Registration Time Already

It's already time to register for Spring semester classes. I will be taking Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology II, Legal and Ethical Issues and Evidence for Practice. A grand total of 9 credits again.

I hope this means that it' going fast. I remember when I was a Freshman Undergrad. I looked at 4 years as forever and even considered dropping out of school in favor of a 2 year degree in something. I think I remember looking into the paramedic field. Somehow, I don't remember what happened, I continued on and it ended up taking me 5.5 years to get my 4 year degree. They tell you that you don't have to know what you want to major in right away... that you can take generals. That's a bunch of bull. The reason it took me 5.5 years is because I didn't take the correct classes I needed to apply to the nursing program for years 2, 3 and 4. So it ended up setting me back.

The girls have been asking me a lot of questions about when I was last a college student, if I liked my roommate, if the food was good, etc. They were very surprised to find out that college isn't 8-3 like high school. They think it's pretty cool that you can have classes 3 days per week only in the mornings and have the rest of the time off.....except that there is a lot of school work to do in that time.

Going to School on the Internet is hard to get used to. It's really weird, before I would drive to the library, pull my journals I needed for references in a paper, photo copy the article and take it home to do the paper. Now, I can access the library online, search for whatever I need and print out the article at home. Weird. If I miss class, it has been recorded... I can access it any time I wish and catch up.

Graduate school is WAY different. There is a lot and I mean a lot of writing to do. Weekly writing projects in my epidemiology class and I hear that 2 of my classes for next semester are heavy in writing also. I prefer tests. My pathophysiology class is tests every 3 weeks, and we did have 1 small writing assignment.

Things I like

1.  Movies.  I LOVE to watch movies.  Maybe it's an escape thing, that for an hour and a half I can be somewhere else where there is no laundry to do or meals to cook or schoolwork to do. 

2.  Animals.   I will probably be one of those crazy cat ladies when I get older.   I like dogs too, but they are much more work than cats.

3.  The Internet.  What in the world did I do before the Internet?  As Savannah would say "how did you live?"

4.  My Cell phone.  Another of those what did I do without one?  I love being able to call home when I am at the grocery store to ask how many cans of cream of mushroom soup we have in the pantry. 

5.  Fuzzy Socks.   From October through May you will find me in fuzzy socks.   I love the way they feel, not too tight like regular white socks.  They keep your feet nice and cozy warm.

6.  Fires.  Either in the fireplace or a bonfire.   The heat from a fire makes me sleepy and watching the flames puts me into a mini trance.  Very therapeutic.

7.  My laptop.  I can surf the Internet,  talk to others, watch movies, and play games.

8.  Chocolate.  Need I say more?

9.  Lipton Iced tea with lemon and sugar.   I drink this stuff daily.  I hate the taste of water, but I can drink a gallon of this stuff a day. 

10.  Hockey.  I follow 2 college teams, UND fighting Sioux  and Bemidji State's Beavers.    I don't like Pro hockey at all.  And of course I get plenty of hockey watching in because all three of my girls play.

Let's tak shit

Pooping.  Some people are regular and some aren't.   Due to the fact that my chronic pancreatitis causes me intense pain at times I take a pretty strong narcotic.  Side effect= constipation. 

Over the past year or so, I have struggled with constipation on and off, at first not knowing what to do tried all the usuals.   I tried enemas,  Milk of magnesia, laxatives, stool softeners, suppositories... pretty much everything.   The worst part is to have such a large piece of stool that it just won't pass.  No matter how hard you push, or what you do, it just won't go. 

I am going to be pretty frank here people, because in my journey with this issue, I never really got much from the internet on what to do once you are at this point.  All the sites tell you is to increase your fiber, increase water intake etc.... all well and good but it doesn't do you much good when you are at this point.   I attempted to research anything that might loosen and break up the hard ball of stool, but did not get much luck... so I have experimented and have found what works for me and I would like to share that with all of you. 

First I tried glycerin suppositories,  they didn't work at this point... useless.
Next I tried mineral oil and water enemas (warm water),  does work to a point.  If the chunk  is not too hard, sometimes small pieces will break off and you can pass those.  This is very time consuming as the colon does absorb the water.   So, you need to let the water work on the stool, and keep water in your colon.   If the stool is too dry and hard, you will just pass the water right back out.

At this point you can start thinking about manual removal... I have not had much success with this either. If the ball is dry and hard, you will make little if any progress attempting to manually remove excuse my frankness "what you can scrape off". 

All this has typically led to bleeding, nausea, vomiting, pain... extreme pain while trying to push it out.  I have been to the point of passing out more than once... believe me you don't want this.

OK, so what works.... BUT you have to be patient... is miralax.   I usually will take 4 doses on day one, 3 or 4 doses on day 2 and then wait for it to work.  It needs time to soften up the hard stool, but it will if you give it time.  It works by drawing water into the colon.  As the hard stool sits bathed in the water it will slowly start to soften and break up.   You will have some loose stools following this procedure but... for no bleeding or pain... I'll take it.

Madison is out for a week

Last Friday, Madison was goofing around on the ice and fell on her wrist.  She has continued to baby it and complain since then so today I brought her in to the clinic to have it looked at. 

The doctor found obvious tender points and her x-ray was a little concerning.  Nothing obvious, but a small anomaly that MIGHT represent a small fracture in her growth plate. 

So, according to the Dr.  NO hockey for the next week.  She is to return to see him again next Monday and have another x-ray done.  We are also to get her fitted for a wrist splint ( we didn't today because Savannah was already 45 minutes late for hockey tryouts).   She is a little bit upset, but I think she will be just fine.  Coach told Richard to tell her not to worry that he will assess her skills when she is able to return to skating per the Doctor.

Savannah was late to tryouts today,  Richard had gone to watch and informed coach that we were late due to Dr. Appts and he was fine with that.   In the little she got to skate today she was able to head off on a breakaway when one of the older girls caused a penalty so Savannah got a penalty shot. 

We have told her that her strengths are her speed, and her aggressiveness especially when it comes to back checking and fighting for the puck in the corner.   She is going to try to play up those strengths this week during tryouts.  So,  we will see. 

Wish her luck!

Back again

Ok,  life is settling into a new kind of rhythm and hockey is starting up again so, I will continue to blog.

Just to bring you up to date,  I started Graduate school at the University of North Dakota in August.  I am working towards my Masters degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner.   I anticipate Graduating in May of 2014. 

