The question is: What is a good reason to write a blog?
I'm sitting here on my bed trying to think of something to write while David reads to me. I have no idea what he is reading but I'm happy he is choosing to read!
The smoke detector is *beep*ing. It is annoying but I do not want to get on a ladder to fix it. My husband will be home soon and he will replace the batteries but until then the smoke detector will *beep* and I will fume.
I went to the eye doctor today for a check up and to get an updated prescription. While I waited to be seen I started thinking about my mom. Because of Mom's ocular melanoma I know that I must get periodic scans to look for skin abnormalities. So why not have my eyes checked, too?
I told the doctor about my mom and she said I should do the full comprehensive exam. And she found a lesion on my left eye. And she wants to see me again in six months. It's probably nothing to worry about but with my family history it's worth keeping an eye on (pun intended).
Yesterday Megan and I had a "girl day". We started with Jazzercise then we went to the beauty supply store. Megan chose some purple and teal hair colors for us and when we got home we dyed. The rest of the day was filled with lunch, ear piercing and shopping. It was a fun day for both mother and daughter.
Best of all there has been no barfing in the Fellows household since the wee hours of Monday morning. Tuesdays ROCK!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Sick Day....and Let's Keep it That Way
If people must be sick please let's keep it to one day.
I went to Jazzercise this morning and my feet didn't hurt! Big win for me. As I was driving home I passed "Child's" mother who had just dropped her off for the day. Within 10 minutes of my being home "Child" threw up. I tried to get mom on the phone before she got too far away but she didn't get my message until she was at work. She did get out early and on her way to pick "Child" up she had a blow-out on the 84 East. So I piled most of my offspring into the bus along with "Child" and we met mom at Les Schwab and took them both home. Productive morning.
After a trip to the library and grocery store we returned home and I prepared food for my family. Matt had been battling a sore throat and spent the day at rest. It was a boring afternoon of lying around watching TV and playing with LEGOs. Then comes bed time.
Half the children are bathed and all are ready for bed. Then I hear the dreaded, "Oh no!" from Megan. Ian had made a mad-dash for the bathroom where hit hit every target EXCEPT the toilet. So back into the tub with him. Matt - bless his punky soul - cleaned up the mess and Ian while I gathered the laundry and got the other children calmed down and squared away.
Then I checked on Matt to see if he wanted anything to eat. "No. My throat feels like glass." I know what that means. After two bouts of strep throat in as many months I consider myself a reluctant expert. I checked his neck for swollen glands. Bingo!
ME: "You are going to Urgent Care tomorrow."
HIM: "No, I'll wait until Monday."
ME: "You have a job interview on Wednesday. You'll go tomorrow."
It's no fair for him to come down with strep at the beginning of his birthday week but if we do things right he should be well in time to celebrate on Friday.
If anyone else in this house has intentions of being sick I'd like them all to do it now. I'd rather not spend the entire spring break playing Nurse Nelly.
I went to Jazzercise this morning and my feet didn't hurt! Big win for me. As I was driving home I passed "Child's" mother who had just dropped her off for the day. Within 10 minutes of my being home "Child" threw up. I tried to get mom on the phone before she got too far away but she didn't get my message until she was at work. She did get out early and on her way to pick "Child" up she had a blow-out on the 84 East. So I piled most of my offspring into the bus along with "Child" and we met mom at Les Schwab and took them both home. Productive morning.
After a trip to the library and grocery store we returned home and I prepared food for my family. Matt had been battling a sore throat and spent the day at rest. It was a boring afternoon of lying around watching TV and playing with LEGOs. Then comes bed time.
Half the children are bathed and all are ready for bed. Then I hear the dreaded, "Oh no!" from Megan. Ian had made a mad-dash for the bathroom where hit hit every target EXCEPT the toilet. So back into the tub with him. Matt - bless his punky soul - cleaned up the mess and Ian while I gathered the laundry and got the other children calmed down and squared away.
Then I checked on Matt to see if he wanted anything to eat. "No. My throat feels like glass." I know what that means. After two bouts of strep throat in as many months I consider myself a reluctant expert. I checked his neck for swollen glands. Bingo!
ME: "You are going to Urgent Care tomorrow."
HIM: "No, I'll wait until Monday."
ME: "You have a job interview on Wednesday. You'll go tomorrow."
