DEATH COMES UNEXPECTEDLY

(Five House Points to the first person who can tell me the movie from which my title is taken. :P)

A few months after Eileen joined the family, she informed us that we talked about life insurance A LOT, and that it was really weird that we did that. After thinking about it for awhile, we realized that we did talk about life insurance a lot (pretty odd for a family that doesn't even have an insurance salesperson in it) but decided we didn't care, and 9 years later it's become a pretty funny running joke.

A few weeks ago, James and I went and met with a lawyer in an effort to get our life more together. We need to get wills drawn up, make some decisions about what will happen to our "estate", and also decide where the girls will go in the unfortunate event of our demise . (All candidates are being carefully considered. Winners will be notified by mail. Don't call us; we'll call you! ;D)

We've always talked about what we would do if something happened to either one of us unexpectedly, especially when James was in the Navy (working one of the world's most dangerous jobs), so it's not like the decisions have been hard to make. In fact, we have a little game we like to play called "If you die, I'm gonna..." My list usually includes

- travelling
- going back to school
- continuing to teach preschool
- dating exotic men with accents

James' list usually includes hiring a maid. Sadly, if I die James won't have as much money to spread around. I, on the other hand, will have a hot time living it up on James' generous life insurance policy through the government!

A friend once heard us talking about our plans, and she thought it was totally morbid. I like to think of it as being prepared. I figure that dealing with grief and loss is hard enough. Why complicate matters by trying to figure out what you're going to do?

After James started working out at the base, I had him write down exactly who I needed to call and talk to in Human Resources to make sure I get all of the big bucks I'm entitled to. That info is filed away, along with a list of people he wanted me to contact to let them know he was among the dearly departed. He had me make similar list for him. He had a good laugh when he saw I had listed my user name and password for LiveJournal, which is where I keep up with friends I have made through a Harry Potter message board we all frequent. I thought it was quite smart, personally. If he's the one who's dead, how else will I meet exotic men with accents?? ;)

Long time no blog

And here you thought I had dropped off the face of the earth! (If only.) Here's what we've been up to in the past 2 1/2 weeks, complete with pictures!

1. Both girls came down with Strep Throat right before Spring Break started. We had to cancel the first of our Spring Break plans (seeing old friends in Jacksonville and going to the zoo there). Giving our luck with illnesses so far this year, I'm just glad it wasn't worse than strep!

2. We had a visit from our friend Adriana, who lives in Phoenix and is awesome!




We drove down to the Jacksonville Airport to pick her up. Of course, we had to make a detour out to the beach so she could say she's been to the Atlantic Ocean.

3. James and I took a trip up to Atlanta to visit some other friends and drop Adriana off.


We had a meet-up with about ten other people at this great little restaurant in the Virginia Highlands. I can't remember the last time James and I ate out with other adults and NO KIDS! It was very nice.

4. Easter Sunday was great. I was lucky enough to teach Sharing Time in Primary that day, and I did the Easter in the Eggs. It wasn't this exact version, but I think this is my favorite way to teach the Easter story to small children.

After church was over, we hot-footed it over to Tifton for lunch and the Annual Adult Easter Egg Hunt. (Oh yeah, the kids had an egg hunt, too, but their's didn't involve COLD HARD CASH!! ;D)

All of the "adults" lined up, ready to go


Jed and his favorite sister


The kids getting ready for their hunt


Mom, doling out the cash




Gretchen, giving me a death glare. I had gotten up to go do something, and when I came back she was sitting in my spot on the swing, eating candy. Jokingly I told her she needed to move. She got up, took about five steps and then turned around and shot me this look. Mom and I were dying.


5. This week it was back to school and work, only James came down with a heinous stomach virus that started late Sunday night and kept him home from work all day Monday. We thought maybe he got Food Poisoning from David's Easter Ham, but since no one else got sick we ruled that out. ;) Thankfully James mananged not to spread it around to the rest of us!

6. I spent most of the week getting ready for a Primary Activity at church that we had today. I have to give major props to Katheryn as we stole most of our ideas from an activity her ward had back in February! Thanks Katheryn!! LOL!

It was the first activity our Primary Presidency has done, and I think it turned out really well. I saw lots of smiles and heard lots of laughter, so what more can you ask for?? It was a family activity, and I took pictures of all of the families. Like most Saturdays, James was at work, so he missed out on all the fun. :(


7. This upcoming week is going to be a doozy! The girls have CRCT testing (URGH!) and I am getting ready for Preschool Graduation (fun, but *LOTS* of work!). James continues to plug away at his new job, which is challenging but rewarding. *Fingers crossed*, the stress levels around here will be headed in the downward direction VERY SOON. Summer vacation is only a little over a month away!

