The Stone Baby....What!?

I am one for watching medical shows, my husband cant stand them and he does not understand why I can be entertained off of someone's problems or defects. I think that is why I want to be a nurse. I am truly interested in helping people and witnessing these problems and anomolities. The other night I started watching this show about a woman who was basically pregnant for 47 years. It happened somewhere in the middle east, but she had gone to the hospital while pregnant because she was having pains. After her arrival she witnessed another lady screaming for her life and she fled the hospital only to carry this etopic fetus inside of her for the next 47 years. The referred to it as the "quiet baby", she finally returned to the hospital recently to have it removed. Of course now she is a little frail old woman. The doctors went in and surgically removed this baby that had grown into her organs and such. After 47 years it had calcified into basically a rock baby. Can you even imagine carrying that thing around with you for that long. I mean 9 months is really pushing it, but 47 years, she must have really been scared to go to that hospital. Although they said that it was good that she had not went to the hospital in the 50's bacause she probably would have died in surgery because of things that were not known or done then. Boy oh boy I am sure that they will look back at us in 50 years and say the same thing. Medicine is constantly changing.
Anyway I just thought that story was interesting, and I really did not have anything else to write about today, I promise to all of my readers I will do better tomorrow.

I've been neglecting my blog :-(

I have just noticed how long it has been since I last posted. I am a horrible blogger! Things have been really hectic around here, especially with the hubby gone. I have not had a lot of me time. I had intended to post last night after the kids went to bed but I fell asleep on the sofa shortly after they did. This weekend was relativley calm, until Sunday night. My eldest son was with his dad this weekend and came home not feeling well. He woke up Monday with a sore throat, yup strep again!!!!! What am I going to do with these kids. This is the 3rd documented case for him in 5 weeks. We know the pediatrician and staff on a first name basis. The youngest one was in there last week for yet another ear infection. He is getting tubes put back in his ears next Tuesday and I am trying to get the older one through to the end of the school year so we do not miss anymore days than we need too, they are going to take his tonsils! Sometimes I get the feeling that I can't win or come out ahead. I know that it is not all about me and the health of my children is number one. What kills me is the people that do not take care of their kids and they never get hurt or sick, then you have the protective parents that are always in a battle of some sorts. The other day at the park I watched a woman arrive with her 2 children, they were 4 and barely 2. Once the arrive the mother did not pay them anymore attention. The youngest one took off and I could not help but watch this child wander. She had went so far to the point my husband could not stand it anymore. So I got the lady's attention and told her that they baby had wandered almost to the woods and she said, "That's alright." I was in awe that this woman did not care where her child had gone, I mean sometimes she was not in view, it scared me to think that this child could be abducted and how long would it be before the mother realized. Within minutes the child wandered back over to the play area and then to her mother to hand her a stick then she was off again this time to the bleachers at the baseball field. This little child had climbed to the top and teetered and then layed across the top one and still the mother was not looking. How do people do this and not have a conscience, just let your kids run around unsupervised with a ton of people around. Maybe she figured that she was invincible, I am sure that nothing will ever happen to her kids just becuase that seems to be the way it always happens

A child is a curly dimpled lunatic. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Yearly Re-evaulation of My Life

