Biking, kids and other things

Photo giant Kodak filed for Bankruptcy

2012-02-02T05:51:00.000-06:00

This economy is still in the toilet and now one of the biggest, if not the biggest, names in photography for years has filed bankruptcy.

Kodak has been unable to keep up in this digital world and unfortunately they are now going to have to try restructuring...I have my doubts that this will keep them afloat.

Unfortunately for Kodak, the photography industry has turned towards digital photography. Don't get me wrong there are still those that prefer film, or that use it in certain instances. However, digital photography gives an immediate return at a lower cost. There are arguments for both sides of things and truth be told I have always enjoyed the surprise effect and the excitement that surrounds opening a package of processed film (unfortunately I never learned how to process my own film and at this juncture I am uncertain that I will ever have that opportunity).

The articles I did read regarding the Kodak bankruptcy indicated that Kodak has it's hopes for a resurgence pinned on a new camera (digital) that they are releasing. Unfortunately for them I believe this will be too little too late. When it comes to digital camera's, myself and most of the other photographers I have spoken with will not take the chance on buying a Kodak camera. Kodak isn't known for being able to compete with such camera's as Leica, Nikon or Cannon, or any of a number of other digitals.

This is most likely the beginning of the end for the giant in this industry. Which, saddens me. I remember my first Kodak 110 camera. I took it to summer camp every year. It was a trusty camera that always delivered and that has allowed me over the years to look back and remember some of the friends I made during those long lazy summers. It allowed me to capture moments that have long since passed.

I am hoping that Kodak is able to restructure and hold on to some niche in the photography industry...we shall see.

Thoughts?

Another weekend in the books...

2012-01-30T05:59:00.000-06:00

The weekends go by too quickly and I don't like it! Not that complaining gets me anywhere but you know.

Lots of stuff accomplished this weekend.

Saturday we went to a co-workers house: her water heater had broken and caused so much damage in her basement; her basement is huge, pool table, bar, couch, recliner, storage area for so many things etc...it was a huge disaster. We helped her fill a dumpster with the things that were ruined from the water damage. It was cold and all that but a good lesson for my kids in helping others when they need some assistance.

That was our big thing this weekend. The rest of the weekend I accomplished many little projects. I again have to spout off about flylady! I am actually enjoying my time in my home instead of feeling like I have to clean this or I have to keep cleaning because I am unable to relax due to the chaos and clutter. My laundry is finished. My house is mostly clean and decluttered. I was able to sit down quite a bit this weekend and check so many little projects off my list.

Projects Accomplished:

1. Police report about the incident at the nursing home .
2. New buttons sewed on my coworkers coat.
3. Cody's rip in his coat repaired.
4. Laundry folded, distributed to proper children/adults & put away!
5. One of my favorite shirts that ripped slightly in the seam repaired.
6. I sat down and watched a youtube video on how to crochet flowers. My chemo hats (female ones) will now have flowers! HuRRAY!
7. Cozi Calendar updated! I love this site...everyone should check it out. I have it on my phone, my oldest child and husband also have it on theirs...it's an incredible tool that allows us all to stay on top of things!
8. New style hat started and almost complete.
9. Worked on an afghan.
10. Edited more photography.

What's even greater? The organization is rubbing off on the kids...yesterday all 3 boys managed to pick out and lay out their clothes for today, packed snacks for their wrestling meet and checked their wrestling bags to make sure everything they needed was packed and ready...

I got to lay down in bed not thinking of the things I needed to accomplish around the house the following day, nor worrying about what I had failed to accomplish.

TO top it all off, we enjoyed a visit with my mother in law and my friend Traci and I was not embarrassed about the state of my home, nor was I running around trying to pick up...why? Because it was already picked up! Now that's an awesome feeling!

Below: The new buttons on Amy's coat.

Nursing homes

2012-01-28T06:44:00.000-06:00

My job can be extremely rewarding. On the other hand my job can be extraordinarily difficult. Yesterday was the worst day I have experienced while working in a nursing home in the past 7 years.

Two events occurred within a short period of time that left me questioning my desire to work in this environment.

First, a resident who has been in our facility for quite a while was taken, against her will, by her guardian. This resident barely knows the guardian, who came in and insisted that she go to live in his house with himself and his wife. She was distraught and needed to be brought oxygen at one point. She was yelling that this had to do with her house and him wanting the money that would come from that than it did with anything else. She then turned to us and told us that she hoped we could all live with ourselves because we were not stopping this from happening. Keep in mind that upon finding out what the guardian intended to do we called every entity we have in our arsenal trying to stop this from happening, unfortunately, because a court said she needed a guardian due to her confusion there was nothing that could be done to stop it. We were informed by Elder Care Services to contact them when she was removed from the facility, we did. They will send someone to the guardian's home within 7 days. Also, this guardian is refusing to let her son, whose care she was removed from to see her at this time. Keep in mind that the son has visited her about every other day since the moment she entered the facility. He is also the only person who left her any money to spend on things she wanted or to go shopping with the other residents! Following all this I was in tears as were so many of my coworkers...it was truly a heart wrenching experience to witness. I am afraid for this resident, I do not for a single moment believe that this man has her best interest at heart, and I pray that she is quickly removed from his care by Elder Care Services.

Moments after we hung up from the phone from notifying Elder Care Services of the discharge of this resident, a nurse walked in to my office to inform us that a different resident had passed away. This resident had been such a sweet soul, and has been with us since I began working there. It was not something we had realized was occurring with all the other chaos that was happening around us. None of us, who were involved in the incident with the resident being removed from the facility had had the opportunity to say our goodbyes to this resident. That's always a horrible feeling.

I left the building last night feeling as though every ounce of my energy had been consumed. I was certainly questioning whether I wanted to return...
I arrived home and walked in the house, my husband took one look at me and knew that something horrible had happened, upon explaining the situation in about as much detail as I was able (similar to the detail I have just given so that I did not violate any Hipaa policies) and breaking down in tears my husband reached over and hugged me...it was then that I realized as horrible as the day had been, I started working in healthcare because I honestly felt that my ability to care for others and feel empathy for what they go through was a beneficial attribute. That same ability to feel so deeply for others is also what allows me to feel so torn at the injustices that I see occurring around me.

It was a horrible day, but I have had 7 years of experiences in the nursing home environment, and in those 7 years the good days, the wonderful days when I leave feeling as if I made a difference in a single moment in someone's final days, or have helped a family member, or had the privilege of hearing an amazing story from someone about their life, or hearing a spouse tell the story of their life before their loved one entered the nursing home far outnumber the type of day that I had yesterday.

I work with an amazing group of men & women as well! Some who came by my house with a few beers last night and we sat back, played cards and talked about the day and found a way to laugh and remember the good things despite the bad day we had experienced. Others who simply sent a message or called to check on each other and make sure everyone was handling things okay.

In the nursing home we become an intricate part of each other's lives. We care about each other, we become an extended family. Our residents and our co-workers become a vital part of our lives, and like any family, sometimes some of them get on our nerves, some of them we don't take too seriously, some of them are always good for a laugh, sometimes you have to just get away from them, but all of them somehow become a part of us.

I want to thank Don who saw me walking down the hall and reached over and pulled me into a big hug, he never said a word, he simply hugged me. He is kind of like everyone's grandpa. Alexis who came over and with her fun spirit managing to lift the moods of myself and my daughter who were still sitting back a little shell shocked. Wendy who came over after I called to check on her, and drank the hard stuff and found herself laughing despite the shock of the news. Amy who called to check on me, who always lifts my spirit with a few words of kindness! These are the people I work with, who have become like my own family members. I love them dearly, and even if we get on each other's nerves sometimes, we are all there for each other! That's what makes this type of work so rewarding, and allows us to come away from horrible days a little bit stronger, a little bit wiser and certainly realizing that each day with these people is a gift to be cherished.

Flylady and Freecycle

2012-01-26T19:04:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure how much I have spoken about this in the past, but I have been following flylady for years, doing the routines on and off. It's always a chore with 7 people, 3 dogs and just the normal chaos of life to keep up with the basics. For the new year I have made a huge effort to actually keep up with these cleaning lists and daily emails. My house looks incredibly organized these days! I am in shock at how easy it is to get things done in 15 minutes if you actually spend 15 minutes every day working on a hotspot. I do 1 load of laundry right before I go to bed at night, then when I wake up in the morning I throw it in the dryer and it's done and folded before I have to get the kids off to school. After I get back I spend about 5 minutes delivering the clothes to the proper child's basket and dropping it in their bedroom. No piles on the table I use in the laundry room. And when I get back from work I'm not irritated at laundry that's dry but unfolded and wrinkly or worse still wet and in the washer...and stinky!

The dishes are done every evening and in the morning, if someone got up in the middle of the night for a snack, I do a quick cleanup and after getting home my boys take turns putting them away.

Coats and bags and such are put away when the kids walk in...making them come back and put them away properly gets quicker long term results than doing it myself ! Apparently they really think it sucks to have to come back to the entry way to pick up their stuff...listening to me complain doesn't seem to bother them! More times than not in the last 2 weeks I have not had to call any of them back to the entryway! HURRAY!

I also managed to get my bedroom closet and my 2 youngest boys closets cleaned out (with their help when doing their closet). We are part of the local freecycle website in our community and I was able to post several bags of clothes, a winter coat, and a pair of dress shoes that went to bless someone else in their home and managed to help me de-clutter without adding to a landfill or dropping it at an overpriced resale/salvation army type store.

Now I am able to relax in the evening...It's only 7:03 right now and dinner is done, dishes are clean, my sink is shining, I've been online for about 30 minutes while my boys finish their homework and after that I'll start a load of laundry, take out the recycling and then cozy up on the couch next to my dear husband and watch something interesting on t.v. before going to bed...and I won't be stressed out or bitchy!

Thank you flylady & freecycle! My house is cleaner and I'm a more effective and efficient wife and mother!

Latest Craft Project to be completed...

2012-01-26T18:51:00.000-06:00

I finished another blanket the other day. It's one I had started and set aside then would pick up and work on for a few minutes here and there. It wasn't a huge priority but I decided to get it finished. It's tan and part of the huge bag of yarn I got from a garage sale last year.

Now to get to work on more chemo caps for the lab. Bob goes again in February (the end) for his check up, I have about 13 done right now. I need to get at least another 11 done. I also need to hurry up and figure out how to get these flowers crocheted so that I can add them to the caps for the girls!

Happy crafting :)

More Chicago pics...

2012-01-26T18:44:00.000-06:00

This was in a window of a small little shop...I thought it was humorous...

Bob found the cap'n

My friends Jeff & Teri who took the adventure with me.

Cool train art.

History

Fun View

The Chicago Theater...

These two parking garages remind me of a cob of corn after it's dried out.

Do you recognize this building?

This was a guy who claimed to be homeless...if he truly was he was very clean. However, he joked that he needed money for the jack daniels research foundation and I offered a dollar if he would let me take his picture. He readily agreed. It was worth the dollar, he had a great sense of humor!

Cool sculpture

^An amazing City! One I live so close to but never spend enough time in!

This city has amazing architecture. I could stare for hours. Every angle, every curve. Amazing!

The dust and cobwebs in the window of an empty store front.

More architecture!

Chicago Sun Times Building and the bridge.

This was one of the last of several hundred pictures I took in Chicago that day. It got too dark out and my hands were so cold that I stopped getting decent shots because I was shaking a bit.

It was an amazing adventure and I intend to spend many days in 2012 exploring this city!

Hope you enjoyed my photo story :)

Annual Survey

2012-01-25T18:42:00.000-06:00

We (the nursing home) had our annual survey at our facility. Public health walked in to the building on Sunday morning. This event ruined my day of gluttony! I had intended to sit on the couch, drink coffee, eat, and watch football.

They exited our building last evening! Thank goodness!

Needless to say I feel like I need a drink and a long weekend! :)

More photography stuff up soon...I think.

Chicago January 7, 2012

2012-01-09T15:50:00.000-06:00

Some of the signage when we got to Chicago that made me smile. More pics later as my laptop has not wanted to load all of the images I had tried to get on here.

1st Adventure of the New Year

2012-01-08T06:22:00.000-06:00

CHICAGO!

Earlier this week I decided to take a trip in to Chicago (to take place Saturday). I invited my friend Jeff, who knows the city pretty well...Bob & our friend Teri invited themselves.
We took the train out of Elburn into Ogilve Station and then the city was ours to explore.
My Nikon in hand we rode the mass transit system and walked all over town. Sight seeing included Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field, a few streets of 'Boys town', the river, the Chicago Theater and many other cool places.

It was a day of laughter, pictures, and fun! We had no plan, other than to explore Chicago, and no time lines to meet.

I have decided that I will make time for short little weekend adventures this year.

A big thanks to Jeff, Teri & Bob for helping to make it an epic adventure...oh and a big thanks to the Elburn police man who got Teri back in to her car after we arrived back at the train station to find that her battery had died and her keyless entry was not working!

End of the year...

2011-12-29T05:36:00.000-06:00

That time has come again. I can't believe another year is about to begin.

This year has brought me many experiences that have allowed me to learn and grow as an individual, a wife, a mother. I reflect on these experiences often.

I think the greatest lessons of 2011 for me were:

1. Even those we love hurt and disappoint us, it's up to us how we chose to deal with things.
2. Our dreams and hobbies are an amazing way to get to know ourselves (and those around us) on a deeper level. Just because we may not become rich, or famous doesn't mean that our dedication to these things, or our passion to these things doesn't inspire others!
3. Sometimes we have to work hard to find it in ourselves to forgive others...in forgiving them we free our soul from so much baggage! Think of it as a gift to yourself to forgive others.
4. Hobbies and passions can turn into lucrative incomes if given the opportunity.
5. Pursue your hobbies with passion!
6. Being a mother and a wife may be considered by some a minimal thing, but remember, as such you are shaping the next generation. That is a pretty damn amazing thing.
7. Don't be so effin serious. When you die no one is going to remark about how great it was that you were always so serious!

With these realizations being smacked in my face repeatedly this year I have also considered my new year's resolutions:
1. I will pursue my hobbies with passion in 2012. Taking time for myself and even sharing those passions with others.
2. I will laugh more often and let the b.s. of life roll off me.
3. I will not feel guilty for spending a little money on my hobbies or on "pampering" myself sometimes.
4. I will take a vacation with my family...we haven't done that since the year before Bob was diagnosed with cancer.
5. I will do what I love and not worry if those around me don't like me...because I will be proud of who I am.
6. I will not look back on the past and worry, wonder, or consider it in a way that is detrimental to my well being.