CURSE YOU, 7-ELEVEN!!!!

Not only do you refuse to branch out into the southland, you tease me with the Tim Riggins Slurpee Cup!!!!

April is the cruellest month...

...or so T.S. Eliot would have us believe. I prefer to think of it as being puddle-wonderful. At any rate, it's National Poetry Month, which is most certainly a thing of beauty. Over the month I'm going to share some of my favorite poems, and I hope you'll do the same.

First up will be my most favorite poem by my most favorite poet- ee cummings. James gave me a hardback edition of cummings' complete works for Valentine's Day a few years back, and it's just lovely. As is this poem:

i carry your heart
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

He'll be here all night, folks.

(This was originally written on October 17, 2007, and it *still* makes me laugh.)

Last night, James and I were lying (laying?) in bed, watching Ace of Cakes on TV. The AoC crew is working on a very cool Alice in Wonderland cake. Mary Alice, who is the AoC manager, says that she loves this cake, mainly because Alice in Wonderland is her most favorite book. She lifts up her shirt sleeve and shows of her tattoo, which is a replica of one of the illustrations from the book.

Jokingly, I say to James that I'm going to get something from Anne of Green Gables tattooed on me to show the world it's my most favorite book. Without missing a beat, he turns to me and says:

"Get a tattoo on your chest that says 'Bosom Friends'".

Reason #5284 while I love the man.

The Best Laid Plans...

On Sunday, I resolved to have a positive attitude in the following week.

On Monday, I didn't read the crazy large fine print on an Ebay auction and ended up buying something I didn't want.

On Tuesday, I got overzealous with a ginormous zit on my cheek, and gave myself a bruise big enough that people asked me if I was okay.

On Wednesday, James oveslept, which caused me to over sleep, which just wasn't a good thing.

On Thursday, I got dressed in the dark and didn't really look at myself before I left the house. About an hour into preschool I realized that I was wearing a shirt that had mysteriously developed so many stains and holes that the homeless guy living in downtown Albany would have been embarrassed to be seen in it.

Spring Break (which starts tomorrow at 1:15 PM) cannot get here soon enough.

Reason #284 While I Love Teaching Preschool

There is a little girl in my class who I adore. (Yes, I love all of my kids, but I seriously want to kidnap this one and raise her as my own.) She sits by me everyday at lunch and she makes me laugh on a daily basis.

Yesterday I was helping her with some morning work, and she started talking about a "Miss Pam" who was her teacher last year at a different preschool. She told me she liked Miss Pam better than me, and I pretended to cry and she laughed.

This morning, she came in, all smiles, and told me she had a surprise for me. This is what she gave me.



It's a picture of me with the word 'SORRY' written at the bottom. And then she said she was just kidding, and that she really loved me best of all.

I might not let her go to kindergarten next year.

Happy Birthday, Isabella!

Nine years ago today our sweet girl made her way into this world, appropriately on the first day of Spring. She is the sunshine in our family, and we love her so much.

Four months


Nine months


18 months


4 years old


6 years old


7 years old


8 years old


Almost 9 years old

Being The Mom, Part Dos

Picture taken June 2006

So I'm sitting here dipping a metric ton of strawberries in chocolate, all because that is the treat my Bella-Bear wants for her birthday treat for her class tomorrow (third year in a row- the kid has good taste!), when it struck me just how much I love these darling girls. Because I do. Love them to bits and pieces. I can only think of a few things I wouldn't do for them (evidently NOT including dipping strawberries, making a special dinner and birthday cake tomorrow, wrapping presents, etc- all while I'm too tired to even think about it).

Now I'm sitting here, all misty-eyed, thinking about how they are growing up every minute of every day, and they're only going to like me for a little while longer, before they start hating me for a few years, and then maybe if I'm lucky and I haven't done too bad of a job they'll love me again.

That's what being The Mom does to you. You weep over chocolate-covered strawberries because you know it's going to end much too soon. There's nothing to do except keep on dipping, because you hope whenever they eat a chocolate-covered strawberry from now till the end of time they will think of you and know how much you love them.

Because you do.

I do.

I've been missed...

...or so I've been told.

Life is plodding along here in south GA. It's a never ending cylce of work, school, cook, clean, sleep, church, meetings, sleep, school, lather, rinse, repeat.

