#30 - August 31, 2006 -
He was in the game for all of 5 seconds, but came home glowing.
Yes, a new dimension has been added to our sports cycle.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
Overwhelmed - August 28, 2006 -
I feel so scattered and out of control. Like I can’t do one thing right.
I want to be a wonderful mother, loving wife, and a competent RN…. an angel of mercy.
Instead I find myself yelling at my kids, feeling annoyed at my husband, and inadequate as a nurse.
And then there is this blog. I am amazed when I check my stats and find that you are all still reading, and then some.
Please hang in there and I promise I will have something juicy to post about in a day or two. Life just keeps closing in on us. All is fine, just over-the-top busy.
And my laptop is dying…………….shall we all burn a candle for it tonight?
Watching the potter at work - August 25, 2006 -
Do you know how very fragile life is? The miracle of how a human body forms, takes its firt breath, cries and begins the process of being alive is so damn unreal.
I could attend one million births and it will never cease to amaze me how miraculous it all is.
As humans, we just will never be able to fathom how all of the mechanics of birth fall together to allow for a living, breathing human being to come into existence.
Folks, God is so amazing. When life is spinning out of control, he is there in the shadows, extending his hand, working his miracles and I was so blessed to take part in one yesterday.
To make a very long story short, the baby was in severe distress, had an initial apgar of 4, we had to bag and resuscitate it, and its O2 sats were in the 70’s. It was a stress filled 1 1/2 hours after the delivery.
When I called this morning to check on the baby, it was on room air, in its mothers arms and was fine.
I cannot go into specifics, but I can say that several factors came into play in the 30 minutes prior to delivery that if they hadn’t, the baby would not have survived. The hand of God, ladies, the hand of God. It was so humbling.
I….love….my……job!!!!
You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be the clay!!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
“He did not make me”?
Can the pot say of the potter,
“He knows nothing”?
Isaiah 29:16
Yet, O Lord, you are the Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8
Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails - August 21, 2006 -
That’s what little boys bring home to my house.
Colorful snakes
(No, not a coral. Remember….Red on yellow, kill a fellow, red on black, venom lack.)
Isn’t my life interesting?
Mommy’s home - August 16, 2006 -
I made it until 2pm, and couldn’t stand to wait another second. I had to call Bill and see how the morning went with me gone. Mia had had a rough night, and had acted like her throat was hurting, so heading off to my first day of work was stressful.
Me: Hi hon. I just have a second, but wanted to see how the kids did this morning.
Bill: Everyone did great. How is work?
Me: Well, we started an induction on someone at 7, and she delivered at 10. It reminded me of those stories you hear about the women out picking cotton….they squat down, have the baby, and continue on picking cotton. Very surreal and cool.
Bill: I have never heard stories like that. Why are you talking about cotton?
Me: Whatevah. I’ll talk to you about it later. How is Mia? Did her throat hurt when she woke up?
Bill: Well, she woke up, looked at me and said “Where’s my mommy?”
Tears sprung to my eyes, I ripped my shirt in half, threw dirt on myself and started screaming “Ey, ey ey, ey ey ey ey ey ey ey ey ey ey ey ey…..
Me: Gee thanks. Hang on for a second while I slit my wrist.”
Bill: Can I finish? She said that, and then I told her you were at work and she said “Well, let’s wake up the boys!”
Me: Wow….. I can’t decide now which is worse…..her missing me or not missing me!”
When I came home, I slipped in the back door to quickly change (dirty scrubs are not allowed near my kids) before anyone knew I was home. Then Cory discovered me and said “Mommys home!!!” Mia, still damp and nekkid from her bath, came running out of the bathroom to the back door, only to discover I was not there. She burst out crying, and I came from our room and scooped her up.
It was the kind of hug I will never forget. Like someone had removed a part of me, and now I was whole again.
Just a couple of photo faves from this weekend - August 14, 2006 -
We took a day trip to Port A on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day, complete with some little waves.