Going now. Take care!

Wrestling Season

2011-12-12T09:03:00.000-06:00

Wrestling season is now in full swing.

The boys (all 3 of mine are at the same school wrestling this year) had a tournament this weekend...Gaven took 1st place in his weight class. Pretty darn proud of him!
The twins both were eliminated after the second round but worked hard and I am very proud of them as well. Here is a link to Gaven's Championship match!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6VomqMnB-w&feature=colike

Good weekend, lots of Christmas baking completed...more wrestling and baking to do this week...along with working on several projects that I have going.

Okay, happy day! Have a good week all!

A hike through the park

2011-10-30T06:05:00.000-05:00

A few pics taken with my new Nikon the other day in Huber Park in DeKalb. I won't go into this park anymore by myself, which is kind of a shame since I used to jog through it, hang out in it...but there was a girl killed in there last year. That's left it with a cloud over it. Thankfully I was accompanied on this trip. I took about 100 shots but these are just a few...I need to play with my photoshop tools as this last picture is from a series I took that had birds bathing in the little areas of water along the rocks.

Goodbye October

2011-10-30T05:52:00.000-05:00

October is drawing to an end. Unfortunately that means cooler temps. Runny noses, and coats & boots become a must have.

It was a pretty nice month though. I got to use my Nikon quite a bit. We had Caiden's birthday party which was a huge success. Cassy was hired at JC Penney. She actually begins working today. I will be babysitting Caiden on the days/evenings that she works.

Today I'm planning on making Sloppy Joe and leaving it in the crockpot all day to just simmer...nice and easy!

Finished contracts & proposals yesterday for my friend who is starting her own photography business. She's based in Rockford, Illinois. So, if you need pics done, give her a jingle. Most Wanted Photography - I will add the link in when I know the web address that she is using...(also I'm not sure if she has her webpage done yet).

Anyway, that's about it. Working on laundry and crocheting today. Finished a couple more hats. I need to figure out how to crochet these damn flowers. I don't know why but they are giving me a heck of a time...anyone have any ideas?

Finishing the printing of the Shabbona Healthcare Center Newsletter as I type this and then that will be done and can go in the mail tomorrow.

Safe riding my friends. It's getting cold out there! Stay warm!

Bright Side

2011-10-16T12:46:00.000-05:00

Well, lucky me. This morning, while getting ready for work I was listening to SixxSense and had my phone charging on the sink as I was doing so, as streaming the show always kills my charge pretty quickly. The reason it was sitting on the sink is because of the lack of outlets in my bathroom, there is one on top of the mirror that works just great. So, as I was applying my face for the day I happened to step sideways just enough that I caught the cord, which was plugged in above my head...and it pulled out and dropped right beside the sink...IN THE TOILET!

Thankfully, the toilet had recently been flushed! I fished the stupid charger out of the toilet...and tried to dry it to the best of my abilities. Threw it in my purse to take to work with me so I could charge my phone when it dies because the signal sucks at work.

At about 10 a.m. I tried to plug charger in, then into the phone...NOTHING!

There are two ways to look at this issue. The first, which might be most people's initial reaction would be to get angry. I mean really, how will I possibly charge my phone NOW?
The second, my reaction, was to smile. This may be the perfect excuse to go get my new phone. I mean I've been waiting to see about getting one until December or January. However, I can get one now...or if not I can steal Bob's charger most days...lol.

So, I spent a bit of time today looking at the U.S. Celluar phones. No decision has been made yet, when I do I'll send a pic of the new phone I get (lol).

That's it...an hour and 15 minutes till I can drive home and catch at least the last few minutes of the Green Bay Packer's game.

Happy day people! Keep smiling...

Indian Summer

2011-10-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

We have been having some very nice weather here in Northern Illinois this past week or so. It makes me sad to watch the weather though as it does seem that by next week that will all be gone and the cooler days of fall will be upon us. I have been enjoying the warm temps. The kids and I went to the apple orchard the other day. Took some pics, it was a nice time.

I just finished paying for Gaven's trip to Washington D.C. I'm so thrilled that he gets to go! I was very stressed out that he wouldn't be able to! Now to save up the money for him to spend while he's there.

That's it for updates for now. I'm tired and thinking about taking a 45 minute nap before the kids get home.

October....

2011-10-02T06:38:00.000-05:00

I welcomed in October with a day of cleaning around the house, baking chocolate chip cookies so that the kids & Bob could enjoy them. I made chicken noodle soup and taught Cassy to drive her stick shift vehicle, oh and doing laundry.

I did get to work on my latest afghan for a bit. As simple as this pattern is, it seems to be very time consuming!

Need to work on some more hats for the chemo lab as well. Bob goes back on November 16th for his check up so I need to get the hats done and bake some breads and stuff to take up for the staff.

Today Brendon has a choir concert...I don't know what is wrong with the school. 1. I don't think they should be allowed to plan activities on Sunday's. 2. Do they not know it's football season? What the heck?

Anyway, 6:30 a.m. Yesterday's dirty laundry is in the washer almost ready for the dryer. Coffee is brewed. Calendar for October has been updated.

At 2 pm Cassy will be having a "highlighting Party" here at the house...several of the girls from work will be stopping by to have their hair highlighted. I hope she gets up and mops the kitchen floor...(laughing...I'll be doing that when I get off the computer).

Have a great day! It's cold here...need to kick out some afghans...people will need them!

Thought for today...

2011-09-28T22:33:00.001-05:00

“Don’t Take Anything Personally Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”
**NIKKI SIXX**

I think I've admitted to having an utter fascination, bordering on obsession with this man! But, seriously, the guy has been through a lot of shit...and he's come through on the other side a better person, a stronger person, a man with a vision and the balls to make that vision happen.

Anyway, I thought this quote was pretty damn to the point, and considering some of the stuff going on around me, I thought it was also pretty fitting.

So, that's my contribution to everyone's mental health for today, via Nikki Sixx.

Have a great day! happy riding to those of you who are still out there riding! I miss you and hope the winter is short so I can join you soon!

Possibilities

2011-09-28T06:09:00.000-05:00

Good morning!
Just finished my workout. My arms are nice and sore, in the good kind of way! I was told I look like I'm slimming down, yesterday by a girl at work. Thank you very much! She said I look more toned. SWEET! It's working!
I am also considering applying for a different position with in my company. We shall see. I will submit my resume and see how it turns out. I don't suppose it will harm my current status there if I don't get the position and without trying we will never succeed.

I have started a new Afghan. Still using the Homespun yarn (I have a ton of it that I picked up at the garage sale), but found a different pattern. It will be much more airy and pretty than the one I made and posted a week or so ago.

I am sad to say that Fall is upon us and I have done probably less than 100 miles on my bike this year. This absolutely must be remedied in 2012.

Is it horrible that I'm not purchasing school pictures this year? They are so....generic! I want to take the kids to the apple orchard and take my own pics. I have my old as hell Minolta 35 mm camera that does take nice pics. I also have an older digital and my cell phone, all which take at least decent pics. I think I'll do it my way this year and see how it turns out. I also want to get some family pics but will have to set up something with Terri and if she's not available I'll call Mikka Rosen.

Okay, well that's it for now. Back to my parental duties. Time to awaken my little cherubs...okay, gag, that sounded silly...time to wake up the 3 punks for school :o) That's more on target!

Have a great day, everyone! I am off to prepare for the day!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2011-09-24T08:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I turned 37 yesterday. I woke up to several birthday wishes, including hearing from my mother (she's currently living in the Azores).

I did not have to work, so I spent the day the way I wanted! It was a good day! At 7:30 I went to my friend Geri's house, several of my friends were there, and we ate pizza and drank wine! We laughed and laughed.

After Mallory & I went up to a little bar in town called Joker's. My friend's band, Skinny Lombard, was playing. So, John, the lead singer, called me up front and sang me happy birthday, and made the bar join in! It was a good time! John is such a sweetheart!

Anyway, good times. Tonight I'm heading up to Lord Stanley's to hang out with Mallory and some other friends and try to get free stuff from the Jager girls. :)

Not sure if Mallory got pics last night but if she did I will share :)

Tomorrow...tomorrow, I love you tomorrow..

2011-09-22T19:14:00.000-05:00

Sorry, couldn't help it...I sang that song once for contest. LOL!

So, I have tomorrow off, because my company gives us our birthday as a holiday! Sweet!

I'm looking forward to the day. I will still need to get up at the normal 5 a.m. to do my workout, make coffee then get the kids up for school. However, the rest of the day is mine! I hear it's going to rain, which sucks, however, I am still considering going out to some of the parks and taking pics. I'm feeling very inspired and creative lately. The poetry is flowing, everything I see I think of how it would look through a lens and my craftiness is in full gear.

I may even bake a bit tomorrow.

In the evening I'm going to Geri's for dinner with some of my friends (I may have mentioned this already).

Tomorrow I turn 37. I sometimes look back at my life and wonder how I survived my stepfather, my own stupidity, and then begin to wonder how all this time has flown past. It seems that so many of the desires and dreams I had have fallen to the wayside...I guess part of it is that it's time to reevaluate those things, because while I'm not where I thought I'd be I am certainly blessed. I have beautiful children, a beautiful grandson and great friends! To be surrounded by that many positives makes me pause and even feel bad for all the complaining and venting I do sometimes. Some people never feel that kind of love and acceptance. I mean, seriously, how lucky am I to be surrounded by these people who love me despite my flaws, despite my tendency for freaking out about little things, and despite all the bad things that they know I've done in my life...(no I haven't strangled anyone ...yet).

This weekend is for celebrating where I've been and how far I've come and celebrating the love I give and receive. It's for enjoying the little things and planning the big things.

I'm sure I'll have a few pics to share by the end of the weekend.

Have a great day, a great weekend etc.

Fantasy

2011-09-21T06:40:00.000-05:00

Sitting here listening to Sixx Sense and am listening to Aldo Nova's 'Fantasy'. That is one of the first songs that Bob ever played to me when we started dating...back in 1989. It brings back some memories that make me smile.

I am excited for Friday. It's my birthday and my friends Geri, Mallory & Mary are having dinner with me! Will be nice to hang out with my friends and enjoy an evening sans children and spouses. :o)~
Saturday night Mallory has decided we have to go to Lord Stanley's they are having the Jager girls and of course will be giving away free shit. LOL! This is what Mallory lives for...free shit!

I finished the afghan I've been working on. It's a very simple afghan, all double crochet with a single crochet border, but it's made with the LionBrand Homespun Ricocco color yarn. I think it's pretty, and it's very warm...Last night as I was finishing it up I had to open a window because it was making my lap so darn warm while I was working on it. HA!
It's 54" x 48 "

Considering making a website to sell my stuff on - I think I mentioned before that I took inventory and I have way too many projects completed that need to be sold and go to good homes :)

Next project - work on more hats for the chemo lab. I think his next appointment is in November...so I still have some time to get a few more dozen made. I also need to make a baby blanket for my nephew, no name chosen yet, who is going to be delivered via C-section on December 16.

Okay, time to head to work. Still hoping I get a nice Nikon camera for my birthday...or a Leica...a girl can wish....right?

Pics from the Chicago trip...

2011-09-18T09:31:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures from our trip to Chicago. Cassy had to take her boards there. My phone was almost dead by the time we left the art institute so I had to limit my picture taking. Note to self, take backup camera's on trips to the city!

Sorry I have not posted these before, just got them loaded to the computer from my phone.

Cody on the train, looking a little spacey early in the am

Brendon a little more chipper in the morning, Cody is coming around

Caiden was not real sure how he felt about riding the train....he warmed up to it after a while.

Caiden

Brendon checking out the scenery.

Gaven is a little camera shy.

The train ride began loosing it's fun factor after a while.

Jeff....are we there yet?

Wish my phone hadn't died, many of the places we walked had buildings with such interesting architecture, I'd have enjoyed photographing them, but that will have to be saved for another day, and a good camera.

The fountain in front of the Art Institute

Jeff helping Caiden take in the sites.

Cody and Brendon in front of the fountain.

This is so much more beautiful in person, my phone's camera does not do it justice.

Another, but different vantage point.

...looking into the water...

Brendon and Cody in front of the lion...

Took a couple shots to get them and the lion in the frame without cutting something off, was almost standing in the street to get this picture taken .

Buddha...interesting fella.

In the Japanese art area.

same one different angle.

For a while these are just pics of different art work I found interesting.

The Pieta...

Fountain at Grant Park.

more of the fountain...

Along Navy Pier.

Big boat.

The signage for Navy Pier

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

Harry Caray's tavern...we didn't stop, just took the pic.

I love the skylines in Chicago...

More skyline...

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier.

Got distracted by the skyline again.

and again.

Cassy & Caiden in line for the merry go round.

He seems to be enjoying his ride.

Cody was scared of the ferris wheel & the swings...so he opted for this ride with all the little kids.

He looks like the big kid that got stuck going on the kiddy ride with a younger sibling.

Brendon, however, is terrified of heights, so none of the rides on Navy Pier were to his liking.

Gaven on the swings.

Caiden & Cassy on the train ride.

Reggie's

2011-09-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last night we went into Chicago with my friend, Mallory. She took us to a club called Reggie's. Very cool place, Record store inside, roof top bar & grill, one area where they have jazz singers and such in, and then the Music Room. The music room area was where we went. We saw 4 bands, Friday Amp, Bison BC, Saviours, and Weedeater.

We got in early and made our way to the front rail in front of the stage. Good times. Shook hands with several of the band members and because we were with Mallory ended up speaking with several of the band members.

In the elevator

Lead singer from the Saviours in all his sexy glory

Guitarist, from Saviours, I can't think of his name, but Mallory seems to have a good relationship with him!

Mallory with some guy from Rome that she befriended.

Was a fun night, very entertaining!

Slacker!

2011-09-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a couple weeks since I logged on! I'm such a slacker sometimes.
So...latest and greatest:

August 27, 2011 - We (the kids, the grandson & daughter's friend Jeff) took the train to Chicago. Cassy had to take her board exams, and while that was occurring the rest of us went to the Art Institute. After her test was finished (SHE PASSED and is now a Licensed Cosmetologist!) we went walking through Chicago, we went through Grant Park, near thehttp://www.sheddaquarium.org/ we crossed the street and followed the path over to Navy Pier where we hung out for several hours before trekking back across the city to the train station. It was a very warm and exhausting day! By the time we got home I was ready for bed! But, it was a blast. I will load pics later, just don't know where my cord is to hook up my phone to my computer.