Current Classes:  9 credits (3/4 time)
Epidemiology
Nursing Theory
Physiology/Pathophysiology

I am about 1/2 way through the semester and doing well in each class and they are quite challenging!

Savannah will be trying out for the varsity hockey team next week, Madison will be on the JV team.  They travel together and practice together so that really helps out.  Next year Paige will join them. 

Paige is on the Girls 12u team, still under Bemidji youth hockey (as opposed to school sponsored sports).    She has started practice too and the running is already getting crazy!

 

OOPS!!!

Savannah has been driving for about 3 weeks now.   She has done excellent in that amount of time.   Unfortunately, new drivers tend to have mishaps.

She took out the Mirror on one of those tall yellow signs indicating a crosswalk.  

In her defense the sign is in the middle of the road, between lanes and you have to move over quite a little bit to miss it.



I felt really bad for her.   She got really quiet and I thought she was going to start crying.    I didn't yell at her, actually I told her it was ok, that everyone makes mistakes and new drivers are going to make their fair share.   I also said to her "I bet that will never happen to you again".  She agreed.

Richard was able to put things back where they belong.  We retreived the mirror from the road and were able to put it back on ( with the addition of a few cracks in the mirror of course).

Her Dad didn't dare yell at her as he hit the stupid thing the winter before last. 

New Drivers

I now have a new driver in the house.  She has only had her permit for a week and already has driven to Cass Lake and back, twice to Walmart and back, and once to Burger King.  

She is doing well, though she tends to take after her father and has a lead foot.  Besides that:
1.  She takes turns way too fast, causing her to enter the other lane slightly during the turn... I keep telling her she WILL get hit if this continues.
2.  She forgets to signal.
3.  She hasn't figured out the pedals yet and guns the gas and stops too fast.
4.  She complains about the traffic rules as she drives, according to her:
                                  A.  Speed limits are useless and she can't drive that slow.
                                  B.  Stop signs mean you can do a rolling stop.
                                  C.  Slow drivers are stupid idiots.
                                  D.  Sisters that are backseat drivers know nothing.
5.  When I say STOP, she doesn't stop.  When I asked her why she didn't she replied " because I couldn't think of why you wanted me to stop".    I then told her .." don't think.... just do, you can ask why later,   when I say Stop, you stop or you will not drive anymore."   I hope she's got that down now.
                               
I guess I should keep in mind that she has only had her permit for a week and really has made quite a bit of progress.   Practice, practice, practice.    Practice for me too...  as I will have to do this 2 more times.   I will be an expert by the next one.

 

Luna

                                    
                     Savannah and Luna

I have been notified that I have not introduced Mr. Luna yet. 

Luna came to us in May of 2010.   If you remember, Richard had promised each of the girls they could have a cat.   Savannah was firm that she wanted a black boy.   They are hard to find.   Through text messaging and friends of friends, I received a text notifying me of pure black kittens ready for new homes. 



I immediately called the number I was given and received directions to a house here in Bemidji.   There were only 2 kittens left, one boy and one girl.    One of the children from the family wanted to keep the girl, so we were left with the boy, which is what Savannah wanted anyway. 

Isn't he cute?

Savannah named him Luna which means "Moon"

He loves Savannah.   She calls him into her room every night for bed and he comes like a dog.   He shares half of her bed and is frequently found all stretched out next to her.

And that is it.   Hopefully the girls will take their animals with them when they go to college.   One can always hope.  

Teen Mom

I have become addicted to the MTV show Teen Mom.   It chronicles the lives of new teen parents and how hard it is.   Some say it "glorifies" teenage pregnancy.   I say the opposite, I think it is great birth control.

I watch the show with the girls and constantly bash into their heads that 2 forms of birth control is necessary and that if they are too embarrassed to buy condoms, I will buy them. 

Don't get me wrong, we also talk about WAITING to have sex. Paige is convinced she will NEVER have sex.  Savannah thinks it's gross (gotta like that), and Madison, well the jury is still out.

  We watch these poor girls who almost NEVER stay with the baby's father, and I hope they understand that the guys they date in high school will most likely not be the guy they eventually marry.  I point out how little the mom can do now.  She can hardly get through a lunch with her friends without a baby fussing and needing something.   Babies are a LOT  of work and you must be willing to give everything up.  Goodbye parties, dances, dates......hello sleepless nights, dirty diapers and bills.... bills ....bills.  

Savannah recently had a friend that was pregnant.   I felt soooo bad for her, as she really has no one.  Her parents are MIA and she lives with her Grandma, whom she is sure would kick her out if she found out she was pregnant.   As things work themselves out, there was a miscarriage.   I hope she has learned a lesson and uses protection (she didn't use any).  Maybe I should buy her a box of condoms.   I hope this has taught everyone she knows that yes, it CAN happen to you.

There's another driver in the house!

I woke Savannah up today with "do you want to get your permit today?"   She only thought a moment before getting up and of course needing to do her hair and makeup because they would be taking a picture. 

She was REALLY nervous.   The lines weren't bad, but she couldn't read the eye chart .....so.....I had to run back home to get her glasses.  In the meantime, she took the test and passed 32/37 questions

Savannah and her (paper) permit.

She must be wearing her glasses or contacts when she drives as per her vision test.

Afterwards I took her out to the country to drive a little bit.  She really likes to hug the shoulder of the road and makes me nervous. 

I don't remember learning to drive, so I don't exactly know the best way to go about teaching her.   I guess keep taking her out of town until she is comfortable and then start driving on some roads with traffic on them.   

If I have a heart attack you know why.

boating

July 3rd, 2011    Cass Lake MN, beached on Star island.

Paige and Maddie, don't they look excited?

There were an unbelievable number of people on Star island that day.

Why is Paige's head in the cooler?

Jen, Andy, Noah, Adam, Myself, Savannah, Madison, Paige, Mom (Connie), Dad (Gene) and Chance all loaded up on the pontoon.    It was a beautiful day, hot and sunny.  The kids swam and played well together and there was actually very little fighting.

People watching is at it's best on this day.   It is very common for people to fill up their drink and take a stroll from one end of the boats to the other.   There are numerous drinking games played by the younger "college" aged crowd and they are fun to watch.

