Update

I am alive. Still in a lot of pain, but better than it was. I can feel a hole where the gall bladder used to be, which is just weird.

More later - thanks for checking in, everybody!

My plan for next week

Here are my plans for next week, when I have been told by my surgeon I will need to stay in bed or rest the whole week.

1. Read. I have a stack of, oh, 15 or more books. That should hold me.
2. Watch movies. It is a pre-requisite of any sick day that I must watch:
3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and/or
   
4. The Spider-Man Trilogy and/or
5. The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy and/or
6. The Back to the Future Trilogy.
7. Sleep. I see no reason not to sleep whenever I feel like it, right?
8. Drink coffee. This might seem on the surface to conflict with #7, but it's an essential part of being able to relax for me.
9. Surf blogs and other interesting internet sites.
   
10. And then, once I feel a bit better:
11. Begin planning next year's school year.

Wow, I'm getting tired just thinking about all the stuff I have planned!

Two days until I'm gall bladder-free.

As random as my day so far

Three days from now I will minus one gall bladder. I talked to a lady at church who had her gall bladder out a few years back, and she said she ran a marathon two weeks later. I don't, however, think those two things are related. I expect I'll be just as unlikely to want to exercise next month as I am now.

Hey, is anybody else's Disney Store closing? I was in the mall this morning, and they were selling off everything but the decorations. How sad. I always thought of it as my little slice of Disney World for when I couldn't go to Florida. I got a good deal on some Cars undies, though, so the three year old is happy.

We also saw one of the free family movies at the theater this morning. It was Evan Almighty. I really enjoyed it. The kids all liked it, too. Any movie that can entertain a 12 year old and a 3 year old is pretty good in my book.

I still have a list of things I need to do by Thursday. And now, on top of everything, we have a tenant moving out next week. Well, next week is no good for me. Great timing, huh?

Okay, so I'm off to get some stuff done. Hopefully the boys will calm down and help. Ha ha.

Movie Monday

Welcome to Movie Monday, where I pull a random DVD off my own shelf and review it for you. If you'd like to join in, just pick a movie you own and tell me three things: Why did you buy it? What's it about? What's your favorite line?

Today, I used to a random number generator to choose my movie. And it's a good one.Bowfinger stars Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy. I actually can't remember if I bought this movie before seeing it, or if I saw it and had to own it. Either way, I would definitely watch it again. Steve Martin wrote it as well as starred in it, and he is at his comedic best here.

The story revolves around Bobby Bowfinger, who wants to make a movie starring the world's biggest action star, Kit Ramsey (played by Eddie Murphy). But he's not available. So Bowfinger decides to follow him around and film him anyway. Hilarity ensues. Honestly, you can't even imagine some of the truly hysterical scenes in this movie. My favorite is probably when Eddie Murphy is running across the highway for a scene. They don't stop the cars or anything, they just have this poor guy run across the highway. Absolutely hilarious.

As for favorite lines, well, pretty much anything that comes out of Christine Baranski's mouth is a gem. Not just the line, but the way she delivers it. When she goes up to an already-paranoid Kit Ramsey and starts talking about aliens, it's just priceless.

If you're a fan of movies, the making of movies, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, or if you just want a good laugh, I recommend Bowfinger. It is rated PG-13, so watch responsibly.

Honeymoon of horror!!

You know how people always say you'll laugh about something later? Today is my 16th wedding anniversary, which got me thinking about our honeymoon. We didn't laugh about it much at the time, but sure enough, it makes me grin now. Here are a few of the highlights:

• The honeymoon suite at our chosen hotel, booked six months in advance and confirmed beforehand, had been given to someone else when we got there.
• We were ignored for over an hour in at least two different restaurants (maybe more and I've blocked them from my mind) - one of them the night after our wedding when neither of us had eaten all day.
• The van we had borrowed to make the trip from MD to TX couldn't really back up uphill. Consequently, at one campground when we tried to back up, it caught fire.
• So I went screaming through the campground yelling, "FIRE!" until someone gave me a fire extinguisher.
• By which time Hubby had found a towel, dunked it in a nearby creek, and beaten out the fire.
• The van also had carburetor problems and we had to rebuild the carburetor... I'm thinking twice, maybe more. We had to use nail polish to seal it at one point.
• I got a very painful UT infection and went to the hospital. Only to find out it was the wrong hospital (I am not a Cherokee Indian, so I can't use their hospital), and we had to travel half an hour to another one.
• One day when the van was broken down, we had to walk four miles to an auto parts store in 95 degree weather. Fun.
• Somewhere along the way, we stopped at a hotel where they charged us more for two people in one room than they would have for two separate rooms with one person in each. We wouldn't have stayed, but the van was broken down again.

