imagine_bliss_butterfly

Not my little girl anymore....

She called from Florida crying.  My heart sank...what was wrong with this daughter of mine?

NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Her tears were those of joy....Bri asked her to marry him.  Woo Hoo!

What she didn't know was that we were expecting her call to come at any moment.  You see, this guy of her's is the old fashioned type.   An old fashioned guy with our up town type of girl.  Imagine that!

He came over a day before they were to leave.  I was curious about his visit...it isn't just any day he drives an hour to our house when Sissy isn't here.

He wanted to know if he could have our permission to ask Sissy to marry him.  He said he had respect for us and wanted to have our blessing before he went any further in his plans of making her his wife.  Our Blessing?  It would be our honor to have him in our family, is what I told him!

He pulled the ring from out of his pocket.  Diamonds are definately a girls best friend, and I'll tell ya, the boy couldn't have picked anything prettier!!  Wowza!

And so.... tomorrow my girl will be coming home as a newly engaged young woman.

As tears form in my eyes, I remember the day I gave birth to that baby girl of mine...and the times I prayed that my days with her would last forever. 

 

So...she was at it again....lol

I refuse to call our dog Sophie a floosie.  Seriously.  Everyone else in the house does...but I refuse.  She's a dog.  Plain and simple.

But dayum, she produces some really cute pup's! 

The best form of therapy any way you put it, is sitting outside in the backyard playing with 7 week old pups.  Ahhh...the joy of it!

And aren't they the cutest things you ever saw?  I yie yie, they make me nuts with puppy love!

Where, oh where, is IT going??

Where is what going, you may be asking.  SUMMER!  That's what!

We have done absolutely nothing in the way of exciting, fun filled, going away to far off lands, $80 dollar a gas tank type of vacation.  Why?  I suppose you could go back a few months posts and that might give you a clue.  For the sake of boredom though...I'll not go off on that tangent at this time. 

I have, however, tried to keep the growing boy busy with one thing or another.  First, he became a pyromaniac all within two days.  How do I know this?  Give the boy a shovel and tell him he can use 'some' of your fire wood....and you'll soon find out that the full cord of wood you never thought he'd use, can and will be gone all within 48 hours. What's the shovel for?  For his new fire pit, of course!

(oops....wrong picture...this one sure ain't summer!!)

He and I tried to trim the big ol' messy Maple tree in the back yard, and we started burning some of the leaves from the mess we created....but that just didn't produce the type of flame a boy really wants.  So...off to the rack he went, the one holding all of my lovely, aged wood for the fireplace.  Now THAT kind of wood produces fires that Pyro's would be proud of!  We're talking REALLY, REALLY big fires!!

Next project of summer?  The trailer boy had to re-do some things to help his new "Can I Mow Your Yard" biz. 

Whew....talk about quite the feat!  He wasn't satisfied until he had a ramp attached to the back...."easier to push the lawn mower up onto the trailer, for my new business, Mom!"

Now...for the neatest of projects the boy has done thus far...give him a bike taken from someone's trash, and he's found something to become obsessed about!  Yup...he worked 18 hours straight, I swear!  (that was until someone mysteriously looked into the garage window and he came a runnin' into the house, freaked out to all of high heaven!)  But doncha think the new Zebra bike is fab?  I do, at least it's creative, eh?  (Nope, I never did believe his school teachers when they said he wasn't a motivated learner...I'd say he's very motivated!)

Sure, the bike looks like it has black and white tape on it...but oh no, it's PAINTED black and white...  "Just like the guys do on pimp my truck, Mom!"

     

I really am grateful that he's kept himself busy this summer so far.  And guess what?  Not ONE trip to his Neurologist since before school was out!  Yup...I'm feelin' mighty blessed!  :)

Ahhh...the what if's...

"You know.....all hypochondriac's die from something they are worried about..." said the good doctor to me last week.  Gotta love that primary care physician o'mine.   He's the only one willing and able to take on my health care drama...the only one that says "Have her come in TODAY"  when I call with this neck lump or that rapid, anxiety ridden, palpitating heart of mine.  I think he believes he can figure me out.  Poor soul. 

Actually, I'm starting to wonder if that overly Pee-HHHH-Deed brain of his is starting to get bored.  I mean, come on now....who really need's three Phd's anyway??  I suppose if your MY doctor, you'd need three of those babies just to sit down and write out my list of scripts.

So's...he got me to thinkin'...am I really a hypochondriac?   