There are many dogs brought to the beach by their owners...very nice dogs who love people and get along well with other dogs.  The girls love to play ball or throw a stick for any dog that will fetch it.

Next year?   I am really glad we got there really early this year as you can see from the pictures that the beach fills up and boats start stacking up.   So I would definately arrive early again.   It's becoming a family tradition, so let's hope it continues.

Pet Peeves

Moochers.  They make you bleed and bleed until you are dry.  Why do I let people get away with this.  When you go on vacation with other people and they are in charge of meals, I expect them to get made.  For me to shoulder the entire time with the food I brought and actually made, makes me angry.   What makes you think this is appropriate, and who does this to "friends"?   To top it all off, when equipment needs to be cleaned and returned to whom it was ever so graciously borrowed from, you are nowhere to be found.   I have had enough and refuse to give anything further.  There will be no more "next times".   My husband thinks I am over-reacting.  I say that if he wishes to have "I am a doormat" written all over his forehead, that is fine.  Not me.  I feel that I have gone out of my way in the past to help someone out, and sharing what I have.  So now I will not feel guilty for electing not to do this anymore.

Rude People.  By the way, when you and your children are at someone else's house and the owner of that house says the kids are not allowed to do something, it is unbelievably rude to tell the kids the exact opposite right in front of the owner.  In my house, guests follow my rules.  I wonder what you teach your kids when they have the balls to say "I am a guest, I don't have to help".   No I guess you don't, but you will not be welcomed back. 

And please keep your thoughts on what children should be allowed to do to yourself.   Telling a 12 year old that it is her hair and she can do anything she wants with it is disrespecful to that child's parents.   Keep your thoughts to yourself, I don't tell you how to parent your kids.

Mitt Romney's religion- does it matter?

 I try to know a some personal facts about those running for the post of President of the United States.  Unlike some of my peers, I believe that the personal beliefs and actions of a politician are very important.  As a leader of our nation, setting a good example is very important, especially for our young people.  I teach my children that they must tell the truth, follow the laws established and to take responsibility for their mistakes.   For others to not be subject to these values also negates their very existence.

I wanted to do a little bit of research on Mitt Romney's religion- Mormonism, to see how it may or may not impact his future choices.   As Faith is very important to me, I feel that it does make a difference in how I may vote.  This is what I have found.

Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith who founded the Book of Mormon. According to Smith's account, and also according to the book's narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates. Smith said that he received these plates in 1827 from an angel named Moroni,  whom Smith identified as a resurrected  inhabitant of the Americas who had written and abridged parts of the book over a millennium prior to the encounter. According to Smith, Moroni had buried the plates in a stone box, along with other ancient artifacts, in a hill near Smith's home in Manchester, New York.

While living in Conneaut, Ohio in the early nineteenth century, Solomon Spalding (1761–1816) began writing a work of fiction about the lost civilization of the mound builders of North America. Spalding shared his story, entitled Manuscript Found with members of his family and some of his associates in Conneaut, as well as his friends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  where he lived prior to his death. However, Manuscript Found was never published.
In 1832, Latter Day Saint Missionaries, Samuel H. Smith and Orson Hyde, visited Conneaut, Ohio, and preached from the Book of Mormon.  Nehemiah King, a resident of Conneaut who knew Spalding when he lived there, felt that the Mormon text resembled the story written by Spalding years before. In 1833, at the urging of  Doctor Philatus Hurlbut, King, Spalding's widow, his brother John, and a number of other residents of Conneaut signed affidavit's stating that Spalding had written a manuscript, portions of which were identical to the Book of Mormon.

The premise of the book, is that voyagers from the Near East (Jerusalem area) around 600 B.C. And created a civilization here in the Americas.

The archaeological, historical and scientific communities have in general been skeptical about the claims of the Book of Mormon. Critics of such tend to focus on four main areas:

• The lack of correlation between locations described in the Book of Mormon and American archaeological sites.  In other words, with the bible the landmarks, towns vegetation, cattle etc can all be authenticated by archaeological evidence.   The places, people etc of the book of Mormon seem to have left absolutely NO trace of their existence.

• References to animals, plants, metals and technologies in the Book of Mormon that archaeological or scientific studies have found no evidence of in post-Pleistocene, pre-Columbian America, frequently referred to as anachronisms. Items typically listed include cattle, horses, asses, oxen, sheep, swine, goats, elephants, wheat, steel, brass, chains, iron, scimitars and chariots.   We do not see evidence of these things in the archaeological record until after the Europeans arrived and brought with them foreign plants, animals and technology.

• The lack of linguistic connection between any Native American and Near Eastern Languages.   Also no linguistic scholar has ever heard of the language "reformed egyptian'.

• The Lack of DNA evidence linking any Native American Group to the ancient Near East. If they had come, they would have had to inter-breed with the existing native population.

Most adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement consider the Book of Mormon to generally be a historically accurate account.  Within the Latter Day Saint movement there are several apologetic groups that seek to reconcile the discrepancies in diverse ways. Among these apologetic groups, much work has been published by Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), and Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), attempting to defend the Book of Mormon as a literal history, countering arguments critical of its historical authenticity, or reconciling historical and scientific evidence with the text. One of the more common recent arguments is the limited geography model which guesses that the people of the Book of Mormon covered only a limited geographical region in either MesoAmerica, South America or the Great Lakes area.


As far as the religion itself.  Although professed to be christian by its followers.. it has very different views than are held by most Christians.

1.   Joseph Smith taught that God was once a man.  And that Man can become a god.   Mormonism has a little saying "As Man is, God once was... As God is, Man may become."

"Here, then, is eternal life -- to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you,... To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God.... " (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 346, 347)

2.  The idea that there is more than one God.

Joseph Smith taught “that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father,” and that “you may suppose that He had a Father also.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith) Orson Pratt said, “If we should take a million worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more Gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds.” (Journal of Discourses, vol.2, page 345)

3.  The Book of Mormon is the MOST CORRECT book, even more correct than the bible.

This small book takes an innovative approach to Joseph Smith's well-known statement: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."¹ The author divides the statement (and the volume) into three component parts: (1) "the most correct of any book on earth"; (2) "the keystone of our religion"; and (3) "precepts to bring one nearer to God."


As a result of my research, I find I may have issues voting for Mr. Romney........however I cannot say that I have entirely ruled it out.   I guess I will have to see what my other choices are and balance that with my belief that Romney's business experience may prove to be helpful (or maybe not).  

