Windows Live Writer?

So, I’m writing this from Windows Live Writer. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to like it yet. It’s supposed to help you publish more “professional” posts. We shall see.
First off, I’ve been super sick… and I feel terrible because I haven’t been taking any pictures. I feel like a terrible P365er! I have been sort of out of it these last few days. I’m terribly sorry.
Monday was crazy. I started a new dose of my medicine. They doubled my dose. When I first started taking my meds, I got CRAZY headaches. I was literally in bed for 2 days because I didn’t even want to THINK, my headaches were that bad. I started getting a headache Sunday night, then Monday it was still there. I ended up going to the ER because I was so freaked out by the symptoms I was having. I did call my primary doctor and the nurse told me that I should probably go to the ER to be checked out. Of COURSE I have to wait for my husband, and he didn’t even show up until 4 and we didn’t get to the ER until 4:30. It was a zoo!!!! It seemed like the entire waiting room was filled with people. We waited what seemed like forever and we finally were called back into a room. I immediately curled up in the little chair thingy they had in the room, covered my head with my blanket (that’s right, I brought my own blanket to the ER) and tried to sleep. Of course, with Sam and the kiddos in the room with me it was almost impossible to sleep. Monk and Bug were bored, and even tho they brought their DSis’ with them, they wanted to play the same game. Out of 20 some odd games they have, why do they have to fight over the same one? Really?!?! Finally a doctor comes in, asks me about my pain, and the proceeds to tell me that basically all they are going to do is give me a shot of Demerol, some muscle relaxers, and something for the nausea and send me home. REALLY?! SIX hours in the ER and that’s all I get? No tests? Nothing?! Needless to say I was angry at first, and then after a couple of shots and some pills, the only thing that mattered was my pillow. They had me sign some papers, but at that point I really didn’t know what I was signing. I could have been signing the deed to my house away and I would have just scrawled my name on the paper.
Ever since then, I have been SO tired. All I want to do is sleep. I don’t want to do anything else. I lay on the couch, eat, sleep, and sometimes I do some things here and there, but it’s a real struggle to get things done. Today isn’t really helping matters much either. It’s rainy and cold outside. So I REALLY only want to curl up with my favorite teal blankie and watch some Greys Anatomy on Hulu that I missed last night because I was so tired and went to bed. Yes.. that’s how tired I’ve been! I’ve been in bed by 8:30 every day this week (including Sunday, which is Extreme Home Makeover day!!), and most the time ASLEEP by 8:30!!!! A friend of mine asked if I had mono. I don’t THINK I have mono… but… who knows! I’ve got a headache, my neck is still a little stiff, still sensitive to light, my throat is sore, I’m tired ALL the time. Who knows!! I guess maybe I should make a doctors appointment to see if maybe that’s what I have. My friend Katie was just diagnosed with mono. She said that there really isn’t anything that you can do for it, just manage the symptoms and ride out the storm. *sigh* I’ve got a TON of stuff to do around the house as well. I need to get dishes done, laundry done, vacuum the floors, sweep and mop, and apparently turn up the heat or put on a sweatshirt! But I’m just so tired!
Anyways! I think that’s enough whining about how tired and sick I am. I’ll get a nice cup of hot tea, start some laundry, and watch Greys on Hulu, then do the dishes. Once I get all that done, I’ll take a nap.

(PS I don't know that I like Live Writer for my personal blog... )

Day 3....

So, yesterday was really REALLY bad. At one point, my head hurt so bad I actually text my friend Keona and told her to come kill me because I couldn't take the pain any more. I'm glad that I have slightly older children, and that I can trust them not to get into anything or burn the house down because I think I actually passed out from the pain. I admit that I did take a Vicodin in the middle of the day, but, it wouldn't have come into play at 7pm.

I'm not sure what's causing these headaches. I'm not sure if it's the MASSIVE storm front we had move in the other day, or if it's the new medications that I'm on. Both of which list "headache" as the #1 side effect. I took it again this morning, and I can already feel my headache coming back. This is not a good sign.