I continue to rue the day I ever chose CHALLENGE as my word for 2009. It's only March and I think I'm pretty much ready for 2009 to be over and done with, if for no other reason than so I can choose a new word (something like LUCKY or FABULOUS). ;)

The weather continues to be weird around her. Gorgeous one moment, ugly and yucky the next. It's very bipolar, this weather.

I've also started four different books (American Lion, The Westing Game, A Murder is Announced and My Booky Wook) but sadly have finished none of them yet. That should tell you all you need to know about my mental state these days. ;)

On the other hand, there are things to look forward to.

- My friend Adriana is coming to visit in TWENTY days!
- Our beach trip in June
- A visit from Melanie and her crew
- The release of the sixth Harry Potter movie on July 17th

I did get my garden planted the other day. We had plans for expanding this year, but things have conspired against us. So we're making do with three tomato plants, one jalapeno plant, one cabbage, two basil, two cilantro, and one each of thyme and rosemary. We still have a little space left, so I might put in a bell pepper plant, even though they were a dismal failure last year.

And with that, I'm off to finish a fifth book (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw).

Books, books and more books

1) Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
At this point, it's a series of books by an author/storyteller named Robin Moore. When we lived in PA, we heard him speak at the Warminster Public Library. He was really neat. He dressed up in head-to-toe buckskins and told Indian folklore and pioneering stories. He had written book called The Bread Sister of Sinking Creek and published it through a small local publishing press. We bought the first book in ther series, then about a year later he came out with a second one. Probably five years later, and after we had moved back to FL, I called the publishing house to see if he had continued the series, and sure enough he had. So I've had the first book on my shelf for over 20 years now.

Anything that would have been older than that -like my Little House and Anne books- have been replaced due to wear and tear.


2) What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?
Believe it or not, I'm not currently reading anything! :P I've got several things 'in the wings'- Three Willows and The Graveyard Book from the library, plus Knife and The Season. I'll pick one of those to read next. I guess you could say that I'm currently reading Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out Of A Tree- I've read it before, and now I'm reading it to the girls.

Yesterday I re-read Second Thyme Around by Katie Fforde- an old favorite. The last new (to me) book I read was Marley & Me.

3) What book did everyone like and you hated?
My friends Juli and Katie both adore Love Walked In, and I really, really, really didn't like it. I hated all of the characters (excpet the little girl- I loved her!) and I thought they were extremely selfish and stupid human beings. (I didn't hate the mother as intensely, given that she was mentally ill. But I still thought she was selfish.) I hated to dislike a book so intensively that two kindreds adored, but such is life.

4) Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
Hmmm...Anything by Charles Dickens. I pikced up Nicholas Nickleby for $2 ages ago, but I've still never read it. And it's quite possible I will never read LotR.

5) Which book are you saving for “retirement?”
Seriously?? Why would you "save" a book?

6) Last page: read it first or wait til the end?
Wait till the end!

7) Acknowledgments: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
I like them, especially is the author makes an effort to be funny and/or clever.

8) Which book character would you switch places with?
Anne Shirley. Harriet Vane (post marriage to Peter!) Hermione Granger. Bella Swann. :P

9) Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
Absolutely! The Anne books will always remind me of living in PA (which is where I first read them).

10) Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
I got my current set of Anne books off of Ebay. Let me back up a bit- my original set was falling apart, literally. So even though it pained me to do so, I replaced the whole set with a nice, brand new set from Amazon.com. The problem was I *hated* that set. I didn't like the cover art, the font was different, etc. It was silly, I know, but there it was. I wanted a set like my OLD set! Only problem was it was out of print. So I searched all over Ebay until I found a complete set, just like the one I had before and best of all it was only $10, including shipping.

Looking at this story now, I realize it's not interesting at all. Oh well. :P

11) Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
I send my friend Adriana books all the time. Okay, occasionally.

12) Which book has been with you to the most places?
I almost always carry an Anne book with me whenever I travel.

13) Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?
No, I liked most of the stuff we read. Then again, I haven't revisited a lot of the things I read, so I might actually dislike it *now*, even though I liked it *then*!

14) What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
I can't think of anything. Isn't that sad??

15) Used or brand new?
Doesn't matter. Although if I really love something that I originally aquired used, I almost always replace it with a new, hardback edition.

16) Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
I don't do horror, so I've never read him. Although, I do think a lot less of him now, ever since he made the comments about Stephenie Meyer. I mean, what's it to him? I think it just made him look bitter and curmudgeonly.

17) Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Yep, Ella Enchanted. The movie wasn't perfect, but I liked it a lot better than the book. And while I liked the book, I LOVE the movie version of The Princess Bride.

18) Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
The-Movie-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named, aka The Voldy Movie, aka Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story. DIE KEVIN SULLIVAN!!!!

19) Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?
My friends Adriana, Carre, Juli, Katie, and Kit. But I'd take a suggestion from any of you!

Now I tag Katheryn, Carrie, Shauna, Melissa Giggey, Melisssa Goodman and Lora!

GET OVER IT!!

No, seriously. I mean it. Get over it!!

Today is GET OVER IT DAY.

"If you're not sure what YOU have to get over, just ask your friends what they're tired of hearing you complain about."

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I love this so much I want to marry it and have its babies. Just another bit of info that I'm bringing you, my blog reading minions.

PS- Mom, I've decided this year to get over that terrible Christmas back in 1999, where everyone thought it would be a great idea to get me, six months pregnant and full of crazy hormones, nothing but gag gifts (including the Rosie O'Donnell Show Trivia Book).

Did you know??

Today is International Women's Day- how awesome is that?? Here's just a few women of the I love and admire.


Has there ever been a more dynamic and influential First Lady than Eleanor Roosevelt?



My most favorite author, Lucy Maud Montgomery



My other favorite author, J.K. Rowling



Chieko Okazaki, the first non-Caucasian to serve as a member of the General Relief Society Board. She was a wife, mother and educator, and her talks and writings have been very influential in my life.



My friend Carre, who is not only an amazing nurse and author but also a missionary (along with her husband and three children) devoting her life to helping the orphans and street children in Russia.



Rosa Parks, who took a stand by simply remaining seated



My own mom, who's pretty awesome



My girlies, who aren't women yet, but who will accomplish and experience more than I can even imagine

What??!?!?

How is it possible that I have ended up on the mailing list for the AARP? I was sent my membership card in the mail today. Truly bizarre.

Update

As I posted on Facebook yesterday afternoon, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Bella seems to be doing better today, and the doctor thinks she is finally on the mend. (It's only taken three different antibiotics- shots and oral- two different inhaled medicines, and two different steroids -again both shots and oral!) She slept good last night for the first time in over a week. Obviously she is still very tired and still coughing, but I'm hopeful that we've found the right combo.

The trick now is keeping her moving in the right direction! I didn't know this until the doctor told me, that steroids depress the immune system making you even more susceptible to whatever disease is lurking around. So we've got to be careful about easing her back into school. He said if she is feeling great one day, give her *another* full day of recovery before sending her back to school, just to be safe. As of right now, I'd say the soonest she'd be back is Friday, and I may just give her the weekend to be on the safe side!

But I want to thank you ALL for your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes. I know that it has made a difference, and I am so very grateful for all of you.

What day is it??

Bella isn't doing so well, folks. After repeat trips to the doctor's office yesterday and today for antibiotic and steroid shots, we're aren't any better off than when we started last Wednesday.

The doctor said if she was any younger he would have already admitted her to the hospital and put her in an oxygen tent. However, his fear is that she will pick something *else* up in the hospital and just make everything worse. So we are giving it another 24 hours at home with three new, stronger medicines (another antibiotic, an oral steroid, and a new medicine for her nebulizer). We are also avoiding any contact with the outside world (snow flurries! Today! In south Georgia! Crazy!) as much as possible. I trust our pediatrician, and he feels she's really on the edge and it could go either way. Sooooo....we wait, we rest and we pray.

*Sigh*

1. Isabella woke up around 4:30 with a high fever and started vomit ting. So she and I trouped back to the doctor (after I called them yesterday when her fever was higher than the day before, and after being on the antibiotic for over 24 hours, to which they told me it can take up to 72 hours for the meds to kick in so not to worry), went through several blood tests and X-Rays only to find out that my poor girl has strep, a sinus infection AND pneumonia.

So we are now the proud owners of a nebulizer. How is it that I made it through 31 years of life, plus 10.5 years of motherhood never, ever having to have/do breathing treatments, only to have 2009 hit and have both myself AND one of my children need them??? It truly boggles the mind. So we'll do breathing treatments every for hours for the next three days. Poor Bella. For some reason, the medicine used in the breathing treatment always gives you the shakes real bad, and you feel all anxious and jittery. When the treatment is over she really does look like a skinny, strungout crack head.

