Crayons, Playdoh & Wax

But I have been so good about updating Twitter and being on Facebook. With all the stuff going on though, I think I need a place to be able to write and have it be more than 140 characters

Just some of the stuff I am pondering and thinking about… K started middle school. Still not sure why I am having such a hard time with that one. Granted, she is not a little girl any more.

We changed churches. I loved the church we were at. I didn’t want to change, but I was tired of going alone. So, we are back at a UMC. The good thing is that K is getting to go to MYF. I have such fabulous memories of youth group. That part I’m glad. She feels like she fits in better. I however am having a hard time with how small the church is. Not that small is the issue, just not as many options. There is 1 women’s class…. on Tuesday AM. I work Monday and Tuesday nights. I would be falling asleep during class and then sleeping from the time I got home til I went to work that night. I’ll think about it, just not sure. The people are really friendly, but of course the first thing they ask is: are you new to the neighborhood? No, we don’t even LIVE IN the neighborhood. Do they not want the church to grow? Can’t be all secluded and only doing stuff for the west side. Ken’s all worried that I’m going to get back in the middle of working at Emmaus stuff again. Guess we’ll see.

Work is going good. We’re growing. I am eligible to sit for the registry, but it is expensive and it never fails, every time the deadline comes up, something else is due also. Hopefully I can take it in November. I can’t believe I’ve been there almost a year already. The advantage, I have seniority, and as they keep hiring more people, I stay at the top The neighbor is moving out, so our Springs lab is expanding. We are opening more beds and adding some showers. As it is, we are up to 7 nights a week. In April we went to 6 nights a week when I offered to start working Sunday nights and just about a week ago we opened Saturday nights when they hired a new tech to work Saturday nights. I’m excited. I love it when we grow.

Hopefully I will do better at updating now. I think I have an app on my iPod Touch to update this now as well. I haven’t even been going to my reunion group, so I feel like I haven’t been keeping in touch with anyone. All I seem to do is work and sleep and run the dd around. Work schedule is supposed to calm down as well. Then maybe I can have a real life

Ken’s job is going well. They just released a new update on their software that are driving people crazy. Apparently people don’t realize that email has a DELETE button and people are freaking out because they are actually getting email. This is stressing him out and so then he is coming home and taking it out on us. Or… he just stays at work until midnight working on stuff. Not a fun mix. Either he’s upset or not home. Hopefully they will get this all worked out soon. It’s a great feature if people could figure it out!!

Going to be having a Pampered Chef party in a couple of weeks. New catalog starts Sept 1. If you want to see it, hollar or you can visit Jen’s website. I quit selling over a year ago, but my neighbor right across the street started, so I still get my fix Supposed to have a Gold Canyon Party as well, and still owe a PartyLite party from the spring that I had to cancel. It’s fall. Time to start Christmas shopping, right?

Put a bunch of pictures up from our trip to Alaska on Facebook. I need to renew my flickr account so I can get them up on there as well…. but in the mean time, if you are a friend on FB, you can see them there

My SIL, Via lost her Mom last week to Cancer. Don’t think I am going to make it down for the funeral this weekend. My MIL is having surgery soon as she has CA as well. At least her’s should be well contained following a hysterectomy. Ken is still kind of freaking though. Basically, if you have to get CA, I think that is the kind to get. Remove the parts and it’s gone

I’ve been doing good. My back acted up last week, but since it hasn’t happened since LAST August, I guess I can’t complain. Fibro is REALLY bad today. Praying it’s just the weather!! Need to find out if there is a way to do traction on my ankles. That really seems to help though… and I can physically see a difference in the blood flow to my toes when they actually pull on my ankles. Problem is, I can’t do it to myself.

I think that’s about it for today. Anyone know of someone who wants to buy a hard top and doors for jeep wrangler? Ken decided he wants to sell his hard top and buy a soft top. He thinks that if it is snapped on tight, it will have less leaks than the hard top that doesn’t fit well. Guess we’ll see. I just know we need to get something done so he’ll stop stealing my car when it rains I got a new car this summer. Good thing is, he likes my car. He likes to drive it… and thus I get to drive the jeep. But just for the record HAIL HURTS!! I had to run and pick up K after school one day in the jeep and it started hailing. No doors… I got nailed!!!