Today was a rainy dreary day, so I had a lot of time to think, mostly about my accomplishments. So here is goes, here we are creeping up on the end of the school year and it is going to be 9 years that I have been out of school. Wow, time sure does fly when you are having fun. If you would have asked me 9 years ago, where I thought I would be now, this is not what I pictured. There was so much that I wanted to do upon graduation, and sometimes I feel regretful that I never did those things. I had all intentions on taking a year and traveling, especially to Europe, I had it all planned out! Then I was going to start College, at a real University, not the community college. (Now I am not knocking the community college). And I did not see children or marriage in the near future. I was going to live life and sow my oats. Lets see what did I do instead, a Trip to Disney, I guess I saw Europe at Epcot!!!! Then I took night classes at the local community college, and then I ended up pregnant. Whoa, everything I did not see myself doing had now been done. I was 19 and a mom, a college drop-out, and a pharmacy technician at Wal-Mart. I did the Wal-Mart thing for almost 3 years, then I married a man in the military, (knew him from high school, and no hes not the eldests ones father). But by marrying him, I moved away, and started to live life with him. After the second child I went back to school, I am not stable enough to go full time so I do go part time and it has become an ongoing joke with me and my friends and family that I am a professional student. I decided after the second one was born that I wanted to be a nurse when I grow up. I am actually excited to finish school, but it is just taking so long. Tonight I told my friend that I had been out of school for 9 years and had not accomplished a whole hell of alot, she then reminded me that I had.
I am a mother with 2 wonderful children
I am a wife, with an awesome husband
I am a student, trying to get through with the many obstacles that life has handed me
I have been to Europe, Mexico, and to the Carribean
I am a good person, I have more friends now then when I was in school
I did accomplish alot and things that I did not see myself accomplishing, thank you Alison for showing me that.
I would not now or ever change any of my life experiences, even though many have been obstacles, they have merely made the journey a little more meaningful.

My green thumb always turns black!!

Well I am telling you all, it is absolutly been beautiful here in GA. Yesterday it was 86 and I was in such a good mood. I decided to plant flowers yesterday and I planted a bunch. I went to the local Wal-Mart and found some pretty hardy plants ( I have a tendency to forget to water). My 3 year old and I planted away. I figure since the hubby is gone at school, I need to keep occupied. Speaking of him, yesterday in Va it was 36, and sleeting. Here I am in this 86 degree weather, it is amazing what 500 miles will do for you!!! But back to the flowers, I have attempted in the past to start seeds and stuff inside and they end up sprouting, molding then dying. My dream is to be a wonderful gardner, every year at my grandparents house they make it look like a tropical oasis, I guess maybe I am setting my standards too high, after all they are in their 70s and I have many years of perfection ahead of me. I would also like a garden, I think that it would be awesome to have veggies readily available. Every year I do a tomato plant or two, but that is for the hubby once again. I don't like tomatoes. He tells me stories about his Mamaw and how she had a garden every year and how they would all come together and pick potatoes and then that night they would have fresh potatoes. That sounds so nice. Maybe that was because that was when times were simpler and there was no hustle and bustle. This was the family that would can everything from beans and tomatoes to jams and jellies and the whole family would get some. My mother in law still cans from time to time and she will send us some muscadine jelly or tomatoes. Maybe I live in the wrong era, I really would like to lead a simple life with a gianormous farm and some chickens or something. I am always kidding my hubby telling him we need a goat or some chickens on our measly little half acre. He is always making fun of me about killing plants and tells me that we'd starve on a farm. I am really not that bad. That is what I will do when he retires, I will move back to the country and live my dream! I will have my huge farm and show him!!!

My husband left again!!!!!

Well once again, the needs of the US Navy, come before the needs of MY family. My husband has been sent to school in Norfolk VA. Its not as bad as when he goes out to sea, at least I get to talk to him daily. I just hate the fact that he has been home for 3 weeks and now he is off again. It is sort of hard for our 3 year old to understand. My hubby is going to a Command Career Counselor school, basicaly his job will now be to help steer these guys in the right direction of their career. This is a huge thing for him, and he will have more respect than before. Plus a nice $100+ raise every month. The money is going to be real nice. I am sure in his head he has already spent it too. Well we had to get him already for his trip and he has to get his uniforms together and he notices the night before he leaves that the pants he needs Monday morning, there is a huge hole in the ass of them. UGH! Now this mean I have got to either sew or we've got to buy and hem the pants on Sunday morning before he leaves. (The pants come unfinished at the bottom and really really long) He has to be on the road by 1pm and he also said he would fix my neighbors sink. So up by 8am, fixing the sink, then off to the base to get the pants, thank god my grandmother was here to hem them. We got him on the road right at 1pm! Whew...men!! And they think that women have issues!!!!
He is going to be gone for a month this time, so I am sure that I will have stories of my part-time single mom, journies!!!