In other news, happier news! Sam went to our community service growth group last night (alone because I couldn't drag myself outta bed). Apparently they were looking for volunteers for a place called Miracle Meadows here in town. An old friend of mine had told me about it a long time ago, but I never had time to volunteer. It's a place where handicapped children learn to ride horses. It's a great program, basically run by all volunteers. Sam didn't think I would mind and signed me up. What a great man I have! Of course, now that I'm not working, I DO have time to volunteer for this great program. Sam also said that he was a bit intimidated because he was the only guy there! He then said that they all made him feel welcome tho, and he even cracked a joke about how all the other guys were missing out.

Okay! I'm off to crawl back under my covers and nurse this headache again. *sigh* PLEASE Lord, take this headache away! Oh, and thank you all for the get well wishes! Tho I didn't get to reply to each of you individually, it did make me feel good that you all were thinking about me. :-)

Day 2....

So... I'm taking some new medication... and yesterday started a migraine. Coincidence or just a weather change in the near future? It IS supposed to rain ALL DAY LONG today... so here's to hoping that's what it is and not these new medications. :-/

Yesterday my head hurt so badly that all I had to eat all day was a couple of slices of bread. As soon as I heard Sam pull into the driveway I took 2 Vicodin and went to lay in my dark room. I woke up one time from a crazy dream where my dog had gotten out of the fence and gotten hit on the road. Out of bed I came, still groggy and wobbly from the drugs and flung open the door to find her laying right in front of my door. I pulled her in my room and shut the door again. Sam also made the dinner that I laid out. Bowtie Lasagna. I took a couple bites and I couldn't eat any more. It tasted delicious but I had absolutely no appetite at all. I took another Vicodin and went back to bed.

Bug also didn't feel well yesterday. She was all snotty and stuffy so I let her stay home to rest. She complained about not feeling well and not being able to move almost all day. Monkey had a friend come over, and she felt well enough to play with them! She climbed in bed with me and felt a little warm so I took her temp. 98.9 just slightly elevated, but, nothing really to worry about. I hope she feels better today tho. I woke up in the middle of the night and Monkey was sleeping on my side of the bed. He's such a tender hearted boy. Always making sure that I'm okay. I had a warm gel pad (the kind that can be used for heat or cold) and when Monk came home he heated it up again, wrapped it back up, and brought it back to me so it would stay warm longer. Such a good kid.

In other news! Charwood Candle Co is almost ready to launch!! Got just a few small details to work out, and the funding to finalize, and we will be rockin' and rollin'!! I can't wait!

Anyways, I already got one kid off to school, I need to wake the other up and see how she feels.

I just want to get out of bed!!

So, you may not know this, but, I've been stuck in bed since Thursday. I started feeling a little under the weather last Saturday, but, didn't really think that it was that big of a deal. It was REALLY cold on Saturday while we were selling cookies so I just thought that I was achy because of that and walking around for what seemed like 11 thousand hours while Bug sold Girl Scout cookies. Monday my throat just hurt, Tuesday my head started hurting, Wednesday I felt pretty icky, and then by Thursday I felt like I had been run over by a Mack Truck! I spent almost all day Thursday in bed, only getting up to go potty, get food, or let the dogs out. I was finally convinced that I should go to the doctor, so, I called the doctors office to make an appointment. By this time I had almost completely lost my voice and I could barely speak above a scratchy whisper. My favorite receptionist answers and I squeek out who I am, and she tells me I sound terrible, and that she was assuming I was calling for an appointment. I told her that I was and she gave me a 5 o'clock appointment time. (There was one at 3, but that would leave Monkey here by himself until who knows when!) Sam got home JUST in time to change over and drive me there because I was feeling very faint and dizzy. We ended up showing up about 20 minutes late to the appointment, which stunk because then we had to wait quite a bit. One of my two favorite doctors was there and he said I didn't have strep, but my throat was completely raw, that he thought I had the flu, but they were out of tests because of the snow storm we had earlier in the week. I also have an ear infection AND a sinus infection. So, he put me on 4 different prescriptions, a shot of antibiotics in the booty, and mandatory bed rest until Monday, and possibly longer! I felt okay yesterday, but I stayed in bed anyways. Sam came home about 1 and had to pick up the rest of my meds for me. He finally got back about 3 and Monkey came home as well. Monkey and I then laid in bed for a while and watched a movie called Dragon Hunters. What we got to watch of it was a pretty good movie! We will have to see the rest of it so I can write up a lil ditty on it! My best friend J and her husband had borrowed my car because he needed to get on base, but couldn't find his registration for his car to get a temp base pass to turn all of his stuff in. No big deal, I was on bed rest, not going anywhere! Last night, I felt pretty good, so, I got up and made meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I felt okay still, but then we started our family meeting and it quickly went down hill from there. I couldn't concentrate because my head was so full of gunk. I ended up eating dinner, taking my meds, and going back to bed around 7:30. I woke up this morning to the entire family in our bedroom. I must been sleeping REALLY well! Today, I'm taking it easy again, tho I really don't want to! I want to be out there helping everyone clean... wait... what?!