I figured I'd best take the test....just to let him know the next time I see him, that either I'm official or not.  On this particular test I will be printing out the results just for him.  He loves a good fax, too, so I'll be sending my results to him via my fax machine.  (He's still pissed that my group of Great Neuro doctor's in Chicago haven't faxed him yet....each time I see him, he gives me his card to hand off to them, underlining his fax number at least 4 times!!) 

Care to join me in the Hypochodriac challenge?  Come on....whatcha got to lose...except for maybe the seat next to me at our upcoming July "Hypochondriac's Anonymous' meeting?

Go ahead and click here.  I dare ya!

The Fam...

As mentioned in my previous post, we did indeed have a great time in Missouri at our family reunion.

Considering the fact that our forefathers were disgruntled, passionately angry people who gave dysfunctional family it's real meaning, I think we all looked pretty darn normal and nice!  It's always a family joke when one of my mother's siblings is 'acting out'....and when doing so, said sibling is showing their Wyoming heritage.  Rumor has it that once the last of the Wyoming generation's died, the family home sat vacant for years, until the town people burned it down it looked so bad!

So, given the fact that none of us are habitual hoarders, driving our cars with road rage, whilst in the latest anger management program, I thought I'd share some pictures of my nice and normal family...hopefully any of my aunts or uncles reading this won't call me and freak out, showing their true Wyoming heritage.  =)

Above:  What would you call them?  These are all kids from my brother, me and my cousin's.  Would they be 2nd cousin's?

Above:  My fave cuz, Doug, and his boys.  Nice lookin', I might add!

The two oldest 2nd (?) cousin's...my Sissy and her cousin, Doug Jr, born two months apart.

Pretty functional looking, eh?  I think so too!  =)

Home at last...

We haven't gone anywhere in ages...so imagine my surprise when we actually went off to Missouri to attend a family reunion.  Wow....seriously....what a great time!

In lieu of the recent gas prices, we decided to opt for a train ride instead of driving the car.  What should have been a 4 1/2 hour drive turned into a 3 hour train ride.  Not to bad, eh? 

While planning the trip, I made arrangements for our dogs to be taken care of....begging two friends to come over and let the dogs out while we were away.  I wrote out a time line and each friend agreed to help out with whatever times I needed them.  Such wonderful friends!  (yup I'm in for a future 'freebie', in return!  lol)

Oops....one problem.  What would I do with Sophie?   Sophie is our all of five pounds, little Maltese/Shitzu mix, and Sophie was due anytime to give birth to a litter of puppies.  We thought we had the timing down right....so if our calculations were correct, she'd be giving birth while we'd be gone.  Ugh. 

I mentioned to my extra grace neighbor that we were in a dilemma with Sophie since she called weekly asking how things were going with our Mama to be.  'I suppose I should board her', I told my neighbor.  She told me, loud and clear, NO WAY!  She wanted to take Sophie and watch her for us....'just in case' she said.  It had been years since she had bred Great Dane's and she sort of 'missed it' now a days.  How could I say no?

Each day while we were gone, I'd call and check in on Sophie.  No labor in sight were the words that I kept getting from my neighbor.  Hmm....so maybe our calculations were off?  I could only hope this was the case.  In all honesty I was worried sick about the entire ordeal.  When someone tells you they have the 'water, box, and thermometer ready for the puppies birth...you wonder, huh????  What, I asked, do you need a box for?  "Oh, thats for when each puppy comes out...you take them from the mother and put them in a box until all the puppies have been born." 

HUH????

I must be the worst pet owner in the world... I never knew one takes just born puppies and puts them in a box??  I thought you were supposed to leave them with the momma so that she could clean them and get them started on a new puppy life?  Ugh...am I weird or what?  We had done this two times before, and I never knew you messed with a just born puppy.  Hmm.  I must be missin' the puppy breeding boat here.

Needless to say, I begged her not to touch any new puppy and to let Sophie do her job, if indeed the puppies were born while we were away. 

Ha....wouldn't cha know it, those darn puppies were born the day before we were scheduled to come home!!  AND....wouldn't cha know it, my new puppy breeding neighbor called me to say Sophie was trying to kill one of her pups by suffocating it during the night.  She said she 'caught Sophie in the act!!"

Huh??