Thank Goodness I have a lot of time to make my decision.   I encourage all of you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

The Book of Mormon states that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, Not Bethlehem.  Non-religious documents contradict this idea, as does the Bible.
Oh, and as a little side note.... they have employed a number of people whose job it is to look up the names of thoses deceased people... (they are currently gathering names of holocaust victims) and they have a special room dedicated to baptism by "proxy".  Basically some living person stands in for the deceased person and is baptized.    weird?

Hot Days

Today is unbelievably hot and humid.  I should have packed up the kids and gone to the beach, but I had company that was going to show up.    I turned on the air conditioner for the first time this year, and it does help the kitchen, dining area and living room.  Unfortunately it is not central air and does not reach the bedrooms.  So tonight will be sticky and hot.  I have a Fan perched in the windowsill in my bedroom and hopefully it will cool down enough at some point tonight to be able to sleep.  I may have to sleep on the couch.  Maybe we will go to the beach tomorrow.................

Madison is with her Aunt and Uncle in Fisher, MN.  I miss her.  She will be back on Saturday morning when Jen and Andy return to have a day on the lake.  Can't wait!!

My pancreas has been acting up this week and I have eaten very little since sunday.   I am starting to get hungry, but am a little worried that the pain will start up again.  I think I will go and make a turkey sandwich, usually that sits well with me. 

Not surprisingly Casey Anthony did not take the stand today.  They are saying that the Jury should be going into deliberations on Saturday.   The experts say 3-4 days until a verdict is made.   I will wait anxiously, hoping for a guilty verdict. 

A letter to Casey Anthony

Dear Casey,  unfortunately I have been glued to the television watching your case on TV.  As a mom myself I cannot understand your behavior.  You have lied so many times that I am sure there is no truth to the excuses you have pleaded to the jury.  Your parents have stood behind you through all of this.  Then you have to go and tear your only support system apart by telling lies about them.  You are all alone now.   A normal mother, faced with an accidental death of a child would have called 911.   I do not think you are even  capable of telling the truth at this point.   You have been defined as a sociopath.  You sit there with your lawyers stone faced, showing NO emotion as your mom and dad have breakdowns on the stand.  The only time you show any emotion is when someone is talking about YOU.    I truly hope the jury sees through all this BS and finds you guilty.  Unfortunately, today your lawyer has shown himself to be incompetent with his questioning of your dad today. And I fear there may be grounds for a new trial.  The only comforting thing about that is that you will still sit in jail for the years it takes to put a new trial together.   You deserve to sit in a jail and think about what a terrible mother you have been.   Tomorrow the defense says they will rest.  Will you testify?  I doubt it, I hope your lawyer is smart enough to know that you will completely ruin any chances of winning this trial, when the jury can see through your lies and absence of any emotion.  To dispose of your child in triple bagged trash bags is beyond comprehension.  Then to let her decompose in your car for days before throwing her in a swamp.    I hope the jury sees the difference between your demeanor and the heart wrenching behavior of your parents. And sees what kind of person you really are.

Someone would have to rip my dead child from my arms before I would leave them.

I hope you know that eventually you will have to face what you have done in front of God and explain to him why you did what you did.  And I hope one day you feel the pain that you have caused so many people.

I have three beautiful girls and tonight I hugged them and told them I loved them.  Tonight I will sleep soundly knowing they are safe.  I hope you never have a peaceful night again.  

Signed,
Someone who still has their children and wants Justice for Caylee.

Reality Bites!!

Battle of the Moochers

Teen Mom 2's Adam vs. Keiffer

This weeks show was a basically a "how to mooch off of other peoples parents" for wanna be moochers.   We have Chelsea‘s baby-daddy and poor excuse for a boyfriend  Adam, as well as Jenelle’s homeless and unemployed boyfriend Kieffer.

Chelsea's father (who is paying the rent on the apartment) decided to let Adam have a second chance and allowed him to move in to the apartment provided he continue to pay child support, pay partial rent and get a job. Nevermind that Chelsea's best friend Moochy Megan lived there for free also. (WTF?) Granted Megan did help a lot with Aubrey, which cannot be said about Adam.

At Chelsea’s insistence, a reluctant Adam unpeels his lazy ass from the couch that he’s been on for god knows how long playing some video game. He has to because Chelsea made him agree to 3 things before he could move in:   he would 1) get a job, 2) be nice to Megan ...and 3) not cheat on her ANYMORE.

He’s obviously taking this very seriously, as he heads out sporting his best ripped-to-the-waist tank top and shorts and sporting his most annoyed and sarcastic look.  Who wouldn’t want to hire him?  He comes home after maybe being gone for an hour and reports that it's hopeless, he just won't be able to find anything.  He heads right back to the couch and the video game as Chelsea with a look of pure stupidity on her face plasters on a smile.   ( Yes, he's ALL YOURS).

Adam has yet to contribute a single cent to pay for his room and board, according to Chelsea's Dad and he brings the issue up again,  Warning her that Adam is all talk and no action and that Adam is already showing his true colors by breaking rule #2 and chasing Moochy Megan out.  Chelsea protests and says that having him there is so great. Now she doesn’t have to begAdam to hang out with her and her daughter because he, like, is always around.  After all how many times does she have to tell herself "All I want is for Aubrey to have her mom and her dad together".   How many times do you have to say that to make yourself believe it?

Adam is Prime Moocher material .............hard for Kieffer to beat….

Meanwhile Kieffer and Jenelle have realized that they’re going to have to leave their friends’ parents’ beach house and they’ll soon be homeless.  (So Sad).   They’ve been mooching off this friend’s parents for a few weeks but now they have nowhere to go. Jenelle is actually starting to show some promise: she’s gotten a job and she is also enrolled and attending college. However, even her salary and student loan check combined isn’t enough to pay for  a deposit on an apartment.   Kieffer’s going to have to get a job.

Unfortunately it seems as there are absolutely NO jobs to be had.  Would you believe that? I mean those facial piercings alone should land him some type of middle managment job.   The greasy hair and  extra large tattered clothing may even land him something in the fashion industry.
Anyway, without any support from Kieffer, Jenelle decides that it’s time to mooch off of her mom,  again. Only this time she’s bringing a greasy, piercing covered friend.   Why her mom even allows this is beyond me.

