Stream of Consciousness

I think I'm about ready to leave. The van is pretty much packed and barring troubles in the night, we plan to leave at o'dark-thirty in the morning. I'm so excited! I get to go "home" for Christmas this year. Last year I didn't get to go since I was having a Christmas (Eve) baby. I got to spend Christmas Eve and Day in the hospital. Strange experience. I still need to write Abby's birth story. I intended to do so by her first birthday but that is not going to happen. I just have too much going on and I haven't taken the time to sit down and do it. I'm feeling a little bit sad as her first birthday approaches. I have felt this way with every baby. Right now I can still say, "A year ago I was pregnant with Abby." A couple more days and I can't say that anymore. I don't know why I care about that but I do. I'm a marker of time. It's been a month since... It's been a year since... It's been a decade since... I just had a filling replaced that was over 20 years old. That made me feel a bit old. I had a filling that was 20+ years! Whoa. While I'm in Oregon this next week I get to go out to dinner with a friend that I've had since I was 8. She and I have been friends for 29 years. I'll wait while you do the math... I'm so blessed to have a life-long friend like her. I never knew when we were kids what a rare friendship we had. I also get to see another life-long friend of mine. My sister, Junelle. She has been a part of my life for 35 years. I never knew what a blessing she was either when I was a kid. I'm glad I grew up! I will also get to see my brother, his wife, and girls, June's husband and boys, two grandmas, and an aunt and uncle. I'm wishing my other sister, Jaymarie, and her family could be there but they have already traveled to Oregon twice from Wisconsin this year so they are having Chirstmas there this year. I'll get to eat my mom's corn chowder (Christmas eve tradition), pies, peanut butter fudge, and almond roca. I'll get to stay up late playing games, talking, and laughing with people I know and love who know me and love me. People who share traditions and a history with me. People with whom I can pick up where I left off. People that don't need a lot of explanation to know where I'm coming from. People that I know. My people. I'm looking forward to my time in Oregon, can you tell? I got online to post that I'm leaving town and will be very busy with family and so I don't expect I'll be blogging. I don't know where all that rambling came from. Maybe just my Christmas spirit bubbling up now that I'm done rushing to get ready.

Have a very Merry Christmas and God bless us everyone.

Feeling Creative?

Need a little something to do? I'm at the point where I have so much to do that the only thing I want to do is to play around and make snowflakes. Give it a try. It's quite fun and makes no mess!!

Ta-da!

You like the new blog design? I've been anxiously awaiting the delivery of my new template. Susie at Bluebird Blogs has been keeping very busy doing wonderful work around the blogosphere and I just had to wait my turn. Waaaaa! But here it is and I'm so excited. And in time for Christmas too! Thanks a bunch, Susie, for putting up with all of my demands requests, I really appreciate it.

What Kind of Reader Am I?

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
Dedicated Reader
Book Snob
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

I found this quiz at The Common Room.

My baby bookworm

I love how she is sitting here.
I don't know why but it's just cute!

My turn's coming.....

My bloggy Christmas present (to myself) is almost here! :-)

Good Morning!

I made some Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins this morning. Grab a muffin and some hot chocolate and enjoy!



Recipe:

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. orange juice

1-1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg slightly beaten
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil

1-1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

2 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven 400*. Combine oats and orange juice. Set aside. Combine the flour, soda, sugar, egg, baking powder, salt, and oil. Mix well. Add oats mixture. Mix well. Stir in blueberries. Pour (drop) into greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Top with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12. Enjoy!

Christmas Tour of Homes

Well, it's here, BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes. Come in and I'll show you around a bit.

---

Welcome to my 1400+ s.f. home with 6 people wedged into it. Well, okay, one of the people is only 11 months old but we still feel a bit wedged!

This is the view from my front yard. I took the pictures at night so it's a little glowy/blurry.
(click on the pictures to see a larger view of them)



I'm including this picture of my reindeer (along with the half-lit, ugh!, tree) in order to report that the cute, little, baby reindeer was stolen a couple of nights ago. The kids were so bummed. I was too.



This cute welcome sign is across the living room from the front door.