Eye crusties and Mr Stuffy

So, last night I noticed that Bugs eye looked rather red after she got home from school. I thought maybe she had been rubbing it or got something in it. As the evening went on, it seemed to get worse! So, this morning we get up and go to the doctor as a walk in. Apparently it was a bad day to have a situation such as this. We waited for about 2 hours before we even get we even get back to see the doctor. After that, we have waited for a little while longer.
While we were waiting, I discovered that Bug had pushed the backs of her earrings all the way into her earlobes and they had cut into her ears! Ugh!! Of course, they hurt a lot, and when I asked her why she didn't tell me that her ears hurt, she said that she didn't really feel it. *sigh*
We went to Wal*Mart to get her 3 prescriptions because I needed to pick up a couple of things. I picked up the noodles for our Chicken Noodle Soup later in our menu, along with coconut for Coconut Chicken tonight. It took another 45 minutes to get the medicines. Basically today has just been an absolute day of waiting at every single stop. It's just been murder on my schedule.
We came home and got the chicken out of the freezer so it would be thawed for tonight. I did something very unlike me while we were at Wal*Mart. I got a bag of pizza rolls for Bug and I to share. When we got home I took the earrings out if Bugs ears. It was really bad. I felt terrible for her. It was a very bad thing. Now we have to keep her hair pulled up for a while, and keep it super clean until it heals. This is going to be a long process... I can tell!
Okay, Monk is now home from school, Bug wants to play some games, so, I'm going to cut this short! Hope everyone is having a great day!

No Giveaway Monday... :-(

Sorry guys, no Giveaway links today. I've got an infected nail bed and it HUUUURTS! I seriously just want to cut it off... :-( (Okay, not REALLY, bit it does hurt really bad.)

I went to the doctor on Friday, and they gave me some antibiotics. Apparently they're not working because it's getting worse. :-(

Sick Lil Bug

So, on Thursday I woke up to Bug throwing up. She got sick a few times, rolling around, writhing in pain. "Mom! I don't feel good! My tummy hurts! I feel like I'm going to throw up!" I did a lot of hair stroking and holding until she fell asleep. At that point in time she had a tiny spot on her cheek. Nothing to really worry about, it was just a small red spot on her cheek. I thought it was something from her getting sick. She took a nap for about an hour and a half and I noticed the spot was getting bigger. I was trying to look at it without waking her up, unsuccessfully. She started complaining that it itched, so I put some calamine lotion on her face and then she started crying, saying that it burned and she wanted it off. During that time, the rash was spreading more. A trip to the doctors office was in order. We get to the office and they're closed for lunch, so, we went to get some ourselves. When we came back we were seen right away. Our favorite Doctor was on duty, he also reminds me of Dr. Burke from Season 1 of Greys Anatomy as well. He thought that she was having some sort of allergic reaction. She had a shot of cortisone and a script. He said that if she wasn't dramatically better by Saturday, that he wanted to see her back on Saturday. With that I made an appointment for my physical, grabbed Bugs scripts and headed to the pharmacy. For the remainder of the day, I dealt with "Mom it itcheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss!!" and trying to keep cool compresses on it because the Calamine lotion just made her face burn. The more time passed, the more that the rash spread. It was just a small spot on her face, and then it was almost her entire face, then it started to spread to her neck, arms, trunk, and legs.