Those are just some of the highlights. Of course, we had plenty of good times, too. We saw some beautiful scenery between here and Texas, visited some wonderful places, and just enjoyed being together. Because after all is said and done, we were finally together and that was the most important thing.

Happy anniversary, honey! I love you!

Ugh

This morning I am supposed to go talk to the orthodontist about how much it's going to cost me to fix my older two sons' teeth. I have a feeling we won't be talking about trips to Disney or Busch Gardens again any time soon.

Not looking forward to this.

Make room for Mommy

Since the announcement of my June 27 surgery date, Hubby has been working hard to complete the floor in our new master bedroom. If the floor is done in time, we will move our bed over there and I can recover in relative isolation.

This room has been four years in the making. Which is not to say we've worked on it for four years, because we haven't. But we did what we could when we could. Now it's down to the floors. Tile will cover one end of the room, where we will have our laundry and a small kitchenette. The rest of the room will be bamboo planks.

So far we have about 1/3 of the tile down and many rows of bamboo. We plan to finish the tile this weekend. Incidentally, anyone who tells you tile floors are easy to install is LYING. I think we've now installed every type of flooring there is - hardwood, carpet, laminate wood, vinyl - and tile is harder than any of them.

Which is not to say we won't do it again sometime. We're gluttons for punishment that way. But we won't be doing tile in any of the rental houses.

We'll see if we can get moved in there by next Friday. My original deadline for the room was December 2004 (the baby's due date). Yeah, missed it by THAT much.

Dog days

We went to one of our rental houses the other night, and the tenant has a puppy. My six year old had such a fun time running and playing with him, it became obvious that this boy needs a dog.

You may remember that our dog died back in January. He hasn't stopped talking about how he misses her. At least once a week, he'll say, "I miss Zelda," with a sad look on his cute little face.

As for me, while I'm not consciously aware of wanting another dog, I do keep dreaming about them. My dogs show up in my dreams all the time. And I'm always freaked out because, of course, they're dead. But other people in the dream will look at me funny and tell me, "No, they're not."

Once, right after we buried Zelda, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of her collar jingling and the feel of a wet nose on my foot. Then I woke up for real. Freaked.Out.

Did I ever mention the movie Pet Sematary totally screwed with my head?

So a puppy might be in the future for us. I hope the cat will understand.

Movie Monday - MIB

Welcome to Movie Monday, where I review the movies on my own shelves. If you'd like to join in, just grab a movie you own and tell me these three things:

- Why did you buy it?
- What's it about?
- What's your favorite line?
This week, I've chosen Men In Black, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. What The Princess Bride did for fantasy movies, MIB did for sci-fi. I can't remember if we saw this movie before we bought it, or if we bought it solely on a friend's recommendation, but we've watched it over and over, so it was definitely a good purchase.

Men In Black or MIB (you have to say MIB in a high, squeaky voice - don't ask me why) is the story of a cop who gets recruited to join a top-secret non-government organization. That organization's purpose is to keep people on Earth from knowing that aliens exist, while at the same time policing those aliens who have chosen to live here. A very bad alien, simply called a Bug, lands on Earth, and starts doing very bad things. One of my favorite parts of this movie is watching the brilliant Vincent D'Onofrio play the rapidly decomposing Edgar.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld seems to delight in drenching his actors in all sorts of disgusting goo. His commentary is well worth watching. It's a visual commentary, so he talks and draws on your screen. Too funny.

My favorite line? After Edgar goes out to see what the noise was (it was the Bug's ship crashing), he returns as the Bug wearing an "Edgar suit." Edgar's wife (played perfectly by Siobhan Fallon) asks, "What was that?" Edgar-Bug replies, "Sugar." "Never seen sugar do that," replies the wife. It's one of those lines we say all the time around here. It's multi-purpose. And hilarious.

**FLASH** The blog post you've just read was not about aliens. It was a reflection caused by pockets of swamp gas. You will have a nice day.

Relieved?

Talking to another mom in the church nursery, she told me that her oldest daughter, age 12, had been asking how babies are made. So her mom sat her down and they had "the talk." She's a nurse, so I'm sure it was all very anatomically correct. She said her daughter seemed pretty disgusted my the whole thing (as she should at 12).