Heading to the beach
Sunkissed face
My middle man
My little man
Skimming for fish
My man, heading for the water. He was not posing….he was looking up the beach and was pissed at something Cory was doing to his brother. Lean, mean surfing machine! LOL!
Now, go get your kids and show them the next picture. I want a kid to ID this fish. They can use any means available, including the internet, but they must give me the Genus and species of this fish! Any child that answers correct will get a prize.
HINT: The fisherman on the beach called it a “lookdown” fish.
Spam - August 12, 2006 -
Have you noticed how creative spammers are getting? For example:
“Try to keep college debt in control. My daughter Katie has finished three years of college at CSU. She works part-time to stay in school; and sadly, em free hold poker Texas college coursework sometimes takes a back free hold em poker Texas so that she can keep the money flowing. ”
Gosh…….is it real, or is it spam for “Free Hold ‘em Texas Poker”? Katie sounds industrious, and of the gambling sort. I am wondering if her parents have caught on to her risk taking behavior.
I also recieved a legitimate comment from a spammer. His link back was total spam, but he was actually reading and was so pissed about my breastfeeding post, he forgot to even spam me! LOL Here is his comment in full:
“Though I do agree that nursing is a great thing. I don’t necessarily agree with the exposing pictures.
To say that it is appropriate to put up such pictures because it is a baby magazine, would also make it appropriate to have on the cover of a medical magazine discussing the execratory system a person pooing or peeing in all their glory.
Also the act of procreation is a beautiful thing, but I don’t think people would be pleased if that was graphically displayed on a magazine cover.”
Dear Mr. Miffed Spammer, I live in the house with a Physician Assistant. Do you have any idea what the covers of his medical journals have on them? I would prefer to see someone “pooing” or peeing” (and that would be excretory system, not execratory) than an 8 x 10 glossy of someones oozing, puss filled, gangrenous canker sore. Or the cover shot of “Guess this disease!” with the photo showing a festering pen*le wound with the very recognizable p*nis it is inhabiting as guest host.
As for the act of procreation? Where the hell have you been? Have you not noticed it plastered on every magazine page on the racks? Flick the T.V. on and I challenge you to find a prime time show that does not graphically show people doing the deed.
A baby drinking a boobie is the least of my worries, Mr. Miffed Spammer. I am busy trying to wrap my mind around the fact that a character on “Rescue Me” asked his girlfriend if she would give him a bl*w job…………during primetime……..while my kids sat there listening as I flipped through the channels.
Yeah, bring on the breastfeeding photos. I need some innocence back in my life.
Captain Morgan - August 11, 2006 -
Dear Captain Morgan,
We love you blended with ice and Bacardi Real Lime Mixer………..even if you aren’t a real Captain.
Love,
Bill and Jody
First Day of School - August 11, 2006 -
Yesterday was the first day of school. On August 10th. The peak of summer, and my kids were going to school. I think that should be against the law. Heck, it didn’t even feel like back to school. No fall colors. No leaves on the ground. Only a temperature of 98 and cicadas screeching in the trees. It felt like taking them to summer camp…like they should have had bathing suits and towels in their backpacks instead of notebooks and paper
They felt the same, as evidenced here:
and here:
That would be Quinn, not very impressed with his first day of Kindergarten.
They came spilling in the backdoor this afternoon, radiating sweaty, little boy smell. Bill promptly loaded eveyone into the truck and took them to the swimming pool.
What the hell is up with the people who decide the start date for school???? It used to be that we had 3 full months off. Now we are lucky if we have 2.
The upside is, they have all the Holy Days of Obligation off, and since we are not Catholic, we have no obligations! Yeah, Dr. Luther!
School…..it should not start until after Labor Day. Can I have some “Hell ya’s”?