The next day, Friday, it was MUCH worse, and so I took her back to the doctors office. That Dr wanted to give her a shot of Augmentin, and she's allergic to Penicillin!! So, needless to say, I didn't trust anything that he had to say, and decided that I was going to take the nurses advice, and go to the Emergency Room. While sitting there, she developed a spontaneous nose bleed, and it was bad! We finally get in and from there we wait for about 4 hours for the Doctor to come in and see us. I'm not blaming the Doctor for not being able to see us faster, but, if the hospital had more Doctors in the ER, we might not have had to wait that long. I know that it wasn't a true emergency, but, she was listed as a level 3 emergency, not a 4! I could only imagine how long we would have waited if she was a 4! (For those that don't know, Emergency rooms have "levels" and depending on the Emergency room, you might have to go somewhere else! A level 1 emergency is pretty much you're hanging on to life by a thread, and a level 4 is them saying "You should have went to a regular doctor.") The Doctor did give us a script for a medication that would help her stop itching, and it worked better than just regular Benadryl. We figured out that it works better than Benadryl because she would fall asleep about 30-40 minutes after she took it! How's that for itch relief?!

Saturday began at 6AM with Bug waking me up (she slept with us) saying "I have a headache, and I'm really itchy!" and she woke up with the entire side of her face being swollen and puffy! Alrighty! She's going to see the Dr again with me. I get up and get ready to go about 8:45, pulling Bug out of bed. I asked her if she wanted to put on some clothes and she said no. So, off to the Doctors office we go, with her in her jammies and unbrushed hair. (She has a very sensitive head and all the writhing in pain had left her with a knot in her hair that took me 25 minutes to brush out) Our favorite Dr was there again, and he was very concerned about Bug. He ordered some blood tests for her (and for me to check my cholesterol) to see if anything would show up in her blood. When we got to the hospital (again) for our blood tests, Bug decided that she had to pee, so, I let her, not thinking about the urine sample that they might need! (They did need one) From there we had to bribe her with "hospital dollars" and cake to let the nurse take her blood. She watched the Phlebotimist draw my blood, and of course she had trouble finding the vein, so it was a lot of hunting and rooting around in my arm with the needle! Then it was her turn. She did a fantastic job! Then, "Here's a cup, we need a sample" YIKES! It took an hour to get the urine sample. After we came home, we had lunch and took meds. It was a good thing, because she was starting to get itchy again. We watched some "old skool" cartoons (Aahh!!! Real Monsters, Rocko's Modern Life, and Rugrats... ahhh the memories!) for a while, and then a movie. Bug started getting itchy again around 6:15, which was time for her meds again anyways. She started saying that her head hurt, and so we went to go lay down in our bedroom. I had a massive headache as well, so we finally fell asleep around 7, and woke up this morning around 8. What a weekend!

Today, we're making a banner for my best friends husband! He will be home late Monday night and she's decorating their home fence like you see all the fence in front of Camp LeJeune decorated. We're all making one to say "Welcome Home!" I'm so glad that we're making these. I know some people that won't be able to make these. It breaks my heart. I think that we'll make a big one, and paint "Welcome home!" And then all put our hand prints on it, and sign it as well. I think that's all for today. I'm going to go into the office tomorrow and hopefully have some test results for Bug!

Bugs tooth!!

So, Bug had a couple of her adult teeth come in behind her teeth on the bottom because she absolutely refuses to wiggle, or try to pull her teeth at all. When we were at the Dentist a few weeks ago, they told her that she needed to pull them out and that if she hadn't pulled them by the next time she came in that they were going to have to pull them out for her. This sort of scared her a bit. It just so happened that she had Poison Ivy at that time and they weren't able to do her cleaning. So, we went back on Wednesday for her cleaning and she was SO worried that they were going to pull her teeth! I told her that they weren't going to pull them and that they would give her a little more time. She was still a bit worried though. Well yesterday Sam picked the kids up from school because I had a little more running around to do, and when I got home she runs up to me with a little baggy and says "Mom! I pulled my tooth at school today!" We then had dinner while we watched The Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson in it. It was a really cute movie! Then the Tooth Fairy gave her $2 for her tooth and she was very happy that he didn't just leave $1 like in the movie!

