Sunday Stealing: Me, Me, Me

A Sunday meme, brought to you by:

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger known as

Little Bark from the blog The Tree Unleashed She explains that she found it over at The Tree of Life. It appears it originated on that blog. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Pretentious Blogging Meme

1. How long have you been blogging? It will be one year in about a week.

2. What made you start? My sister in law, she twisted my arm behind my back to start entering blogger giveaways so that I could win some of the awesome prizes. lol

3. Who inspired you? See #3.

4. About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog? Way to freaking many, but not as many as I did before I started FarmVille and Country Life.

5. What kind of experience or background do you have with writing? If you read my blog you will see that I have NONE.

6. Talk about how you come up with blog topics. Where do you get your ideas? My crazy head and my crazy head.

7. What or who inspires you and your blog? Not sure.

8. Where and/or how do your brainstorming for your blog? I live a busy life so that's where it comes from.

9. Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow? Not really, just to be myself.

10. Is there anything you will not blog about? If there is, I have not came across it yet.

11. Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic? I like to do a few memes, I would like to not think of it as a schedule. lol

You can play along over at Sunday Stealing!

Brides of Lancaster County ~ Looking for a Miracle (Book Review)

Well, I have finished Book 2 in the series Brides of Lancaster County on audio CD. This book, Looking For a Miracle, is written by Wanda Brunstetter.

Looking for a Miracle is book 2 in the series Brides of Lancaster County.

excerpt

Rebekah Stoltzfus, confined to a wheelchair, longs for a miracle—a way to be self-supporting. When Daniel Beachy spends time with Rebekah she believes he feels sorry for her and is interested in obtaining her new business. Will Rebekah ever find the miracle she’s looking for?

What I think about this book

I think that Wanda Brunstetter has written another wonderful novel about the Amish. In this story Rebekah has been stricken to a wheelchair, which along with that comes all the things that she can not do because of it. She has it in her mind that she is just going to become and old maid because of her disability and has decided that she needs to somehow learn to be able to support herself financially. She feels that will this disability she is not fit for a man to love. Then she finds that she has the love to take care of flowers just like her Grandma Stoltzfus did. With this in mind, she has opened a Greenhouse with a little nudge from her friend Daniel Beachy. Well, that's all I am going to say about this book because I don't want to give it away. I definitely recommend this book for everyone.

While I was over visiting At Home With Books, I came across a post where Alyce is joining this Audio Book Challenge, over at Royal Reviews and I thought why don't I do that. I love to listen to audio books when I go to bed, when I am waiting at the bus stop for the kids and when I am just driving around.

So, I have completed my second book of the year. I love everything that Wanda E. Brunstetter writes and this is another wonderful story.

Audio Book Challenge: My 1st book

Audio Book Challenge 2010 Can I do it?

Friday Fill Ins:

1. Wouldn't it be easy ___if money grew on trees____.

2. ____After a weekend off I hope to feel revived and_____ better than ever!

3. I love the taste of ___shrimp scampi____.

4. ___I am currently sitting___ in the living room.

5. The first thing we're going to do is ___pay of the house, IF we win the lottery_____.

6. ____Snow, snow____ drip, drip, drip; ___icicle, icicle_____.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __getting rid of my last daycare kiddo for the whole weekend___, tomorrow my plans include __playing Eucher and drinking margaritas___ and Sunday, I want to __relax___!

Lexi Update: Keep the prayers going!

Okay, here is another update from Lexi's mom. I think that things are about to get really tough for them so if you can please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. I get this information from Lexi's Caring Bridge website. You can follow along there also. You can also leave messages for Lexi and her family on this site. It does require that you sign up for the site, which is free and you don't get spam mail. You can also send her an e-card via Nationwide Children's Hospital e-card program, which is really awesome because the hospital prints these cards each morning and takes them to her room. You will need her room number, which you will find in the post from her mother below.

Now, from Jen:

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:21 PM, EST

Hi Everyone! Today we entered Alexis's isolation room for the next month! We took our time before entering the room. We procrastinated by going to the giftshop for Alexis to buy something and to check out the Blue Jackets Room (a family resource room). Alexis was a hoot all day because she was sedated in the morning to have her Pic line put in. In the giftshop she was went right up to some ladies that were playing with some mood necklaces. I think they got a kick out of her, because she was ooing and aughing over there colors and the different shapes. Alexis thought they were cool so I bought her a dolphin mood necklace. Her mood showed she was very happy. She also insisted on buying daddy an early Valentines gift (an OSU freezer mug)! After we spent almost 2 hours downstairs we figured we better start this long process!!