Here's the view of the living room from the front door. Again, it's nighttime and I was trying for some nice ambiance. I think I just got blurry and glowy (or is that glowey?)



If you have toured several homes already, you may need to use the restroom. So, here ya go. My mom always put up Christmas lights in the bathroom so it doesn't seem right to me to leave mine unfestooned.



Okay. (Didja wash your hands?) Back to the living room to see the tree a little closer up. I bought a fake permanent tree last year when I was expecting a Christmas baby (She arrived Christmas eve). I didn't want the extra work of making sure the tree had water and having to clean up all the blessed needles that usually adorn my carpet. This year it's about getting my money's worth from last year's purchase!



Here's a close-up of an ornament that I made last week at a ladies night out with my daughters.



This is my nativity set. I love it. My sister, Junelle, got it for me. They are kids dressed up in costume. It's very cute.



My school dining room. The only decoration I have in here is my Christmas village. Behind me is my messy kitchen and there's no way I'm taking a picture of THAT!



Close-up of the Christmas village.



Last, but not least, don't forget to have a snack. Try out the candy-covered pretzels the kids and I made today. Careful, they're addictive!



Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed yourself. Be sure to check out the rest of the Christmas Tour Of Homes over at BooMama's.

---

12/15/06 (9;45 a.m.) Updated to add:
I just made some Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins and hot chocolate if anyone wants to have some!

Is there a difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars?

Oh. My. Goodness. Go read this post and be prepared to bang your head on the nearest tree! Here's a preview:

His bill was for .002 DOLLARS per unit, which, understandably, upset him, as it changed his expected fees from 71 cents to 71 dollars. So he called to point out the difference to Verizon. Shifted from caller rep to caller rep, every one of whom demonstrated absolutely no understanding that there was any difference between the two numbers at all, he finally turned out his tape recorder and recorded his conversation with the floor manager and published it to his new blog. Even while quoting the rate of .002 CENTS to him, they kept insisting this was the same as .002 DOLLARS, and he was the one with the problem.

Read the rest here.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

All around my house.



Below is a snowflake ornament that I made Friday night at a Ladies Night Out at our church. My girls and I went Christmas caroling with a busload of other ladies from the church and then came back to the church for hot cider, hot chocolate, snacks and crafts. The snowflake is made with corsage pins and pearl-like beads poked into a cork center. It was very easy and turned out very nicely. Rebecca made one too, I should have taken a picture of hers too, but I'm too lazy to go and do it now!




Here is how Abby helps with the decorating:

God is ALWAYS at work

I came across a post today that I wanted to share. Sallie, at A Gracious Home, wrote a post (12/05) called Merry Christmas, Darling. It's a very encouraging story. Here's an excerpt:

"There is nothing like being single against one’s will to make you consider all kinds of important theological concepts - God’s sovereignty, God’s will, God’s goodness, etc. It then follows that some of the greatest lessons God has taught me about himself were born out of the anguish of my singleness. And I do mean anguish. I know some people skip through their single years without much thought about it, but I was one of the group that struggled mightily with being single and the possible implications in my life."

There's a great quote at the end by David Jeremiah (I don't know who David Jeremiah is but after an internet search I believe it is this guy.) Here's the quote:

"God is at work in response to our prayers, whether we see something happening or not. If we are truly praying, “Thy will be done,” forces are at work beyond our comprehension - and often, beyond our vision. But they are working just the same."

Go read her story. It's great.

Remember to check your smoke detectors

This video done by the NIST shows a VERY DRY Christmas tree on fire in a room. It takes a little over 30 seconds for the room to flashover. When buying a live tree, make sure it is FRESH AND WATERED DAILY.

Will Smith & Marriage

I know that my reading a magazine article about someone does not mean that I now KNOW that person but I'm still very impressed by the quotes I just read from Will Smith in (Dec '06) Reader's Digest. Here's what I read:

RD: You and Jada have been married nine years and, by all
accounts, are very happy. What's the key?
Smith: Communication. And divorce cannot be an option.