Flickr - August 10, 2006 -
Okay, so here is the deal with Flickr. If you are a Flickr member, click on one of the photos in any post, which will take you to my account. Then, add me as one of your contacts. Flickr will send me an e-mail informing me of this, and then I will add you as one of my contacts. Or just leave a comment on one of the pics(on my Flickr home page) asking me to add you to my friends list.
Some of my pictures will be public, but others will be private for “friends”.
If you are not a member of Flickr, you can join and keep all of your pics private for “friends” and “family” only, if the whole internet thing and privacy is spooking you out.
Okay, so that is the plan. Pictures will still post here on my website, but you must be a “friend” at Flickr to view the rest.
Sound good?
Thanks Chris for the idea and telling me the mechanics of it!
The ugly side of blogging - August 8, 2006 -
About a month ago, someone left a comment on my post about Mia using the potty. In the post, I had an adorable picture of her sitting on her wooden potty, smiling with pride.
The comment, from Anon, basically said “Pedophiles will really like this picture…yes they sure will.”
I did not publish the comment, and her precious, innocent picture was removed………along with some of my enthusiasm for blogging.
I love the friends that I have met, and the feedback. I love reading everyone elses blogs. It is my hobby, but…….. I will steal a line from my father when he retired from General Dynamics…..”I guess I need a new hobby”.
Work starts next week. Priorities are being shuffled. Guess what? Blogging and the computer has found itself at the bottom of my list, where it belongs. Imagine that!
I am not saying I am logging off, waving my hat in a fond farewell. I am just placing this blog on the backseat where it belongs. What does that mean? It could mean daily posts, or not. It sure means less pics of my kids. It definitely means reading and commenting on blogs less frequently. I will still be checking on your blogs, probably daily, but mostly through bloglines.
Oh, and another thing. If you want to see all the pics of my kids, comment on the pics etc. and are a Flickr user, please let me know and I will add you to my friends list. I am changing my status there so that only friends can comment and see certain photos. I am very happy to add you as a friend, so just let me know. Last week I blocked a guy who was favoriting pictures of my boys. They were innocent pics, but when I went to his account, he was just bookmarking pics of little boys. Got it? Good. We should all be a bit afraid of this stuff, people.
The beauty of nursing your child - August 8, 2006 -
I just don’t get it. This article states that 25% of all BabyTalk readers were offended by the cover picture of a boob and a baby nursing on it. It is called “BabyTalk” for crying out loud. What the hell do you think is going to be on the cover? Strategic missiles? Nursing is what some babies do. I found the picture gorgeous and it made me wistful and sad that my nursing experience was coming to an end (or so I thought….Miss Mimi has been on a 60 hour binge that has reestablished my supply and now I am not sure what is happening?)
The blogshpere, in its usual flair, has taken it and run with it! Go bloggers! Kateri has a hilarious entry about it here in which she says; “Want to make a statement? Leave this indecency where your children might see it. Want to be a real rebel? Post your own indiscreet nursing picture.”
So, I will.
If 25% of BabyTalk readers are offended by seeing an infant and a boobie, then I will take it one step farther and post todays photos of my 2 1/2 year old, nursing toddler in all her glory. Behold America, the boobie and **gasp** a toddler nursing on it:
Is that not a beautiful thing? I thank God for giving me the opportunity to nurse all 4 of my children. It has been a pleasure and every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be.
In the midst of paying bills and fretting… - August 3, 2006 -
I heard crying and my daughter came running in.
She said “I fell down. Whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
I hugged her and kissed her, and she stopped crying.
I wiped the tears from her eyes and she said in an adorable, pouty voice, with an expression that brought to mind pink frosted, angel food cake: “Mommy, the ground pushed me”.
My heart skipped a beat, and began fluttering and I grabbed her face between my hands and kissed her sweet cheek. Then I popped her in my mouth and ate her whole right then and there. She was delicious!
It might be the lack of eeestrogeeen - August 2, 2006 -
Since I have been a menstruating adult, I have had to go to the salon, turn over my husbands paycheck and our firstborn child, to get the blond that I so desire.