So far it has not been too bad. But I have caught myself and Alexis making many mistakes, according to our 3 page list of rules. If anything touches the floor, it has to be kicked out of the room with your feet and wiped down or washed. Anyone that enters Alexis's room must wear gloves. Right now my hands are starting to sweat as I try to type with my gloves on! It has been very hard for Alexis to remember not to put her feet on her bed or couch if her socks have touched the floor! I went out and bought her a pair of lined crocs before Scot left so hopefully that will help! If you know Alexis well, you know that girl is extremely independent and likes to just do it instead of checking like she should! Earlier I stepped out into the Anteroom to clean something. Here she comes to the door with her mask and gown on that she found in the nurses cabinet on her own. When I asked what she was doing she pointed to the hallway and said she was going out. I said no, you are not aloud remember! I told her we were going to be in trouble is she is trying to escape after the first day!

Tommorrow Alexis will start her chemo at 10 am. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and wish that Alexis can tolerate her side effects and stay out of PICU. Many children having tranplants end up staying in Picu to recover from effects of chemo.

Right now Alexis's enclosed bulletin board is bare! We need to fill it up with cards and pictures to decorate it. If you have a picture of Alexis with yourself or someone else or would like to send a card please feel free to do so. The address to the hospital is to the right of this journal. Her room number is 5324. You may also send a card using Nationwide Children's ecard program. Just go to children's website and click send an ecard.

Alexis misses all of her friends greatly! She has enjoyed getting messages from them and their families on this site. Maddy G. Alexis says hi! I would love for Alexis to continue hearing from her friends during this tough month ahead. I will be sure to read her any messages on this site, or read her cards or ecards. If any of her friends want to draw her pictures in a card, I am sure she would love that as well.

Tomorrow we are going to set Alexis a schedule to follow each day. BMT is much more structured than regular chemo, so we will see how that goes!

Take Care and thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Love,
Jen

If you would like to read more about Lexi from my posts, click here or on the "L" below and it will take you to all my posts about her.

Wordless Wednesday: What I am Up Against

Your can see all my Wordless Wednesday here.

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, MomDot, Jolly Mom and Life Down Our Lane and Go Graham Go.

Yes Sir, he's my nephew!

This was on Yahoo's home page today. Check it out.

Mon Jan 25, 2010 9:28 am EST

Golfer's honesty costs state title, wins sportsmanship award

By Jay Busbee

Imagine you're a golfer. Okay, you may already be a golfer, so imagine you're a good golfer. So good that you're one of the best in your state. And imagine that after years of training and weeks of brutal tournament play, you finally win the state championship! You romp your way to a seven-stroke victory, sign your card, and walk off to celebrate your victory with family and friends.

And then you notice something's wrong with your card.

What do you do? Do you cross your fingers and hope that nobody notices the disqualification-worthy error, or do you step up and admit to the mistake yourself?

If you're many people, you keep your head low and hope for the best (and, most likely, file suit if somebody later tries to take your title away). But if you're Adam Van Houten, you take the more honorable route.

Five years ago, Van Houten had just finished storming his way to the Ohio high school golf championship when he noticed an error on his scorecard. One of Van Houten's playing partners had written down a 5 for the 10th hole rather than the 6 that Van Houten actually earned. And when Van Houten noted the error, he was disqualified on the spot since he'd already signed his card.

Now, you can parse this story a million different ways. The idea that you can get disqualified from a state championship for a stray pencil mark made by someone else is absurd on its face. And yes, it's Van Houten's responsibility to check and make sure everything syncs up between cards. And yes, the error may well have been discovered at a later date. And yes, whoever that mysterious error-prone other player was should be picking up Van Houten's greens fees and after-round drinks forevermore.

But all of those justifications miss the overall point. Van Houten surely knew he would lose the state championship by speaking up, and he did so anyway. That's class, that's sportsmanship, and that earned him a spot on Sports Illustrated's sportsmanship of the decade list. The Ohio State High School Athletic Association honored him with a commemorative medal. And he's got a "when I was your age" story that he'll always be able to use to torment his kids and grandkids.

Van Houten now plays on the golf team of George Mason University. He joins a list of distinguished honorable golfers that includes J.P. Hayes, who disqualified himself from a PGA Tour qualifying tournament after finding he'd used an unpermitted ball for one hole.

Kinda makes you feel a little guilty about kicking that ball out of the woods, doesn't it?