Yesterday was an okay day. I went to Sams therapist with him. He gave us some good ideas for communicating better and whatnot. We, of course, started talking while we were in bed, and I told him that I didn't completely trust him yet. I KNOW that he's not going to do anything, but, to have been treated the same way that I was in just about every previous relationship really has me flummoxed. I never thought that my wonderful husband would be capable of anything like that. He has such strong ethics and values, which is one of the things that I love so much about him, and to just blatantly disregard them is just mind boggling! He ended up pretty upset because I can't completely trust him right now. I told him that it would take some time and effort on his part to regain that trust. He completely disagreed. He thinks trust is something that I have to work towards on my own, like forgiveness. I told him that wasn't the case. He was the one that did the damage, and he needed to make efforts to repair it. I guess maybe I should have asked him if I set a wooden bridge on fire, but put it out voluntarily, if I should expect it to repair itself. Sam ended up sleeping on the couch last night because he was upset. We didn't fight, or argue, he was just upset that I told him that I couldn't trust him completely yet.

Today, I'm watching my friend Keonas' lil boy! He's such a little cutie!! Every time he sees me he gets all excited and squishes up his little face. Keona is going to her little girls class tea party. Who was I to come in between a mother-daughter tea party?! Besides, I really like watching lil man. It gives me enough "baby time" to not want another one, which is something I'm sure my mother is thankful for!  I've started to think that I'm just getting to "old" to have more kids. Monkey is 11, and Bug is almost 7. They're both in school all day, can feed themselves, no bottles or dirty diapers to deal with. I don't think I want to start all over again! I'll be 30 in just over a month. I really didn't want kids in the first place, but I'm glad that I do have them and I'm glad that I had them young. I don't know how my Dad stayed sane when he found out Mom was having me. He was getting ready to turn 50 when I was born! Sheesh!

Today is also Military Spouse Appreciation Day! I can still claim this title for that time being. If you are a Military Spouse I want to thank you for "standing by your man (or woman)", and if you know one, make sure they know that you appreciate them today.

The Final Countdown!

So, tomorrow my Momma and Step-dad will be here. We're all really excited for the arrival of my parents (and Grammy and Pampa-Punkin Head). I have got practically nothing done! I did get the carpet cleaned, but, that feels like the only thing that got done!! With Bug being sick, it's taken most of my time to get her to this doctor or that doctor, running her, running there. I admit, I did go on a snail excursion to New Bern to try and find a pink or purple snail, but that didn't take too long! I guess just the fact that my parents are coming is making me a little bit nervous. I've got to try and "out-cook" my soon-to-be brother-in-law sister, which I know it's not a competition, but I still like to try and impress Momma a little bit! The kids rooms are a mess!! Of course, when aren't they?! I've got laundry to do. I've got to clean our bathroom, I did the kids bathroom yesterday. I've got to sweep and mop the kitchen and both bathrooms. I've got to vacuum. I've got laundry to put away. UGH!!! TOO MUCH!!

On a lighter note! Bug looks SO much better this morning than she did a couple days ago! The redness is s-l-o-w-l-y going away. She's not as itchy. She's REALLY bored!LOL I told her this morning that if she didn't let me get my work done, that I was going to send her back to school. She said she didn't want that so she went back to watching Hannah Montana. God love her!

Okay, it's back to cleaning! I imagine that I should probably shove some food down my throat before  I start cleaning everything!! *sigh*

My Poor Little Bug!