When she finished, her daughter asked if she was planning on having any more babies. Her mother said no - they have five, that's plenty.

"That's good. I bet you're glad you don't have to do THAT anymore!" her daughter said.

We had a good laugh over that one!

Cholesterol Control Act of 2010

There's a line in a Quantum Leap episode I always remember. Sam is somewhere in the past, sitting at a picnic eating fried chicken. Al (the hologram who only Sam can see and hear) is in the future, circa 1999, watching Sam eat, and drooling.

"Look at that fried chicken!" says Al. "I haven't seen food like this since they passed the Cholesterol Control Act!"

A couple of weeks ago, I sat in our local Cold Stone Creamery watching my six year old eat his free birthday cone. We don't normally go there (six bucks for one ice cream? Are they kidding?), so I perused the menu. Everything sounded SO good.

Then I noticed something else.

Only one in every ten people coming in there was what I would call normal weight, that is to say they were not noticeably overweight. Everyone else was certainly in the obese category, including most of the children.

Suddenly I had a vision of the future: a scanner had been mounted over the door of the shop. As people entered, they had to stop in the scanner for a height and weight measurement. If their BMI was over 25, they were turned away.

Imagine a world where you scan your health card along with your credit card at the grocery store, and if your cholesterol is too high, you can't buy those chips. Or if there's a family history of diabetes, the candy will have to stay in the store. People will steal other people's identities - not so they can score credit cards, but so they can score cupcakes.

What a world that would be. I think I feel a science fiction short story coming on...

What I wouldn't give for some celery...

Yesterday was a good day - no nausea, no pain. Today, not so much. But that's okay, it's only two weeks and two days until my surgery.

In the meantime, my diet has been weird. I have found that I can't eat raw vegetables without triggering a massively painful gall bladder rebellion. I used to eat a salad for lunch every day. Instead, I've been eating cottage cheese and fruit. Not as filling. So I snack more. But again, I was used to snacking on raw vegetables (broccoli with hummus - yum!). Now it's fruit, or cheese and crackers (Kashi, of course).

I know for a few days after the surgery, I won't be able to eat "normally." But after that, I'm really looking forward to going back to my healthy eating habits. This gall bladder thing has turned out to be a pain in more ways than one!

This is my reality

Julie mentioned The Next Food Network Star the other day, and I thought I couldn't watch it because we don't get Food Network. But then I checked out our On Demand list, and there it was! So last night I watched people trying to prepare food in less than 45 minutes while on a moving train.

While initially it seemed like a pretty daunting task, I soon came to realize that not one of these chefs would last ten minutes in MY kitchen. Here's how dinner time goes:

• Roughly one hour before, all three younger boys begin asking for snacks, ranging from frozen waffles to chicken nuggets, all to be prepared by me
• For the entire dinner preparation time (10-45 minutes, depending on the meal), they will continue to ask for snacks
• For the same period of time, I will continue to repeat, "We're eating dinner in a few minutes! And even if I wanted to make you a snack, I've only got two hands and I'm making dinner right now!"
• Every time I pull out a dish, open a can, or chop a vegetable, many little hands want to "help."
  
• Every time one little set of hands is allowed to help, more little hands appear, demanding equal time.
• Then I have to clean up the spills which the clash over ingredients inevitably causes.
• Or bandage the cuts because, "Don't put your hand there, I'm chopping vegetables" apparently is code for "Minor cuts get you lots of sympathy. Get a hand in here!"
• Or run cold water over the burns, because we all know a pot isn't hot unless you test it yourself.
• Then I have to dodge little bodies on my way to and from the refrigerator or pantry. And they move a LOT, almost guaranteeing someone's foot will get stepped on.
• Which means more time out for hugs and apologies.
• And assuming I can actually get them to stay out of the kitchen, I have a lovely soundtrack of screaming and fighting to accompany my cooking.

I would like to see these chefs do that every night! And then, they think the Food Network critics are tough? They should try serving a six year old and a three year old!

That would be a great episode, wouldn't it? Hey, Food Network, send your contestants to my house for dinner! That will REALLY test them!

Movie Monday - the beginning

While watching a new movie the other night, it occurred to me that it would be fun to go through my video library and review the films on my shelf. Not only would this give me a chance to watch the ones I've bought and not viewed yet, but it might give you people with Netflix accounts something to do, and the rest of you some good ideas for what to rent and what to avoid at the video store.

