonderful dog who had a fantastic, exciting life. (he even had his fifteen minutes of fame on Pet Star with Boxer sister, Buddy) I don't usually cry over animals that are not my own but I have to say, I've shed more than a few tears today. He will be fondly remembered by all who met him.