Oh, and if you aren’t a friend on FB… my user name is: You guessed it: Crayonsetc

Ok, so it took me until the 7th to actually write something. I keep saying I am going to do better, and then I don’t… but at least now I have a little thing on the side that you can sign up to be notified when I do FINALLY update!! I am going to put it on Better Me as well. I have been doing really well at updating my ticker, but apparently the only place you can see that I have actually gotten to -60 lbs is on Facebook!!! (yah, going to try and get the ticker on Better Me too). My class reunion is in May (late, but at least they are having it) and the same week as our 20th Anniversary. Only 2 sizes and I will be able to fit in my wedding dress by our anniversary!!! I had told dh if I was at OnderLand by Christmas we are going. I was within 5 lbs by New Years… close enough!!!

Work is going well. I only have 1 patient tonight, so it does give me a few extra minutes… thus the update. I am finding that on my days off, I amnot wanting to do much, but that also comes in over at Better Me… so I am headed there to update next!!! That seems to be my big focus right now… weightloss!!

I actually got my Christmas cards out… so if you didn’t get one… I probably didn’t have your address… so email it to me (you know who you are!!) We did a picture card and I did a letter and bunch of pictures from all our travels this summer. I have already started looking into our vacation stuff for this year. With our 20th in May, I plan for Ken and I to go away just the 2 of us, and then we are going to go on vacation this summer… just not on July 13 as we have a wedding that day!!! (and Jeani would kill me if I wasn’t there!! Almost like missing my own kids wedding… not happening!!!)

I hope 2009 is a wonderful year for you and God blesses you greatly!!! Off to update Better Me and try out a work out dvd I got!!

I got Better Me going again. Hopefully it will keep up this time and do better!!!! At least I am in smaller clothes!!!

I was really hoping after last year, school would get better. Ok, it would help if I had her at a quiet room, at a table and I could could go about my business. The problem, she doesn’t need me sitting right there, cuz she can DO the work, but you can’t leave her alone because she won’t do a thing.

Right now our days consist of fighting in the morning (to get dressed). She will be awake, and then just sit there. Then even if she is ready, she has to put on her shoes. I figured out why we always wore Crocs, No tying! She takes almost 5 minutes per shoe! They don’t make Good Quality Shoes (that will make the podiatrist happy) that valcro.

Then she gets to school, doesn’t get everything done, not because she can’t do it, but because she is slow. So they send home whatever she can’t get done, meaning MORE homework. So then we spend the after-school FIGHTING, doing homework until dinner, then finishing what she hasn’t gotten done.

If we let her work in the kitchen without supervision, she turns on the TV. If she has to do work on the computer, she goes to the Warrior sites instead of the homework. She is 10, I shouldn’t have to watch EVERY SINGLE thing she does. No consequence seems to phase her. The first thing I actually found that comes close to working was me taking away her Warrior books. I had to explain to her teacher that she was saying she didn’t have a book to read, and I pointed out that she has library books and can read them. I told her teacher I only took away the 1 series to try and teach her about appropriate times for reading. An hour in the bathroom instead of homework, or at 10:30 at night instead of sleeping on a school night. Reading is good, but, HELLO!

She then doesn’t get to sleep on time, doesn’t get enough sleep, doesn’t want to get up, or wakes up late. Is crabby at school and doesn’t want to do her work, which they send home, which means more homework, which makes a vicious cycle!

Tuesday her teacher said to me “she isn’t turning her work in” and how “behind she is getting”, how “it is becoming a habit”, etc… I won’t even start on my frustration of Monday night, I had my reunion group… nothing new… every Monday for at least 3 years now! Tuesday, Ken has bible study, so it was just us. She was almost done with what is in her planner, so I left her alone, and I was not listening to MY doctor and was weed-eating the yard (the teen we hired did not come back as promised, and did a horrible job… Will not hire him again btw, didn’t want to this time, but K wouldn’t let me mow and I couldn’t even guilt the other person in the house to do it) Anyway, using the weed eater was not a problem, til I went to our south side of the front yard… to big of a hill and it hurt my toe! (trying to hold myself up… I had Ken’s croc on the surgery foot and my croc on the other, so toes were covered)