So, without further ado, I present {TRUMPET FANFARE} Movie Monday! I hope you'll join in and post about your favorite movie, either in the comments or on your own blog. If enough people join in, I'll even make a spiffy little graphic.
Today's movie is The Princess Bride. I'm choosing this because I just watched it last night. Now, honestly, if you haven't seen this movie, run out and buy it right now. Don't bother renting it because you're going to want to watch it again and again.

Told as a fairy tale read by a grandfather to his sick grandson, The Princess Bride is the story of Buttercup and Westley, their love, and the obstacles they face before they can be together. This movie also has some of the most interesting supporting characters ever. Who could forget: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." There are so many great lines in this movie, I couldn't pick one as my favorite. Superbly well-written by the same man who wrote the book, this movie is supremely quotable.

But, like the grandfather says in the beginning, this story has something for everyone. Sword fights, danger, humor, and more humor, and a beautiful romance. Girls will love it. Boys will love it. Adults will love it.

So, what's your favorite quote from The Princess Bride? What's that - you don't have one? INCONCEIVABLE!!

PPL - Diamante

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This month's poetic form is the diamante. We're writing about either the great outdoors, or emotions. Hmmm...

Sun
Warmth, heat
Burning, shining, beating
Life's light, life's fuel
Soaking, drenching, filling
Wet, soft
Rain

Cat
Power, stealth
Stalking, creeping, pouncing
The predator, the prey
Running, hiding, dying
Tiny, dead
Mouse

(that was in honor of the "gift" my kitty brought me yesterday)

Unexpected delight

I am a big fan of Steve Carell, so when I saw that the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin was playing on Oxygen the other night, I recorded it.

Now, I expected it to be raunchy, and it was. I expected the foul language, and in its original, not edited-for-tv form it has PLENTY. But what I didn't expect was the wonderful message this movie delivers.

The main character, Andy, spends the whole movie being teased by his friends because he's a virgin. And even though he has several opportunities during the movie, he stays that way right up until the end. What happens at the end? He gets married - and THEN he gets to "know" her.

Did you hear me? They waited until they got married! Not only that, but the movie does an excellent job of showing all the negative things that can happen when people don't wait until they're married. I was truly shocked. Who would have expected this from Hollywood?

Now, I'm certainly not recommending you go rent this, especially not if foul language and nudity in movies bothers you. But if it happens to be on tv in its edited form again, try to catch it.

Oh, and the Hair parody at the end - just priceless!

How I felt about my workout this morning

My workouts have been sporadic lately due to the random pain and extreme nausea from the whole gall stones thing. So yesterday when I "only" had a headache, I went down and did my workout. This morning, again, I have a headache, but I decided I should work out anyway.

So I put in my Tae-Bo Amped DVD, which I love. It's fun, I get a great workout, and I find Billy Blanks to be very motivational. But because I just did it yesterday, my arms and legs are pretty sore, and even though I chose a different one of the five workouts, I was really feeling it.

Twenty minutes into the workout, I wanted to stop. It hurt. And then I heard Billy say, "No obscenities!" Wow, did he read my mind? I never heard him say that before and I've done these workouts many times. Not that I would use an obscenity, but that was just how I was feeling when he said that!

And that's when I realized he had actually said, "One more set of these."

Laughing at the silly way my brain works got me through the rest of the workout.

Two kinds of crab

Saturday we were on the beautiful Eastern Shore of Maryland for my cousin Holly's wedding reception (they got married in Feb. in the Caribbean). The weather was beautiful, but hot. Holly wore her wedding dress, which she'd had altered to a wearable-for-special-occasions length. Smart. Mine will probably never be worn again.

The food was A-MA-ZING! Let me tell you, you have not had a crab cake unless you've had one in Maryland. Jumbo lump crab meat just perfectly seasoned, and no Old Bay at all (Old Bay is a crab seasoning for those of you outside the area - it's good, but when the crab meat is that perfect, you don't need it).

The only down side of the weekend was having to drive that far with my whiny, crabby 3-year-old. This child loves to complain, and to argue. He will argue just for the sake of arguing. When I finally stopped arguing with him, he literally started arguing with himself. Unbelievable.

Marriage Monday - Our Wedding Day

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Welcome to Marriage Monday! This month's topic is Our Wedding Day. I happen to have been a June bride, and this 20th will mark 16 years of wedded bliss. Let me tell you about our wedding...

Since I was finishing college that year, I left most of the details to my parents. I knew they'd make everything perfect because they'd been in the wedding photography business for a long time. They'd seen what worked and what didn't, what was unique and what was cliche, and they had very definite ideas about what I should have at my wedding. Of course, they consulted me, but I don't remember raising any objections.