August 31, 2011: Brendon had a procedure done on his heart at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn...it was a very long day, but it went well and he was in recovery by about 1 p.m.

September 6, 2011: School started! Thank Goodness, those kids were starting to go stir crazy!

That's the latest and greatest from this end of the things.

Trying to get everything in order for the craft sale.

Crafts

2011-08-23T22:07:00.001-05:00

I tOok inventory this evening of the crafts I have completed & the supplies I have for more. I have 13 children's chemo caps & 9 adult chemo caps. 19 dish rags from yarn. 9 baby blankets, mostly pink & or variegated colors, however 1 is yellow so could be for a boy I suppose. I have a throw blanket that has a very deep pretty purple with verigated yarn thrown in. As well as 3 purses that are almost complete. I need to buy the material to sew in to them so that they can ve lined.

Other than working on chemo caps I also am working on a throw that is made from Lion brand homespun yarn. I picked up 32 Skiens for $20.00 at a garage sale.

Bonnie, my mother in law & I are considering getting a booth at the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival. Hopefully I can sell some stuff to get more money to get more yarn for the chemo caps, I can make about 4 a day because I can never sit & actually spend more than about 30 minutes at a time working on them.

Okay, need to take off. It's late & I'm tired. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow so certainly not riding to work.

2011-08-14T11:59:00.000-05:00

As promised a pic I took the other evening while out for a walk. This is the old train depot in DeKalb. I thought the way the storm was moving in looked very cool against the building.

When things go south...

2011-08-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

What a week, what a month, what a year...things are always difficult when raising a family. It seems that each time a person turns around something is wrong, someone needs a doctor, someone needs new shoes, the car needs work, and there is never quite enough of that person or that person's money to go around.

So, while I'll probably do some complaining I will be aware the entire time that I'm not the only one. This is just a safe place to vent it all.

I have recently had to put about $500 - $600 into my vehicle, which I was not unaware needed to be done, however, it fell upon me a bit more quickly than I had anticipated.
I also missed a bunch of work due to surgery, as well as to Brendon's tests and follow ups from the fiasco with his Asthma attack in May.

Yesterday I purchased school sneakers for the 3 boys. All three boys are old enough to not be satisfied with payless shoes. I understand this as I was the oldest kid in the family and always had to hear how so & so needed this or that, and then when I was out of school my siblings started getting the nice stuff that we never could afford. This leaves me with a tad bit of resentment. So, I don't want to do that to my kids. Thus I went with the slightly more expensive although not nearly as expensive as it could have been, thankfully they can still be talked into the Nike's that are on sale or clearance. As Gaven said "Mom, payless sucks, If I am wearing payless shoes and get beaten up it will be because my shoes suck! I'd rather get beaten up because I'm wearing cool shoes and someone wants to steal them from me." That's some 13 year old logic right there!

Okay, so needless to say, I'm always stressing about money, or lack thereof or how much has been spent...as my friend said "Savings account...who the hell can have a savings account with all these kids? We live paycheck to paycheck." I concur!

This morning, I am manager at work (tomorrow also...hurray). I got ready and walked to my truck. The seat was pretty far back because this guy I'm married to was driving it yesterday. Well, I have SHORT little legs...so I hit the button to move the seat forward...and NOTHING HAPPENED! I try again...Nothing. I hit the button to move it back and it went back. I then tried to move it forward again...NOTHING...

Well, that is just fan effin tastic! I started to cry for a moment...you know, I hate spending money on stuff and it seems like nothing can ever just go right for a short period of time, especially if I'm already stressing about money. So, I go in the house, get a pillow and put it behind my back so that I can reach the damn gas & break pedals. It reminds me of the old grandma's driving their cars around when I was younger. I am taller than they were...I just have short legs. SO! It's been a steller day and it's only 10 a.m.

I didn't win the lottery either, which was disappointing, as I bought a $1.00 ticket for that 240 million jackpot. Oh well...such is my life!

Well, folks, Have a great day. I'm off to do some work. I didn't go running this morning although I should have. I figure I'll take a good long run tomorrow morning before heading to work.

Results, Questions, etc.

2011-08-10T21:34:00.001-05:00

Okay, I apologize for the delay in answering this question here! The results of my biopsy were that it was benign. Good news! The bad news is it then leaves the question-what is causing these problems? The answer still eludes me.

Other than that; things are going well. I've been playing a lot with the camera's. Have some great shots but I can't seem to load them to my page from my phone-ugh! Will add later.

Brendon follows up with his pulmonologist tomorrow & the electrophysiologist on Friday.

Hopefully, we can get someplace with the school district.

I'm training for the 5K...ran my mile this morning in 9:45...not bad considering that I am so slow of a runner! I've shaved a minute fifteen seconds off my mile time. Haha! Said I was slow!

That's it for now...have a great day!

2011-07-31T20:01:00.001-05:00

I had my biopsy on July 25. To say that the discomfort from it has been pretty intense would be an understatemenT. However, at this point I am doing much better and not in a drug induced half awake state of being. The surgeon felt that it went well & following the surgery told Bob that she didn't think the node that was removed looked suspicious. The biopsy will still be completed, and I will have results on Tuesday August 2nd.

Mammogram results were negative, nothing bad going on there.

My nerves are still a bit stretched as the wait continues.

I now have a very large wound on my neck that needs to heal. The area is very sensitive. Swallowing is sometimes difficult, as is talking loudly & laughing loudly (which us what I do).

Can't wait to get back to training for the 5K I'm going to run at the SweetCorn Festival in Hoopeston, Illinois this year with my best friends big brother Steve Johnson. Hopefully, I can start training again this week.

Much love, thanks for the prayers & I will update as soon as I have information on the biopsy results.

"hhmm" Is not what I wanted to hear...

2011-06-27T06:18:00.000-05:00

While lying on the table having my ultrasound done! Why would the tech keep saying "hhmm" ? Why would the tech spend 5 minutes on the left side of my neck and 30 minutes on the right side of my neck? Why would the tech then tell me to sit tight because she was going to have her supervisor look at the images and decide if we needed more of the right side?

Needless to say I have no answers to those questions. Obviously something she saw on the right side of my neck was disturbing to her...I just think next time I will take in headphones and my MP3 players so I don't have to be subjected to strange sounds that are disconcerting to me!

The tech then told me to call my doctor Monday afternoon as he should have the report by then...I just think maybe not! I'll wait for him to call me! That sounds much better to me!

Today I am late manager at work. I have only 4 work days to get through and then it's a 4 day weekend that kicks off with Motley Crue, Poison and New York Dolls, and ends with a BBQ at my house with my brother and his family on July 4th. I am really looking forward to this weekend!

Dr., Dr. give me the news...

2011-06-24T07:04:00.002-05:00

I went to my doctor last week to discuss the MRSA issue...apparently it's like herpes...once you have gotten it (in your body) it's luggage you carry around forever. Since it is something that is opportunistic; it waits until your immune system is down to jump in and cause havoc. That's nice news!

However, upon examining me he showed concern at the fact that there are glands/lymph nodes in my neck that are larger than they should be...so he ordered more tests.

Yesterday I had blood work done. Today I go in for an ultrasound of my neck and a mammogram.

They said the results from all tests should be in next week...however, I have decided I will not answer or listen to the voice mails they leave until July 5th!
Why? You may ask. Well, it's simple really. I am taking July 1st off (which will be exactly 1 week from the tests I'm having today) to go to Motley Crue (and Poison & New York Dolls) at Tinley Park. July 2nd I am going with some girlfriends to get pedicures. July 3rd my friends are having a big 4th of July bash with a band at their house, July 4th I'm cooking out with my family. So all news, good or bad, will have to wait until July 5th as I don't want to take the chance of having my fun filled weekend ruined by worry or being upset, and since there is no way to know what the news will be, I am choosing to ignore it all until the 5th.

This is Nikki Sixx - Bassist for Motley Crue who I freely admit to having been crushing on for years. I can't wait to see him next Friday!

I didn't know this is what they meant when they said DOG DAYS OF SUMMER...

2011-06-18T07:32:00.000-05:00

The liver (dark brown) colored dog is Brownie...we got him about 5 years ago from an old man who had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was having to go to Chicago for treatment several times a week, so he wanted someone to take care of him. He had only recently rescued Brownie from a very abusive environment.
When we got Brownie he was scared of everyone and everything...now it's mainly just thunderstorms that send him under the bed for hours at a time.
However, as he's gotten more comfortable he also has begun to...stretch his legs more. Meaning...he's all about jumping over the 4 foot fence, or going under the fence if he finds a weak spot, or darting out of the gate if the kids leave it open for two seconds.
A month ago, I had to pay $150.00 to get him out of the vets office because he had run and been picked up by animal control! The extra $50.00 was because his 3 years rabies shot was due (had expired the week before and I had an appointment for the NEXT DAY). So, they wouldn't release him to us unless we paid them to do it.
Yesterday, he scooted under the fence (apparently in a place where my husband had left a few too many inches of gap between the metal U's he had put down along the fence line to keep that from happening. He was again picked up by animal control...who remembered him...but still took him to their vet's office...which meant a $75.00 fee for picking him up and a $17.50 fee for boarding him...He wasn't even there an hour because we had called the city police and filed a report so as soon as animal control called it in, BEFORE they had gotten to the vet's office, they knew who the dog belonged to and the city police called us. I then had 15 minutes to get all the way to the town next to ours to pick him up or they would have closed and I'd have had to wait until today and paid an additional $17.50 for boarding.
This dog and I are gonna box soon!

Apparently these are the dog days of summer.

Opportunities abound...

2011-06-10T05:53:00.000-05:00

Good morning! I had the most amazing encounter with someone last night that happened at the book store. Last night I went to pick up some books on summer curriculum for my darling boys...and there happened to be a gentleman in front of me picking up his books that had come in. He mentioned to the cashier that he was an Instructor of Portuguese at the University.

I being how I am said excuse me "Did you just say that you are the instructor of Portuguese at NIU?" He replied that he was and asked if I was interested in taking the class. I asked if he taught Brazilian Portuguese or European Portuguese. Unfortunately he teaches Brazilian, however, he also speaks European. He then inquired if I was planning a trip to Portugal.

When I told him that I am 100% Portuguese and that my family is from the Azores, he about flipped his lid. He said he's always wanted to visit the Azores and asked if I still speak any of it. I told him that I do speak a very limited amount but have been trying to slowly rebuild my vocabulary. He asked me to say a few things in Azorian Portuguese, so I obliged and we had a discussion on the differences between mainland Portuguese and Azorian Portuguese as well as the differences in Brazilian Portuguese. For example...Good Day I would pronounce as Bom Dia, however in Brazil they would say it Bom Gia. He was very excited over this.

He gave me his number and told me to please consider taking his class in the fall. I am going to contact the admissions office today and find out what I need to do to take only 1 class over there. If I can take it simply for the joy of learning something etc.

If I am unable to do so, I intend to contact him and request that he privately tutor me once a week or something...

I am so excited about this encounter. It's a big town, what are the chances? Considering that Mae and Gilberto are living in Terceira, I really do need to learn this...besides it's part of my own history. I once spoke it fluently. It was my first language. It's a shame that I lost it due to the insecurity of my stepfather, but a bigger shame if I fail to take an opportunity that falls into my lap!

That's my exciting update...I desperately want to learn it. I want to hear it spoken. Going to ask my Mae (mother) to get me a good music CD. Music and learning go hand in hand for me...so maybe that's the ticket. :)

Okay, have a fabulous day all! I am late manager and since it's raining and I don't want to go running in the rain, I am going to sit here, have some coffee, play on facebook during my first cup, then probably work on some of the Chemo caps I'm making before heading in to work. Our floors are being torn up anyway so it's a horrendous pain in the arse to be there.

7 Crazy Days!

2011-06-01T20:18:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy week! I had the abscess issue to deal with...which is still in the process of healing. Thankfully I work with nurses and they are willing to help me out by packing the wound and cleaning it out! God love 'em!

We had a torrential downpour on Sunday. My enclosed porch got a little soggy in one spot...thankfully the landlord is replacing the roof this summer.

My daughter received a text message a few days ago from a girl she attends Cosmetology School with that said "Goodbye" she replied back but got no response...later in the night she found out the girl had shot herself. This young girl was the mother of 3 little children including a son with Down's Syndrome. She was going through a divorce and unfortunately felt that this was the answer. It absolutely breaks my heart to think that anyone is in such a desperate place as to feel that suicide is the only option.

Last night as I was sitting on the couch I apparently ground my teeth together and one of my teeth chipped...and exposed a nerve :( Thanks to some dental wax (for people with braces) and Norco I made it through the night and the day with little trouble and managed to get an appointment at the dentist's office this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. where he promptly removed the bad tooth!

So...needless to say the week has been challenging.

Positives from the past 7 days
~I've realized that I do have a very high threshold for pain.
~Sometimes other peoples sorrows make you realize how thankful you should be for the love you have in your life.
~ I am now 32 days without a cigarette.

Well my friends...that's it for now. Working on some more hats as soon as it becomes too dark to sit out on my patio enjoying the warmth and watching my kids. I also need to start putting together a newsletter for work.

Ride safe...and keep in mind that when cycling becomes a strange obsession that's all about #'s (miles, speed, cadence, time) it's no longer something that brings you complete freedom and joy! You've become a slave to the sport. With that in mind...Ride FUN!

Abscess ...what a mess.

2011-05-27T15:42:00.000-05:00

Wednesday I had to go to the Emergency Department because I had a swollen area that was red and painful...turned out it was an abscess.

It had to be lanced and cleaned out and packed. Not fun! Thank goodness for pain medication.

I am recovering...been lying on the couch for the better part of yesterday and today. I go from excruciating pain to being so nauseated that I can't even consider putting anything in my mouth without gagging, to being so exhausted that I can't keep my eyes open...I hope this heals up quickly so I can get back to doing the things I love to do.
Just to gross ya'll out...here ya go...that is packing in the wound and it is not enlarged...that is the size of the darn thing...OUCH!

HOLY WINDY DAY BATMAN!

2011-05-23T19:40:00.000-05:00

Commute to work this morning : 17.36 miles. 15 mph winds from the SW, with gusts at 19 mph. Made it with an average speed of 14.6 mph.