Ohio golfer's scorecard confession wins accolade [AP via Yahoo! Sports]

____________

For more golf news and information, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' Devil Ball, and follow us on Twitter.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• Coach blames NBA star’s sneakers for injury
• Photo: NBA team wears NASCAR-themed uniforms
• 15-year-old snowboard phenom makes Olympics

All this information came from Yahoo Sports! You can even visit the site and leave a comment on this article.

Lexi update ~ Preparing for Stem Cell Transplant

Just wanting to keep everyone up to date on Lexi's progress.

Please feel free to hop over to Lexi's Caring Bridge website and follow along their journey or leave words of encouragement and prayer for them.

Just to brief you a bit, Lexi was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma in July 2009 at the age of 7. If you click on the label "L" at the bottom of this blog post you can follow along this journey so far.

Lexi is one of my daycare kiddos that I have been keeping since she was oh, about 2 years old, and we love her just like she's one of us.

This is the latest post from her mom, Jen.

Saturday, January 23, 2010 9:34 PM, EST

On Thursday, we had our first meeting with the BMT team. Dr. Soni will be Alexis's transplant doctor and he did a wonderful job explaining everything to us from the first day of diagnosis to the present day.

First, for the news everyone has been waiting for. Alexis will be admitted on Wednesday 1-27-10 to start the stem cell transplant or as the doctor explained it the long name is actually high dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue. On 1-28-10, Alexis will start 4 days of high dose chemo and then on 2-4-10, she will have her own stem cells put back into her body.

On Wednesday, Alexis is scheduled to have a Pic line put in place on top of the double lumen broviac catheter she already has. The doctor stated that Alexis will most likely be on TPN, round the clock pain medicines and will require many transfusions. Thus the extra line will be needed. The good news is that the Pic line will be removed before she goes home. On this day the BMT staff will be giving us an orientation to explain the extremely strict rules in order to prevent Alexis from getting infections. Both Scot and I are able to be with Alexis to begin what will most likely be an extremely emotional month.

On Thursday, Alexis will start 4 days of high dose chemotherapy. Dr. Soni explained that these medicines will be 10 times the dosages of her previous chemo medicines. Due to the high dosages, we can expect all of the previous side effects that she has had with much more intensity. She will have extreme nasuea, diarrhea and moth sores. Most likely she will have C-diff again and will require TPN to give her nutrients. One of the side effects of the chemo drugs that she will receive excretes the medicine out of the skin. This excretion can cause rashes and breakdown. To prevent this, Alexis will require special baths every 6 hours from the time the med starts until two days after the chemo drug is completed.

After chemo, Alexis will have 3 days of rest and then she will be given back her stem cells that were previously taken from her body and stored at OSU. It will then take up to 14 days for Alexis's body to make enough stem cells to recover her counts. This means that Alexis's ability to fight infection will be at 0 for 10-12 days. Once the counts come up the side effects will go away.

As long as Alexis does not have any major set backs, she should be able to come home within 4 weeks. Alexis will then have 4 weeks of rest before she starts radiation. After radiation, Alexis will take retinol A and possibly begin another research study that includes using biologic therapy. What we learned from Thursday's meeting was that most kids who begin the transplant have no current cancerous cells. Since Alexis still has cancerous cells in the bones of 6 points of her arms and legs and the tumor and lymph nodes removed were still cancerous the chemo has not been successful enough to kill the cancer altogether. We knew that it was going to be very hard to kill the cancer from the bones. But what this reminds us is that we still have a ways to go before a successful recovery. At this point we are still looking at 9 months of treatment.

Dr. Soni was optimistic that the radiation could wipe out the cancerous cells in the bones. If anyone knows anything about biologic therapy, please pass it on.

Since Alexis has been diagnosed, we have followed many other families stories who have been through similar challenges like our own. I never realized how many children are affected with life threatening illnesses. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all children and their families who face these challenges.

Thank you again to everyone who follows our story and is here to show support to us. I can't express enough how much it means to us. Everytime I read the guestbook I hear from someone I have not had contact with in years. It really shows how many people we have behind us and that just makes us that much stronger!

Alexis has had a wonderful few weeks! She is really enjoying her time feeling great. We have tried to get her out of the house as much as possible and have been able to see many people before the transplant.

Thanks again for being here for us!!