The location we found was a hotel/restaurant on Pier 6 in Baltimore. Not only did they have the best prices we'd seen for a reception, but they would let us have the ceremony out on their patio for no extra charge! We had a perfect day for it, with the sun behind the clouds to keep us all from being too hot, and sail boats gliding in and out of the Inner Harbor.We stayed in the hotel, and had stayed up too late the night before. Hubby and I met out on the patio where the ceremony would take place and talked for hours. I helped him finish writing his vows because, of course, he'd waited until the last minute! Then I went to bed, and he stayed up most of the rest of the night talking to his brother!

But you never would have known it. The ceremony went beautifully. I still think there were too many songs, though. My mom wanted particular songs, and I wouldn't budge on having the two I wanted: "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and "Love With Me" by Keith Green. So it was a lot of singing. But all beautiful, so I hope the guests didn't mind too much!

The reception took place in a beautiful octagonal room with windows all around, so the guests could take in the view of the harbor. We had chicken and crab cakes, and while I heard they were delicious, I didn't really get a chance to eat much! We walked around greeting the guests and talking to our friends, many of whom had come from pretty far away to be there with us.

All in all, it was a perfect day. I can't think of anything we should have done differently or could have made better. Now, the honeymoon is another story...

What the dr. said...

My surgery is scheduled for June 27. The doctor said usually by the time someone is having as severe symptoms as I described, the only thing to do is remove the gall bladder. He told me to take two weeks off of work, to which I responded, "If only I could!"

This is an outpatient procedure, so I'll be home that night. I'm supposed to stay in bed for the first week. He said I will feel more like getting up the second week, and that's fine, but I will have very little energy and won't be able to do much.

I also have to eat a no-fat diet for a few days, until my liver figures out it supposed to take over the gall bladder's function of digesting fats.

Never fear, though - I will take my computer to bed with me and stay in touch!

Important issue

Today I go to the doctor to find out what he wants to do about this gall bladder of mine. So naturally, my mind is on weighty subjects this morning. Like clothing tags.

See, I just had to cut a tag out of my shirt. It wasn't in the collar, because that would be annoying. No, instead it was in the side seam of the shirt. Because it's much less annoying to have something digging and scratching at your side all day.

Here's my million-dollar idea: perforated clothing tags. Once you buy the clothing and get it home, simply tear along the dotted line. Of course, for the OCD crowd I would market a tag album, where you could keep all your tags for handy reference: next to a picture of your garment, you could fasten the original tag, for those times when you can't remember whether to dry it on high or low heat.

I just hope if I have to have surgery that the hospital gown doesn't have a stupid tag in it.

Going to extremes

Last night I though about what I would have been doing six years ago, with an infant son and two boys age 2 and 5 running around the house. And I remembered...

My third son didn't take to nursing very well. He seemed to be latched on correctly (and after two other babies I would have thought I knew what I was doing), but he wasn't. He became extremely jaundiced and had to go back to the hospital and lay under special lamps for two days.

Because he clearly wasn't getting enough milk the normal way, the doctor wanted me to supplement with formula. I refused. I have been a proponent of breastfeeding since long before I had kids, and I knew if I started formula it would be a downward spiral. So he told me the only alternative was to pump and manually feed the baby, so I could measure the amount of breastmilk he got.

So I rented a pump. In between his regular nursing, I would pump and store the milk. Then I would feed it to him through a supplemental nurser, which is a bottle connected to a long, thin tube. The tube gets taped to your finger and then you press it lightly against the roof of the baby's mouth. When he sucks, he gets the milk. It's a slow process, but it gets the job done.

I thought this would be a one week thing and then I'd be able to nurse him normally again. Imagine my shock when the doctor said (after one week) that he wanted me to do this for another month! I remember we had a post-partum doula coming over once a week, and she was really concerned for my health because I was doing little except eating, sleeping, pumping and feeding. And very little of the sleeping.

But eventually the baby gained weight and the doctor said I could continue nursing and stop the supplemental feeding. Things went back to "normal". He's a regular, rambunctious, healthy six-year-old now. He'll probably never really care about the lengths I went to when he was a baby, but that's okay. It was worth every minute.

Nice weekend

We had a lovely day yesterday. I got lots of stuff done in the yard and around the house. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - lots of sun, but with a nice breeze to keep us cool. We had some rain in the evening, but by then we were all inside.