Commute almost home: 12.5 miles. 21 mph winds from the W, gusts at 29 mph. Most of the ride I was heading North with the wind pushing at me...very tiring. I called home and asked for a ride 5 miles from town...I was cashed and my butt hurt.

First good ride of the year though, really of the past year and a half.

I'm tired. I am also feeling so good! I rode hard...I haven't smoked for 23 days. I haven't had an urge in at least a week! I am thrilled with how good I feel.

Tomorrow morning I am not going to be riding my bike to work. I'll be going for a run with my dog Izzy prior to driving to work.

Okay...Gonna take off and spend the evening taking a nap (?) lol! Kidding...gonna work on the caps for chemo.

Happy Riding my friends! It feels so good to be back on the bike!

Oh weekend...where did you go?

2011-05-16T05:24:00.000-05:00

As much as I disliked the state of the weather outside this weekend, it sure would have been nice to be able to go outside and enjoy myself. It was cold and rainy all weekend though so I stayed inside and actually got a lot accomplished.

The upstairs is clean...and by clean I mean clean...the only way it could be cleaner would be if there weren't 3 preteen boys, a 19 year old and a baby living up there! Considering yanking out some of the carpet as well because the carpet is probably as old as the house and in Brendon's room it's also jacked up from the previous homeowner's kid being a pyro.

My front porch which serves as my office/craft/photography/library room (it's not that big, I just have a lot of junk packed in there) is now organized again after
a long winter in which anything that people didn't want to deal with got tossed in there.

I finished several of the chemo caps as well as about a half dozen dishcloth's.

It's 36 degrees at the moment and I'm drinking this coffee not really wanting to get moving for work.

I have to leave at 11 a.m. to get Brendon to the cardiologist...Brendon wants to go to work with me. I'm still weighing the pro's and con's to this.

Oh, not sure if I mentioned but Bob and Chris actually moved the car stereo from my old vehicle to my Explorer....I went to the store yesterday and had the new Sixx A.M. CD cranked up in my truck. Hurray!

All right; there really is nothing to report. Safe and Happy Riding...I'm hoping the weather warms up so I can tackle this almost 18 mile commute soon!

Hospital

2011-05-14T06:07:00.000-05:00

Wednesday I received a message on my cell phone when I came back to my office following morning report, the call had been from the school, informing me that Brendon had come in from playing basketball outside during gym (in 90+ degree weather) and had been complaining of chest pain.

I called back to the school, requested that they go get Brendon and let me talk to him...they did. Brendon informed me that he was complaining because his chest felt like it was being squeezed and he was having trouble breathing, which was apparently in the way he was breathing.

At no point did they get his inhaler and give it to him!

I left work and picked him up. When I arrived at the school, one of the district nurses had been called over, she informed me that Brendon really was fine, even though he was sweating and hunched a bit and breathing in gasps. She said his O2 was ok, his bp was okay, and it was probably just the heat. She also indicated that she had "felt" his heart because he had complained that it felt that it was squeezing but also that it was palpitating again (he had the palpitations quite a lot during Bob's chemo), but that she didn't feel any palpitations.

I left the school with him and took him to the hospital, where while walking in he was leaning on me and struggling to breathe. They put him in triage right away, shortly thereafter had him on Oxygen and then began Nebulizer treatments on him. 7+ hours in the hospital and his discharge papers indicated that he had been seen for Exacerbated Asthma.

To say I think the nurse was dead wrong and put my son's well being in jeopardy would be an understatement! I am very angry.

The following day I had to have him to his specialists, an hour away, the pulmonologist put him on a steroid for 5 days....Brendon's big concern was if the steroids were going to make his penis smaller!

Monday he will see his cardiologist and be fitted with a heart monitor to wear for a month to try to capture the palpitations and figure out what is causing them.

I believe that the school staff certainly doesn't want to see a child harmed, however, I believe that they lack the education regarding asthma, attack prevention and heart conditions...I say this because this is the second time Brendon has had a big asthma attack and they have not recognized it because he isn't WHEEZING! The nurse at the school actually had the nerve to tell me that his heart condition, pulmonary stenosis, is a lung condition not a heart condition....I had to explain what his pulmonary stenosis was and educate her...her response "Oh, I'm going to have to do some research on that." My response to that "I would suggest you do, and I would suggest next time you do that research prior to arguing with a parent about their child's diagnosis."

Day 3 following the attack and he's up with me this morning...sitting on the couch, feeling a little better, the humidity has broken and this morning is actually a little on the chilly side. Here's hoping he feels 100% soon!

Today I will be completely cleaning my upstairs and trying to find out if I can pull the carpet from his room to assist in giving him some relief from possible allergens that would contribute to his asthma (specialist says really silly to do the tests...we have cats, it probably doesn't help...I think the specialist has a thing against cats lol!).

Hot, hot, hot...

2011-05-11T05:56:00.001-05:00

Yesterday it got up to 94 degrees here! Oh happy day! How I love hot summer days. (even if it's only spring!)

Did not do a workout this morning. Instead did a meditation and read my Bible. My prayer life is severely lacking lately...probably from all the stress lately.

Did you know that Worry is from an Anglo-Saxon word that means "harm" and is another form of the word "wolf"...hhhmmm interesting...I didn't go researching this - it was a portion of the meditation this morning...but, that would sum up about how that feels...So, trying to give it all to God and only deal with what's on my plate right now.

Enjoyed my grandson yesterday....who I babysat while his mother worked late. He was outside all night and exhausted by 9 pm. He started falling asleep in my arms.

This was him earlier in the night trying to shake the hanging plant off the Shepherd hook. He turned to me when I said "NO" and gave me this very unhappy with me type of look...apparently not liking what Avo says is part of the babysitting gig. HAHA!

This week is nursing home week: yesterday we had wheelchair races...oh my goodness, it was so much fun! Even if I raced against a guy who's friend has been in a wheelchair since he was a kid so they always have wheelchair races...my girls from the kitchen tried to help me and at the turn around grabbed his wheelchair to help me catch up...it didn't help for more than a second or two as I then ran into the wall! LMAO! It was so much fun! I high fived Jonathan (the guy who beat me) afterwards...even if he did have an unfair advantage. It was a blast and the residents were sitting at either end of the hall cheering us on! That's the kind of stuff that makes every other day of frustration in the nursing home seem so worth it! The residents were laughing and hollering and seeing them with big old smiles made the day PERFECT!

Okay, off to make a dish for work that I completely forgot about. Thanks to my friend & co worker Christina for the friendly text message at 5:50 a.m. reminding me of the need for a dish to pass!

Early Mornings before the rain...

2011-05-10T05:48:00.000-05:00

It's about 5:30 a.m. I brewed some coffee while doing a short workout...went back to my martial arts training and pulled out some old workout stuff from that. Felt good, definitely stretched some things that haven't been stretched in a while.

Now I'm on my back patio, with my computer and a cup of coffee...watching my dogs be silly. It smells like rain and I know we are set for some thunderstorms today, and pretty much all week. It could really rain between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. every day and I would be just fine with that :o) By the way...I love the smell of rain.

Day 11 without a smoke...feeling pretty darn good!

Now to do the following with my spare time:
1. Learn to play the guitar...my friend Sarah will teach me...but of course charge me...considering looking online to learn some basics.

2. Finish the 200 hats for the St. Jude kids...

3. Seriously learn to speak Portuguese since my Mai has moved to Portugal!

4. Complete at least 2 - 5K runs this summer.

5. Complete the Beanzie Century Ride, and at least 1 other this summer.

6. Get my office/craft room area in order.

7. Prepare for the annual garage sale.

Well, I suppose that's enough to work on for the summer...considering I still will have birthday parties and the like to deal with.

Happy Riding my friends...hope to see you out there!

Morning Run fun...

2011-05-09T06:11:00.000-05:00

This morning on our run, my dog Izzy, who is an english bull dog/boxer mix was not happy about seeing the police dog statue standing there. She stopped our run and crept up on it...this picture was shortly before she decided the dog was not going to be trouble! lol!

Day 10 without a smoke...going much easier than everyone expected...so stupid to have started back up when Bob was diagnosed...but what's been done can't be undone...move forward! Feeling great other than this bit of lung butter I began coughing up over the weekend...not much, not often but often enough that I'm totally grossed out! My body's way of driving home the ridiculousness of having this habit?

Oh...and happy mother's day to me...I have Motley Crue Tickets!!!!!!!!!!! HURRAY!

Not riding in this morning...figure I'll alternate for a while, run, lifting, cycling....redo. :o)

Safe riding my friends!

In other news....

2011-05-08T06:28:00.000-05:00

Aside from planting my flowers and sprucing up my backyard...(constant work in progress when there are 4 boys, my 3 + my grandson and three dogs, always in the yard playing...here's what's new:

1. baby shower for an in-law yesterday. Yes...I like her...however, I do not like some of the people in the family who are very quick to be a-holes...you would think after 18 years they'd have gotten over trying to run me out...but I guess they aren't fast learners :o)

2. Gaven went on his Springfield field trip and was totally engrossed and amazed at some of the things he saw & learned...here's hoping this makes him a little more interested in LEARNING in general!

3. Had the meeting for Cody at the school, due to the grade 2 brain bleed he had at birth, his diagnosis of a processing delay due to this brain bleed and his social feelings of awkwardness the school has put into place some "helps" for him for his transition this fall into Jr. High. He will have an assisted study hall, either at the beginning of the day or the end of the day, either way it will allow him to get help with any homework he has. :) The social worker will also be checking in with him often to make sure he is adjusting properly. I am very happy with the elementary school, especially the principal who has always had Cody's best interest at heart.

4. I had my first bike commute to work the other day! Oh my gosh - it felt so great to be back on the bike. 17.3 miles - 18.0 miles depending on which route I take...I took the one that was pretty close to 18 miles. It was amazing, even if still a bit on the chilly side. I rode the Trek since the Wingra is still in the bike shop...the repairs were kind of steep and my finances have been in a valley with all the medical stuff happening with the kids and Bob. But, I hope to have it out of there soon and back on the road for this beautiful commute. There is 1 pretty long hill on the route that I took that really kicked my butt, I hope by the end of summer it doesn't feel like a problem for me.

5. Having picked up the habit of smoking during Bob's cancer diagnosis and treatment was stupid, especially since I had not smoked in 5 years...however, it was stressful and we all do stupid things once in a while. I have again kicked the habit...and am pretty damn happy about that development...as are my kids who keep asking me how many days it's been and high fiving me! :)

6. My hair is black now in case anyone didn't see my pics.

7. Read This is Gonna Hurt - it was a great book, the pictures and the writing are very thought provoking and make one seriously consider and perhaps reconsider their thoughts on beauty and the beauty of those surrounding them...as well as looking into themselves to see what they should be changing...or at least that is the impact it had on me.

8. I have recently picked up my very old Minolta camera and been out taking photos...alot...the cost of printing the film may put a hamper on this. I hope to get (perhaps for my birthday or christmas...hint to my family) a nice and new canon or nikon digital camera with lenses. :o)

9. I treated myself for mother's day ...and bought a 4 pack of tickets to see Motley Crue ! I'm STOKED! I saw them last year and I have to say Vince was disappointing...I know that's probably a crummy thing to say considering the guy is expected to sing every day during a tour and his voice probably hurts and it's likely he was having one of those days when I did see him...but I was pissed...like C'mon pretty boy...Sing to me...I didn't come to watch you put the microphone over the jerks in the first row who payed big bucks to come see you...I'm in these damn lawn seats...getting kicked every time some jackass walks past me stumbling around from a day of excessive drinking and what I really want is for you to make it all better with that sweet little voice of yours...Okay...off my high horse now...Vince has always rubbed me a little wrong, while on the other hand I think Nikki Sixx is AMAZING. :o)

10. It's Mother's day...to all the mother's out there - please have a beautiful, blessed, enjoyable day. Here the sun is shining, my family is still sleeping and my coffee is fresh...taco's at my mother in law's later will be a fun time!

Happy Riding my friends...

Spring has sprung...

2011-05-08T05:59:00.000-05:00

I always feel like spring has come when my flowers are planted...below ...my flowers...this was how I spent yesterday evening!

^a little arrangement of flower pots that I had lying around.

^ a built in flower bed on my patio...I think it's cool.

^ our fire pit from several years ago...I painted the metal red, took a few cinder blocks to help hold up the metal as it had some weak spots from using it as a fire pit, I took an old newspaper bag that Cassy had used while delivering papers which has been sitting in the shed forever and laid it down inside the firepit as a cover up for the holes and to keep the dirt in:) Then planted...Hurray for recycle and reuse!

^ Shephard's hooks & hanging plants :)

^ a single plant and an old bucket that was lying in the shed both filled with flowers.

^ This wicker basket I found lying in the trash one day when I was taking a walk. Picked it up, lined it with an old t-shirt that was set for either using as a rag or tossing...filled it with dirt and voila ...we have a pretty little flower basket.

A Friday Off....

2011-04-30T05:27:00.000-05:00

I was off yesterday due to being weekend manager. Today and tomorrow I will be at work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (boo!)

However, yesterday was productive in some ways and not in others.

We had a meeting at the school for Cody which went amazingly well. I'm happy to say that they listened to our concerns for his transfer to 6th grade, addressed them, discussed options with me and I think we all walked away feeling positive. I thought I should post that since I'm the first person to complain about the school...I should also be the first person to throw out the praise when they do it right.

After that I had to go to the beauty school to be my daughter, Cassy's, makeover model. I had told her I wanted to go from my natural Auburn hair to Blonde...she said no because she didn't think the bleach at the school would work well on my hair...so I decided to go in the opposite direction...BLACK!

I love it...even if everyone else is shocked and even a little appalled! I may even stay like this for a while!

Gotta scram....coffee is finished and I need some before I head to work for a very long day!

A whole lot of pain...