RD: Your first marriage ended in divorce.
Smith: That is probably the most painful loss of my life. I quit. I could have fixed it. It really was not that bad.

RD: Some would say there's no reason to stay if a marriage isn't good.
Smith: Once you say that, you've lost. With Jada, I stood up in front of God and my family and friends and said, "Till death do us part." So there are two possible outcomes: We are going to be together till death, or I am dead.

RD: But people do have problems in marriage.
Smith: Jada and I have problems; everybody has problems. People ask, "What happens if you made a mistake?" Well, you should be a little more careful before you stand up in front of God and you family and friends and say, "Till death do us part."

Wow. It's not that often that you find ANYONE with that kind of commitment to marriage.

Birth Order Predictor

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor

Yep, I'm a first-born!

Today's Reality

Last Friday morning I got sick. I'm coughing now and hoping that this cold won't settle in my chest. It has travelled down to around the hollow of my throat. I'm still a bit sniffly and have sinus pressure still but the fever and aches & pains are gone. That makes it a bit more manageable. I hope Jim doesn't get it!

The temperature outside is 36 degrees. Snow was forecasted for last night but it never got colder that 35 or 36 so we just had rain. I've got a fire in the woodstove, a runny-nosed baby taking a nap, a runny-nosed toddler playing, and two kids at the kitchen table doing schoolwork. It sounds all nice and cozy and well-ordered but I'm in PJ's that I've had on since Saturday night, I haven't taken a shower, the kitchen is a mess, I'm out of eggs, milk, and toilet paper. I need to go to the store but....

Adam's Birth Story - Part 3

I've recently finished (finally!) writing my son's birth story. I am posting it here for anyone who cares to read all about it. It turned into a rather lengthy story because I don't know how to be brief. J I found that I couldn't tell the birth story without including some (lots of) backstory as well. Because of that the story will be posted in three parts.

Some may find that there is too much information here. For you I'll summarize the story:

1. I couldn't get pregnant
2. I got pregnant
3. I had a healthy baby

The End

For the rest of you, here is the third (and last) installment: (Part 1 and Part 2)

---

Birth Story
Of
Adam Tod xxxxxxx

Born Wednesday, December 17, 2003
3:34 a.m.

(cont.)
The nurses tried to distract me by asking if I knew what I was having (I didn’t). I replied that it could be a turtle for all I cared as long as it got out of there! “Oh, honey,” they said. “This is no turtle. It’s coming much too quickly for that!” My water broke during one of my pushes, doused one of the nurses, and got all over her shoes. I remember thinking that I hope she wasn’t too attached to those shoes. I felt mildly guilty about her shoes, for a moment. After my water broke the contractions really intensified. I just wanted to die and be done with it. The nurses realized that they would be delivering the baby without the doctor and called for some back-up. There were four nurses altogether. One nurse was sitting on the end of the bed ready to catch the baby and helping to stretch the perineum. I pushed and pushed. I entered la-la land and don’t have clear memories for the next little bit... Adam was delivered at 3:34 a.m. Wednesday, December 17, 2005. I remember seeing the pediatric nurses working on him across the room and realizing that I didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. I had been the first one to see what it was with my first two babies. I also realized that I didn’t even care and I thought that was odd. I was so exhausted and relieved to be done that I wasn’t even interested in the baby. Six minutes later it was time to deliver the placenta. Painful but thankfully brief. Then I started to rally. I discovered that I’d had a boy and he was 9 lbs. 9 oz. Goodness! No wonder it hurt like crazy. My first baby was 7 lbs. 9 oz. and the second was 8 lbs. 15 oz. This was a big baby and born in 2 hours 27 minutes!