Love,
Jen

Sunday Stealing: Negative Meme

This is brought to you buy:

Today we ripped this meme off blogger named Flea from the blog Flea's World. She states that she stole it at Warty Mammal. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Negativity Meme

Foods which disgust the crap out of me: Calamari, hollindaise sauce, raw egg whites

TV show I loathe: Dancing with the Stars

Movie I loathe: All of the Back to the Future's

Music genres I loathe: Opera

Magazine which annoys me: National Enquirer (but I still seem to glance at it)

Makes me cranky at restaurant: People who are LOUD and obnoxious!

Makes me cranky in public: People who are LOUD and obnoxious!

Makes me cranky in general: Life

Pisses me off at home: I get no help doing household chores!

Pisses me off at work: Daycare kids who won't listen and Daycare who are just dumb!

Pisses me off in general: People who live in their 3 foot square and are oblivious to everyone outside that 3 foot area.

Makes me impatient at home: Lazy people! Oh wait, I am one of them.

Makes me impatient at work: Kids who have selective hearing.

Makes me impatient in public: Stupid people!

Celebrity I hate: Oh, there is that word HATE! It's such a big word. Don't be a hater!

Music artist I hate: There it is again!

I could care less about: What everyone else is doing.

Annoys the crap out of me weekdays: Working

Annoys the crap out of me weekends: Working

Blogger's habit that annoys you: That's a very good question.

Feature on your blog you hate: Oooo, why must we use the word hate?

Movie star you despise: I suppose none of them, they haven't done anything to me.

Politician that you hate: I don't hate any, but you know....sometimes they aren't very smart.

You can play along over at Sunday Stealing!

Lexi update!

Here is the latest update from Jen, Lexi's mom.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 8:08 AM, EST

Hi Everyone! For those of you who do not already know our great news, sorry for keeping you under suspense. Last week was extremely exhausting for Alexis and I and we needed some recoup time. Fortunantly, we had a great weekend and did recoup even though we had some visitors.

Anyway, on to the great news. The results of the testing came in. Alexis's bone marrow was negative for cancer the second time in a row! The MIBG scan showed that there was overall improvement in the intensity of the cancer and that there is no further activity in the area that the tumor and lymph nodes were removed. There were still cancer cells inthe bone areas of her legs and arms, but the intensity had gone down. The Ct scan showed positive improvement as well. The best part of the CT scan is that it showed that the swelling from her leaking lymph node is gone! This means that we no longer have to give Alexis an octreotide injection two times per day! Alexis and I were extremely excited about this!! Alexis's urine test showed that the acid that secretes in the urine when you have neuroblastoma was gone! We also learned that since Alexis's weight is 41 lbs the TPN nurse decide to cut back her TPN to every other night! Alexis told me that she was glad because she was tired of carrying the TPN bag around everynight. She said " when I have to get up at night to go to the bathroom I run into the walls with that bag and wake everyone up!". She is so sweet.

Anyhow that was out great news on a sour note the same day I found out that there was something wrong with my car. Originally I was told it was a head gasket but it turns out it is an upper and lower intake gasket. It doesn't really mean much to me other than that it is much cheaper to repair and will require less days being without a car! Hopefully it will be fixed by Thursday. As if I don't have enough to worry about! I guess it is good I work best under pressure, because I have not had much of a break!!

Well I am off to work.

Love,
Jen

If anyone would like to visit Lexi's Caring Bridge Journal website and leave a word of encouragement or a small prayer, feel free.

I just got off the phone with Jen, she was wondering if the Lexi and Aaron could come over tomorrow for another visit. Unfortunately I am sick so that will not get to happen. She also informed me that her stem cell transplant is scheduled for January 27. Please send prayers her way during this procedure. You can leave her family prayers and keep up to date on Lexi's Caring Bridge website.

Changes for the Good!!

Things with my life has been changing a bit. And I must say a bit for the better, sorta. The bad news first. I am no longer providing daycare for my family of 3 that caused me so much trouble. I do in fact miss them because they were so darn lovable. Even more, I miss the paycheck from them. I definitely do not miss the drama they caused. The other kids have said to me that they are glad that they don't come anymore. How sad is that?

But hey, the good news is that I am starting to have a life again. The two older boys that I keep that has the mom with the crazy schedule is now on a set schedule. Let's just hope she doesn't get booted off this one. I now only have them on Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30am to 1:00am and then on Saturday from 7:00am to 6:00pm. Whew, thank goodness. I never knew if I was coming or going with her old schedule.

My busiest days unfortunately are Thursday through Sunday but that's all good for me. I still have kids the other days but on Tuesday & Wednesdays I don't have any kids until 11:00am except for the 2 boys from 6:30am until 7:15am when they go to school. That is really nice having that time. I also now have Sunday, Monday and Wednesday evenings off. I am enjoying life right now.