2011-04-23T07:13:00.000-05:00

In the past week I have been in and out of the hospital and my doctor's office. Last Friday I got home at the end of the evening and my Left leg was swollen twice as big as my right.
Went to the hospital (it was burning as well)...they said cellulites after doing an ultrasound to rule out the blood clot. Told me to follow up with my doctor on Monday.
Monday - at the doctor's office - he says it's not cellulites...it's swollen because I shave (apparently he has a thing against women shaving...) he also told me to lose weight because being 20 lbs overweight is probably causing my joints on the left side to ache....
Tuesday - I call because while sitting at work in tears and shaking because I'm in so much pain our Director of Nursing and Restorative nurse looked at my leg (still swollen) and seeing how much pain I was in said for me to call back to my doctor and explain the pain to the nurse...I do...she says - "do you want pain pills?" I replied that I simply wanted to know what was happening and why and that I wouldn't mind some relief from the pain. So, she told me to come back in to the office & Doc would see me...I go...he tells me that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia (I've NEVER been diagnosed with either, nor tested for either). Then he went on to say that I'm probably depressed which would cause pain as well...WHAT? So, he wrote me a script for an antidepressant and sent me on my way...the script is sitting in my wallet as I have not filled it!
Wednesday - Director of Nursing and Restorative Nurse are beside themselves with what I have been told by the doctor.
Wednesday night - I'm in excruciating pain and am literally rocking in bed in pain....
Thursday - go to work - in extreme pain and eating advil like crazy...not helping...can hardly move!
Friday - go to work - still in extreme pain and still eating otc pain meds like candy...not helping. The Director of Nursing and Restorative nurse tell me to go to the nearby hospital (different one than I went to last Friday).
Friday afternoon - leave work early and go to the hospital...I was in tears because I was in so much pain. The doctor seriously felt sorry for me and gave me some pretty good pain meds. He also referred me to a different doctor who takes my insurance and told me that I need a MRI of my leg...and I need to be checked and ruled out for MS as well as a few other things including R.A.
Today is the Easter Vigil at church for the class I teach at church...I am not going to be able to make it. I can't sit in one place and especially not on a hard bench for 3 hours, nor can I stand for more than a few minutes at a time, I am certainly not kneeling and I am loopy on these pain killers.

Hoping for answers soon!

Wow! It's been a long time

2011-04-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

No Joke! Months have gone by! Sometimes time slips past and I just seem to have lost it...unfortunately there's no going back and getting it.

So...

Packers won the superbowl!

Still not on my bike and riding :(

Funds are low...don't want to talk about that.

Bob is cancer free :) Since July :) This is a big deal .

Gaven's voice is changing - sounds like it's going to be deep!

I'm exhausted...calling it a night - will try to update more often! I do apologize for my absence...

Football tidbits...

2010-12-28T05:24:00.000-06:00

Gov. Ed Rendell had lots to say about the Sunday's Eagles/Viking's game being postponed by the NFL. I think I laughed out loud when my husband handed me his phone to show me the quote from Mr. Rendell. I do believe that his comments were hysterical!

As for this evenings game...I believe I will have to root for the Eagles...even though I dislike them...alot! Basically because them winning screws the Bears over a bit...Which we know I'm all about!

This past Sunday the Packer's played very well, let's hope they play that well this coming Sunday against the Bears! I certainly hope so...we will be hosting our annual Packers/Bears game day party....and all these damn Bears fans in my house is going to be bad enough...but to have the Bears beat the Packers would be downright Shameful!

Tis the Season...

2010-11-27T06:44:00.000-06:00

Today the kids and I will be baking. Mainly, Chocolate chip & Peanut Butter cookies! YUMMY! No Christmas tree up yet, and I don't intend to put it up until December 3rd.
Nor do I intend to decorate for Christmas this weekend.

However, I am preparing the Christmas Cards to go out this week, along with perhaps a few pictures and a little note for all of our friends and family.

I also need to prepare the newsletter for my class!

Bob has labwork on the 3rd of December, and I need to get another 6 chemo caps finished before them so that I can take up 2 dozen. I've been slacking...

Actually, slacking isn't exactly the right verbage...I've been extremely busy at work (yes, I still LOVE my new job), I finished crocheting a present for someone near and dear to my heart, I have been working on lesson's for my class, faithfully hitting the gym, running the children back and forth to all of their things and just frankly haven't had a lot of sit down and do what I want time.

However, this is why the title to today's post is accurate...it's the season for busyness. For running around (as my mother used to say) like a chicken with it's head cut off (if you've ever seen this phenomena it's actually rather DISTURBING)...the problem with this time of year is that so often we forget what the entire point of the season is...LOVE!

In it's most basic breakdown that is what this season is about...
The christmas story is about God's love for human kind...and we need to remember to show that type of love to our fellow man. (if you're belief systems aren't the same as mine, you know what I'm saying here...there's still a lesson in it and that lesson is Love)!

Spend time with your families & Your FRIENDS (because let's face it folks...sometimes our friends know us better than our own families). Let them know how much they mean...It's a season for relaxing, enjoying each other's company, Making traditions, playing games, decorating, being silly and happy!

Side note: Alcohol around this time of year helps, especially when dealing with family :o)~ Joking!!!!

Anyway, just a reminder to not forget to breathe in all this holiday madness and shopping extravaganza.

My vow this year is to:
go sledding with the kids (making sure to bring inhalers for the ones with Asthma, as well as hot cocoa to warm them up)!
Take time to sit down and play lots of Uno, yatzee and all the other games that they love to play and that I often tell them to deal me out because I'm so insanely busy!
Remember to water the Christmas tree so it doesn't wither by the 20th of December!
Bake a lot and eat alot and not worry about the calorie count...
continue going to the gym during this season...that should help since I'm not going to worry about my calorie count! :o)~

This year we have so much to be thankful for....and to feel blessed about....(not that we haven't in the past but last year was a little shadowed to me)....

I have a husband (Soul mate) who is again cancer free!
I have 4 beautiful children, who have given me so many wonderful moments!
I have an adorable and sweet grandson! Who is a part of my life each and every day! Both he and my children remind me each day of the wonder around us if we just slow down and look!
I have friends who stand by my side regardless of how I'm behaving, feeling or needing! They are true friends who even if we don't talk for long periods of time still care!
I have 3 fat and lazy dogs who try to eat me out of house and home but who will protect us all with no thoughts to their own safety!
I have a wonderful new job that I am so thankful I took a chance on and so thankful for the people who gave me the encouragement to be free spirited enough to make the leap!

the list goes on and on....but those are up there at the top.

Friends: have a safe and blessed holiday season! God Bless!

Disappointment....

2010-10-09T05:46:00.000-05:00

I have a business relationship with a gentleman who owns a marketing company. In the past he has told me that he works with different musicians on their tour promo stuff. He'd also told me that if I ever wanted tickets to a concert for one of the musicians he works with that I should simply let him know.

So, after several years of knowing him, I called in the favor. Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie were playing in Bloomington, IL. last night (10/8/10). He had mentioned his relationship with Alice Cooper many times and when I called him about this particular concert I was asked how many tickets and told it was a done deal...he'd send me the tickets and throw in 4 of the promo t-shirts that he does for the shows...HOW SWEET!

Last week I called, he said he'd have them in 2 days and would be sending them over to me....then he called me on Tuesday and said that he had shipped them out on Monday and they would arrive at my house on Tuesday morning by 10:30 a.m.

I left work at my normal 4:30 p.m. and drove home; excited to open the package containing my tickets...I ran into the house, dropped my purse, bag, and keys on the dining room table, yanked open the door to the enclosed front porch, unlocked the screen door leading to the steps ....NOTHING was there....

After this when I tried to call him on Wednesday and Thursday and even once on Friday morning I was sent to voice mail.

I also contacted UPS and Fed EX...neither had any history of a package being sent to me...that's nice!

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.

I think it's pretty crummy to play with someone's hopes like that but, lesson learned. From now on, rely on no one for my entertainment and just buy my own damn tickets!

On a happier note: We will be going to see Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth next weekend in Milwaukee, Wi. Our friend will be at the house watching the kids and so we will get a hotel room, and then drive to Madison, WI. when we wake up and have an early dinner with friends of ours whom we haven't seen in several years.
I'm very excited about that.

Beautiful weather this weekend. I am busy all day today but may go on a bike ride tomorrow morning.

Ride safe!

A permanent solution to a temporary problem...

2010-09-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

The title of today's entry is what a friend of mine said when I shared the sad news I received yesterday.
My children's cousin committed suicide the night before last. He was really the nephew of my sister in law (my brother's wife)...but my brothers kids, him and his brothers and my kids all hung out together and thought of themselves as cousins...so as far as any of us were concerned that's what they were - cousins.
He was only 12 years old. He hung himself.
There are no words to describe the shock and the pain of this; although I can't help myself and feel that writing it out here may help.
I got the news yesterday morning and couldn't believe it. My 12 year old had just walked out of my line of vision as my mother was telling me this horrible news. I wanted to go run after him and hold him! My other two boys were standing there but didn't know what was going on because I wasn't really saying much of anything...
We (my husband and I) broke the news to them last night. That was even harder than the day we had to tell them Bob had cancer...and I had a very difficult time with that...this was a thousand times more horrendous to have to share. My 12 year old walked around for hours mumbling to himself, things like 'Why, I just don't understand.' I think we all feel that way. One of the twins cried and cried...and finally cried himself to sleep after several hours. The other twin hasn't said much of anything...although he did say that he was going to say a prayer that Jesus would take care of his cousin until we could all see him again.

That's my news...my emptying and sharing in a vain attempt to purge myself of this terrible ache and pit in both my heart and my stomach.
God's Peace E.J. You are loved and are missed!

What a freakin' day!

2010-09-14T19:01:00.000-05:00

My day started out early - as usual, with my husband running late and one sick child (who began complaining last night but the dr's office was closed and the answering service told me they'd be in first thing in the morning).
Really, the only good part of my day was my time spent at the gym running - and I assure you that was a rough run...however it was the high point in my day.
After getting to work my boss sent a stack of papers flying at me...she tossed them across the table in my direction without saying a word. Apparently she's a little pissed at me because I'll be leaving the facility soon. (gave my two week notice and Friday is my last day). Later I sent her an email regarding the stuff on the stupid papers she tossed at me...only to get a reply back saying that I could feel free to come to her office and verify that my paperwork was in by going through the financial files...seriously? Then added to it was another love note saying that she's not angry with me but that she just wants to make sure all my work is done because it isn't fair to her or to the person who will take my place if they have to do any work that I left unfinished...seriously; has she EVER had to do my work? NO....not even when I missed 17 of the 25 days in the month that my husband was diagnosed with cancer did she or anyone else for that matter have to do my work! So - Yes, I'm angry! On top of this she then tried to throw me under the bus on an insurance problem we've been having...thanks! Glad I've spent the past 6 years busting my ass for you! That makes it all worthwhile!
To make the day even better; I call the doctors office for my son to get an appointment only to be told that the doctor is out of the country until the end of next week! Gee, wonderful. So, I shoot my husband a text and tell him we are going to have to take him to the ER...in response he goes on a tangent about how I should have done this last night when he first complained about a sore throat...and how he hates taking the kids to doctors....right on! Don't we all? Seriously, does anyone think I have enjoyed any of the thousands of hours I have had to sit in hospitals with my husband or my children? Of course not - it's not really enjoyable time to spend...however, the last time I checked I didn't sign up for single parenthood...so share and share alike especially when I'm stuck at work until 8 p.m.
So, I call his mother - who I know is off work soon - (there were still about 3 hours until my husband was getting off work)...she took him to the hospital and had him checked...he has strep throat. Soon after this finding I start getting texts from my sis in law...this makes me remember why I get so pissy with her! instead of saying something like "hey, next time one of the kids is sick please don't ask mom to be with them...she's getting older (62) and doesn't need to get sick" I get "I sure the hell hope mom doesn't get sick." "I start a new job tomorrow. Cassy and Caiden were over here yesterday. So was Ayla. This is perfect." To which I respond "Well, I hope no one else gets sick!" and she says "Oh so then its all ok. Thanks! Ya it takes mom WAY longer to recover. This was not a smart move!"
My reply was "point taken thanks"
The reply I really wanted to send was more like "Hey, piss off - people get sick and your moms in pretty damn good health so why don't you have a big fat cup of shut the hell up."
Right - it's been a bad day. Gonna go home - have a glass of wine or a Mike's hard lemonade or a jack daniels with some coca cola and lock myself in my room and forget about everyone for the night!
Aren't you glad you decided to read my blog tonight? LOL!
Well, I feel better now, at least!

Good Run

2010-09-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

It was raining when it was time to go for our run. So, we compromised and went to the Y to run. It was a good run...2 miles (that's right only two miles; but I didn't say it was a long run just a good one). Felt good throughout the entire two miles and ran a little faster than I have been over the past two weeks of training. Going to just slowly add mileage and speed.
I'm currently running 5 to 6 days per week and alternating distance/speed. For instance: Tuesday I did my two mile run...Wednesday I only ran 1 mile but ran it considerably faster than I've been running the two miles. I then did a core workout to follow up the short run. This is the pattern and it's working as I've dropped several pounds already.

That's about it for today - I'm making spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs for dinner! YUMMY!

Tomorrow is FOOTBALL SUNDAY! Bears game (I hope they lose) followed by a Packers game (I hope they win).

Good riding to my cycling friends - I've been back on the bike as well in the evenings with a friend who decided to take it up for fun. Feels so good to be back on the Trek and enjoying the things I did before (as my blogging friend pointed out...I took a long vacation and indeed I did...from all the things I enjoy but now I'm back to it! ).

Saturday Morning Rain ...run? and other randomness!

2010-09-11T06:40:00.000-05:00

Rhonda and I are scheduled for an outdoor run this morning through Huber Park, however, I am sitting on my enclosed porch and it's raining out. I'm not really a big fan of running outside anyway - but in the rain it's really not going to happen. Maybe we will switch this up and hit the gym! I'm certainly not in the mood to get rained upon! The reason I dislike running outside, for you people who can't fathom why I might feel this way is a very simple one...I have difficulty pacing myself, so will run fast and then die out and have to stop to walk...it's crazy and it's crummy but that's how it is...I haven't had to pace myself since when I was on the Track team...and folks, that was a LONG time ago!

Brendon and Cody have a birthday later on to attend.

Considering the rain and the cooler temps I believe I'm going to make soup and grilled cheese for dinner...although the guys may shoot me for that since they are talking about putting the new motor into the Jeep (1983 CJ-7) today...maybe I should make some MEAT!

I think after my run I'll start working on some of my crochet projects which I really left alone all summer. I have some ideas for cute Christmas presents so I need to get to work!

I also need to start working on the Halloween Costumes...our family is doing a theme this year and I need to get to crackin on it since it's going to be sort of difficult to get it all together!

R.C.I.C. classes started this week as well, so I have lesson plans to work on as well!