I grabbed my cell phone and called my sister, Jaymarie, in California. I was giving her all the stats and chatting with her when I told her that I had to go because my doctor had just arrived and we had stuff to do. When the doctor started to inspect me and see if there was any damage, I started to get real tense and uncooperative. It might have had something to do with him telling me as he started toward “the area” with some gauze that, “This is going to feel a bit like sandpaper. Now relax your legs.” Yeah, right. Try as I might I just couldn’t relax and I kept inching back up the bed away from him. I couldn’t make myself cooperate. Since I still had that IV they shot some Demerol into it “to help me relax”. They also gave me some Phenergan (I’m not sure what that was for). That did calm me right down. The doctor was able to then do the necessary repairs. I had a little bit of vaginal tearing that was easily taken care of. This was the first time that I had delivered without an episiotomy. I cannot believe the difference in healing time. I felt so good so soon after that delivery unlike the times with an episiotomy. The cuts took soooo much longer to heal. I was grateful that I had delivered without the doctor present because he probably would have cut me. My sister, Junelle, in Oregon, reports that I also called her when the doctor was done. I don’t remember making that call. In fact later that day I finally (in my mind) called her and apologized for taking so long to call her and tell her about the baby. She informed me that I had already called her and given a full report. It must have been the meds I was on because, I really don’t remember calling her!

Initially, I was very unhappy with Adam’s birth. I felt so out of control and felt like I had done very poorly. I was also very disappointed that I had no pictures and video of this birth like I had of the others. After a while, though, I came to see this birth as the best one yet. I certainly healed much more quickly. In just a couple of days I felt like a million bucks! I was so elated to have this sweet new baby. Any crying and fussing he did didn’t seem to bother me. I just felt so incredibly blessed. I continue to feel incredibly blessed. Here’s my sweet boy now. He’s almost three. Wow!!

Abby has powered down

Everything came out just fine!! Look, though, at how the battery was disintegrating. I'm glad it wasn't inside her a second longer. 91 hours and 30 minutes was quite long enough, thank-you very much. By the way, those ragged looking edges aren't sharp, really, they are pretty flaky and she didn't seem to be in any pain at all popping it out.

My little Energizer Bunny

Yesterday Abby crawled into Rebecca's room and when I went in there to get her out (that room is NOT safe for an 11-month-old!) I saw that she was choking a bit on something. When I bent down to give her mouth a sweep, GULP!, down it went, whatever it was. She immediately turned and picked up a little button battery and popped it into her mouth. I swept it out and looked around on the floor. Rebecca had three of those little batteries and I could only find two of them. I knew it was VERY possible that the thing Abby swallowed was the battery.

Jim called Poison Control and asked what we should do if she had swallowed a button battery. They advised that she go to the ER and be x-rayed so we would know whether or not she had actually swallowed it. If she HAD, then we would know to "watch the diaper" for the battery to show up again. In 4-5 days if it doesn't show up they recommend a second x-ray to see where it got "hung up".

So off to the ER with Abigail. This was the first visit to the doctor (of any sort) since she was two months old. I got to find out how much she weighs: 16 lbs. 13 oz. with clothes on. At least she doubled her birth weight (8-3) before her first birthday! I also had to answer a question I wasn't looking forward to. Is she up-to-date on her immunizations? I'm not ready to deal with much opposition to my decision to delay immunizations and perhaps decline most of them altogether. Fortunately, I received no flack about that!

Eventually she went into x-ray. She pitched a total fit! You would think we were pulling out her toenails the way she carried on. She didn't like being restrained one little bit. The restraint lasted about 35 seconds. It was such an infringment upon her rights! Goodness. Anyhow, the technician went to get the developed x-ray and popped it up onto the screen. "Well," she said, "there it is." There on the film was a little shape of a battery. Great.

So now I get to go on a little treasure hunt every day or so. Should be fun. If our hunt proves fruitless we have to go back and see where the battery might be lodged. Poison Control said they have better luck with kids passing a AAA battery. Those batteries don't tend to lodge anywhere in all the nooks and crannies of the digestive system. The little ones, however, do get stuck much more easily.

The nurse sent me home with a big ol' handful of examination gloves. Yea!

Pray that everything comes out okay.

Fall Fun

Here's a great picture of my three oldest kids playing in the leaves:



Edited to add: This picture was taken just as the
kids had thrown armfuls of leaves up into the air!

Canning Pears 2006

Here are (some of) the pears I canned this fall:







Aren't they pretty??

Favorite (F)oto Friday: Abigail

Three Things Thursday ~ Vol.2 No.10

1.) I'd rather wash dishes than fold laundry.