I have not been blogging, visiting, commenting and entering giveaways near as much because I have fallen prey to the Facebook apps FarmVille and Country Life. This is not really such a bad thing because Hubby has fallen victim also and this gives us a lot to talk about instead of me blogging and him watching TV. Our daughter also is a farmer and so in the evening you can find the three of us in the living room with our laptops talking about who is posting mystery eggs and all that good stuff. I have been so addicted to it that I have spent two nights dreaming about the darn farm. I would much rather sleep than dream.

I started reading the Twilight series but decided I would stop after finishing Twilight and watching the movie. Even though they were both good, that's just not my thing I guess. I will watch the rest of the movies, but I am skipping on the other three books.

If you haven't had the chance to read "Permission Slips" by Sherri Shepherd, do. I started reading this book last night and couldn't put it down. I read 145 of the 269 pages and loved every page. Of course I am a fan of her on "The View" and I love her show "Sherri" When I finish up here I am going back to finish reading that book.

Oh crap, I think I just peed my pants. Not really peed but just peed a bit. I am so sick of this cold and crap that I have. Cough, cough, sniffle, sniffle, cough, gag, cough, spit. My head has been pounding off and on for three days and sleeping at night is becoming an issue when I lay down. Unfortunately it's almost February and that is usually when I have Bronchitis and/or Pneumonia. I was hoping to skip that this year.

Well, I here the 2 1/2 month baby girl fussing and I shall go get her before she wakes the other kiddos from their naps.

Audio Book Challenge: My 1st book

Audio Book Challenge 2010 Can I do it?

While I was over visiting At Home With Books, I came across a post where Alyce is joining this Audio Book Challenge, over at Royal Reviews and I thought why don't I do that. I love to listen to audio books when I go to bed, when I am waiting at the bus stop for the kids and when I am just driving around.

So, I have completed my first book of the year. I love everything that Wanda E. Brunstetter writes and this is another wonderful story.

A Merry Heart is book 1 in the series Brides of Lancaster County

exerpt

Miriam Stoltzfus is a young Pennsylvania Amish woman once filled with dreams for a future with a man. . .who jilted her. Now she is known as the old maid schoolteacher with a heart of stone. Could a forbidden romantic friendship with an English newspaper reporter stir the embers of her heart? Or, will she follow the traditional path and settle for a marriage of convenience born out of the sake of a child? Either way, she must find the key to letting go of the bitterness that binds her ability to love.

What I think about this book

This is another great book about the Amish, where life brings sadness and joy with the simple things in life. Miriam is heartbroken and lives as an unhappy woman, who teaches school to the Amish children. Things just seem to never go right for her, her fiance leaves town, her father passes away, her niece is in a horrible accident and her brother is getting married. With the upcoming marriage, Miriam feels the need to move out of the family home, and decides to marry a man that she cares nothing for who has a young daughter. After Miriam is in an accident, her life changes and she finally becomes a happy woman.

I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

Lexi update

I finally got to spend some time with Lexi, her little brother Aaron and her parents last night. I have really missed them all a lot. Aaron is funnier than ever. I swear that he never stopped talking the whole time they were visiting. Lexi was a little shy, but I had some new daycare kiddos at my house that she doesn't know. She did open up a little with one of the older boys, "JS", but she knows him. I really didn't get to talk to her much because bless Aaron, he is such a funny fellow. I am sure that he keeps them all in stitches. Lexi is looking wonderful, with the weight she has gained back. We got to exchange Christmas gifts (which I never got theirs wrapped up) and they got me a really cute frame to put a picture of the doggies in. It was perfect for me. I can not wait until they get to come back so that I can see their smiling faces more often.

So, here is the latest update on Lexi, from her mom.

Thursday, January 14, 2010 9:38 PM, EST

Hello Everyone,

Our busy week is finally over and Alexis and I are exhausted! For the last three days, Alexis and I were at the hospital by 8:30am and did not arrive home until 6pm each day. Each day Alexis fell asleep on the way there and on the way home! Monday was a short day. We arrived to the hospital at 11:30am and arrived home at 6pm after picking up Aaron from Lexington.