I made burgers and grilled skewers of fresh pineapple with chicken chunks, and Hubby's brothers brought hot dogs and chips, so we had quite a feast! I was still full when I went to bed.

So, how was your weekend?

The skinny on my weight loss

A few weeks ago, I went to the annual Secret Sister breakfast for the ladies in our church. We all exchange names and then give gifts anonymously through the year. This particular day, I had no less than five ladies pull me aside to ask what I did to lose all the weight I lost (about 65 pounds).

Honestly, sometimes I look at myself and can't believe I really did it. I remember buying some size 16 shorts at the end of the summer clearance in 2006, hoping I might possibly fit into them the next spring. They ended up being too big on me by then, much to my surprise. And now I wear mostly 10s, and even have a pair of 8 jeans!

The biggest thing I tell people is that just because it worked for me, doesn't mean it's the right diet for everyone. You have to find something you can live with for the rest of your life. Because a good diet isn't a temporary weight loss fix, it's a way of eating right forever. There are several good ones out there. I used Healthy for Life by Dr. Ray Strand. Other people like South Beach (though I would recommend skipping Phase 1). Another good one is the You diet by Drs. Roizen and Oz, which you can find on the Real Age website.

Mostly what I've done is retrained myself in the way I think about food. And in so doing, I tend to take ideas and recipes from many different sources. Because once I re-learned how to eat, I didn't have to be so strict with myself. If the ingredient list fits my "approved" list (which I carry around in my head), then I can eat it. But even then, I've taught myself not to pig out. Just because something is healthy doesn't mean it's calorie-free!

So I guess the answer to the "how did you do it?" question isn't very simple. The most important thing is to be consistent. Find what works for you and stick with it. If you fall down one day, get up and go again the next. One brownie will not kill your diet, but one brownie, followed by days of self-pity just might.

Congrats to David Cook!

He's been my favorite for many, many weeks now, and last night he won the title of the new American Idol! Congratulations, David - you have a bright career ahead of you!

And, wow, what a finale show! Usually I skip through those things to get to the end and see who won, but I kept stopping to hear the different celebrity guests sing. Even the group numbers were good. I might actually save a large portion of that show to watch again.

Another birthday!

Six years ago today, my third son came along. I can't believe he's six already. Happy birthday, little guy!

Stuck

I'm curious - who's staying home this summer because of gas prices?

Have you changed anything about your lifestyle because of them?

Back when the price first went over $2 a gallon, we stopped going places. Our church is sort of halfway between home and the stores, so we would save our shopping trips for Sundays and Wednesdays. All the while, we waited for the prices to go back down.

We're still following that same routine. Every now and then, we might go to the store on a Friday if we're out of something, but generally we don't just hop into the car and drive without thinking long and hard about it.

Next weekend, one of my cousins is having a big wedding reception on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The weekend after that, another cousin is having a big going-away party in the same town before she moves to Texas. I'm going to have to send regrets to the latter, because driving down there just costs too much.

So if we go anywhere this summer, it will be like our recent trip to New York - part of a business trip of Hubby's for which we tag along. He might be going to Memphis later this year. That would be fun. But other than that, we've got to learn to love it at home.

So now I wait some more

After going back to the doctor this morning, I learned that my blood work was all normal, and now I'm being referred to a surgeon to consult him about the gall stones. I'll get a second opinion from him as to whether or not surgery is necessary. I can tell you that right now, when it's not bothering me, I'd rather not think about surgery. But when it IS bothering me, I want it to end NOW. So if he thinks surgery is the way to go, I'll probably go with it.

The appointment is next Tuesday. So until then it's more waiting. At least now I have a prescription for nausea medicine. It's been worse than morning sickness lately. Not fun.

Cinder-Jana

Did you ever have one of the those days when you just feel in your bones that you were supposed to be a princess and be waited on hand and foot? When just the thought of cooking your own food seems absurd and you look around the house with a disdainful eye thinking, "Someone ought to clean that up," but you're not thinking you?

It's one of those days. So I will make an extra effort not to be lazy today. My Scooba is cleaning my kitchen floor right now, but the rest is going to have to be me. Spring cleaning, here I come!

What gall...

I'm feeling better today. The attack brought on by the ultrasound tech probing around my abdomen with her little wand seems to have ended. I even did some exercise this morning without any pain.

I read up on gall stones and it turns out I've been having other symptoms, I just didn't know they were symptoms of gall stones because they're so vague. Nausea. Um, okay, I have a three year old who still, at least once a day, poops in his pants. What's so unusual about waves of nausea? Gas and bloating. Well, my diet includes lots of fresh veggies and many different kinds of beans. I'd be silly NOT to expect some gas and bloating.