2.) I'd rather clean a toilet than clean the floor.

3.) I'd rather vacuum than sweep

Bonus:
4.) I'd rather 'work' on the computer than any of the above.

Christmas Bags

Here's the Christmas-y fabric I'm using to make Christmas gifts bags. It's a great idea from KimC at Life In A Shoe. It was her Works-For-Me-Wednesday Christmas tip.

Adam's Birth Story - Part 2

I've recently finished (finally!) writing my son's birth story. I am posting it here for anyone who cares to read all about it. It turned into a rather lengthy story because I don't know how to be brief. J I found that I couldn't tell the birth story without including some (lots of) backstory as well. Because of that the story will be posted in three parts.

Some may find that there is too much information here. For you I'll summarize the story:

1. I couldn't get pregnant 2. I got pregnant 3. I had a healthy baby

The End

For the rest of you, here is the second installment: (read Part 1 here)

---

Birth Story Of Adam Tod xxxxxxx

Born Wednesday, December 17, 2003 3:34 a.m.

(cont.)

I had been having contractions since week 22 of my pregnancy. Which was quite irritating because then I had difficulty deciding if “anything” was really happening. That evening (Tuesday, after the exam) I was packing some Christmas gifts to mail and having contractions as usual. I was really trying to decide if they were any different than usual, if they were noteworthy. I just couldn’t tell. Arrgh! About midnight, I headed for bed. I took my ever-so-lovely-Ambien (I had been having tremendous trouble sleeping the last 5-6 nights). I got into bed. I did a few hee-hee-whooos and tried to get comfy in bed. Then Jim, asked me, “When are you going to go to the hospital?” “Should I go now?” I asked. “What do you think we should do?” Jim said that it would better to call people (to come stay with the kids) now rather than later. So I got back out of bed and got dressed. Jim called CheriB from church to come and stay with the kids until we knew for sure that we were really going to deliver (I had a couple of false runs to the hospital with the other two kids). Then Jim’s dad would come and take over. I actually don’t remember Cheri arriving at the house. It was starting to be very obvious that this baby was coming. Jim and I drove the 30 minutes to the hospital. We got there around 1 am and I was promptly admitted. This time in the hospital was different from the others because I had only Jim with me. The other two times I had a lot of company. My two sisters, my friend, Joy, and my parents were all there. They weren’t all in the delivery room the whole time, but they were there. This meant that someone was taking pictures, someone was taking video, someone was getting me ice chips, etc. This time it was just Jim. Not that there’s anything wrong with my sweet husband, but hey, he’s just ONE person! After he got me into the hospital, my contractions were so strong that I didn’t want him to leave me to go get my bag from the car. I kept thinking that he could run down to the parking lot just as soon as my friend, Joy got there but she was working and wasn’t going to be there for a while. I had tested positive for Group B Strep so I had to have a !@#^% I.V. I detest IV’s. I had the previous 2 babies without IV’s. I was pretty bummed weeks earlier when I tested positive and they told me that I absolutely HAD to have that horrid IV. So I consented. I wish I hadn’t caved to the bullying, but that’s old news now! Anyway, the contractions were getting stronger and I wanted to get into the wonderful Jacuzzi tub. They gave me a HepLock so I could have the meds and still be able to get into the tub and move about freely. That was nice anyway. Ahhh. The tub. Nature’s epidural. I love the Jacuzzi tub! The nurse told me that I could be in the tub for one hour and then I’d have to get out so they could monitor the baby and see if it was handling the warm water and the labor. I had wicked contraction after wicked contraction in that tub but it was fairly manageable. I started wondering, though, how I was ever going to get out. There didn’t seem to be much time between contractions. How am I going to get out of this tub, get dried off, and get back into the bed BETWEEN contractions? I was hanging on to the grab bar right above the tub during contractions. Jim was kneeling on the floor (how comfy!) and pressing his fist into my lower back (at my demand request). I decided that I didn’t want the pressure of the nurse coming to tell me that it was time to get out and then waiting for me to do it. At the 45-minute mark I told Jim that I wanted to get out then. Plus, I was having a lot of pressure and felt like I might need to go to the bathroom. I had a few false starts getting out of that tub. Every time I started to hoist myself up with that grab bar another wave of contraction pain washed over me and I sank back down into the relative comfort of the water. Finally, though, I did get out and immediately had to go to the bathroom. While on the toilet, I had an incredible urge to push. The nurses didn’t want me pushing on the toilet so we hurried up (as much as I could) and got to the bed.