I need a Motrin and a Nap!!!!!

Well I partied like an Irish animal last night. I drank my fair share of green beer. Boy oh Boy!!! Went out around 8:30, had my designated driver drop us off (it was nice to have one), and the fun began. Have you ever noticed that when you go out the best conversations and best drama takes place in the bathroom. I swear I went in to pee after about 5 beers and I do not think I emerged until 20 minutes later and I think I had 4 new friends and you better believe that everytime I saw them the rest of the night it was like I had known them all of my life. And somehow everytime I made another trip to the bathroom, there these people were. I met some really interesting people, one lady was hiding out from her hubby, he was jealous that some man had bought his wife a beer, but I look at it as it was a free drink, right!!! Then there was this other chick, and she was leaving her husband but she just had found out that she might have cervical cancer, so she wanted me to hold her hand for a second. It is funny how you become these peoples best friend in just a matter of minutes, and they just want to spill their guts and tell you their life story. Drunk people are fun, and funny at the same time. There was one dude and he was beyond drunk I cant believe that he could even function, he was dancing all by himself and he looked messed up. And I being the crazy one I am made it out there to dance with him, I then drug my friend Alison out there and pawned her off on him. At the end of the evening I fell, I always do it is sort of like my going out tradition, I am a cheap and sloppy drunk. And I swore that I would not fall this time but it happened anyway. We got home around 3:30 am, and I had to spend the day with my visiting family in St. Augustine, and let me tell you, I felt like crap, I looked like crap. I was bloated, and tired. But I stuck it out and I am ready to go to bed now, at 8pm on a Saturday night, is that pathetic or what?! But apparently I met a girl in the bathroom and she invited me to a party tonight, and she even called me today to make sure that I was coming to the party. She must be delerious, I am not party material anymore. I have 2 kids and a house to clean.....jeez where are her priorities....ha ha ha.....ahhhh to be young and free again.
I do not know if I have mentioned Alison, she lived in Connecticut by me and then left her husband when the got stationed in Va and she moved to Georgia. Well she has been really lonely and really has had a hard time finding a date. She has had 2 quick unsucessful relationships since she got here in October. I am stuck trying to find her a guy, we sort of set her up with a guy off of my husbands boat and he was not interested in her and I think that really put her down last night. He really would not make eye contact or converstation with her. He told someone else at our table that he was not interested but he was afraid that he would hurt my feelings. I really did not really forsee that the whole set up would work but we tried and she is not his type. She hasnt divorced yet, she is still in the process and I told her that she needs to take time for her self before she settles into another relationship. She just lets her emotions get the best of her and when she gets down in the dumps, she is down for a while. I keep telling her that she needs to find a man on her own but it is kind of hard when she doesnt go anywhere or do anything. I am married and the single scene is really not for me. But yet I hate to see her sad, what is a good friend to do?

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live - Elbert Hubbard

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well first off, a nice pinch to all of my readers who are not donning their green wear today. Here is a little Irish trivia for you today, Shamrocks have been considered good-luck symbols by the Irish since early times, and shamrocks or various representations of the plant are frequently worn on Saint Patrick's Day. The hop clover is widely accepted as the original shamrock picked by Saint Patrick. The name shamrock comes from the Irish Seamrog, which means "little clover." I am so excited, tonight is the first St. Patty's day since I have been of legal drinking age that I will have the opportunity to go out. Woo Hoo. Start pouring the green beer!!! My grandmother and my mother are in town and going to watch the kids. My husband and I are going to a local hangout where we know the manager and we are meeting a bunch of the people from his boat. My hubby is leaving for Virginia on Sunday, he has a school to attend for a month but it will also come with a pay increase once he has completed so this event of going out is coming at the right time.
I feel that I have really slacked on my blog since he has been home and I hope to be in full swing again soon. I have attempted to post a couple of times and then erased everything I wrote, I felt it was silly or that I was just looking for something to write about. I guess that this blog is sort of like that too.


Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it - J. Petit Senn

Spring Fever

It has been so incredibly warm here in Georgia, I guess it is supposed to be this time of year. We have had some awesomely beautiful days the past week. The temps this weekend are in the 80's. I am really enjoying the weather. I lived in Connecticut for the past 3 springs, and spring isn't normal there, I have seen snow as late as April. In matter of fact the picture shown here, I took in England in 2003, after escaping snow just 3 days before in CT. It was freezing cold in CT and balmy hot in London. Anyway, isnt this picture beautiful it is one of my favorites, I took it right by Buckingham Palace. My best friend, Alison and I decided we needed a "mom's" vacation and decided that London was the place to do it. We crammed everything into 1 week and had some awesome experiences to write home about!!!
Anyway yesterday I was outside with the kids, I couldn't take being in the house anymore, it was too pretty!!! But I noticed that all of the bugs were coming out of hiding. I do not care for bugs, we get these huge Palmetto Bugs here, they look like overgrown 3 inch long roaches. They are disguesting and scary at the same time. I can deal with almost anything but them. The problem you see it they occasionally make it in the house and they know how to fly. I have a Palm tree in the front yard and everyone says that is where they come from, hence the name Palmetto. Well last night I had my first of the season, he crawled across the living room floor, I got smart though, I wasnt going to battle him with your normal shoe, or magazine. I took a minute collected myself before the little booger took flight, I got the vaccuum and sucked him up. I then placed it in the garage. I felt that was more humane than smashing his guts on the wall and having to clean it up. It was mess free!!! I think I will call an exterminator, I hate these things and they are my only "bug" that I see here. I guess the fact it looks like one of those cockroaches they eat on survivor and fear factor just freaks me out. We get lizards and frogs but the kids handle them. Or the cats if they get to them first. I found a lizard carcass one day and it was just a body with some teeth marks, no legs, no tail. My cat was the culprit, I guess now that the lizards have reemerged I can cut back on buying cat food...Ha Ha

Till tommorrow, I am going to enjoy the day today

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous - Aristotle

The Poker Table

Well my husband is trying to become a master craftsman. The key word here is trying. Earlier this week he started his latest project, a poker table. Now he has built these in the past for other people, but nothing like he is attempting for himself. His mother works for a company that deals with some nice wood so on a recent trip to Alabama we returned with some really nice and expensive oak board. I was like, "Alright what are you going to do with them now." He replied, "Make myself an really nice Poker table." Now this means A there is eventually going to be a poker game taking place at my home, and B that this is going to cost us for more materials!! Well he started on Sunday, and I have lost touch with him since then, I believe he has moved into the garage and just naps here in the house. Its been really quiet in here to top it all off. Well this table has some real intricate details and I am fully supporting him. Yesterday he called me on my cell to tell me that he needed 1 more board and it was going to cost $10. Alright, everything is going smoothly at this point. He is in such a good mood. Well he finishes all 8 chip/drink holders and decides to mock them up in the house, that is when in all went down hill. My husband cut the angles incorrectly on $200.00 worth of wood, now thank god that we only paid 10 for the one board but he was furious. He wanted to burn it all and never have a poker table. Now you see, I kept telling him for 2 hours their has got to be some way to fix this, after all I am enjoying you in the garage. No he insists, he is pissed!! After much deliberation, he does it, comes up with a plan, only to cost more money. Why is it when a man starts a project 9 out of 10 times it will fail and then cost more to fix it then the whole thing cost in the first place? But then again, my husband has been sucessful in building small things and he should not have expected perfection in the first big major thing that he has tried. But then again when this hobby is over there will be another much costlier one right behind it. Men get too hyped on new things and then get too burned out too quickly on them. God help me!!!