Anyway, my point, cuz I was way off track, she told me she was done except printing her grades and I had to approve the website (I Love my Mac), so I said she could play, and we would print the page after dinner. When I got in the house, I was looking in her folder and found MORE homework that she ‘forgot’ about. So, we spent the rest of the evening doing that. At 9:30, I reminded her she had’t had dinner yet. I had eaten while she was ‘playing’. Our neighbor’s gma was taking them chasing the moon since it was full. So, not only did she not get a shower, I was making her a sandwich at almost 10. Ken had gotten home and was hiding in the basement. Wednesday we ALL over slept, and she still moves just as slow! She gets very upset when her friends don’t wait, but if she doesn’t walk right out the door when they get here, they leave without her! (even when it is early!!) Then I get frustrated, cuz she gets upset.

Then in the afternoon I get a call from the school cuz she is ‘off’ at school and having issues, (she wrote on a paper that one of the para’s was Stupid… kids!!) cuz she is exhausted, which leads to more homework, and the cycle continues. Not to mention the fact she now has NO time for chores, the cats scream at me all day because their litter box is FILTHY, and it is self cleaning, but it is so full, it can’t do anything…. I gave up on her putting away dishes, because the sink was so full of dirty dishes, I couldn’t stand it anymore… and I did it… etc….

On Wednesday night K has bible study. She got her homework done, so she got to go, but was finishing the last 2 math questions and finishing coloring her map on the way up… it is a 15 minute drive to the Ministry Center, and I had to take her, even though I am still not allowed to drive! Then I asked Ken to get her dinner on his way to get her, so she could eat on the way home and get in the shower, cuz today is picture day. And he waits til after so she doesn’t have cold food. Since when does she care? So, at 10:30, she is heading to bed, cuz since when can K take a 5 minute shower… and Thursday is choir, Before school, which means getting up early. And then he wonders why I am putting in a call to my therapist before he leaves to go get her to see if they have an appointment for today!!!!

I am going to spend the night in Denver tonight, so I don’t have to get up so early tomorrow. I just need to get away!!! Women of Faith is this weekend. I so NEED this!

So, incase you haven’t noticed, I have been talking about my feet a WHOLE lot lately! I had surgery on the 3rd on my little toe. This toe is the toe I broke in 2003. I have even had physical therapy on this toe to try and get it so I could wear closed toed shoes, but no luck.

I had finally, half joking, asked the doctor at one of K’s appointments to cut off my toe. It was then that he said we could do hammer toe surgery. The doctor asked if I wanted the big toes or little toes done first, and I said little. If we had actually x-rayed my foot first, we would have figured that the bone spur on my right foot was as bad as the one on my left. My mom tried to talk me into postponing my surgery to do both, but I didn’t want to wait and the doctor didn’t have time in his schedule to add the 2nd toe, and if I wait, I wouldn’t have my boot off by the cruise. (yah, I haven’t gotten that far in my posts, we were going to do the Alaskan cruise, but that is a whole lot of money for not knowing if we get sea sick or if the weird ‘issues’ will tolerate the closeness, so we are going on a 3 day cruise next month to Mexico)

The doctor never x-rayed my toe until the week before surgery, and no wonder I had so much pain! My toe was shaped like ) instead of l and there was some extra bone. Plus I believe when I asked him about my big toe spur, his exact comment was ‘oh, that is interesting’. Not something you really want to hear from your doctor, and something I hear way too much!

So, I think my toes have something to do with my closterphobia, as well as being my thermastat. I made it til Tuesday last week before I had to cut the new bandage off my toes. Tonight, I made it about 4 hours before I cut it open, but that was my toes itched! I told them that when I called last week about the itching, it wasn’t healing itching, cuz if it was, Zyrtec would not of taken care of it. I said something about being allergic to the dressing. The tech said, it doesn’t have latex. I laughed and said, since when do I do anything normal? All I know is my foot itches and my toes look like water balloons. I put lotion on both feet tonight (the parts not covered at least) but now BOTH feet itch. The weird part is, it was one of the lotions I could use and not have a reaction. Not sure what is up, but looking for my Zyrtec again!