Things are going ok until one day when Jenelle and Kieffer are babysitting Jace (wait, can you babysit your own kid?) Jace spills something on the couch and Jenelle and Kieffer don't know what to do with it.  Janelle states her mom will freak, so they better just put a pillow over it and hide it.  Everyone knows that stains are much eaier to remove once they’ve soaked into fabric for awhile.When her mom notices and yells at the two of them "why didn't you clean it up?"  (Good question)  Jenelle moans that “nothing she does is ever good enough for her mom.” Um…yah, because you don’t do anything.

Janelle and Keiffer apparently decide that they need to unwind a little bit because they are sooo stressed. They decide to light up and smoke some marijuana on the front porch.  (uh...no one will smell it).  When Mom blows another cork Janelle just can't understand why her mom is so upset.  This gets Janelle and Kieffer kicked out .....homeless again.

So who wins???

Skittles

A few days before Paige's birthday last year, we started looking for a kitten for her.  It was April and slightly early for most litters.  I searched area towns and finally found a pet store that had 1 kitten left. It was a grey and white female.   The town was about an hour and a half away from home so we packed up and after making a call to the pet store again to have them hold the kitten for us until we could get there, we headed to Detroit Lakes, MN.  

Along the way, we picked up my Dad to ride along for the fun of it.   We did make a quick stop at a nearby farm that was supposed to have kittens.   After deciding their kittens were a little too old, we headed on down the road. 

Upon arriving we beelined right for the back and saw a cute little kitten meowing at us to let her out of that cage.   I looked at Paige and asked her if this was her baby.... she said yes.  (I knew we wouldn't leave without one).

Skittles is a very smart cat and very finicky.   All the other cats love their canned food as a treat, but she wont eat it.  She will however, climb into a Doritos's bag and drag a chip out and eat it.

Paige and Skittles

She loves to lay on her back between your legs.

Aren't I cute?

We keep her treats in this cupboard.

She gets the treats out by herself.

Ziggy wants some too.

She loves to tip over cups with any kind of liquid in them.   And with 3 girls,  there is usually a cup somewhere to spill.

I am hoping that with owning an animal that the girls gain a respect for all life, a sense of responsibility in caring for another life, and the joy that having animals can bring.

The flip side

The past 2 days have been pretty hard for me, I forgot to take my depression meds and kind of fell into a rut.  I hate it when that happens, just when you think things are getting better, you take 2 steps back.  So I am not going to whine.  I will just post more of my music therapy.  It is much better than all that psycho babble.

Yes, I know I have been absent

Sorry about the lapse in my blog posts.  I have been suffering from some depression, which I hope now is behind me.   I ended up in the hospital again with pancreatic issues and a very high white blood count.   I will be traveling back down to the cities to see my GI doc and a surgeon (they want to talk to me about taking my pancreas out).  This is the last thing I want.   The nurse did say that just because they were going to discuss it does not mean anything will happen.   OK, I guess I can deal with that.  Of course I will be looking for other options. As long as no one wants to put me on medications that are dangerous or that cause you to go into a coma and end up on a vent for 24 hours (yes, that did happen). 

Music is my personal form of therapy.  Lately this song has lifted my spirits and given me some encouragement.  

Hockey

Last Friday night, Savannah had the best game of her life.  She skated well with the puck, made some awesome moves and even scored a goal.  They played Fort Francis out of Canada.   One of her coaches even sent Richard a text message saying how well she played and that he was really proud of her.  Even some of the other parents made comments to me and Richard about how well she played.

Unfortunately I missed the game.

I did see her play against Fort Francis the following day,  and she skated well, but no goals during this game.

The 14U team is headed for Regions this coming weekend in Roseau.   The first game is Saturday at noon against Moorhead (whom we have beat twice) and from there it will depend on if we win or lose. 

For all of you out there who are interested the radio station will be carrying the games.    Log on to kkradionetwork.com and click on the Coyote 102.5 logo and the game will be streaming on the Internet.

Wish them luck!!!  If they come in 1st or 2nd from Regions they will be going to the state playoffs later this month.

Hockey Tournaments

Today, well yesterday as it is 5am while I am writing this, the girls had 2 hockey games each.   We are in Moorhead, MN for a weekend tournament for both 14U and 12U.   Maddie and Paige did ok, winning their first game but losing their second game.  Savannah lost both of her games.

Let me rant a little about Savannah's second game today.  Bemidji played the Portage Terriers from Canada.   End score Portage 8  Bemidji 0.   The refs really stunk...they called everything and anything,  I stopped counting at about 12 penalties on our team alone.  At one point we had three in the box..when the Refs stopped the game and couldn't for the life of them decide which players should be on the ice and which should still be on the bench.  Play was stopped for a good 3-4 minutes while the refs kept changing players on the ice with players in the box???  At one point one of our parents yelled "get out your rule books ref, you have no clue what you are doing. "  At that point I thought for sure that we would get called for heckling the refs, but we didn't.  
\
The end result is that it  was a very hard game to watch.  Yes the Portage team had some awesome beautiful goals and did out play us.   But the penalties were being called for things that most refs let slide.   Even the Portage parents were complaining.     At another point a parent mentioned calling in the tournament director and making a complaint.....I just think that next year, maybe we should remember this and choose not to attend this tournament next year.

I ended up leaving, halfway through the 2nd period.  It was just too painful for me, as a mom to watch.  The girls skated hard and were really trying and I can't say that effort was an issue.   The other team just had better players.   I hope that our girls take something away from this experience and make it a positive one regardless of the other idiots on the ice.

I hope that our team looks at each other and strives to work harder to hone their skills and to work together as a team  and maybe next year we can skate on the level that I saw Portage skate on today.

Ziggy

Or Ziggers as we call him.  The "miracle cat".

 In July of 2009, Madison had a friend from another town sleep over as a belated birthday thing.  This friend happened to have kittens in their barn.  I said we could go and look as we would pick up the friend anyway.   The friend had an 11 week old black and white female that she had kind of picked out for Madison.  But when we walked into the barn my gaze was immediately fixed upon a much smaller about 6 week old black and white kitten sleeping in a wagon.  Madison and I discussed it, and after finding out that he was a boy, decided to get a younger kitten for her to bond with.