So, it's possible the doctor can give me some medicine to break up the stones (ultrasonic techniques don't work on gall stones because they are soft, not hard and brittle like kidney stones). Or it's possible I will have to have the whole thing removed. Naturally, this is not a problem for most people or they wouldn't do it. I just wonder about the likelihood of ending up in the group for which it IS a problem, because I tend to end up in that smaller group a lot.

I also learned coffee drinkers tend to have less gall stones than non-coffee drinkers. Since I guzzle about 12 cups a day, I hate to think how many stones I'd have if I didn't! See, there's always a bright side.

I had an ultrasound and it's twins

Fake Quote of the Day:

"Believe me, I know what it's like." - J. Hurt

Last year this time, I started having this horrible, burning stomach pain. Both I and the doctor assumed it was acid reflux and I went on medicine for that. It didn't help. The pain only happens every three or four weeks, but it lasts all day and is so bad I can't do anything but lay in bed.

So finally, I got referred to the gastroenterologist, who sent me for a gall bladder ultrasound. Now, I've had teeny tiny gallstones in the past, and the pain then felt nothing like the current pain. So I thought it was a waste of time.

Much to my surprise, I have two lovely little matching gallstones, about 1.25 centimeters across. I return to the doctor on Monday to find out what this means. Hopefully there's some sort of magic procedure they can do to take care of it.

Have a good weekend!

I'm off to a homeschool convention today and tomorrow! Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday!

PPL - Clerihew

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This month's poetic form is the clerihew. Never heard of it before, but it looks fun! Robin wants us to use something about the month of May. And since clerihews are also biographical and humorous, she's presented us quite a challenge! Fortunately, I'm up to it.

Napoleon the Third
Had a plan most absurd.
His troops surrendered in Puebla that day,
And that's why we celebrate the Fifth of May!

Okay, maybe not so humorous. But two out of three isn't bad, right?

Reality check

(Reality television, that is)

Though I don't think I'd go as far as Simon and call it "atrocious," Jason just wasn't good last night. He needs to go. And I think the other three gave good enough performances that they won't be going anywhere. Sorry, Jason - it was fun while it lasted. David A. gave standout performances - based on singing along, he should win. But I'm still rooting for David C.

On HK, I can't say Matt shouldn't have left, BUT if you were Ramsay, could you pass up his offer to move to the girls' team? I think not. This should be interesting. I don't think he'll be doing the women any favors, but I think he's right about the men not listening to him.

And on Dancing, I can't really say I was sorry to see Shannon go last week, or Mario this week. He was good to begin with, and I don't know if he got too cocky or just wasn't able to meet the challenge, but he never really improved. I still think that it's going to come down to Kristi and Jason, though Cristian could end up there if he keeps getting the sympathy vote.

Do the write thing

Fake Quote of the Day:

"Writing is easy. It's putting the words together so they make sense that's hard." -J. Joyce

Tonight I have to take the two older boys for their annual homeschool evaluation. It's required in Pennsylvania. We have to be evaluated every year by someone approved by the state to do so, and get a signed letter from her saying that I am providing a good education at home.

We are fortunate to have found a wonderful evaluator who is also a long-time homeschooler. She is very understanding, supportive, and a great role model. If she ever quits evaluating, there will be a major uproar, I'm sure. Anyway, I'm not concerned about the actual evaluation. BUT...

We also, in this lovely state of PA, have to turn in a portfolio of work for each child 8 and older. Included in this portfolio must be a sample of writing. My children do not write. It's like the worst form of torture for my oldest son. It comes down to the last week every year, when I'm hounding him to please write ANYTHING so I can finish his portfolio. Talk about frustrating!

I tried getting him to learn typing so he can just type whatever, but he still won't do it. Unless it involves Bionicles, he's not interested. So we'll see what happens.

I might just enroll him in the composition class at co-op next year. Maybe someone else can drag it out of him.

Marriage Monday: The Crazy Way We Met

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Two years ago, I wrote extensively about my whole courtship with my wonderful Hubby, so if you want to read more detail, look here, here, here, and here. But as for the crazy way we met, well, it went something like this...

I like to think of my meeting with my future Hubby as being one of those examples of God doing everything in His own perfect timing. You see, we attended the same church for years, literally, before I ever noticed him. There's even video of the two of us standing next to each other in a church Christmas play. So even though he was there all the time, I firmly believe God kept me from seeing him until the time was right.