Now on the bed, the contractions were really intense. I sure missed the water. Jim held my hand and tried to help me with my breathing, but it wasn’t working. For the first time during any of my deliveries, I stated that, “I CAN’T DO THIS!” A nurse took over for Jim, locked her eyes on mine and really helped me through the pains. She kept trying to get me to focus, but I was having a hard time. It hurt so much and it had been 5½ years since I’d last done this and I was feeling very defeated. Another nurse called my doctor and said that I wanted to push and he’d better get there. The doctor wasn’t at the hospital since I had just checked in less than 2 hours previously. The nurses were trying to get me to put off pushing but there was no putting it off. This baby was a-coming! During the whole pushing stage, although only 8 minutes long, I felt so out of control. I felt like I was being dragged along under a freight train barreling through town! Anyhow, push I did. Oh my goodness. It hurt so much and I just wanted it to end.

(to be continued)

Click here for Part 3

My People

My parents came and visited us last week-end. It was so nice to have them here. Last time they came for a real visit I announced that I was pregnant with Abby (though I didn't know it was Abby at the time!) It was great to have a visit with them in my own home when I wasn't sick as a dog. I was so miserable last time...

Anyway, I'm so blessed to have the parents I do. I'm so glad that there are people in this world that are "my people". I'm glad I belong to them and they belong to me. I'm happy to belong.

Thank-you, Mom and Dad, for making the trip over here, for braving the weather, for risking travel with sinus pressure, for sharing our cramped quarters, and for loving me, my husband, and my kids.

Miss you.

How Cynical Are You?

You Are 52% Cynical

Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist. You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right.

How Cynical Are You?

Adam's Birth Story - Part 1

I've recently finished (finally!) writing my son's birth story. I am posting it here for anyone who cares to read all about it. It turned into a rather lengthy story because I don't know how to be brief. J I found that I couldn't tell the birth story without including some (lots of) backstory as well. Because of that the story will be posted in three parts.

Some may find that there is too much information here. For you I'll summarize the story:

1. I couldn't get pregnant 2. I got pregnant 3. I had a healthy baby

The End

For the rest of you, here is the first installment:

---

Birth Story Of Adam Tod xxxxxxx

Born Wednesday, December 17, 2003 3:34 a.m.