So, a couple of weeks ago, Bug came down with a case of poison ivy, right before her Father-Daughter dance. We decided that the best course of action would be to go to our Doctors office and get her a Cortisone shot, just like she had right before her fall school pictures. (Yes, it seems like any time something "fancy" is going to happen she gets some sort of skin condition!)Well, it seemed a little better the next day, and we could easily cover it up with some make-up and off to the dance she went! By that Monday, her rash was worse, so we took her back to the Doctors. Well, he decided that she had some sort of mild skin infection, and gave her some antibiotics, telling me that if it hadn't gotten any better by Wednesday, that she would need to go to a Pediatrician. (They're a General Practitioner.) All seemed well, and she took her last dose of the antibiotics Monday morning. Yesterday morning she gets up, goes to school, everything is normal. I get a call from the Boys & Girls Club saying that she's itching like crazy. I just so happened to have a conference with Bugs teacher yesterday afternoon and I told her that I would drop some cream off before I went to her teachers room and I would be back soon after that to pick them both up and take them home. Not a terrible thing, and I knew she could wait just a little bit with the cream. Well, we get home and Bug has a HORRIBLE rash all over her body. I call the Doctors office to see if they had any appointments and they told me to bring her as a walk-in at 6. No big deal.

Now this is the part of the story where it starts to get a little bit hairy. We walk into the Doctors office just after 6pm yesterday afternoon and they take all of her vitals. Blood pressure is just *slightly* up, but she was in a bit of pain, so not terrible. Her temp was right under 99 degrees, so still normal. Everything is looking normal so far, except for the horrible looking rash covering a little over half of her body. The Doctor comes in and looks at her, and determines that it is, in fact, a skin infection because her skin was warm to the touch, and that because the antibiotics cleared it up the first time, that she would refill the prescription and hopefully we could get her into the Dermatologist before the antibiotic was done. (I knew that this would probably NOT happen!) Of course, I ask her 4 or 5 times if it could be an allergic reaction to the medications, and she assures me it's not, but it could be to the Poison Ivy. Well, we fill her prescription, get her some oatmeal bath, and a bar of Aveeno soap with oatmeal in it and go home for a nice warm bath and bed.

This morning Bug wakes up and her skin looks like someone dumped really hot water all over her and she's saying that it doesn't itch, it hurts! Of course, this was right after I give her the morning dose of antibiotics. I'm not a Doctor, they're supposed to know what's wrong with her, so I give her the prescription that she was given. I decide that not only am I going to keep her home from school, that I'm also going to take her to the Emergency Room. If it is in fact a skin infection, and it looks WORSE than it did 10 hours ago, there is something seriously wrong, and I don't want to take a chance! I get Sam up and dressed and Monkey off to school (Who wants to go along so he can play his DSi!), we head in to the ER. They take her right from the door to triage, to a bed. We skipped the admission paperwork and everything. Bug was happy because the triage nurse showed her how to work the bed, and she got to watch cartoons!

We finally get to see a Doctor and she says that she wants to get a CBC on her and check to make sure she doesn't have an infection going on and SHE thinks it's an allergic reaction to something. She gets he blood drawn, after some convincing, and they send that off to be tested. Of course, she didn't want to eat any breakfast this morning because she didn't want to move off the couch, so they bring her some Sierra Mist and her new rounds of medication (Steroids and Benadryl). The CBC comes back clean. She does not, in fact, have any sort of infection, and it shows that she is having some sort of allergic reaction. The ER Doc takes her off of the antibiotic that she was on and asks us if anything new had come into the home. The only things were the antibiotic and new fabric softner. She advised us to switch back to our old fabric softner and discontinue the antibiotic. *sigh*

So, the whole time I was giving her the 2nd course of antibiotic, I was pumping her body full of something that it was trying to fight off. I'm a bit upset by this. I'm not sure if I should request TriCare to change her Doctor, or, give them another chance. This was her life we are talking about!! Who knows how bad this could have gotten if I would have just kept giving her those antibiotics! Who's to say that her poor little body wouldn't have just stopped trying to fight it off and gave in?! What would have happened then?! What would have happened if she would have had a seizure last night in her sleep or gone into anaphylactic shock?! UGH! I'm so upset!!