 I had Ziggy in my bedroom for the first few days.  He didn't particularly like our dog Dakota.  A dog from his previous home killed his brother, so I don't blame him.   Ziggy was extremely affectionate, going from my husband to me, back and forth and would nudge our faces with his nose.  We would tell him....yes Ziggy I love you too. 

A few weeks after we got Ziggy he started to walk funny.  He wasn't using one of his back legs.  It was obviously painful for him as he cried when touched the wrong way.  We decided just to watch it and see if it didn't just get better on it's own.   The next morning before leaving for work, I checked on him in Maddie's room.  He was hot with a fever, I took his temperature and his temp was 105 (usual 101 or 102).   I had my husband drop him off at the vet with instructions to call me at work when the vet had looked at him. 

I received a call from the vet in the late morning.  He said that the x-ray showed that the hip was dislocated from the joint.   We could watch it for 2 weeks and see if it improved, but his experience with these things said that this possibility was very slim.  He may need surgery to fix the joint.  The vet had not been told about the fever, but said he would check it out and give him an antibiotic shot that would work for 2 weeks.  OK, at this point I lost it.  We had fallen in love with this sweet little kitten and now, I was going to have to tell my daughter that we may have to put him down because I could not afford $1200 for surgery.    The next day, I did some phone calling, I knew the vet tech at the clinic and she had not worked the day before.  She was able to tell me that she could "bundle" things and ended up quoting me around $600.  We would only have to pay half and the rest could be put on payments.  So I had a plan, this was maybe doable.   My husband didn't want to discuss it, stating...he might get better.  I picked him up after work that day and Madison placed him in a box she made with his name all over it and "my little warrior" and "Jesus will heal you".   He stayed in the box only for about 2 days, on the 3rd day he was walking more normally and by day 5...he was crawling up the screens on the windows again.  I knew the hip had to be back in, he was bounding all over.

10 days later I took him into the vet to recheck the hip.  I told the vet what I thought....that the hip HAD to be back in.   Sure enough.  The x-rays showed a perfect hip.  The vet was pretty surprised.   I think he had an infection in the hip which forced it out of the joint and the antibiotic shot cleared it up and allowed the hip to move back.


Madison and Ziggy.

Ziggy is a very strange cat.  He LOVES water.  He likes to drink out of the faucet, watch you shower or bathe and hops up on the toilet after it is flushed to watch the water go down. 


Playing with his water dish.




Each animal is very different.  And they each add something to our lives, what that is....maybe only the animal knows.

The Meaning of Life

Life is short.  What we do with it is up to us.  I have been thinking a lot lately about what to do with mine.  I have decided a few things:

1.  People do not have enough to do with their time.  They gossip, start rumors, and are general complainers. People will stab you in the back if you don't watch out.  People you thought were your "friends" eventually show their true colors.  You can depend more on family- they too may stab you in the back, but you have to forgive them eventually because you really can't divorce them.

2.  Life is short.  Too short.  So why follow the rules.  Not like break the law or anything.  But..I heard Michelle Obama say we shouldn't eat desert-eat more healthy.  Why?  What's wrong with eating desert? as long as you don't eat it for every meal,  a small serving of desert is not going to kill you.  In fact it may keep you from going totally insane.  That's why I keep chocolate around.  We should enjoy our time here and depriving ones self of pleasures, makes for an empty life.  I would rather enjoy my time here than to be bored and live to 100.

3  Don't let others tell you what to do.  I live with this constantly.   Don't say anything too specific about hockey on this blog.  No we can't get a dog.  No we can't move. No we can't have another baby.  No you can't eat your mint ice cream.   I am SICK of people saying NO.  I say yes...do it all and apologize later.

4.  Everyone is going to have an opinion and give you their unsolicited advice.  Never is it more prominent when you have a small child or are expecting a child.  People think they know everything.  They don't.  Every family is different and every child is different.  So piss off.

5.  When Mommy is happy everyone else is happy.  So don't make me mad.  Enough said.

Bottom line is...if you're not having fun doing it ...it's not worth doing.

Bailey's Irish Cream

We have 4 cats.

In 1995, my loving husband did not get me a birthday present.  So I went out and got my own.  She was a teeny tiny Persian Himalayan blue/cream point.  Thank goodness my husband is a cat person like me.  She won him over instantly.  I named her Bailey's Irish Cream because that's what the color of her body fur looked like.  We call her Bailey.  She is now almost 6 years old and is the princess of the house.  She refuses to eat most dry cat food.  The only kind she will eat is Iams.  She begs for canned cat food multiple times daily and has gotten smart enough to beg to different people so that she increases her chances of getting some.   I am thinking she is so spoiled at this point that she is not eating ANY dry food anymore.   She is very loving and will seat herself on your chest or at the end of my bed.

Under all that fur, there is not much there.  She is a very petite cat.  You can't really see her eyes in these pictures, but they are a beatuiful blue.

She looks crabby here, but it was about 7 am in the morning when I took this picture and I think she thought I was nuts.

We moved from Nebraska to Minnesota in 2007.  As part of the deal, my husband promised the girls they could each get their own cat. And I made sure he followed through on that promise.  I will be introducing them each individually here.  With everything that has happened these past few months, the cats have been wonderful therapy for me.

We are all idiots

Well, at least me and 4 million other people that live in this frigid tundra.

We have entered into one of those things we here in Minnesota get every year.  A week (sometimes more, sometimes less) of frigid, freezing below 0 temperatures. (last Friday officially -37 degrees WITHOUT the wind chill and  they only made school 2 hours late).

I grew up in Minnesota and I should be used to it by now right?  I even lived in North Dakota for a number of years and that was almost worse, because North Dakota has NO trees to stop the wind, and the wind chill. You know it's below zero because the snow squeaks like Styrofoam. When you buy a car, the first thing you have put in is a block heater.   Winter has never bothered me in the past.   I used to love to ice skate, ride horses in the winter (great, because they kept your butt warm) and snowmobile.

But I moved away for a few years and got a little spoiled.  We lived in Chicago for almost 2 years and then moved to Omaha, Nebraska.   Chicago was wintry, but a little milder due to the "lake effect" and being farther south.   Omaha, I loved.  I have many pictures of us at Christmas time out in our front yard with no snow and only sweatshirts on.   A really cold spell there was a week or so when we hit the "teens" while everyone in Minnesota was about 30 degrees less than us. 