And 1 more week til they remove the stitches! (btw, pictures in Flickr ->)

See, that is why Twitter gets updated so much… i can just shoot a text message over and it will just post in the side bar… did you know they make gadgets like an IM box that will show up on your screen with all my little posts I love my twitter box (but I also have a Mac… but I am sure they have something like that with Windows too… if nothing else… googletalk will do it).

Anyway, Wednesday we have our niece’s 8th grade graduation and Friday we leave for Montana for our other niece’s High School graduation. That will be fun. We are going to try and do yellowstone on our way up… stopping to visit Ken’s old stomping ground on our way up.

Since last I posted, Ken and I celebrated our 19th anniversary, They spoiled me for mother’s day with a beautiful sapphire necklace (picture on flickr ->) and Ken got me a 3 in 1 scanner/printer/fax for our anniversary (didn’t you know that 19th anniversary is computer accessories actually it is something I wanted!!!) I got my nails done for the first time in I don’t remember how many years and have taken this long and shortening them to be able to type again. Friday was my last day of work. Not sure if I will be going back in the fall or not… life is a whole lot crazy around that church. I spent this last week taking and editing and printing the class pictures. I spent the week before getting pictures taken and edited and printed for the 2-3 year old mother’s day gifts. I guess I should become a photographer Although I think I did do a pretty good job photoshoping myself into a class picture… since Belinda was in England for a month and then i was out too… talk about a nightmare trying to get a class picture for that one.

I also applied for a job at a sleep lab, which sounds like something right up my alley!! Ken and I got our offices switched, and he is now working from home. And just this weekend, our TV went out in our bedroom, so i am looking forward to going shopping for a new TV when we get back from Montana. I moved our old 20 inch back in the bedroom for now, but then it will go in my office. Watch, with my luck, now that Ken is out of the upstairs room and i have it, Now I will end up PG and have to move all over again to make it a nursery LOL

Anyway, I have been sick since Wednesday, but can’t seem to figure out what is causing the pain… but that is something for over at Better Me. Our poor dog has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. She ended up getting an eye infection called Pannus, which is common in German Shepherds and usually shows up between the ages of 3 & 5… well, she is 4. We went for her follow up visit… 3 weeks after starting her meds and she is doing much better. I asked about her nose at this visit (I was on the walk when Ken took her initially) and it turns out that it too is from the autoimmune disorder … so not only is she not allowed outside between the hours of 10 & 2 anymore, but we have to put Zinc on her nose. I laughed, cuz I remember doing that growing up in Arizona for swim team practice!! It is better than the sun glasses which is where I thought she was going to have to go. And it turned out that me putting the cortisone cream on her nose is exactly how the vet would have treated it if I had brought her in sooner! See, I’m not as crazy as dh likes to think I am

Anyway, that is enough for now. I am off to set up email posts and maybe then I will have short little entries going on in here!!!

Yah, I keep having hearing tests… the ENT thinks that it is fluid on my ears. Ok, maybe it is, but sad that I could only hear the first 3 ringtones!! But it seems to work… cuz I really do have high frequency hearing loss!!

Ok, I decided that I will post all my medical stuff back over at Better Me… even if it is about the dd. I just put a bunch of links up over there. I am doing much better… as I am finding this all almost a relief instead of a tragedy, especially since I have realized that I think my mom and I have finally found the diagnosis that we knew was out there. We have said for a number of years now that one day, we would find something that would tie all of our problems into 1 nice little package… and I think we found it. It is something our whole family has lived with (they just never knew what it was back then) and they all lived to long happy lives. Ken is arguing with me about this and just says lets wait and see what they say. I understand all of that, I truly do, but at the same time, when it is right there in front of your face in black and white, it is sometimes hard to see blue!

but I am not! God is truly amazing!!!

I got an email from one of my friends today on one of my email lists. Terry was saying how she and 2 of her children were diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos in October. First of all, I had never heard of it before, let alone met someone who had it, and 2nd, I have had to explain it to all but 1 of the doctors/therapists we have seen for K (except of course her Ortho doc who diagnosed it), then for me to not only find out that someone on one of my email lists has it, but to have it be someone I have actually met IRL, is just amazing. She called me this afternoon and I swear we were talking for like 2 hours. The more we talk, the more we have in common. Now it makes me wonder more and more about it (yes, to the point where I am thinking that I am the one who gave it to K). But the good part is, that I have relaxed and realized that K can and most likely will grow up and have a normal life.