My entire pregnancy was different than the last two had been, beginning with the difficulty I had in getting pregnant in the first place. June 2000 we began trying to get pregnant again with no success. After taking a few rounds of Clomid (bad idea) and then switching doctors, I wound up December 10, 2002 having surgery. I had stage 4 (severe) endometriosis and a 8 cm cyst on each ovary. My (new) doctor said that a procedure done during the surgery and the clearing up of the endometriosis itself would make it very likely I could get pregnant in the next 2-4 months. I had been taking natural progesterone cream to balance out my hormones and needed to know each month if I was pregnant before I stopped taking the cream. I had to use the cream for 3 weeks and then take a week off. If I was pregnant I was NOT to stop using the cream. Thus the constant checking to see if I was pregnant. April 1, 2003 I took a pregnancy test that yielded a very faint pink line after about 15 minutes or so. The instructions said not to trust the results after 10 minutes! So what was I to do? Take 5 more tests, that’s what! I kept thinking, God, I know this is April Fool’s Day, but you wouldn’t mess around with me like this, would You?!? Over the next few days I did end up taking those five additional pregnancy tests. The results were some very faint positives that I was hesitant to trust. Finally, though, I made an appointment with my doctor and had them do a pregnancy test. Jim didn’t know that I was having a pg test done. He just thought I was going in for yet another appointment regarding all of my cycle problems. The doctor’s office called me with the results. It was positive! I sat down on the garage steps and cried. The nurse asked if I was o.k.. I managed to tell her that I was fine, it was just that I had waited so long for this. I pulled myself together and left for Boise to enact a plan I’d had for many months (years). When I got home, I gave Jim the package I had purchased and asked him what he thought of my idea of a Christmas present for Micah. He pulled from the sack a small t-shirt that said “I’m the Big Brother”. Jim looked at me and hesitantly said, “But he’s not...unless...you’re not, are you?” I smiled and nodded my head. Then we handed the shirt to Rebecca (6 y.o.) and asked her what she thought of this shirt for Micah. She read it and said that he wasn’t a big brother. I asked if she was very sure about that. She looked at me and then figured it out. I then told her and Micah that I was pregnant and that we were going to have a new baby in a few months. Micah (almost 5 years) started running around with Rebecca who was saying, “How did this happen? We’re having a baby!!” Then she went running down the street to her friend’s house screaming, “My mom is pregnant!” Fast-forward through months of nausea, weariness, tachycardia, vertigo, sleeplessness, Braxton-Hicks, two family weddings in two weeks, severe belly button pain, camping (once! never again while pregnant!), and homeschooling a first-grader. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I was due December 13th. I delivered my first two babies one day before their due dates but I had allowed the doctors to break my water once they were reasonably sure I was ready. This time, however I wasn’t planning to let any doctors tell me when the baby “should” be born. I wanted to see what would happen, how labor would go if we didn’t do an AROM (artificial rupture of membranes). My doctor, though, was getting antsy and kept asking me how much longer I wanted to go. My due date came and went. More pressure from the doc. Eventually, on Tuesday, December 16th ( a whole three days "late"), my doctor wanted to check and see if I had dilated beyond the 1 cm. that I had been. In doing the “checking” he took a swipe and stripped my membranes. I didn’t know he was going to do that. It hurt. It hurt like crazy! I nearly went through the wall behind me. Yikes!! Funny, though, it didn’t irritate me (that he did that without asking) until later. Anyway, exam over, I went home.

(to be continued)

Click here for Part 2

Something to consider...

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail from American Family Association:

Help recruit 1,000,000 families who will agree not to shop at Wal-Mart or
Sam's Club (owned by Wal-Mart) on the Friday and Saturday following
Thanksgiving. Here's why:

In a show of support to help homose*uals legalize same-sex marriage, Wal-Mart has agreed to automatically donate 5% of online sales directly to the Washington DC Community Center for G@y, Le$bian, Bise*ual and Tr@nsgender People. The cash donation will come from online purchases made at Wal-Mart through the homose*ual group's Web site. This move follows Wal-Mart's joining the National G@y and Le$bian Chamber of Commerce and agreeing to give generous financial help to that organization also.

Every purchase made online for books, music, videos, clothing and accessories, children's clothing and toys, and electronics at the site will automatically send 5% of the sales to the CCBLBT People. The agreement is an indication that Wal-Mart is totally committed to supporting the homose*ual movement.

Wal-Mart also gave a generous cash donation to the Northwest Arkansas G@y, Lesbi@n, Bise*ual, Tr@nsgender Community Center, helping to provide a place where homose*uals can come together to "socialize."

Many observers feel it would have been a wise business decision for Wal-Mart to remain neutral in the cultural battle over homose*ual marriage. But this was an ideological decision by Wal-Mart - not a business decision.


Take Action

1. Sign the petition to Wal-Mart letting them know you will be one of the 1,000,000 families who will not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club on the Friday or Saturday following Thanksgiving.

2. VERY IMPORTANT! Millions of Americans are not aware of Wal-Mart's support for homose*ual marriage. PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

3. Print out and distribute the Wal-Mart Pass Along Sheet by clicking here. For past Wal-Mart Action Alerts, plus answers to your questions (where to shop?), Click Here.

Click Here to Sign the Petition to Wal-Mart Now!