Oh yes, and this coming week is my last week at Bethany Health Care...I will be moving on and going to another facility as their business office manager!

5 K Run ...

2010-09-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

Rhonda and I have signed up for a 5K run. So, the training has begun. This has been going on for about 2 weeks now.
I ran 2 miles this morning without almost having a heart attack! Walked another half mile and then did 100 crunches.

Haven't been doing much bike riding :( and starting my new job soon won't help on that front since I will be driving to work now.
However, the training is in full gear. Hopefully it will have the desired effect!

KISS

2010-09-07T19:13:00.000-05:00

We took Gaven as a present for being stuck with his little brothers hanging around him all summer. We purchased lawn seats but leveled up right away. Not the greatest seats in the world but not the worst and way better than the crummy lawn at Tinley Park. So, We had a BLAST! KISS was phenomenal!

This is Bob, Man Cow & Mallory in the green room thanks to Moo Cow (a friend of ours) who got us the passes into the green room and the VIP parking!

Sean, Mallory, Myself, Bob and Gaven

KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GENE!

Paul

Mallory and I!

The Adults by the best adult beverage! :)

Mallory and I with some guy who was nice enough to let us be stupid with him.

A good pic of Paul - thank goodness for that screen!

Gaven's first concert & his concert tee.

That's right - KISS!

Mallory and I with some guys from a Kiss tribute band...the guy behind me was very worried about the wind blowing his hair...for real? C'mon be a real rocker!!!!

Ozzfest 2010

2010-08-21T19:37:00.006-05:00

Not a lot of words needed to explain just how phenomenally fun this day was for us! After almost a year of battling his cancer, my husband is feeling better, in remission and we enjoyed a day without kids, with good friends, listening to some of our favorite bands...and finding some new favorites.

This is Bob and I...as he would say at the end of the night "We rocked our faces off."

Black Label Society was awesome and the security kept the crowd surfers safe (mostly).

Well, if you know Bob, you also know his sense of humor is sometimes warped...but I thought it was funny and worth a place in my post.

Kay, myself and my rocker sister in law Brenda...

Saviours....a new favorite band.

New rock shoes and old rock shoes...my sis in law and a girl that I work with who we happened to run into while we were up there...which is crazy considering just how crowded the place was!

Saviours as they were closing their set.

Kay (right) and I hanging in the lawn before Ozzy came on...a bit tired and working up to a second wind.

Even the young came out...Bob caught a guitar pic from the BLS bassist...and gave it to her...

Unfortunately with the lights and my crummy camera....all I could do was get a fuzzy pic of Ozzy off the screen...but I assure you that was him and he kicked ass up there!

The rock apparel was worth taking pics of.

A very dedicated Ozzfest goer...the other side of his head said OZZ

Fist pumping.

Drowning Pool...let the bodies hit the floor.

Me, apparently being a bit goofy...must have been from too much head banging and too much time in the sun.

My husband and his sister.

Bob chilling out.

Drummer from Black label society.

The bassist from Black Label Society.

Brenda and I laughing about who knows what.

Stage for Black Label Society.

Zakk....

This guy looked like Gene Simmons...or at least we thought so. We got this pic with him and moments later the girls from the venue were walking around advertising $10.00 lawn seats for the Kiss Concert on September 3rd...it seemed like a sign to me...so I bought 3.

News, News and more news...

2010-08-07T13:50:00.002-05:00

Well, no news is good news right?

Bob is back at work. HURRAY! Now to get caught up on some bills...but you know - that takes a little time but we are hacking away.

He saw the oncologist yesterday - good news - everything is still clear...he will be seen again in 2 months.

I put in my two weeks at Tom & Jerry's! Big hurray! Not that I didn't like the job - but working two jobs for 14 months and still trying to handle family issues is ridiculous.

On a sad note - We found out last night that my uncle Victor, who lives in Portugal died yesterday. His son came home and found him. Now the police are investigating it as a possible murder because there was someone seen running from the house and my uncle had trauma to the head; they think from a baseball bat.

My cousin is living here (his oldest son) with his wife and newborn daughter. His wife is also here to help with the new baby. His daughter and other son are there...his youngest son is who found him :(

My cousin Sonia apparently needed to be taken to the hospital and given tranquilizers because she is so beside herself and her blood pressure was becoming dangerously high.

I never met my uncle, but grew up with stories of him and even though we never spoke I certainly felt like I knew him.

My heart goes out to my family members and friends of the family who were so very close to him. It is indeed a sad day....

I spent the morning with my mother, who has desperately been trying to find a flight there in time for the funeral...however, the cheapest round trip flight she can find is just shy of $5,000.00 dollars.

I'm going to go clean house now...so many things to do on my only day off from either job this week.

God Bless!

Remember Me

2010-03-14T08:04:00.003-05:00

Friday night I went with Cassy and Jenna C. to the movie Remember Me. It has Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnon in it...Happy Day! It was a good movie and I enjoyed it. It was great to get out of the house and hang with some girls!

Oh Happy Day...

2010-02-24T17:58:00.002-06:00

Well, things are busy as usual.

The class that I teach had it's Rite of Election at St. Peter's Cathedral in Rockford. I love the Cathedral - it's one of my favorite places to go visit.

Lent has begun. I gave up soda - which considering how much of it I was drinking (the caffeine helps those of us who are sleep deprived) it has been a difficult thing to stop doing; but well worth the sacrifice.

Brendon & Cody saw the cardiologist today. Cody is cleared until February 2012; Brendon, on the other hand, will have another appointment soon.

Bob had his port taken out - now he's getting his chemo through an IV in his hand/wrist area - the nurses were appalled at this because of the type of chemo he receives. However, the removal of the port seems to have cleared up a couple of the issues he was having.

Work is ....work. I'm swamped because of how much time I take off to go to treatments or take Brendon to the doctor.

Next Friday I have to have an ultrasound of my heart...apparently my heart murmur is louder...

Other than that all is well except that I haven't been on my bike yet in 2010...sad but true. I'm hoping that the weather gets a little better soon!

I've been working on a few projects (crochet) but nothing new is completed as of yet. I'm also trying to get a head start on some Christmas stuff...maybe I won't have that Christmas Eve...OMG I forgot __________(fill in name).

All right - going now - safe and happy riding my friends!

Fun new things...

2010-02-06T20:37:00.003-06:00

Kay, Frank and the kids came up this weekend - Kay is my oldest and best friend - we've been best friends since we were 4 years old.

Her husband, Frank, does tat's and Cassy and I both decided - we needed one...Well, Cassy needed one and I needed #4....

The forearm tat is mine

The neck tat is Cassy's....he's finishing this one up tonight because it's not yet completed...however, you get the basic idea.

A quick update:

2010-01-26T21:32:00.002-06:00

Well, I haven't posted since I was in the ER with Brendon....

since his day at the local ER: two days later we were at an ER an hour away...much better care!

Then he was out of school the rest of the week, one day included an appointment with the electrophysiologist.

So, he's had a heart monitor since the first week of January and will continue to use it until February 6th.

Also since then Bob had chemo and again no Bleo....but the nurse went to get a blood return and he felt a pop, came off the chair and was uncomfortable the rest of the day - and the next day....we ended up back at the oncologists office, then 2 days later ended up at the hospital where they found that when the nurse pulled back they actually looped his tubing on the port....OUCH! So, we are now waiting to hear back from the oncology office to see if he will need another surgery or not.

I have a bit of a tickle in my throat so I'm heading to bed...besides...almost 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. will be here very soon!

Thanks for the continued prayers of our friends, families and the perfect strangers who are kind enough to care.

Hoping for a warm day soon so I can jump on the Trek and go ride a good 25 miles and just enjoy and forget for a little bit!

Happy Riding!

A Day in the Kishwaukee Hospital E.R.

2010-01-05T06:51:00.003-06:00

Yesterday at 10 a.m. I walked to the bank to do the deposit for work. As I was walking my phone rang...815-754- xxxx, which is almost always a school number. I thought perhaps Cassy telling me that she missed Caiden or some such thing. Instead it was the school nurse at the grade school that Brendon & Cody go to.

Brendon was in the office, crying, complaining that it felt like someone was squeezing his heart. So, I called Bob, told him to pick him up. Called the pediatrician who said to take him straight to the E.R.

When he got to the E.R. he was also complaining that he had shooting pain in his right arm (upper) and he was shallow breathing. They get us back into a room immediately, the nurse comes in, logs all the information, and hooks him up to the monitors.

As I'm watching the monitors his BP is 67/50 and his heart rythmns seems very "abnormal" from what you normally see on the screen....

1 and a half hours later the doctor walked into the room. He proceeds to listen to his heart and then say he's going to have an EKG and a chest x-ray done. At this point, Brendon's breathing and heart rythmns are looking normal.

After the tests are done he comes in and tells me that he looked over the tests and everything looked good. So, I asked for a copy of what had been on the monitor the entire time from the moment they hooked him up until that moment...he asked why...I said because his heart rhythmns did not look normal when he was first there. He then said that the heart rhythmns have nothing to do with the stenosis that Brendon has because the rhythmns show the electrical function of the heart and the stenosis is about the mechanical functions of the heart....so, I said then why would you do an EKG which is a test of the electrical pulses in the heart...he said that it was standard...

I proceeded to tell him that I didn't feel my son was given any kind of emergency care! He came in presenting with chest pain, shooting pain in his arm and shallow breathing and they took an hour and a half to look at him, which was about an 2.5 hours since the symptoms had started and were apparently resolving by the time he had gotten in there to see him.

I then asked why they hadn't done an ultrasound of the heart if the stenosis is mechanical and the ekg shows electrical function not mechanical function...he couldn't answer that question...then tried to psychoanalyze me saying "I think your frustration is because we don't know what caused this episode." I replied "No, my frustration is that you sit here telling me you did NO tests to distinguish what was happening to him and that you didn't bother to see a 9 year old, with a history of heart problems who presented in your ER with chest pains, shooting pains in his arms and shallow breathing until he sat in a room for 1.5 hours without any medical attention and then you sit here trying to b.s. me to get out of being held accountable for screwing up!"

He had nothing to say to that so I then told him that I'd be calling the administration the following day to complain about the care as they had no business billing me or my insurance for such pathetic, substandard care.

The poor discharge nurse was scared to death to come into the room. Not her fault, but the service there was horrible...then they said if he began having chest pains again that I should bring him back...I asked why, they said so we can care for him...I said "Like you did today? No thanks, I'll drive an hour and get him care elsewhere!"

So, it was a frustrating day!

Today we are off to Chemo and Brendon will be with us so that if his cardiologist can fit him in I can run over there with him today.

Have a blessed day!

Sometimes you just need to breathe...

2010-01-01T19:48:00.007-06:00

which is exactly what we did last night. It was New Year's Eve and we went to Four Seasons Sports with Bob's sister, Brenda, his mom, Bonnie, and his sisters friend, Julie for Glow Bowling from 10 p.m. to midnight. We had a blast! Lots of laughs and just some time to relax....

As our Cody (the youngest in our family at 9 {having been born 16 minutes after his big brother Brendon}) said...."Isn't this great, Mom? We can just have fun and not be so worried about dad...you know, the cancer and everything." I almost broke down and cried when he said this...but he said it as good as anyone else could! And, he was right! It was nice to have a few hours where we didn't think about anyone being sick...we just had lots of laughs and lots of fun!

At midnight we drank sparkling grape juice together as we rang in the New Year.

Cheers!

Breathe a sigh of relief...

2009-12-25T19:14:00.002-06:00

After all the stress, all the late night projects getting finished the holiday was over in just a few short hours. All gifts have been handed out and opened.

I did not finish the purse for my sister in law to be...I still need to line it...so I'll be giving that to her in the next couple weeks.

My gift to Danny went over well, especially since what I got for him, he thought I was getting for Bob. I wasn't sure which Packers Plaque he would like more so I called him and told him Bob was at the doctors and I ran out to get lunch but stopped at a store to get his present and needed advice....I asked him which of the two plaques he thought Bob would like more...and then I bought it, wrapped it and watched with a satisfied smile as I saw it dawn on him that I'd duped him :) He was very happy and in turn so was I.

Bob got his AJ Hawk Jersey (Packers) which had him smiling ear to ear as did his Harley Davidson Riding Boots (no, he doesn't own a Harley motorcycle...but he has the boots)!

All of the boys were stoked about their gifts as was Cassy.

It was a really nice day. Bob cooked the meat and I did the rest of the dinner. It turned out really well (Prime Rib, garlic mashed potatoes with lots of butter, sweet corn and lots of sweets for dessert).

My friend Karen stopped by yesterday (Christmas Eve). It was nice to see her, hadn't seen her since Bob's benefit and before that it had been way too long. She is one of my biking buddies so it was nice to catch up. She gave me a gift certificate to the bike shop . Very cool gift. I love spending money at the bike shop, I love spending someone else's money even more :)

Well, I better run....going to relax, drink some coffee, and enjoy a little t.v.

Hoping tomorrow morning has clear roads so I can go for a little run before everyone wakes up!

In a Frenzy

2009-12-20T05:51:00.002-06:00

It's Sunday, only 5 Days until the Christmas Madness comes to a head! I don't have everything done....YIKES. Part of the reason for not having everything done is that I'm making some of my presents and sometimes get sidetracked so don't get them done quickly!

I have a couple more to finish (they are all started). I'm ready to pull out my hair...I need a couple extra pairs of hands....

Okay, gotta run. Need to finish the scarf this morning before I head to Tom & Jerry's for work...then have to come home, make Taco dinner and then finish the skirt on a dress.

Have a super day and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Little Humor

2009-12-17T23:24:00.000-06:00

REDNECK FIRE ALARM

2009 Drawing to a close...a few musings.

2009-12-17T15:28:00.002-06:00

With only a week and 1 day left until Christmas, 2009 is drawing to a close. It's been a really crazy year for those of us in the Croom house.

We've been through Brendon's heart scare(s). Cassy has had a baby....My sweet, beautiful, wonderful grandson, Caiden. Bob has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and begun treatments for that.

Emotionally we've been through a lot....but, we are still all here, hanging in there, falling down and helping each other up, but surviving and trusting in God, ourselves and each other to make it through all of the craziness.

We want to thank our friends and family, our co-workers and even the complete strangers that have stepped forward to assist us in various ways.