Sophie was always the best of Mom's...what in the world was my neighbor talking about?  All I knew is that I wanted to drive home then and there....because for some reason none of this made any sense to me.  I was starting to hear that Twilight Zone theme, and it wasn't makin' me any more calmer, that's for sure!  (I guess you'd have to know my extra grace neighbor to understand)

I was delighted once the train arrived to pick us up for the ride home....I soooo wanted to get my dog and puppies and run far, far away with them!  When I called my neighbor to let her know that we'd be arriving in an hour to take the puppies off of her hands, she said "Oh no your not.  I've grown attached to these dogs and I'm keeping them at least for one more day!"

Huh?

Did I hear that correctly?  I hope not!  lol   I asked the train conductor/driver/pilot just how fast does this train go, anyway, cuz Mama ain't happy.

All was well when I sent TOM over to pick up the puppies....let her deal with him, eh?  lol  Not a bad idea!  Sooooo.....all five puppies were home before I knew it, and Me?  Well, I was one happy Mama!

Our first white female puppy! (the previous two litters had white male puppies)  Yep, her looks are similar to that of a pig, but hey, she'll be one cute darlin' before ya know it!

Flippin' tired again...

All I do is sleep.  Seriously.  I'm fricken tired all the time.  Chronic fatigue is not something I thought I'd even have to endure for this long, but the past three months has been disturbing, to say the least.  (disturbing?  Who uses words like disturbing? lmao)

I recently read that fatigue is one of the top complaints of MS'ers and Sjogren's sufferer's.  I suppose I could say 'at least I'm not alone'...but heck....suffering with chronic fatigue along with a whole group of people doesn't make it any more bearable.  This sucks!

I'm wonderin'...how does the rest of the world...those with chronic fatigue cope? 

Suggestions?  Tips?  Pills?  Anyone? 

 

 

Super Mom.

I see the junior high phone number show up on the caller ID.  Oh boy…what could possibly be happening at my little guy’s school that warrants a phone call?  I mean, come on, he loves the place!  (insert sarcasm here…. Hehe)

A very slight whisper comes over the phone.  “Mom” he says.  ”Is everything OK?”  I respond.  “Well, not really.” He says.  “What’s wrong?”  I ask him. 

He proceeds to tell me that he had a project due last week, and that he would appreciate it if I would bring the project to school for him. “Wait…you had a project due last week and you need me to bring it to school now??  At one in the afternoon?”  I ask him.  “Yes” is all he says.

“Where is the project at?  In your bedroom?”   I ask. 

“No” he says.  “I haven’t done it yet.”

Ohhhhhhhh.  Silly me!!! 

You need me to stop the important task that I’m conquering now (which is nothing) and start and finish a project for you, quick take a shower, put on my face, get dressed and drive on over to the spunky little junior high and drop off a full poster project that you were given a month to finish, right?

“Yup, Mom…that’s right.”

I suppose it’s too late to start questioning where I went wrong with this boy o’ mine….or is it?   =)

Meeting the Parents....

Welp...it's official.  We will be meeting Bry's parents this upcoming Saturday for dinner.  Who is Bry?  He's Sissy's luv of her life, thats who! 

The two above have been inseparable since they met 1 1/2 years ago....

So, does meeting his parent's mean something significant?   Well, from what I'm seeing in my daughter's beautiful brown eyes, I'd say the answer is a big YES!

Two months too long...

Gosh, since I saw the 'blue screen of death' two months ago, getting online has been hit or miss for me.  Can I say major Internet withdrawal???  Oh yes!!

The one and only working computer in the house was Sissy's computer...and well, you might know how that goes....Sissy is just like her mother in oh so many ways; using the computer daily is one of them!  So Sissy always gets first dibs on her computer and rightfully so, no?

Things for the family have improved majorly...thank the good Lord above!  Prayer works, thats for sure!  The husband has been humbled and filled with much guilt.  What has changed him?  The only thing I can offer up is PRAYER!  Seriously...it has to be the answer!

Getting through February was a tough one.  For those that may not know it, we were particularly touched by the Northern Illinois University shootings.  Sissy was planning on attending school there, this past fall, but due to her depression and anxiety, she pulled out at the last minute.  However, she still had friends that attended school there, and we sat in silent prayer with everyone else in our community as breaking news was filling our TV's and radio stations. When we learned of the victim list, we were even more saddened to discover that one of those victims was Julianna.  Julianna was engaged to Steve, a friend of ours. Steve was more than just a friend, but also an employee of our family business...and he was a trusted friend for years to my brother and sister in law.  But what was saddest was when he was killed in a tragic car accident on his way to work for our family business a few years ago.