Throughout the past 4 days, Alexis had 14 total appointment

s. On Monday, she had to be sedated for a bone marrow aspiration. The last time she had this done her bone marrow was cancer free so we are hoping for the same result! On Tuesday she had 6 appointments. Alexis had to have a renal scan which she absolutley hated, because they had to insert a needle to put in an injection. Afterward we went to the BMT day hospital for them to draw blood every half hour for 2 hours for the renal scan. The BMT nurses also drew 50ml's of blood to check ALexis for everything under the sun (Hepatitis, HIV, etc). While we were there the BMT nurse talked to us briefly about the extremely strict rules when Alexis has her transplant. When Alexis is admitted for the transplant this nurse will be teaching the orientation to tell us all of the rules! Some of the rules are that only 6 visitors, including parents are allowed to visit the entire time she is hospitalized for the transplant, all visitors must wear gloves and masks when in her room, everything must be wiped down with disinfectant before entering her room, etc. It is definitely going to be a long hospital stay!

On Wednesday, we had 4 appointments. During her Audiology exam we learned that there has been a decline in her hearing ability due to the chemo medicines. Right now Alexis can still hear at 4000 dcb and it is not effecting her speech, however the audiologist expects for her hearing to continue the decline with the high doses of chemo. If it does she will most likely require hearing aides. This breaks my heart, but we decided it is no different than the inconvenience in wearing eyeglasses! The inconvenience is better than the alternative. At her dental eval, her teeth look great. We had to schedule another appointment next week to have sealants put on her 6 year molars.

On Thursday, Alexis had 3 appointments. One of the appointments was tge dreaded CT scan. This is the scan where she has to drink contract mixed with a drink. After 5 times we have learned that Alexis's preferred drink is flat sprite, however she still had issues drinking it. It actually took about an hour and a half longer than it was suppose to, to drink it! After the radiologist told her that if she did not drink it she would have the nurse put a tube in her nose she decided to drink it (most of it anyway). This is the most important test. This test will do a few things for us. First it will tell our surgeon, Dr. Aldrink if her fluid issue in her stomach has healed. If it has, she will no longer have to take the octreotide injections 2 times per day!! We can't wait till this is discontinued! Second, it will tell us just how many cancer cells are left in her body!

Today we were suppose to have a consult meeting with the transplant team. However, the BMT doctor had a family emergency and it had to be cancelled. I think it is going to be rescheduled for next Thursday, but we are not sure yet. We feel like we have been in limbo as far as the tranplant goes, so we can't wait to thave this meeting.

Every department we went to has been in a small uproar about my insurance agency changing effective 1/1/10. It would not be so bad however, at this point in time I only have a group number and not a policy number. Last week, out BMT coordinator asked if she could work on getting my policy number. She contacted my new insurance agencies transplant team and they have been wonderful contacting the appropriate people in order to have me enrolled in the system by tomorrow (that is the plan anyway)! What I love about the every department I have dealt with whether the hospital( all departments), insurance, BCMH public health nurse etc, they all recognize that we have a lot going on and they bend over backwards to do as much of the leg work as possible to make it as easy as possible for us! Again we are truly grateful for all of the systems put in place to help families in situations like ours.

Well again, I wrote more than I anticipated I would. Lousie and Wendy, if you are reading this, it was great to hear from both of you!

Take Care,
Jen

Wordless Wednesday: daycare kiddos

Okay, so here are some of my daycare kiddos:

Back row: "LS", "SB", "NS", "CS", "ES", "JS"
2nd row: "JF"
Front row: "KB", Miss SS, "BB"

Missing: "BH", "TF", "AF", "BD", "BW", "CJ", "KJ", and Miss Lexi and her brother Aaron.

Your can see all my Wordless Wednesday here.

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, MomDot, Jolly Mom and Life Down Our Lane and Go Graham Go.

Bloggography Challenge: Winter Theme

Well, what's one more meme for me to do? With this meme, I just may learn something. My Hubby got me a Nikon CoolPix for Christmas so that I have a digital camera that will fit into my purse, so that I always have a camera with me. So, with that, I decided to take part in the Bloggography Challenges, over at Manic Mother.


This weeks theme is Winter-themed, which means you need to take a picture in any mode besides full auto. I am not sure it I am doing this correctly, I did not use the auto mode. I did, however use the:

• Beach/Snow mode: Captures the brightness of such subjects snowfields, beaches, or sunlit expanses of water. The camera focuses on subject in center of the frame.

Like I said, I am not sure if I am doing this right, but I will find out shortly I am sure. I can't decide if the Beach/Snow scene is considered a full auto mode, or if she wants us to use different program modes. If she wants us to use the program modes, then I will have to use my other digital camera.

Anyway, this picture that I took is from last week when we were getting a good snowfall and I decided that I needed to go to an Amish Bent & Dent grocery store for some goodies.