It's no fair for him to come down with strep at the beginning of his birthday week but if we do things right he should be well in time to celebrate on Friday.
If anyone else in this house has intentions of being sick I'd like them all to do it now. I'd rather not spend the entire spring break playing Nurse Nelly.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Dinner, Pool and Pie
And so begins the 21st year in this journey called life with Matt.
How did the 20th year end? My dear husband made dinner for the little peeps, or chillins as I like to call them, while I went to Jazzercise. After class I picked up 4 of the 6 to take them to dance rehearsal at church. While they danced I played and laughed with the wonderful wadies of Waumba. We even rehearsed some dances and play-acting. Then it was home to shower and get ready for a night on the town.
Matt had chosen a local eatery we had never been to before. Sam's Restaurant located in the Monarch Hotel is an intimate venue, or it was this evening. We were the only people there when we arrived. The service was fast and friendly and the food was delicious.
After dining we went to our favorite place to unwind and shoot some pool. (I realize that I left out the name of the place. This is so you do not feel encouraged to frequent our little haunt and take up the good pool table leaving us to wait for a table or play on a table whose pockets fall out when you sink a shot, not that that happens very often.) We had fun and enjoyed eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table over. Simple phrases, which when taken out of context are suggestive, are perfectly suited to a pool hall.
"Nice rack!"
"I need a longer stick."
We finished up our hour and decided to go on the hunt for a piece of grasshopper pie. My mom used to make the most devine grasshopper pie and I could think of nothing I would enjoy more for dessert on St. Patrick's Day. It may not be as apropos as, perhaps, Irish coffee but I don't drink coffee. The game was afoot! Now, maybe it is the fact that the main ingredient in grasshopper pie is not grasshoppers but liqueur that makes it hard to come by in your typical pie shoppe. I guess we could have gone searching in bars but I didn't want to open that can of worms. Since narry a piece of this creme de menthe dream in a graham cracker crust could be found we settled for a slice of peanut butter chocolate silk pie. Yu-uh-um-MEE!
As we sat there devouring our slice of pie I asked Matt what he would have thought if twenty years ago someone had told him that in 20 years he would be living in Portland, Oregon with a wife and six children, driving around in a school bus. He says he could imagine the wife part but not the rest of it. If someone had suggested this same scenario (minus the wife and plus a husband) to me 20 years ago not only would I have believed it possible, I would have done a little happy dance!
I know some women are happy to have their careers, with or without spouses or children. But as for me and my life-long aspirations I think God has placed me where I have always wanted to be. So I didn't become a Broadway star or a singing, veterinarian nun. I have the starring role in my family's hearts for now. It's been a good run - Twenty years so far! - with no sign of a closing night in the near future.
Forget the awards and accolades with the big banquet. I'm content with my dinner, pool and pie.
How did the 20th year end? My dear husband made dinner for the little peeps, or chillins as I like to call them, while I went to Jazzercise. After class I picked up 4 of the 6 to take them to dance rehearsal at church. While they danced I played and laughed with the wonderful wadies of Waumba. We even rehearsed some dances and play-acting. Then it was home to shower and get ready for a night on the town.
Matt had chosen a local eatery we had never been to before. Sam's Restaurant located in the Monarch Hotel is an intimate venue, or it was this evening. We were the only people there when we arrived. The service was fast and friendly and the food was delicious.
After dining we went to our favorite place to unwind and shoot some pool. (I realize that I left out the name of the place. This is so you do not feel encouraged to frequent our little haunt and take up the good pool table leaving us to wait for a table or play on a table whose pockets fall out when you sink a shot, not that that happens very often.) We had fun and enjoyed eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table over. Simple phrases, which when taken out of context are suggestive, are perfectly suited to a pool hall.
"Nice rack!"
"I need a longer stick."
We finished up our hour and decided to go on the hunt for a piece of grasshopper pie. My mom used to make the most devine grasshopper pie and I could think of nothing I would enjoy more for dessert on St. Patrick's Day. It may not be as apropos as, perhaps, Irish coffee but I don't drink coffee. The game was afoot! Now, maybe it is the fact that the main ingredient in grasshopper pie is not grasshoppers but liqueur that makes it hard to come by in your typical pie shoppe. I guess we could have gone searching in bars but I didn't want to open that can of worms. Since narry a piece of this creme de menthe dream in a graham cracker crust could be found we settled for a slice of peanut butter chocolate silk pie. Yu-uh-um-MEE!