Before we moved away, when Savannah was little, my husband and I snowmobiled.   His family is very big on the "sport", I went along for the ride.   It became no longer any fun when his die hard family would go out in 40 below wind chills.   Also, they like to go for a whole day, I am talking at LEAST 8 hours.   Too long for me.   I can handle 2-3 hours max but I just don't understand how a person can sit on a machine for that long.  Your arms and shoulders start to hurt from the muscle it takes to steer, especially if there is a lot of powdery snow.   I get bored just riding along....nothing to do but think.   There is only so much thinking one can do.  This was pre Ipod days.....I think I could do it now....... as long as my battery lasted.  But, we sold our sleds when we moved to Chicago, and will not be buying any in the near future.   My husband has a big family who all snowmobile, so there are plenty to borrow if he wanted to go out for a ride.   As for me....those days are over.   

I am perfectly content to cuddle up with a blanket and a good book in front of the fire.

p,s.  the weatherman says it's going to be up in the balmy 20's by Wednesday. Yoo Hoo!!!

Wal-Mart

I HATE Wal-Mart.

1.  They are so crowded in our town that it drives me crazy.

2.  People who have nothing better to do stand in the isles and stare at the shelves, for what seems like eternity.
3.  Other people who have nothing better to do, stop their carts right by the other person so you can't get through.
4.  They NEVER have enough check out people and you end up waiting 20 minutes just to get your groceries moving.
5. No one knows anything....they always have to call someone and ask.

6. When you have a question, you can never find anyone to ask.

7. You never walk out of there for under $100....even if you only came for a few things....you always pick up something on sale or decide that you need brownie mix or more cereal.

I go to Wal-Mart because it is one stop shopping and compared to other grocery stores in our area, I save about $75 per time.  And my weekly grocery bill is around $200- $250.  (Kids in Hockey eat  a lot).  

Today, we needed a ton.  We hadn't been to the grocery store for 12 days....which is WAY to long.  Savannah needed some spandex type shorts to wear under her hockey breezers and a new school bag.   Madison has HUGE calluses on her big toes (we need to get her hockey skates fitting better.)  So I got some medicine to treat them and cushions for her to wear when she skates.   We were out of shampoo and conditioner for everyone and needed cat food and litter...so my bill today was pretty scary. 

I have to say, that my most recent experience there was quite pleasant actually.   I went later at night when there wasn't the usual crowds.   The only person who held me up in an isle was a kind gentleman  who was disabled and in a scooter.  He was polite and apologized and said he would be out of my way in a minute and then asked me how my day was.   In the checkout lane I had a very nice cashier who was quite conversational and extremely helpful...she didn't make me take the heavy stuff out of my cart..she came around with her wand and scanned things where they were.   She had to help another cashier twice, but because she was so sweet and asked me if i minded, I didn't care.  I was truly happy with my experience there.

Just proves that just when you think you know everything.  You don't.

Tough Days

Some days are really hard.   And then there are those that are near impossible to get through.

Today is one of those days.

The things I usually have, that distract me from the horrible truth, are not doing their jobs today.   They just are not holding their interest for me as they usually do.
For me distraction is the key,  If I don't think about it, then it isn't real.  
TV works well at times, as do movies... and at times history channel documentaries.   I don't know why documentaries do, maybe it's that guys soothing voice droning on and on.   Maybe its the boring topic that lulls me into a hypnotic transe.....  does it really matter what it is as long as it works?

Hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

Hockey Drama

Those two words  Hockey Drama.   I can say those words to my dad and he gets all excited, waiting to hear what dip shit did what.

There is NEVER a shortage of hockey drama.  Why?   Because we hockey parents pay too damn much money for this sport and feel we should have a say in what happens with the team.   This is my theory anyway.   I try very hard not to get involved as I have the wonderful disease called "you didn't stick your foot in your mouth fast enough".   I open my mouth and it just SPILLS out.   I call it verbal diarrhea.

I find it so interesting that you can take 1 or 2 parents and get them all excited, just by mentioning one little thing the coach said or did.   Just mentioning this can create a whole monster into itself and depending on the supposed "infraction"  e-mails roll out and phones start ringing.   Now, I am not saying is a bad thing, necessarily, I have never had kids in another sport...maybe this happens in other sports too?    I guess I can't blame anyone, hockey is a pretty physical and passionate sport.  The parents are just acting this out off the ice.  If you have been around hockey parents.. there are a few types.
1.  The instigators- these are the people who get things started.
2.  The vehicles-  these are the people who can take what the instigators started and run with it.
3.  The exaggerators-  the people who "heard" things were worse than they really are and propagate this  rumor.
4.  Switzerland- Those parents who hear nothing, say nothing and somehow stay uninvolved.
5.  The former athletes-  these are the people who think because they played in high school that they know everything and aren't afraid to tell people what they should be doing.

Please tell me.....how accurate did I paint this picture?

 Maybe we should assign parents to the penalty box.  5 minute major for intent to start hockey drama.


I really have never heard another hockey parent say those words HOCKEY DRAMA....... I wonder if they use them too?

I finally did it!

I have been talking about applying to graduate school for the past few years.   I have been an RN for 15 years and have been looking for a career change.  Besides,  the health "episode" I had in October pretty much left me with no job. 

Even when I graduated from nursing school, I knew that I would want to go on for a graduate degree at some point.    I did not do this right away, because the day I graduated from nursing school I was 8 weeks pregnant with Savannah.   Madison followed 21 months later and Paige...just 9 days short of a year after that.   I was too busy to even THINK about graduate school.

I am a pretty indecisive person.   And this past week, I had to make some BIG decisions.   Like where I was going to apply and what degree I wanted to obtain.  I decided to go for a Family Nurse Practitioner degree at UND.  And I had to have a back up plan.   I spoke with another Nurse I know this week, who applied to the Family Nurse Practitioner program at UND last year.   I was surprised to find out that last year there were 120 applications for 7 spots.  I was surprised to hear that there were only 7 spots.   I was informed that when people don't get into the FNP program, they apply to one of the other specialties and then transfer over...which leaves little spots for new applicants.   

OK, so here's where I had my trouble.   Should I look at programs elsewhere?   Should I apply for both the FNP program AND my 2nd choice of specialties?   Programs elsewhere were more expensive and required some travel to campus (UND also requires travel to campus but it's only 2 hours and I have family that lives there).   Should I scrap the FNP program all together and go for what I would LOVE to do ...which is become a Nurse Midwife.    OK, this just isn't realistic.   The schools for this are pretty far away and also require travel.  Besides, there isn't a job market for Midwives here. ( I already asked my husband if we could move).    He said no. 