This is where Terry and I started talking and we have so many things in common… Fibromyalgia, thyroid, PCOS, narcolepsy (ok, it is actually idopathic Hypersomnia, but how many people actually have a clue what that is? I have to explain narcolepsy and a lot of people know what that is!). Anyway, it has made me realize that maybe it is me. she told me when she went back to her doctor after her diagnosis, that the doctor actually stopped writing and looked up and said that it so explains so many things.

The interesting facts I am figuring out. Ehlers-Danlos is one of those inherited disorders that only 1 parent has to have the gene to pass on. They also call it hypermobility, which is where I come in. On the list of conditions that people with hypermobility have. GERD - Me, IBS - Me, Planter fasciitis - Me, bursitis - Me, anxiety or depression - Me, Knee pain - Me (and K), back pain- Me, hernia - me (granted mine is hiatal, but still), prolapsed discs -Me, Bruising easily - Me, Joints that make clicking noises - Me, Headaches - Me, TMJ - Me (and not K), Increased nerve compression - Me. (ie: carpal tunnel). Oh, and I won’t even start on my scaring issues. I scar so bad. The reason I won’t even consider lasix surgery because I am worried about scaring on my eye causing me to lose it!!Anyway, the more I am reading, the more I am seeing the family stuff here… and the more I realize we need to keep an eye on the nieces and nephews on my side of the family. At least get them an echo, just to make sure… especially since my sister has the heart issues!! (and pretty much whatever I have, so does my mom!)

Ken has actually threatened to take away the computer today because I just keep going from website to website… So I am going to save this and be done. I need to go vegg anyway… my temp is 99.6, which I know for most people is nothing, but I don’t run temps… when I had meningitis I only ran 101 at most… and that is one you run high temps. Thank for the continued prayers!!! Keep them coming, although I am much more calm today!! (just sick) My right cheek feels like I have been punched… it hurts so bad. I see the new Dr on Tuesday, so I am going to continue taking my OTC meds and try and make it til then… and in the mean time… of to start the laundry!

I have planned to write so many times this week and it just never happened. Life has been nuts. I got calls from the school twice this week… and it was to the point that my dh, the person who has his first degree in education, who has been adamant every time I talk about my friends who home school, that we would never do that… he said to me… do you think you could be organized enough to home school her? I almost fell over. I actually did go to the school and talked to the principle about moving her class… it has gotten that crazy. There are a few things with an Asperger’ child that you have to learn when trying to teach them. For one, I have learned that with K, even if you are not standing over the top of her, you CAN NOT have her in a different room when she is doing home work. With that being said, you don’t send her into the hallway when you expect her to get work done… or leave her in the class room when you are outside on duty, because 1. she is 10… and 2, she has ADD, and WILL get off task. Monday she started playing a game on the computer instead of doing her work. Gee, big shock… even for a kid without Asperger’s! And then on Wednesday, I get called that she is at the principle for calling kids names. Ok, I get there and expect butthead or stupid or something like that. No, she got sent to the principle… are you ready for this one… because she was calling every child that walked past her in the hallway MEGAN. HELLO??? Yes, that is right. And if he had taken 2 seconds to talk to her… the reason she was doing it is because a couple of the kids were talking about what it would be like if everyone had the name Bob… and one of those kids started calling everyone BOB… so she decided to start calling everyone Megan. I am sorry, that might be annoying, but that is NOT a reason to send a child to the principle.

And I spent the rest of the week trying to finish up cookie paperwork… with the majority of the troop profits still sitting in my garage. Anyone need cookies??? I REALLY need to get rid of them… not to mention the ones I had to pay for because I can’t get them delivered!! 

I need to go to bed. Night!! Oh, and guess what… my  CT came back saying I have a sinus infection. GEE, REALLY??? Isn’t that what I told the doctor when I went in there??? Might it have something to do with the fact that they cultured my nose and it came up MRSA, yet they didn’t treat it, even though I STILL had a sinus infection. When she asked me how long I have had it, I told her… since JANUARY 20!!! (I don’t think she believed me!!)