I'm already in the process of figuring out where else to shop and have significantly reduced the amount of shopping I do at Wal-Mart. I'm down to about 25-30% of how much I used to shop there. In any case I won't be dong ANY shopping there the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Consider what you might be able to do to encourage Wal-Mart to better support traditional family values.

See my previous references to Wal-Mart's support of the homose*ual movement here and here.

Three Things Thursday ~ Vol. 2 No. 9

Three things I said I'd never do:

1) Get married.

2) Have children.

3) Be a teacher.

I've done (or am doing) them all. I wouldn't change a thing except the resistant attitude I had when I made those resolutions. I'm glad God has given me what He knew was best for me instead of what I thought was best. I wish I'd remember to trust him now like I say I should have when I was younger! (follow that?)

It's rude to laugh at your son during prayer...

...but sometimes it can't be helped! The other night before dinner, Micah (8), was saying the prayer. He thanked God for our day and for our food and for our sweet baby, Abby (10 months), and added, "help us enjoy her while she lasts." I couldn't help myself. I laughed out loud. It caught me totally off guard. Fortunantely, Micah is good-natured and wasn't offended by my laughter. J

What (Shade of) Orange Are You?

You are Mahogany

Stable and decisive, you lack the hyper energy of most orange colors. You're still energetic, but you tend to project a peaceful, relaxed vibe. You love to feel cozy. You often rather wrap up in a blanket than go out for the night.

What Color Orange Are You?

Please Vote!

30 Day Organizational Challenge

I've decided to join the 30 Day Organizational Challenge. I'm not sure I will be organizing as much as just cleaning up a lot. The room I need to work on is the laundry room/computer room. I'll probably discover as I clean that I really do need to get it better organized so I'll have an easier time keeping it clean. The before pictures are below. It's nice to have before pictures because then I can see just how far I've come.

Visit Organizing Junkie to see the before pictures of other participants.

So. Enough said. Welcome to THE PIT.

The more things change...

...the more they stay the same. My sister and I used to play "library" too!! :-) This is the library of my two oldest kids, Rebecca (10) and Micah (8).

YOU EMMERGED OUR WINNER

Received today, November 3, 2006:

Subject: YOU EMMERGED OUR WINNER (1ST OF NOVEMBER 2006)

GUINNESS
CUSTORMERS PROMOTION
dv-2006 program guinness plc,
WestAfrica.st christo road (ecowas)
FINAL NOTIFICATION.

We happily inform you about our (guinness Rnational lottery Program)held on the 1ST OF NOVEMBER 2006, which youenterd as a dependent client and finally took the 1st position in oursecond (2nd) category winners,that falls within the 2006 in BRESCIAITALY NIGERIA.

Your email was attached to the ticketnumber(44-40-23-777-01) which made you a winner of (us$1.500,000.00) and your name being recorded in our guinness world book of record as the 1st lucky winner of the year 2006. You have been approvedthe sum ofUS$1.500,000.00 which will be sent accross to you immediately.

All emails are selected randomly through a computer ballot whichsubsequently won you the sweeptake of guinness internet weblottery.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU EMERGED OUR WINNER!!!
This is part ofour security mearsures put in place to avoid double claiming or asituation where unwanted person(s) would be taking negative advantage ofthis promotions, thereby impersonating in order to claim another personswinning prize.

Here is our fiduciary agent responsible for your theprocessing / release of winnings for all Second Category winners where your winning falls into:
MR ROY SMITH
EMAIL: r_roy101@yahoo.co.uk
GUINNESSR CLAIMING
SECURITYAGENT.

Fullnames
Residential address
Phone number
Occupation
Present country
Age
Marrtal status
Sex

ONCE AGAINCONGRATULATION!!!!
Yours sincerely
GUINNESSRCUSTORMERS
PROMOTION.

WARNING!!!! WARNING!!!!
KEEP THIS INFORMATION
CONFIDENTIAL AND BE CAREFULL

I copied & pasted the above letter exactly as I received it. Misspellings and all. I'm stunned that this kind of ploy works on some people. Do people actually rush to provide the information requested? It's ridiculous!

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Butterfinger

They call you sticky fingers for a reason!

What Kind of Candy Are You?