As we sat there devouring our slice of pie I asked Matt what he would have thought if twenty years ago someone had told him that in 20 years he would be living in Portland, Oregon with a wife and six children, driving around in a school bus. He says he could imagine the wife part but not the rest of it. If someone had suggested this same scenario (minus the wife and plus a husband) to me 20 years ago not only would I have believed it possible, I would have done a little happy dance!
I know some women are happy to have their careers, with or without spouses or children. But as for me and my life-long aspirations I think God has placed me where I have always wanted to be. So I didn't become a Broadway star or a singing, veterinarian nun. I have the starring role in my family's hearts for now. It's been a good run - Twenty years so far! - with no sign of a closing night in the near future.
Forget the awards and accolades with the big banquet. I'm content with my dinner, pool and pie.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
One score ago.....
....OR
It was 20 years ago this St. Patrick's Day that I met my husband!
Twenty years? It seems like such a long time.
When you say you will stay with someone forever you really have no idea how long forever will be. It could be 60+ years or one of you could fall off the edge of a mountain on your fascinating honeymoon to the Swiss Alps. You just don't know.
Twenty years isn't so long. For a tree in California's Avenue of the Giants twenty years is a drop in the bucket. On the other hand for a pine tree growing in Oregon it's over the hill. I jest. Sort of.
Considering the current divorce rate in the United States, twenty years is a long time. I know I've been out of high school almost 24 years but I don't feel old - until I think about the fact that I've been out of high school for 24 years.
How can it be that I have been with my husband for twenty years but I feel about as mature as the average 18 year old? I know Matt is 20 years older too but he hasn't grown up any more than I have. If you take a long look at the facts, we may actually be regressing!
How can we possibly have squeezed so much living into such a short amount of time? I think I'd like to take the next twenty years a little slower. When I go to my 40 year high school reunion and people ask what I've been up to since the last reunion I want to honestly answer, "Not much. You?"
I'm not complaining. It is probably all of this "living" that has kept us from noticing we're getting older. It would be nice to keep on moving so fast that our age doesn't catch up to us until we reach our 80's. Matt can't imagine being alive another thirty years. When we met he didn't think he'd make it to 30, and he was 28 at the time!
Which reminds me; Matt's 48th birthday is fast approaching. So no matter how old I get, as long as Matt is alive, I will feel young by comparison. Thank you for that, Ffew!
Happy 20th Anniversary!
It was 20 years ago this St. Patrick's Day that I met my husband!
Twenty years? It seems like such a long time.
When you say you will stay with someone forever you really have no idea how long forever will be. It could be 60+ years or one of you could fall off the edge of a mountain on your fascinating honeymoon to the Swiss Alps. You just don't know.
Twenty years isn't so long. For a tree in California's Avenue of the Giants twenty years is a drop in the bucket. On the other hand for a pine tree growing in Oregon it's over the hill. I jest. Sort of.
Considering the current divorce rate in the United States, twenty years is a long time. I know I've been out of high school almost 24 years but I don't feel old - until I think about the fact that I've been out of high school for 24 years.
How can it be that I have been with my husband for twenty years but I feel about as mature as the average 18 year old? I know Matt is 20 years older too but he hasn't grown up any more than I have. If you take a long look at the facts, we may actually be regressing!
How can we possibly have squeezed so much living into such a short amount of time? I think I'd like to take the next twenty years a little slower. When I go to my 40 year high school reunion and people ask what I've been up to since the last reunion I want to honestly answer, "Not much. You?"
I'm not complaining. It is probably all of this "living" that has kept us from noticing we're getting older. It would be nice to keep on moving so fast that our age doesn't catch up to us until we reach our 80's. Matt can't imagine being alive another thirty years. When we met he didn't think he'd make it to 30, and he was 28 at the time!
Which reminds me; Matt's 48th birthday is fast approaching. So no matter how old I get, as long as Matt is alive, I will feel young by comparison. Thank you for that, Ffew!
Happy 20th Anniversary!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
It seems I must continue to clarify.....