Yes, the summer sun would give it a glimmer here, and a glimmer there, but nothing substantial. I always had to go for the gusto and break out the bottle blond.
But…but….this summer!!!! The summer of obsessive beach trips and surfing until your arms fall off from paddling? The sun finally has decided to reach down its lovely rays and !!!!ZAP!!! my hair into a more attractive color than poop brown with a hint of wiry gray.
I present to you a first in my adult life……I present, unbottled, blondish, sortof-ish hair
I mean, what is up with that? Maybe when it all fell out and I nearly went bald after Mia, it grew back in with different pigment. Or maybe I am getting so gray that it looks lighter?
I am thinking it is some kind of hormonal thing……lurking, eminent, menopause maybe?
Whatevah! Bring it on and then some!
In other news, my biopsy came back (cover your eyes gentile ladies) F***ING NEGATIVE!!!!!! RIGHTflippingEOUS!!!!
Dear Dr. T.
Next time, please don’t offer a commentary on my grotesque lesions that involve “I will be surprised if this is not cancer”. Because , SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was NOT CANCER! And I went through hell waiting for the biopsy. Next time say “My, a fleshy pink lesion. Lets biopsy this and make sure it is nothing for you to worry about.”
Love,
Jody, your employees pain in the ass wife who has had 2 cancers removed already at the age of 39.
Be free! - August 2, 2006 -
Last year, for Cody’s 8th birthday, one of his best friends found the perfect gift to give to him. He had caught, at his house, a green tree frog, and was totally jazzed about presenting it to Cody. He knew that Cody was a tree frog fanatic. Talk about the gift of giving! It pleases me to see kids so happy about the act of giving and pleasing others.
It was THE HIT of the party. Cody almost exploded with joy.
We built a terrarium for Friggity, and he has lived there ever since. He ate like there was no tomorrow, and the kids were able to hold him and the frog really seemed to enjoy the attention, turning its head this way and that, watching them.
Yesterday we decided that it was time to set him free. Cody had successfully kept this wild frog for one month shy of a year. Crazy.
Having this little creature was such a great learning experience for the kids. They learned so much about amphibians and their habits. Friggity would frequently serenade us with his frog croaks in the morning and evening. While we still had the red eyed tree frogs (they succumbed to some kid of froggy AIDS) a chorus of frogs would errupt at sunset every evening, with Friggity leading in bass.
I was just like my boys when I was a child. I was constantly bringing home this or that creature to care for. My father would say “Hey look at that! Isn’t it pretty. What do they eat? ” and would help me make a temporary home for my newest find. I would keep it for several days, then Dad would say “It looks kinda lonesome. I think its time to let it go, girl” and we would wander outside and find a suitable habitat to release it.
I have a letter from my father, written to me while I was at camp. It is a CHERISHED letter, as it refers to one of those interactions mentioned above and is full of his teasing wit. I had a hermit crab, and we had released it in the backyard garden. The letter, dated July 25th, 1978 reads “The creatures in the house are ok! However, I have not seen that crab creature you let go in the backyard. I expect it will surface when it becomes colder. Then, we can eat him!”
With joy, I went with my children, as my father had many times before gone with me, and we released Friggity to his home in the wild.
Saying goodbye
We found a shady, quiet place at a city park full of tree frogs…
….and released him on the muddy banks
He came alive with energy, and quickly hopped into the branches of a small tree.
The kids were so excited.
Then he climbed up the little tree monkey style, and ascended into the branches of a huge pecan tree. He stopped, cleaned himself, then hunched down to sleep until dark.
When we arrived home, Cody told Bill all about it. He said “I feel so happy for him. Now he can find a mate and have babies and a family of his own!”
My kids learned the best lesson of all yesterday. Giving an animal its freedom and watching it wander away, happy, is the best feeling in the world.