We Intrupt this blog.....

.....due to the jerks out there, who are called sp*mmers, I unfortunately have to enable comment word verification. I apologize because I know that I don't like it. But because my computer is NOT my best friend and I cannot go in and delete those comments, so I must do this.

Lexi Update

Just wanted to give you a little update on Lexi. Her mom called me last night and we were on the phone for what seemed like forever but was really only 33 minutes. There was so much information that Jen gave me that I got lost in it all. Wow, I seriously don't know how she does it. I would not know whether I was coming or going.

I also got to talk to Lexi for a few minutes. She was in really good spirits. They may stop over on Thursday after her procedures. I am excited to see her.

Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:38 PM, EST

Hello! As you may have figured or already know, Alexis was discharged last Monday the 4th. You can usually tell when she is discharged because that is when I become so busy I forget to update the log!

Alexis started to feel better on Sunday, and by Tuesday she was her old self again for the most part. There were a few days that she did vomit but we are not sure what that was all about except for yesterday. Yesterday evening she just kept eating and eating until finally she got sick. I did not realize everything she had ate. Ever since she was born this was something we had to monitor closely, however this is not something we have had to keep an eye on in a while!

Alexis has had a pretty good week. She has played hard with Aaron, played in the snow, went shopping with me to Wal-mart and today the 4 of us went to see Chipmunks 2. Alexis and Aaron both really liked it! Afterward we went to El Vaquero for dinner.

Tomorrow is the start of Alexis's long week of appointments. On Monday Alexis will be put to sleep for a bone marrow aspiration. It is in the surgery unit, however it is a very short minor surgery (It still ends up taking all day though!)

Between Tuesday - Thursday, Alexis will have a total of 11 exams/procedures. They are definitely going to keep us very busy. The best part though is that we get to come home each night. The point of all of this is to to make sure that Alexis is completely healthy in all parts of her body before the transplant.

Alexis is still on TPN at night for 12 hours. The good news is that she weighed 40.2 lbs at her clinic appointment on Thursday! She has not weighed this much since before she was diagnosed!

I will try to keep everyone posted during the week.

Take Care,
Jen

Sunday Stealing: I am NOT obsessed!

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger and blog named Minnestota Mom. We stole one of our first memes from her after we started this blog. That was back on September 7, 2008. The big difference is the Minnesota Mom actually wrote this meme! She tells us about herself: "My passions are reading, art in its many forms, and health. And I love cookies. Lots of cookies. Does that go with health? Probably not. But I loves ‘em anyway…" (We did add some questions to fit our format length.) Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Instructions: Answer the Current Obsession category and then explain WHY you chose that response. Easy enough? Thanks as always for playing!

Sunday Stealing: The Current Obsessions Meme

Book: Twilight ~ Because it's awesome!

Snack: Double Bubble Gum ~ Because it keeps me from eating:)

Restaurant: Chinese ~ I think I must have been a Chinese woman in my previous life.

Beverage: 7Up ~ I love the bubbles, it's clear and no caffeine.

Decor: Cluttered ~ I don't like it but obviously I am obsessed with it because that's how my house it.

Actor: Sean Connery ~ And I am not obsessed.

Actress: Sally Fields ~ She is just awesome no matter what role she plays, and I am not obsessed.

Movie: Overboard ~ I don't know exactly why.

TV show: I think I have answered this before....is Blogger a TV show?

Hobby: Hello, have you seen my blog or Facebook?

Band: Rubber

Song: I am not obsessed with any band.

Meme: Sunday Stealing ~ Because that's what I am currently doing, and wouldn't it be stupid if I said something else.

Blog: Sweeps4Bloggers ~ Find out for yourself.

Lover: My wonderful Hubby "JR" ~ Enough said.

Friend: Define friend? No really, my Hubby is my best friend!! ~ Enough said.

Quote: "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

Peeve: Toilet paper going under ~ Just because.

Sport: Bowling, until the Olympics start ~ Because that's what I do every Wednesday.

Singer: Not obsessed with a singer either, that could get you arrested.

If you would like to play along, visit Sunday Stealing!

Button Swap (Updated)

Kathryn over at Singing in the Rain is having a Button Swap, What a great idea, I wish I would have thought of it. This is such a great way to get your blog some traffic.

So hop on over and join in. Remember if you join, tell her I sent you.

Ah, crap crap crap. I just learned that this button swap is over. I missed the darn thing, but hey you can still hop on over and visit Singing in the Rain anyway.