The worst is over for now, I think. I will just have to add the new antibiotic to the list of medications that she can no longer have. Last year she had a bad reaction to Amoxicillin and she's had that since she was a teeny baby!! Lord... this cuts down on the antibiotics that she CAN have by a lot!! She does look a lot better than she did this morning. The redness and swelling has decreased considerably, and she almost looks back to normal.

I didn't get ANYTHING done today on the house. It's not Bugs fault. I'm just going to work harder tomorrow. I know everything will be okay. It's my mom. It's not like she's coming to do a white glove inspection of my house. It's not like the house is a disaster area, I would just like it to be spotless for my parents visit!! Is that so much to ask?! LOL

Monkey on reading among other things!

Well, as some of you know, my son (Monkey) is 10. He has ADHD and he was also diagnosed with dyslexia last year. It has been a constant uphill battle to get him to read. He does not have the easiest time at it, and is significantly behind in his reading, which effects alot of other sections of his education, well, actually, almost all of them! Last night, Monkey actually brought me a book and asked if we could read! I was so happy! A couple of weeks ago, we had a conference with his science teacher, and he was in his homeroom right across the hall. He actually got out his book and started reading on his own!
What's the change, you may ask. I think it is a combination of a few things actually. We started buying him books that he really enjoys! We bought him some Diary of A Wimpy Kid and some Bakugon books as well. I'm just glad that he is wanting to read and is actually starting to enjoy it and not scream and cry every time you said it was time for reading homework. Go Monkey!!

In other news around the Charwood house, we're getting rid of cable on Tuesday. Totally not my idea, and it couldn't happen at the worst time! On Wednesday I'm having sinus surgery and will be laid up for a couple of weeks. When I asked Sam what I was supposed to do all day while I was alone, at home, with nothing to do but lay on the couch and talk to the dogs. He said that I could read. I guess that's not a horrible idea.

Oh yes! I started college! I'm actually going to an online school called the Animal Behavioral College! I'm taking Veterinarian Assistant and Dog Obedience. Almost all of the curriculum is online, and then you have to do an externship to complete the course and graduate. It was all actually paid for by the government because I am a military spouse. It's called My Career Advancement Account, and it pays for up to $6,000 to help with college. It's been a big help!

Tomorrow is the Marine Corps 234th birthday! I am proud to be able to say that my husband is a Marine. He is far braver than I! We won't be going to the ball again this year. Wednesday, which is also Veterans Day, I'm having sinus surgery! Of course, Sam didn't tell me when it was this year, so, I scheduled my surgery 2 days before. God love him! My best friends, J, is probably going to go with me. She will be having pretty much the same procedure done in December, so, she would like to go with me. I'll probably be the one that goes with her as well.

The dogs are great! They're both sleeping on the couch right now with their feet straight up in the air. It's actually really cute. Lilly's hair has finally grown all the way back in. She is a fluffy white dog again! Doc is finally in the swing of things around here. He will sit on command now! That was a pretty big thing for us, considering that most people believe that Greyhounds can't sit. Both of the dogs are very quick learners and are doing really great!

Other than that, I think that's really all that's going on lately. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this a little better here in the future. We will see!

New baby.

Well, Sam and I have decided that we don't want to have any more children, and if we do, it's going to be quite some time before we do. (Think 5 years or so.) So, we decided, along with the kids, that we were going to adopt a dog. It's been a dream of mine to have a retired Greyhound for a very long time. I think it's horribly sad that alot of these animals are put to death after their racing careers are over, simply because they don't have someone to take them and love them as part of their family.

Lilly, our American Eskimo dog, she is very high energy. We go outside and play with her and take her for walks, but you can almost tell that she wants another dog to play with. When the neighbors have their dog in the back yard they run up and down the fence line just wagging their tails and playing. It was a decision to bring her home a "brother" as well.

I had been watching two different Greyhound rescue sites for the last few weeks, and Sam and I had fallen in love with one. Before we had really made the decision to go forth with the adoption, he was placed on hold pending adoption. We were both kind of sad, but if he got a good home, then it was great for him!