For an indecisive person, I had a lot of decisions to make.

I am proud of myself, for at least taking the steps needed.   I applied to both the FNP program and the Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner program at UND.   They will be setting up interviews for February.   I don't plan to hear if I have been admitted until April.

Sick

Maddie has been home sick this week, and she has infected both Paige and I.

I hate colds.....they start with that sore throat....so sore that it is hard to sleep.   You know that it should only last about three days before the sore throat turns into sinus headache and congestion or if not a head cold it goes into your chest and you cough until you turn blue.

I have started to get that sore throat.    Thank goodness I had made some chicken soup and had frozen 2 large batches of it.  The only thing missing was the noodles.  It isn't real chicken noodle soup unless you actually make the noodles from scratch.   The girls LOVE home made noodles.   I was informed that with the last batch I made (which was a double batch) that there wasn't enough noodles.  So last night we made a quadruple batch.  Savannah helped me roll out the dough when my arms got tired and made it her job to make sure there were enough noodles.  (even though she kept eathing them raw....yuck!)

My soup contains, chicken broth,  cooked chicken thighs, onions, celery, carrots, broth and of course the noodles.   It takes all day to make.. cooking the chicken and letting the veggies make the stock.  

I cannot remember exactly where I was or who taught me to make these noodles.  It might have been my mom.   I do remember that it is my great grandmother's recipe.  It makes the thickest "bestest" (so the kids said) noodles.  I have made the soup with traditional egg noodles from the grocery store.  They are only ok for the first time,  if you make large batches and do a lot of reheating they end up falling apart.  Mine don't.  No matter how many times you reheat them. 

There has been many scientific studies regarding chicken noodle soup.   They indicate some properties to help with cold or flu symptoms.   Canned soup was found to have a smaller benefit than home made soup.

Maybe it's the love that goes in it.

Chronic Pancreatitis

Just a little background about me:
I have Chronic Pancreatitis.   It is caused by a "sphincter" muscle which is supposed to regulate the flow of digestive enzymes from the liver and the pancreas.  My sphincter clamps shut sometimes and causes digestive juices to back up into my liver and pancreas.  



 The liver is pretty forgiving, but the pancreas not so much.   I get pain that brings me to my knees within minutes of onset.  Along with the pain comes nausea and vomiting.   There isn't much anyone can do except to eat a diet low in fats and to rest the pancreas by not eating during a flare up.   I take pain medication for the pain. What used to work well for me was Oxycodone (percocet without the acet or Tylenol).   I was on that medication for 2 years before I went to see a pain management specialist who informed me that they don't "let people stay on short acting narcotics for chronic pain"     Here they use Methadone for chronic pain sufferers.   This medication is given on a daily basis to "give a maintenance dose of pain medication".   I initially hesitated to start this medication as I felt I did not need medication daily as my pain was not daily.  In the end I ended up on it and it sucked pretty bad.  I could give you all the gory details, but it's too depressing.  I am now in the process of changing medications and it is a slow, hard process.  I have a new doctor who actually listens to me.  We will see how it goes, but I am very interested in seeing what my pain is like off daily medications.

Hockey- the Referees

Savannah, this past weekend at a tournament.

Now, I love hockey (most of the time) .  The coolness of the arena, the sounds of the skates on the ice and the puck hitting the boards.    But the one thing I can't stand is stupid Refs.

I really try to give the refs a break - for the most part.  I know they have very hard jobs to do and more people are critical of them than anyone else in the game.   But sometimes there are obvious issues.    Like being biased toward a team by assigning more penalties to the other team.   I have seen cases of this where it is so obviously blatant that parents from the other team have apologized.

The one BIG issue I have with refs around here is that they tend to assign 14 year old, brand new referees to games.   Now this isn't too bad  IF there is an adult ref paired with them.   I realize the need to train new referees and that during tournament weekends it is hard to find ones that can work.   But the following should Never happen.

About 6 weeks ago, Madison and Paige had a game up in Thief River Falls.  They both play on the girls 12 and under team.   Maddie is 12 and Paige 11.    Unfortunately for them, the refs assigned to their game were BOTH young.  It was a disaster.   They had no clue of the rules of the game.   They did not know where to bring the puck back to after a whistle blow.  They made idiotic calls and worst of all they disallowed a goal made by our team because it was a "slap shot" goal.  The refs were under the impression that slap shots are illegal in 12U.   They are not.  They are illegal in 10U, but are perfectly allowable in 12U.  During the break the coach brought this to their attention and showed them in the rule book where it did specify this.   Unfortunately for us, they still refused to give us the point stating that the "point needs to be awarded at the time of the goal".

Now why get so worked up about this you say?  It's just a game and a learning event for the kids".   Yes it is.  But  I try to teach my kids that you should always do your best at any job and to leave things you don't know much about to the professionals.   I believe in learning, but feel that a younger referee should be paired with an adult for at least a certain period of time.

The truth is...I don't know why this works me up so bad.  It shouldn't.   I should be able to let things slip off my shoulders more easily, but I can't.

Life isn't fair.  No it's not.  But does this give people the excuse to not even try?  Maybe.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Ok, so everyone is doing it right?   My parents always asked me  "If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you?". Maybe, depending on how high the bridge was.    Anyways here I am.   I expect the only people to even look at this site will be my family, but...if you have stumbled upon this while googling...here is a little bit about me and what I will be discussing.

I am an upper 30's Mom of three girls.   Savannah is 14, Madison 12 and Paige 11.   As you probably guessed they all play hockey.  More about that later.   I  am also a Registered Nurse currently not working due to various health issues. 

We love animals and own many.....My hubby is in the Radio business as his family owns many.   I don't get involved in that mess.

 The girls' Cats  Left to Right,  Luna (Savannah),  Skittles (Paige) and Ziggy (Madison).

I worry a lot ( which is two words).   About my kids (enough said).  The economy or "money" but I don't know many people that don't worry about that.   I worry about the future.... is there one?   Will the world REALLY end on Dec 21st 2012?  My dad used to say he worried a lot about spontaneous combustion when he was younger.   I guess that's where I get it from.  

Hockey Mom