The people who have been kind enough to drop off a box of food, or send a few dollars to help with gas, the people who have called and offered to come take the kids to activities or take Bob to a treatment. The people who came out to the benefit's and spent their money to help a family that in some cases, they didn't even know. The people who helped plan and organize and donated their time for the benefit's. We thank you all! Everything that was done we appreciate more than we can possibly express.

God Bless.

G-Man

2009-12-04T16:17:00.003-06:00

Gaven has joined wrestling and during practice on Wednesday night fell on the stairs while running laps in the school and sprained his ankle. Doctor has him in a partial cast and off his foot completely for 1 week...needless to say he's going to miss his 1st match and he is not so happy about that!

Thanks

2009-12-04T16:15:00.002-06:00

Thanks to all the people who came out to the benefits; we really enjoyed seeing everyone and appreciated everyone all that was done for us!

Benefit Dinner

2009-10-30T06:41:00.000-05:00

Chemo # 2

2009-10-30T06:40:00.002-05:00

Bob's chemo, scheduled for 10/21/2009 did not get done because when he arrived his blood count was too low. They gave him a shot and on Friday he was able to get chemo. He did well with it. He is however, loosing his hair!

Thankfully his spirits are good, he's simply weak and in a lot of pain. Please keep him in your prayers.

Proud Grandma

2009-10-30T06:36:00.003-05:00

We welcomed Caiden Larz Croom into the world on October 28, 2009 at 9:11 a.m. He weighed 6 lbs 15.6 oz and was 20 inches long.
I was thrilled and honored to be in the delivery room with my daughter while she went through her labor (long ... started at 3 p.m. 10/27/2009) and delivery. She was amazing during the entire thing! He's a little peanut and of course it was love at first sight! Mother and son are home now and resting!

Proud Mom!

2009-10-30T06:33:00.002-05:00

Our son, Gaven, received an award from the Chief - of - Police on Monday 10/26/2009 for his assistance in solving a burglary. We are very proud of him!

2009-10-19T07:14:00.002-05:00

Below are some pictures of the latest crafty projects I've been working on.
The first is a dress I crocheted for my niece Ariana.
The second is a work in progress; a dress for my friend Angie's daughter, Miley.
The last is a beanie I made for Bob.

Caiden's Baby Blanket

2009-10-12T06:21:00.002-05:00

Caiden Larz Croom is expected on October 31st. We aren't sure that Cassy and Caiden will wait that long for him to make his appearance.

I've been working on a baby blanket for him - but it's taken me a while....I've been just a little bit busy. This weekend I did manage to finish his blanket (shown below) and make apple turnovers from scratch with no recipe...and amazingly they turned out so well that I think I will bring them for the dessert for our Potluck at work.

Okay, here is his blanket.

Round 1

2009-10-09T13:54:00.002-05:00

Bob had his first round of chemo on Wednesday October 7.

He's been sick to his stomach ever since, as well as having the chills and muscle tremors. No vommitting! - although they did tell us he probably wouldn't the first round but by the second round he most likely would.

He's doing well though - making jokes and such but the poor guy is miserable and certainly bored being stuck at home or at the doctors all the time.

In other news Cassy will be 37 weeks pregnant on Saturday! HOLY MOLY! Caiden will be here to play soon!

Ok....ready, set, GO!

Admission following surgery

2009-10-01T13:29:00.002-05:00

Following his surgery we were all set to leave...then he began having pain in his chest. After the nurse checked him out and called the doctor they ordered another chest x-ray which showed air leaking into the chest cavity and compromising the lung.

He has now been admitted for an overnight stay. Hopefully after a chest x-ray in the morning it will have resolved. Unsure at this point what will happen next.

He's just been given another dose of pain medication so he's resting peacefully at the moment.

Another day at the hospital

2009-10-01T06:37:00.004-05:00

This morning at 5 a.m. we had to leave to head to the hospital in Rockford (Swedish American Hospital http://www.swedishamerican.org/).

To update:

September 4th Bob (my husband) had a doctor's visit - at the visit the doctor found 5 masses in his neck.

Since then he has had:
A CT Scan of the neck and chest (which showed that his neck and chest are full of masses 'too numerous to count'.

A CT Scan of the abdomon and pelvis (came back clear)

MRI of the brain (We knew there was nothing there to begin with :)

A biopsy of one of the masses in his neck (which resulted in an overnight stay in the hospital because they had to put in a drainage tube)

a PET Scan of the body

A Bone Marrow Biopsy (results will be in on October 6)

Today he is having a Port put in so that they can use that for his Chemo. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasofpelvicsurgery.com%2F10MalignantDisease%2F2SubclavianPort-A-Cath%2Fcha10sec2.html&h=5efca20fc2c5946f61ebe46f1ef47641

He has been seen numerous times now by the Oncologist, ENT's, and Surgeon's as well as our Primary Doctor.

Results thus far
Hodgkin's lymphoma http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/hodgkin has been diagnosed. As long as the bone marrow biopsy comes back clear then it's going to be a stage 2 B - which is good (if anything about any cancer is good) - the prognosis is pretty good.

He will start chemo next week and then we are looking at 6 months of chemo (ABVD http://www.lymphomainfo.net/therapy/chemotherapy/abvd.html ).

So, that's the latest. Obviously stressful around here. He is off work - possibly for the entire 6 months. Waiting to find out about disability and such - as with him not working things just got ugly.

No cycling to speak of, although I really could use a nice warm fall afternoon on the bike to just ride and forget for a couple of hours.

Happy Riding to my friends still out there - hope to see you on the roads soon!

Baby Shower

2009-09-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

Today is the baby shower for Cassy. I have done virtually nothing...honestly, if it weren't for Geri, who is my co-worker and friend, but who has also always taken me under her wing there would be nothing done for this shower. All I have done is talked about the games we are playing, ordered the cake and asked my mom to bring the punch. Everything else Geri did. I love that woman!

I'm going to try to get to Taxco this weekend to pick her up a gift card since she and her husband eat there a lot.

Okay, I'm off...have to go drink some coffee then hit the road!

...speaking of hitting the road - the bike riding has been great lately, even if it's only for my commutes...which are about 6 - 8 miles each way depending on if I take short cuts or not. The weather has been B-E-A-utiful! (stolen from Bruce Almighty).

Saturday my sis and I are going to head out on the bikes for a nice long ride. I'm very excited. Plus we will stop in the bike shop and talk to Tobie.

...and I almost forgot to mention - we had 2 of our bikes stolen. One was taken from the yard in the middle of the day while the kids were home...it was a Schwinn BMX racing bike that was pretty expensive. The other stolen bike was a bright orange Haro that is used for vert ramps....that sucker cost me over three hundred bucks. My son was at the park with it and someone walked right up and took it! Unbelievable! The cops were here last night and took a report...my husband said the cop was really great and while his faith in our local police department has never been good; he says that if anyone will find these two bikes it would be this officer.

All right ... off to start the day!

JAVA JAVA JAVA....

Safe and Happy Riding.

Busy weekend...

2009-08-23T20:36:00.002-05:00

It was a busy weekend here on the home front.

Friday night I had to close at the restaurant. Then when I got home we had company so I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 a.m.

Saturday morning I was back up at about 5:30 a.m. to get myself ready for Orientation for Ministry Formation in Rockford. I began walking to the church when some crazy lady pulled up and asked me if I wanted a ride and why I was out walking so early in the morning...(the crazy lady was my Sis in law :) Rode to Rockford with Debbie and Andrea. Orientation was a 6 hour event, that was very informative and a lot of fun. It also made me realize how unprepared I am for this class...and how anxious I am about having to talk in large groups and in front of people I don't know well. I do think it will be a great learning experience and I'm very excited. They had some people from the previous group talk to us as well, and some of them said that on their day of orientation they felt the same way I was feeling - so maybe I can do this!

Got home yesterday evening and had a bonfire with the kids and some friends and neighbors came over. I finally got to bed late and slept in a little bit.

Today the kids and I went to the store and bought some of their school clothes - 2 pairs of jeans for each and three new t-shirts, new boxers and new socks. We also picked up groceries and had house keys made for the kids- then left and went to payless for shoes, but they weren't open yet so we came home...I don't work tomorrow night so we will go then. After arriving home we realized that the stupid keys didn't work :(

This afternoon Jennifer and I went together to get the rest of the school supplies that we needed...that was a pain the rear - all the college kids were there! UGH!

This evening after dinner my mother in law showed up with the Lia Sophia jewelery that I had ordered for Cassy. She was headed to wal-mart so we decided to ride with - had them remake the keys (when we got home we found that they had again screwed them up --- I think this is because they aren't using the right keys...they aren't long enough! UGH! I also picked up a binder for Ministry Formation and a few skiens of baby yarn that Cassy chose for Caiden's baby blanket, which I will start on once I finish this post.

Tomorrow the kids start school - only a half day. After work we will go get shoes and I am making spaghetti for dinner.

Hopefully I'll get a good amount of sleep tonight and will feel well rested in the morning (hahaha).

Safe and Happy Riding.

Boy Oh Boy!!!!

2009-08-18T21:45:00.002-05:00

Doctor appointment today for Cassy...The exam went well - the doctor said the baby looks good! :) This makes me happy and relieved.

During the ultrasound the doctor said "Well, there's the turtle." The turtle he was talking about was the testicles and penis...so she is having a boy.

She says at this point that his name is going to be Caiden Croom (no middle name has been picked yet...I'm waiting).

I will post ultrasound pictures as soon as I can get them scanned on here.

Crafting...

2009-08-16T19:56:00.004-05:00

I was on vacation all week. After getting my house in order I started in on some craft projects. Finished two sets of curtain tie-backs and started working on two sets of curtains that I need to make for a friend. I set them on a lime green shirt in order to take the pics because the tablecloth wasn't really a good look against them...

Baby, baby, baby....

2009-08-08T08:49:00.003-05:00

Sunday as I sat at Mass my daughter leaned over and informed me that she was pregnant. I assure you I wasn't thinking anything Holy at that moment...except perhaps Holy Shit!

Monday I took the day off and took her to the doctor. They were not able to tell us the sex, but they did inform us that she is 27 weeks pregnant and that everything looked good. She did a wonderful job hiding it. Although 2 months ago she was wearing a tank top and I asked her if she was pregnant and she gave me a very convincing no. Since then she has been wearing hoodies...those things should be banned! Considering the extremely cold temps this summer I didn't think much of it since I've had hoodies on too.

She will see the OB/GYN on the 18th to have another ultrasound. At the moment her due date is right about November 2nd. Hopefully she will have the baby on November 1st since that was my Avo's birthday.

Apparently Cassy never received my memo that I could not be made a grandmother until I was 42.

Biking...what's that...?

2009-08-01T10:28:00.002-05:00

Well, things are about the same. I'm exhausted from working the 2 jobs and trying to run around doing all the other things that are needed. However, I'm thankful for the extra money! Unfortunately I have not been on the bike for anything more than commuting.

We had appointments yesterday in Rockford. Gaven had his front tooth repaired. It took a couple of hours for all his dental work to be done - he had a bad cavity in the back of his mouth as well as the tooth that was cracked in half.

The front tooth repair looks great - you can't really tell that it is even fake...although he will never be able to eat an apple without cutting it up again!

After that we went and ate at Tom and Jerry's in Rockford, I had worked there for years and one of the cooks I worked with there is now the owner so it was nice to see him and visit for a little bit.

Then we were off to see the electrophysiologist for Brendon. They will be doing a test at Christ Hospital which will require them to sedate Brendon and then they will determine if he has extra cells that have grown in his heart (this is a very non-technical and simplified explanation). I am not sure of the date for this yet because they will contact us next week with open appointments. He was seen at his normal cardiologists office in Rockford and the electrophysiologist, Dr. Zimmerman is from Chicago.

If it is not that then it could be that he has developed a sensitivity to adrenalin which causes the fast heart beat and the palpatations. If this is the case (keeping my fingers crossed) then notes will be sent to the school so that they will be more comfortable when he does have symptoms.

So, that's where we are now. I'm still unpacked and doing what needs to be done - in between shifts.

Well, Happy Riding for you folks who manage to get some riding time in!

Not much to update...

2009-07-16T05:34:00.003-05:00

It's been a rather non eventful month.

I'm working back at Tom and Jerry's at night. This is job #2. So, I'm up at 4 a.m. ride into work by about 5 a.m. and then work the day, leave there, ride home, change clothes, drive into Tom and Jerry's and work until usually 9 p.m. but sometimes I close which is 10 p.m. You can see how this could lead to a very non exciting series of events to blog about. So I have attempted to spare you, my friends, from being bored out of your gord by what I write.

A few highlights of the past month. Since getting my Trek fixed I still haven't managed to log more than a couple hundred miles (part of the cause and effect of having 2 jobs).

Gaven on the other hand has had lots of time on his bike, so much time in fact that he became bored with the normal, sitting your butt on the seat and pedaling that he decided it was time for some tricks....if you don't know what I'm talking about take a look at the movie RAD (great flick...should see it if you haven't and just excuse all the cheezy 80's stuff)...Well, to make a really long story short - he decided to do some tricks, fell on his face and knocked half of his front PERMANENT tooth out. He goes to the dentist soon for them to apparently use some type of composite material to make his tooth look right again.

For my girlfriends who read this I know you are thinking..."Oh my gosh...I hope he isn't doing bike tricks anymore" but he is...because we have always told them to jump back on the horse after getting knocked off. So, there may be more trips to the dentist in my future for repairs on broken teeth.

Other than that there isn't really anything new. The Beanzie ride is this weekend and I highly doubt that I will be able to do it since we are packing things up and moving....yes I know this is fairly soon (about 5 months since the last move) but we found a larger home with a fenced in backyard, for less than this almost brand new condo we are renting. It's closer to all the kids schools as well, and it increases my bike commute by about 4 miles each way - which is important since I can't seem to get enough riding time in as it is, so every extra mile will help!

In other news, my favorite celebrity, Lance Armstrong is doing great in the Tour de France this year. I find myself sitting at work and checking out news stories about him since I never seem to manage to catch the tour on T.V.

Okay, that's it folks...I've got to get some work done before someone kicks my butt!

Safe and Happy Riding!

Rim Tape/Brendon update/second jobs

2009-06-21T16:55:00.003-05:00

Yes, Rim tape...it was the answer to all the problems that have kept me off the bike this year. So, all in all I've lost hundreds of miles of riding, hours of talking with friends while on rides all because my rim tape had gotten too thin in one spot (this was not noticable to the eye).