We took the kids to the ER for the rash that they have, because it spread from Bug to Monkey and Monkey's had gotten worse. The doctor had told Sam it was something that we didn't think it was and we were going for another opinion. We spent pretty much all night in the ER with very little sleep. The next day we slept in and recovered. I also wanted to watch the rash a bit more. I ended up calling the adoption agency that he was at just to inquire about their adoption policy. It turns out that the people that had put him on hold for adoption didn't want him after all! I decided right then and there that we were going to get him.

I filled out the application, answered some questions, and Sunday afternoon we found out that we were approved to adopt! This upcoming weekend the entire family will go meet him to see if he is a good match for us. Everyone at the agency has told us that he is the sweetest guy and that we will fall in love with him the moment that we see him. I have no doubt in that considering we are already in love with him and all we have is pictures!

Hopefully, this guy will be in our home next weekend and part of the Charwood family! Here is a picture that we got from the agency, and the one that made us love him!

More Flu!

Well, Friday we had to go back to the Dr for Monkey. He had a slight fever, had been coughing, and said that he had a headache. I took a proactive approach and turns out that I was right! his symptoms were so slight, but he had a fever and he said that he had a headache and had been sneezing since Thursday. With that, I had a four day weekend, with two sick kids! Monkey was acting just fine, and Bug wasn't acting out many of her symptoms, but daycare was going on a field trip and I didn't think that they should be traipsing all over the state with the flu!
What it did mean, was that I could get a head start on house work for the weekend! Which means that I might get a chance to enjoy my Sunday with the kiddos! Sounds great, right?
Yesterday, Sam came home from his meeting and said that he had a headache and was going to lay down for a bit. A few hours later I go to ask him if he was okay, and he was burning up with fever. You guessed it, he's got the flu as well!!
the kids got a package from Grammy yesterday. Bug got a new Hanna Montana backpack for school, and Monkey got a new summer workbook, and then she sent the mother load of goodness! She sent a box of CoCo Wheats! If you don't know what they are, then you must have been hiding under a rock for the last 60 some years... CoCo Wheats are like chocolate Cream of Wheats. Man! I forgot how great the taste! We had that this morning for breakfast, and now my 2 "flu sick" kids are bouncing all over! I think today we will go to the park, and possibly even take the dog as well. Not sure yet.

Bug Flu!

So, this morning around 5am, Bug comes crawling in Sam and I's bed and says "Mommy, I don't feel good!" I feel her and she is burning hot! I proceed to call out of work, while I get a cool wash cloth and some water for her. I, unfortunately did not have any children's Tylenol or Motrin, or a thermometer! Sam gets up, gets ready for work, and quickly heads out of the house. He doesn't do sick people well. I put Bug in bed with me, wipe her down with the cool wash cloth and try to get her to go back to sleep.
Around 7:30 Monkey comes in and wakes us up and says "Mom! We're gonna be late if you don't get up!" I tell him that Bug is sick and that they won't be going to daycare today. They were both a lil bummed about that, but, there's not a whole lot that you can do when they're sick! I guess I could have sent Monkey to daycare and just kep Bug home, but that wouldn't really be fair.
I call TriCare to make sure that their primary care provider is mine as well. I guess it's a good thing that I did because they were still registered in Ohio! I then call the doctors office. They didn't have any available appointments for today, but I wasn't going to wait! I went as a walk-in, and it seemed to take forever, especially with Bug whining because the chairs are uncomfortable, that she wants to be held, that it's taking too long, that she doesn't feel good, etc etc, and the other one whining that he doesn't want to sit close to his sick sister! We finally get seen and the doctor wants to test her for strep and the flu. Well, she has the flu! Poor thing.
We get her scripts and we head to Walgreens next to my work because I got a doctors note saying that I don't have to return to work until Monday. It's all going to be on her and how she feels. I'm not going to push her to go to daycare tomorrow because they are going on a field trip and I don't think that she should have to walk around all day in the sun and such. It might just be too much for her.
She is now sleeping on the couch with her "bucket" next to it, while Monkey plays Mario Kart on the Wii. I, on the other hand, am catchin up on house work! So much for a day off work!