Wordless Wednesday: New Years Eve with the Grandparents

This is sorta a Wordfull Wednesday instead. My dad's parents live in an Assisted Living Facility and they have a New Years Eve party for the residents every year from 5pm to 8pm (when the ball drops, lol) and this year, my grandparents invited us over to join them. I never to get over to see them as much as I would like to, so we decided to go over with them, and we are very glad we did because we enjoyed it. These pictures are from dinner.

This is my grandparents in the front, Hubby and I off to the right and my grandpa's niece and her hubby to the left.


The appetizer with the biggest shrimp I have ever seen.


Iceberg salad w/almonds, dried cranberries and yogurt.


Yep, filet mignon!


Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Your can see all my Wordless Wednesday here.

If you would like to see more Wordless Wednesday pictures you can visit 5 Minutes For Mom, MomDot, Jolly Mom, Life Down Our Lane, Go Graham Go and Seven Clown Circus.

Montana Rose (Book Review)

This is the first book in the series called Montana Marriages by Mary Connealy. It is followed by Book 2 ~ The Husband Tree.

This book is set back in the day of living off the land and working hard doing chores to survive in Montana. Cassie was married when she was just a child to a well, not so nice, man. After only being married a few years and pregnant, her husband dies from disease. Before her husband was even in the ground, the town men folk were fighting over who was going to take the China doll, which was what her deceased husband called her. One of the men folk stood out to her, but not as much as she stood out to him. Before she would be done with Red, she would be married to him.

Red taught Cassie things that she never knew were possible. Not only did he teach her how to help with the chores, he taught her about love and about having faith in God. Cassie became the person that she never knew she could become. She became a very strong woman and stood on her own to feet to defend herself.

In becoming a follower of God, she saves the life of her husband Red. With his grateful approval, she invites her biggest enemy into her home and together they offer to help Wade become a better person and help him find himself.

Marketing Release:
Fire up your love of romance with Montana Rose, where Cassie Griffin, a seemingly spoiled pregnant woman, is widowed one day and wedded the next. Marrying handyman Red Dawson seems the only alternative to Cassie’s being hitched to a brutal rancher. But can this “China doll” bear exchanging smooth silk for coarse calico? Red was reluctant to be yoked to an unbeliever, but sometimes a man has no choice. Will Red change Cassie’s heart by changing her name? Wade Sawyer is obsessed with saving Cassie from a marriage of convenience. How far will he go make her his own?

Author:
The Author of Montana Rose is Mary Connealy, which I have fallen in love with her books, she is such a great writer. You can read more about her on her website.

Subtitle:
Montana Marriages Book 1

Publisher:
Barbour Publishing

Publish date:
7/1/2009

What I think:
I personally thought this was a excellent book. It's another great book that I just could not put down. I love Mary Connealy's way of writing. I definitely recommend this to you all to read.


You can purchase this book at:

Amazon.com for $7.89
ChristianBook.com for $7.99
Barnes & Noble for $7.89

What's That? You're Sorry?

Image By skidmark22

Did I hear an "I'm Sorry." or a "We apologize." from our propane provider? NOPE, NADA! I called them this morning, still p*ssed off about running out of propane in 12 degree weather and getting very little sleep because I was afraid the electric heaters would catch fire. I did indeed call to order more propane on Dec. 22nd, therefore they were in fact supposed to be here on the following Monday, Dec. 28th. They don't have any excuses for not bringing it nor do they have an apology for me. The delivery man said that the MAN who was supposed to print the ticket did not print it. DUH, they left it to a MAN!!

Did I have to pay the $75 sniff test charge for running out? NOPE!! Did they even try to charge me? NOPE!! Oh, and did I tell you that they apologized? NOPE, because they didn't! Did I name drop the company who has now let me run out 3 times (the first two times I was on auto-fill)? NOPE, but I will! It's Mt. Vernon Bottled Gas. They know they were wrong. They know in all rights they should have brought me propane yesterday and not charged me any emergency delivery charge.

Image By stephaniefothergill

I have one more call to make to them today, and it is going to consist of me demanding a discount on the propane that they delivered.....late......again!

On a better note! Listen to that? Can you hear it? Of course you can't, because I can't hear it either. I can't hear the screaming, yelling and fighting from my family of 3 kids that were always causing me problems. They are history, but a notice would have been fabulous. I am NOT happy about the loss of income but wow, my stress level is back to normal. Now, lets just hope it stays there. All the other kids that I have are really good kids, so things should only get better for me. I just need to find replacement kids, which hopefully will not be hard to do.

Image By dutchdragon1958