She also got two antibiotic shots, one in each leg (rendering her unable to walk, which meant I got to carry her, her water bottle, the nebulizer, my purse and her "I Stood Still During My X-Ray" goodie bag on the five mile trek out to the car). You can imagine how excited she was about the shots. Even better, we get to go back for the next two days for MORE shots! You would think, her being almost 9 and all, that she would understand the need for shots. But NO- she still looked at me with her big, sad puppy dog eyes welling over with tears with a look that said, "HOW CAN YOU LET THEM DO THIS TO ME??!?!??"

*sighs again*

2. The bathroom has been primed (twice) and it ready for new white paint. Perhaps by Sunday we'll be able to use it again. Hallelujah.

Things That Will Be Done Today Come Hell Or Highwater

Isabella is home sick today (Sinus infection, beginning of strep, but we caught it super early so she's not too miserable. Only the fact that she hasn't been on the antibiotic for 24 hours yet kept her from school) and I AM DETERMINED to get some things done around here before I seriously have a nervous breakdown.

(I think the straw that broke the camel's back was the color we painted the bathroom last night. The color itself was fine, but combined with our tub, toilet, fixtures, etc it made the bathroom look like a cheap motel bathroom which, believe it or not, was NOT the look we were going for.)

TO DO LIST
1. Take the things out of the laundry room which need to go to the shed
2. Sweep laundry room floor; shake out rugs
3. Organize shelf above the washer and dryer
4. Repaint bathroom a soothing shade of WHITE (to be done most likely when James gets home)
5. Spray a thick layer of Lysol all over the house to prevent further spread of germs
6. Clean Pampered Chef Muffin Pan (Anyone who uses the PC baking stones knows what a pain they can be to clean sometimes! But the muffins are always perfectly cooked so I put up with cleaning the stupid pan.)

I will return and report.
*salutes*

What Kind of Day It Has Been (so far)

Today I have:

- woken up late (7:00 am as opposed to 6:15) thanks to James accidentally turning off my alarm

- looked at Bella and decide that her cold has probably turned into a sinus infection

- chased down the bus (which involved driving like a mad woman, flipping a u-turn on a four lane road and catching the bus on its VERY LAST STOP before heading up to the schools)

- ran the garbage can down to the curb before the garbage man arrived (All James' fault again, as he forgot to take it down last night. Although I choose to forgive him for this offense as he was busy caulking the bathrrom last night, step #487 in the Bathroom Remodel The Never Ends).

- made a call to the doctor to get Bella an appointment (10:15)

- checked the bank account to make sure I have enough in there to pay the co-pay, pay for a prescription, and pay a little extra on the bill since we haven't met our dedeuctible for the year yet

- searched the Georgia PINES Online Catalog for library books to order to read to Isabella's third grade class on Read Across America Day. (My frantic searching is my own stupd fault, though, as I vaguely remember signing up to be a reader sometime back in January, but I didn't write down the actual date, just noting that it was sometime in March, which was still months away. So now I'm trying to find Books that aren't chapter books (they don't want us to read anything that we can't finish) that are appealing to 3rd graders and that will also fill 30 minutes of my assigned reading time. I'm leaning toward some Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky poetry along with a short story of some sort.

- discovered all of the neat ideas on the NEA website for Read Across America Day and decided I need to print off some of those ideas for preschool on Monday

- made this blog post, and it's only 9:02 AM

I am ON FIRE!

Random Thoughts

1. Does it make me a bad mother if I only take the girls to see movies I also want to see?? I figure why spend $16 (the price of our tickets) plus $11 (the cost of a large popcorn and drink that we all share) on something that A) isn't going to entertain ME and B) will be out on DVD in a few months anyway?? (In other news, Coraline was very good, and not as creepy as the book. It was the first movie I've ever watched in 3-D, and it was pretty amazing, I have to admit. The visual details were outstanding.)

2. Our Winter Break is almost over. The girls went back to school today, and I go back tomorrow. I am firmly convinced that every week should be a two day work week.

3. James is amazing. He worked 45.5 hours of overtime in the past two weeks. Have I mentioned how grateful I am that he has a job? Because I am.

4. I just walked outside to take the mail down to the mailbox and there were FIVE cardinals on my lawn! We have a ton of brids that live in the trees around here. One day I was on the phone with someone, and I had the back door open. She commented that I must have a lot of birds as pets because she could here them all. I told her nope- they were all outside!

5. I have been thinking about this cake ever since I saw it on Katheryn's blog a few days ago. It looks, really, really good. Maybe I'll make it for Isabella's birthday next month.