Hubby had this friend named Rob, and Rob was a friend of mine as well. In typical fifteen-year-old girl fashion, I had no idea Rob liked me. He was just a guy with whom I could discuss Star Trek. One night, there was a concert at the church, and Rob was helping clean up afterward. Suddenly, there was future-Hubby. There wasn't literally a spotlight shining on him or angels singing, but it sure felt that way.

My jaw dropped and I said to Rob, "Who's your friend?" He introduced us. Within the week I had gotten hold of future-Hubby's phone number and called him repeatedly. I didn't know Rob had told him to stay away from me, and I probably wouldn't have cared if I had. He was funny, cute, and fun to be around.

By the end of the summer, before he left for college, I knew we were going to be married one day. It's one of the few times I've heard an actual voice in my ear tell me something. He was driving, I was in the passenger seat, and in my right ear a voice said, "You're going to marry him." Pretty scary for a fifteen-year-old girl! I shrugged it off. But it was always there in the back of my head.

Of course, it was six years and many frustrations later, but it happened! All in God's perfect timing.

If you'd like to share the crazy way you met your spouse, hop on over to Chrysalis and join in!

Don't go to Canada without a good reason

The view from the bridge back to the US

Coming back into the US, we discovered that even with passports for the adults and birth certificates for the kids, they don't just wave you through.

"What were you doing in Canada?" the nice border guard said.

"We went camping."

"For one night?"

"Yes."

Nice border guard looks at my hubby skeptically. "Who goes camping for one night?"
Hubby took a deep breath. Did this guy really want to hear the whole story? "We had a change of plans," he said.

"That's your story?"

Okay, clearly, he DID want to hear it. Hubby gave a quick explanation of how we'd accompanied him on a business trip, how we'd gone to pick up a van we bought on Ebay, how we'd planned to camp two nights but didn't, etc., etc. Finally, the nice border guard let us through. I was starting to sweat.

So we picked up our new van and headed home around 4 p.m. It's a six hour drive, not counting dinner and bathroom breaks. And did I mention I had a migraine? Yep, driving six plus hours with a migraine - never done it before, hope to never have to do it again. We got home around 1 a.m., totally exhausted.

If I had to do it over, we would have gone to a campground near Niagara but in New York, and only driven over for a couple of hours to see the Falls. Plus I would plan it for a time when we could stay longer - I had a commitment on Saturday I had to go to or we would have.

Overall, I'd say it wasn't horrible, but wow, I'm glad it's over. And I bet you are, too.

The conclusion? Not quite...

Our biggest problem in visiting Niagara Falls was that we needed to leave the new van somewhere because it only had transport tags and did we really want to try and explain to the Canadian customs person why we were bringing it into Canada? No, we did not.

So we drove all the way to the town of Niagara Falls, NY without finding a place to stop and eat. No big deal. We'll just park the new van somewhere overnight, head over to the Canadian side, park the camper at the campground, and go eat. Um, yeah.

I won't go into all the details, but things never work out quite that simply for us. We finally found a place that seemed to be closed for the season, advertising parking for the Falls for $5 a day (or $10 depending on which sign you read). We parked the new van and headed to Canada.

After pulling in to the campground and setting up our pop-up, we finally went to find dinner. Now, you remember the big buffet breakfast I mentioned that we had that morning? That was the last time we'd eaten. It was after 9 p.m. and I was beyond hungry. And when I get that hungry and that tired, it's not pretty. Add a bunch of children who won't be quiet and sit still and you've got mental and emotional breakdown.

We ate at the very cute Flying Saucer Restaurant, which looks like a giant flying saucer all painted silver and everything. The boys loved it. They even had a newspaper story on their menu about how the saucer landed there and ended up a restaurant. Very cute. Not cheap, but definitely cute.

We found out the next day that the exchange rate was par. What that meant was that we spent over $60 for dinners of burgers and fries. Yikes!! Whatever happened to Canadian money being worth less than US? Honestly, we wouldn't have gone over there if we'd known.So, the next morning, we had a breakfast of whatever we brought with us (Pop Tarts, English muffins, bread - and I remembered the coffee maker this time - hooray!). We went to the Falls, still an amazing sight, and one the boys had never seen before. We tried to avoid looking directly at any of the tourist traps (because you know if you look into the entrances, you get sucked in). On the way out, we stopped at Harvey's for lunch. Excellent. Best fast food salad I've ever had. And then we went back to get our trailer and start the long trip home.