I took it into Tobie the other day and after some errors he found the problem that has haunted me for the past 2 plus months.

Wednesday night I will be back on the road with my group - barring any other catastrophies....

*********************************************************************************

Brendon update:

I heard back from the cardiologists office and he now has to see another specialist who will try to figure out how to get his irregular heart rythmns under control - which could mean putting a pacemaker in. We will see him soon and I will update as soon as I know more.

***********************************************************************************

Have I mentioned that having a second job is the pits. I love being home with my family, hanging out at the pool, and being on my bike - a second job cuts into those things - although considering the state of our economy I should be glad that I was able to find a second job.

************************************************************************************

That's it folks - gotta head over to Midway Airport to pick up mom....WAIT - did I mention my mom has a new man?

Yes folks, my mom - who was so quick to say that she didn't want/need a man because she never wanted to have to answer to anyone again has A MAN!

The man I'm speaking of is a very sweet man named Gilberto. He is from Portugal (the islands) and they dated when they were teenagers...he has come back into her life and recently he came here for a week - two weeks later (last Sunday) she left to go visit him for a week - now she's coming back this evening. The 7th of July the two of them will be meeting up and going to Portugal together - it really is very cute! Love is a beautiful thing!

Wednesday Night Rides

2009-05-21T07:14:00.002-05:00

I haven't been out on a good ride with my group in a long time! Since last season to be more specific.
This year it's been one thing after another keeping me off the Trek - the latest has been a need for new tires and given the financial state of the home right now I just couldn't justify it. Mike H. (aka "Dad") mentioned to my mother in law that I hadn't been out on the rides...so I told her to say "Patty said if only her dad would get her some tires she could ride"...well all joking aside - he did just that - pulled a pair of used tires he had in his garage and met me at the bike shop last night to hand them over---while giving me a hard time about not riding - and making me promise to meet them next Wednesday and do the ride. I'm going to have to really pull it together this week, get the tires on and get out there Saturday and do 40 or so miles to get myself ready for a good hard ride with these guys...I'll need a tank of Oxygen when they get finished with me next week I'm sure.

Anyway...Mike...if you read this - love ya and thanks for the tires!

Gotta run - off to ride the bikes to school and then head to work.

Safe and Happy Riding.

11 years ago...

2009-05-19T05:40:00.002-05:00

I had Gaven. Really, where does time go?
He was such a chubby little baby - now he's skinny like Bobby used to be (for any of you who remember that).

Yesterday he was showing me new tricks he learned on his bike - like standing on the back pegs and going no handed while going pretty darn fast down the road...glad I believe in making them wear helmets!

Anyway, we all bought him books and this weekend is the big project of redecorating his room with a surf boarders theme as opposed to his current scooby doo bed stuff. He's growing up and doesn't want to have baby stuff anymore!

He is having a swimming party on Saturday the 6th and some of the guys from that will be spending the night so I need to make sure his room is done by then.

My baby girl turns 17 today

2009-05-18T05:26:00.002-05:00

Today my daughter turns 17. Where have the years gone? I'm certain that it wasn't so long ago I held her in my arms amazed that such a beautiful little girl was mine. It wasn't so long ago when she would run off the porch and into my arms when I got home from work with her long blonde hair flying behind her and a big smile on her face. Now in the place of that little girl is a young woman who I'm often in awe of. She is amazingly talented, witty, engaging, trendy, kind, compassionate, a fighter for many causes. She has such conviction and passion about things.

I am so proud of her and love watching her grow into a young woman...yet a part of me is a little sad that the time has passed. I wish I could roll the clock back and hold on to that little girl with long blonde hair and big blue eyes who loved to sit in my lap, so that I could read her one more bedtime story, or play at the park another day with her. Silly huh?

Anyway, Happy Birthday my Sassy Cassy!

Heart Monitor

2009-05-05T18:41:00.002-05:00

Today we went to the cardiologists office - Brendon is now on a heart monitor for a month to see what is causing the heart palpatations.

It's recorded twice now and I just found out that we have to call it in from a land line phone and not a cell phone. Hurray! So off to mom's since we decided to go cell phones all the way in my house. Sheesh - that's kind of a pain in the you know what.

Day in the ER

2009-04-29T21:46:00.002-05:00

So an interesting few days have gone on.

Monday night (late) my daughter came in my room saying she didn't feel so good - pretty much as she slid down the wall and passed out - I carried her downstairs and fed her - she was okay after that.

Yesterday I ate lunch, a huge greek salad with chicken, got back to my desk and an hour later felt like I was having a heart attack (well, the symptoms of) and asked a nurse to check my blood sugar (I've been hypoglycemic since I was in the 8th grade) so it was a whopping 56...that's not good! After about 3 hours - some orange juice and a ham sandwich on multigrain bread I began to feel a bit better.

This morning my daughter tells me she feels a bit crummy as she's getting ready to leave - I told her to make sure she ate plenty of food and off she went - before 8 a.m. the school nurse calls asking permission to take her blood sugar - sure thing! - it's in the 70's even though she had eaten not too long before...

shortly after this - around 10 a.m. my son's school calls, Brendon is in the nurses office saying it feels like his heart is starting and stopping (sounded like heart palpitations to both the nurse and I). We decide maybe if he lays there for a little bit he will feel better - a bit after that she calls me back and asks me to come and get him or they are calling the ambulance because he's still complaining of it plus he's having a hard time keeping his eyes open, breathing is shallow -etc....I rush over - get him to the ER. That's where we sat for the day....all the while I was getting phone calls from the nurse at the high school updating me on the almost hourly blood sugar tests she was doing on my daughter - who after chowing down again at lunch managed to hit a blood sugar of 82! Hurray!

At the ER they did an EKG, blood work and a chest x-ray - yeah - nothing too off kilter - so they call the cardiologist - ours isn't in the office but his partner is - and decides that Brendon should certainly see our cardiologist ASAP - but for us to call and schedule the appointment - GGgrrrrr . I was also informed that they are going to put him on a heart monitor for a month to see what's happening. Good deal!

Cassy also has an appointment to get her blood sugar checked and a total exam by the doctor to try to figure out if it's simple hypoglycemia that she needs to manage better or something else.

That's the state of my week thus far - no ride tonight - things were a bit nutso! Very stressed about the kids health but also stressed about money, missing hours etc. Rent due this week - Lord help me!

So that's about it - opening night of the musical Cassy is in is tomorrow night. See link - my daughter is not mentioned but she is one of the prostitutes...makes a mother proud :) http://www.midweeknews.com/articles/2009/04/28/95339131/index.xml

Going to get off now and go do something useful with myself until Cassy gets home from the last rehearsal.

Safe and Happy Riding.

So proud of the boys

2009-04-28T00:04:00.003-05:00

we rode to school today - it's 3 miles. Not a single complaint and we had to ride up that nasty hill on 1st street - not an easy feat on one of those 20 inch kids bikes. Even under the threat of rain they were happy to be riding.

On the way home they rode as well luckily on both trips managed to not get wet even though the weather men said we'd have rain and thunderstorms all day (Liars!).

They have requested that we ride again tomorrow...fun times!

I've got to call Tobie in the morning - I need new tires for the Trek ...these are 3 years old with atleast 4500 miles on them lol!
Happy riding!

26 mph winds?

2009-04-25T07:29:00.003-05:00

Last night Brett (a friend of mine) and I decided to go biking - we've been talking about it for a while and he's been interested in doing it. So, we managed to pick the windiest spring day thus far (or it felt like it anyway).

The wind was blowing steady at 26 mph but was gusting up to 32 mph. Are you kidding me?

What a lousy kind of day to ride with someone new to cycling. I promised it wasn't always so tough and after about 3 miles of getting almost blown down we turned around and rode home...the ride home was nice as we had the wind behind us!

We've agreed to try this again on a calmer day!

Happy Riding!

A lovely lazy Saturday

2009-04-19T08:08:00.004-05:00

This is how we spent our Saturday...so far a good weekend for me! This is my girl Vivian - she's gonna be three on July 4. She was catchin' some air.

Cassy found her spot and stuck to it.

The boys all getting ready to fish.

Gaven just had to pick up a snake. He spent more time chasing them around than actually fishing.

Cody picked the snake up by the tail...

Brendon trying to be a snake charmer.

Brendon's catch of the day...where my husband is from they call that bait...here we call it a catch!

How to eat Fried (and raw) worms.

Seeing as how he was obviously a snake charmer he thought he'd speak in tongues...

Brownie, our 7 year old German Shorthaired Pointer...very tired after his day of chasing snakes in the bushes and running around with the kids.

Vaction day spent on the bike

2009-04-17T19:34:00.005-05:00

So here is my day in pictures - I rode out at 8 a.m. on my Trek road bike, stopping to take a few pics here and there. I got home in the late morning and took a quick shower before jumping on my Gary Fisher Wingra and pedaling around town. I stopped at the bike shop, which is a must if you have a day off, talked to Tobie about equipment for a self supported multi-day ride...

Without further ado...here is my day in pictures. I'll work on getting better at this. The I-88 Overpass on my way out of town.

Something I found on the side of the road, which I thought was picture worthy.

I had intended to ride down this road...

Until I saw the bridge was out...didn't feel like crossing the creek.

Folks, this is what DeKalb County looks like - no matter what direction you go...granted it gets prettier as the summer goes on - very green etc.

The duck was sunbathing...

Boarded up house on Gurler Road - which gave me the idea to try to take pictures of all the boarded up houses I come across in DeKalb County this riding season.

The waterworks at Rivermist subdivision (I ride through here because I love the wooden covered bridges, I'll take a pic of that next time, and the water ponds).

I thought the water shooting up made a good backdrop for my bike picture.

After getting on the Wingra I jumped on the bike path.

Some people canooing along the Mighty Kishwaukee River this afternoon. I've never canooed the Kish...so that's on my to do list for this summer.

Easter Vigil

2009-04-12T07:21:00.003-05:00

Last night was the Easter Vigil. The class I've been teaching received all their sacraments.

Gaven received his confirmation and First Communion. I won't post the pics with the kids from my class on here since it's a public blog that anyone can see and I don't have that kind of permission from their parents, but I will add a pic of Gaven with his Godparents (my brother and his fiance) and one of how great my hair looked (thanks to my fabulous hairdresser...my mom!).

I was very nervous about having to get up in front of the entire church but I quickly got over my nerves when 5 minutes into the service I look over to see my daughter literally fall forward, hitting the girl in front of her and then smacking her head on the pew...my husband caught her before she hit the floor but then she wouldn't come to for a few minutes - we got her outside into the fresh air and everyone wanted to call the ambulance etc...so I asked her when the last time she had eaten was...other than a few sunflower seeds she hadn't eaten since early morning when I made a big breakfast for the family...after eating she had a double header softball game, went to the grocery store for me, helped me with the name tags for the kids for the vigil, then got herself ready to go...so needless to say I'm pretty certain her blood sugar dropped (considering I'm hypoglycemic I'm going to have the dr. check her blood sugar - I'm almost willing to bet she sits a little lower than normal as I do)...Anyway once she scared me half to death I wasn't nervous about getting up in front of the church anymore. LOL!

Okay, here are the pics!

Poor Brownie...

2009-04-08T21:31:00.003-05:00

We took Brownie, our 7 year old German Shorthaired Pointer into the vet today for his rabies shot. She checked him out and found a hernia which supported what I had suspected and voiced to her as a concern. So, she's pushing on this hernia but all in all says that he looks good, maybe a few pounds under where his ideal weight is but he's gained a good deal of weight since we've had him so she said he looked good. We discussed his hips and what we could do about it and then left...sort of.

As we were standing out in the lobby by the desk waiting to pay - one of the techs walks up and says "Ma'am, he just peed blood"...I look down and indeed, he had peed and it was almost all blood! She asked if I'd like them to do a urine screen - well of course I do! So, they took him and did the screen, apparently he has a raging UTI, which I had not been aware of! They said the blood was probably because of pushing on his hernia, but it was a good thing it happened the way it did otherwise the poor ole guy wouldn't have gotten his UTI treated!

Needless to say, his yearly exam wasn't quite routine but I'm happy to say my dear brownie is being treated and is on the road to recovery!

Happy and Safe Riding.

Catholic Guilt and all that...

2009-04-07T21:39:00.003-05:00

Tonight was the First Reconciliation service for the group of RCIA and RCIC candidates. It was interesting - Larry made me go up to the podium and read the psalm...he really doesn't appreciate how much I dislike being in front of a group of people. I am certain my face remained bright red for about 20 minutes after I had gone back to my pew and sat down. Oh well...I guess since I'll have to do this more often in the future that I will just have to get used to it.

The kids all lined up for reconciliation, along with the adult candidates...some of the other people who had come got in line as well, I didn't...which was fine and dandy until it was all over and Father walked up to the group I was standing around talking with and said "next time we will have to get Patty to come to confession.." OUCH! And bing, bang, boom...Catholic Guilt set in - and has been rearing it's head at me ever since.

I probably should have gone into the confessional - Lord knows I should have - but since it was supposed to be first reconciliation I felt like I shouldn't take up all the time that Father had to give...you know me...thus confession is time consuming :)

So, now that the guilt has set in, I suppose I will now need to go to confession tomorrow!
I have to admit I like Joan's idea of emailing the priest our list of sins for confession and they could email us our penance...(Sarcasm...sort of)...while the idea of not having to go sit there and bear my soul sounds good, I know it wouldn't have the same effect...but a girl can dream can't she?

That's about it. I suppose I will also have to go to this particular priest since he 'busted' me out so publically.

Safe and Happy riding! Here's hoping the weather improves soon!

Randomness....

2009-03-31T22:06:00.003-05:00

Nothing exciting happening. Seems to be the theme lately. I'm exhausted, the whole packing up, moving, unpacking is a pain in the arse. Next time I do that I need to take a few vacation days to help me get through.

As it is, I'm going to bed between 10:30 p.m. and midnight and am back up between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. So, there isn't a whole lot of sleep happening and then I run all day, run when I get home. I did manage to sit down and watch Twilight on Friday or Saturday night (I don't remember). That's about the only break from the action I've gotten.

Right now I'm ready to drop but I'm babysitting my friends little boy, who is extremely cute, but not tired :( Too bad!
I wish he were tired, I'd lay him down in the bed with me, shut the door so he couldn't get in any trouble if he did wake up and I'd fall out with him! Right now, he wants to go for a walk...so I guess I'll be walking away!

Safe and Happy Riding!