Energy and persistence conquer all things - Benjamin Franklin

The Wal Mart Experience

When you are in the store with your kids and they are acting up have you ever taken the time to listen to the other parents around you? Today while in wal-mart, my darling little ones were being a little unruly. As I passed down every aisle I noticed that I had to keep telling them to be quiet and act right. Then the thought occured, what a horrible mother to keep constantly telling your children to act right, are they really being that bad? I then went into sort of a daze as I continued my shopping, I tuned out my own kids and then I honed in on other parents and their children. Alas, I am not ALONE!!! I heard more and more parents spitting out their own petty threats and comments about their own children. Usually I am so focused on what my kids are doing that I never hear the other ones. I wonder, is there a single parent out there that actually has an enjoyable shopping experience, with their kid everytime they step into a store. Not it my Wal-Mart today, I do not think there was a parent enjoying their time in the store. When I lived in Connecticut, the grocery store Big Y had a good thing going, child care while you shopped now, that must have been a seriously annoyed mothers idea. Wal-Mart should do the same, they would make a killing.

Here is my thought for today, I read it on a sign:
Be Content with What you Have but never with who you are!!!
Its a good one isnt it!!!
But what does it really mean for you personally? Take a moment and think about it, I know I have spent a lot of time pondering!!!!

Till tomorrow

The Monster Truck Jam!!!

I know that I have been promising everyone pictures from the Monster Truck Jam. Well here is a good one of Grave Digger. This is my 3 year old's favorite truck. That is all you hear about. We had a real good time, they did this thing where you could take a ride in a Monster Truck so we waited 2.5 hours to do it and the kids were so happy. All in all it was well worth the wait!! They did the show in the stadium where the Jacksonville Jaguars play and it was packed out, This is like the olympic event of the south!!!! It was like the Opening Ceremonies or something. Well to start there were 12 trucks and by the end of the freestyle event I think only 2 were drivable, it was hardcore. The crowd went wild when the trucks almost flipped and when they finally did flip, oh my god it was the greatest thing. It was amazing how the kids actually were into this the whole time, there was NEVER a loss of intrest. I am really looking forward to next year. The times we have been to see them in Rhode Island were nothing like this, they had the space here to get CRAZY!!!!! After seeing it here RI was like a Joke. Plus it was outdoors here so it was not as loud.

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday!!

Well my son came home from school today and informed me that today was Dr. Seuss' birthday. I really liked the Cat in the Hat book and I really did not mind the Mike Meyers movie version. My friends daughter had a Green Eggs & Ham breakfast at school today to celebrate the occasion. I really do not remember ever doing anything that cool. One time in Kindergarten I cut my finger with, of all things, a plastic butter knife while making applesauce. I think that they schools are way more creative now then when I was a student. But I am sure that my kids will probably look back and say the same thing. Kids, they sure do grow up fast, my oldest son is 7 and it is so hard to look at him as anything other then my little baby boy. It is so hard to think of the ways that they used to be, so sweet and innocent. They sure do grow up quick. My mother in law always says, "the first 2 years you spend teaching them to walk and talk, and the next 16 you are trying to teach them to sit down and shut up!" That is so true. My 3 year old is turning into such a riot though, he has a ton of personality in him. A free spirit, some may say. It is amazing how 2 children can come from the same home but be totally different. I do not thing I will have much to worry about when the oldest becomes a teenager, but I see many nights of lost sleep and calls from police with the other one, he is destined for trouble!
Well now that the husband is home, my eating habits have gone to hell, I lost 20 pounds in 2 months without him here and I have gained back 8 in the week he has been home. He brings temptation to every meal. Ugh, What am I to do??? I felt so good after my weight loss and I had and still have every intention to keep it up, but it will just be harder now with him here I guess. He is going to school in Virginia for a month so I hope to bounce back during that time. Keep your fingers crossed. Well I will post monster truck pictures and tell you all about it in the next post. But we had an awesome time!!!!