Apparently I am wrong in saying that teen pregnancy rates have not gone down. According to this information, which I admit I have not checked against any other sources, the rates have gone down as of 2005. I admit that I have nothing else to back up my statement so I apologize for any misinformation. But I did say "No amount of education has done a thing to lower the teen pregnancy rates as far as I can see." From my vantage point things aren't looking any better.
The ONLY thing that will eradicate teen pregnancy is 100% abstinence. I may be naive to hope for this but that doesn't stop me from wanting it for my children and that is what I am going to encourage them to choose for themselves. I am educating them in this direction because it is my job and I am not going to pass it off to Planned Parenthood or the local free clinic or even government schools.
I am still meeting opposition to the adoption option. I assume that those who disagree with me have not struggled to have children or found out they were infertile. Since unplanned pregnancies will continue to happen, regardless of all the education and free birth control that is out there, then adoption needs to be put on the table and seriously considered.
There was a time I was taken aback to hear that someone had had an abortion. Now whenever I learn that someone has chosen abortion I cry for that life cut short but I am not surprised. Now I am more shocked to hear that someone has placed her baby for adoption but I rejoice! I pray for that mother because I know she has a long road ahead; a road of grief and pain and eventually self-forgiveness. There may even be a reunion when she will hear her child say "Thank you for not killing me."
The ONLY thing that will eradicate teen pregnancy is 100% abstinence. I may be naive to hope for this but that doesn't stop me from wanting it for my children and that is what I am going to encourage them to choose for themselves. I am educating them in this direction because it is my job and I am not going to pass it off to Planned Parenthood or the local free clinic or even government schools.
I am still meeting opposition to the adoption option. I assume that those who disagree with me have not struggled to have children or found out they were infertile. Since unplanned pregnancies will continue to happen, regardless of all the education and free birth control that is out there, then adoption needs to be put on the table and seriously considered.
There was a time I was taken aback to hear that someone had had an abortion. Now whenever I learn that someone has chosen abortion I cry for that life cut short but I am not surprised. Now I am more shocked to hear that someone has placed her baby for adoption but I rejoice! I pray for that mother because I know she has a long road ahead; a road of grief and pain and eventually self-forgiveness. There may even be a reunion when she will hear her child say "Thank you for not killing me."
Friday, March 11, 2011
AAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHH!!!!!
That is how I feel when people are too close-minded to consider adoption as a reasonable option for unplanned pregnancy.
No amount of education has done a thing to lower the teen pregnancy rates as far as I can see. So instead of pushing the subsidized abortions or counseling about how to apply for welfare why aren't people being encouraged to place babies for adoption?
I speak from the vantage point of someone who has placed a child for adoption. While in the process I was advised that I could change my mind and apply for welfare and low-income housing. At the time I was being housed in a Catholic-run maternity home "for wayward girls." I was actually being encouraged to keep my baby with no means of support except to go on welfare! WHILE I was trying to choose a couple to adopt my baby!!!
I am honored to be adopted by God. My own birth-son thanked me for not killing him. Adoption is not a dirty word, people!! It is a gift.
No amount of education has done a thing to lower the teen pregnancy rates as far as I can see. So instead of pushing the subsidized abortions or counseling about how to apply for welfare why aren't people being encouraged to place babies for adoption?
I speak from the vantage point of someone who has placed a child for adoption. While in the process I was advised that I could change my mind and apply for welfare and low-income housing. At the time I was being housed in a Catholic-run maternity home "for wayward girls." I was actually being encouraged to keep my baby with no means of support except to go on welfare! WHILE I was trying to choose a couple to adopt my baby!!!
I am honored to be adopted by God. My own birth-son thanked me for not killing him. Adoption is not a dirty word, people!! It is a gift.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Whoa!
It's been far too long since I've blogged. Here or anywhere else. Not that I haven't had anything to say. I've ALWAYS got something to say, worthwhile or not. I was blogging at another site which changed hands and then my access was revoked completely. I cannot even retrieve my own blogs! Perhaps they are being used for some top secret project at the Pentagon. More likely a sleep clinic is using them to induce sleep in insomniacs. I hear that reading boring blogs works better than Ambien to get people to sleep without any pesky side-effects like waking up naked in the neighbor's bedroom.
Truth be told, there is no real reason for this blog other than to say, "Look out, World! I'm back in the blog-o-sphere!"
Truth be told, there is no real reason for this blog other than to say, "Look out, World! I'm back in the blog-o-sphere!"
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