Can I Get an Allel...?!?!

I am so tempted to wait a few more days to post this so that I can shout out the A word from the rooftops. Alas, it is still lent so you'll just have to imagine my deep sense of joy and hope. I went to the neurologist and you guys... it. was. awesome.

I went in with a very skeptical attitude. I started getting migraines in 2001 and they were diagnosed in 2003. I've lived with this for quite some time now and know most (all?) of my triggers. I have Imitrex to treat my pain. And this year, I hit rock bottom with my migraines. They've been so frequent and so horrible I don't even really want to go into detail and relive it. Suffice to say I would choose childbirth over a migraine any day.

So, I went into the neurologist feeling hopeless and discouraged and pessimistic. The only reason I was even going was out of despair really. And at the pressure of two of my doctors. Plus, there's the whole "new Jan Brady" thing in which I'm trying to be the person I want to be. So, reluctantly, to the doctor I went. Imagine my surprise when the neurologist turned out to be awesome! Imagine my relief when he met me where I am with my migraines rather than where I was back in 2001 as I'd feared he would. 

He was so compassionate and competent and all around awesome. He assured me that we will find the right medications for me and the right doses. He is confident that my migraines will be under control. He was honest and said that they aren't going to go away, but that with his help we'll get them manageable so that I won't spend 24 hours or more of every week lying in bed incoherent. So, hooray! I started my meds on Friday and so far so good. I haven't even had any "crunchies" - which is Casey code for the feeling that I was feeling almost everyday in my neck. Now that I've been to a doctor I know that "crunchies" are evidently blood vessels in the base of my brain freaking out and beginning to dilate. Huh, go figure. That explains the pressure feeling.

So, things are looking up! Just a few days ago I couldn't imagine a life without migraines. Now I am giddy with joy and hope for my future. Woooooo!!!!!

Gone With the Wind

Hello my poor neglected little blog. Nice to see you again. Why have you been so lonely lately? Well my little bloggy...

I haven't been waking up early anymore unless it's to work out. The draw to get out of bed and sit in the quiet house and drink coffee was so strong in the past. Now, the desire to get out of bed and sit in the quiet house and drink something decaf... well... honestly that just doesn't get me out of bed. So, you my poor blog, have suffered.

Also, there was spring break.

And then I got back from the beach and discovered Gone With the Wind and all other nonessential (and some arguably essential) activities were tossed aside as I spent every possible waking moment in Tara and Atlanta. I was shocked to discover GWTW is fabulous. Why was this so shocking to me?! And how is that book so ridiculously good?!

Chris is probably happy that I finished GWTW tonight so that I'll stop randomly screeching, "Who knew this book would be so good?!" Little does he know I'm still going to keep saying that. I've had a copy hanging out on our bookshelf for years - moving with us across the US even! What?! I warned him this evening this has also opened up an entire world of Civil War and Reconstruction reading to do... so get ready friends and family... the old south might be the new Everest.

iMommy

It occurred to me recently that my children will be considerably behind their peers when it comes to technology. I'm not that into tv so we don't watch much. I purchased the cell phone that is marketed to parents as the phone to buy for preteens who are allowed to text but not have internet access. We don't have an ipad or even an ipod for that matter. And... truth be told... I use Windows Media Player. *gasp*

And while I'm confessing... I plan to purchase a walkman for Carolena to use on our upcoming roadtrip. Not an ipad. A walkman. hahahaha. Seriously though! They're like fifteen bucks on amazon. Sold! Plus, thanks to some awesome friends I have a Jem and the Holograms tape squirreled away that is going to change her life.

Ahem. What year is it again?

All this is to say, it recently occurred to me that my kids might be behind their peers when it comes to technology so I started teaching Carolena how to use our computer. Sure, it's a laptop and not an ipad, but it's better than the wooden spoons I've allowed her to play with thus far.

I jest.

Kind of.

So, Carolena is now versed in PBS games and how to use the mouse and how to click on the red X to close the window. Badda bing badda boom.

And someone refuses to be left out...

Greening

After almost nine years of marriage, two kids, several homes, and a few moves...

 

 we finally have a compost bin!

  

We had to relocate our (failure to thrive) blackberry bush, but we finally agreed agreed upon the perfect spot! Unfortunately, it is right along the rat superhighway aka our back fence so we'll be doing some internet research on how to keep those little guys out of our compost. Why is our back fence the rat superhighway? I'm glad you asked. I think it has something to do with the sign across the street from our backyard that looks a little something like this:

Chris had plenty of help as it turned out to be a family affair. Carolena held onto the screws and passed boards when needed. I attached boards and had one attempt with the saw that included freaking out because I wasn't wearing safety glasses, putting on Chris' real glasses, and then sawing next to the line I was supposed to saw. I was much better at using the drill and being in charge of measurements. Nils was in charge of entertainment and general merriment.

 A few hours on beautiful spring Saturday, and voila! We're in business!

 

Just Beachy

The kids and I spent a rainy cold spring break in my parents' beach house with Moom. It was great. A trip to Galveston, s'mores on the deck, and plenty of playing with beach house toys for the kiddos. I finished the book I've been reading since Christmas (in my defense it was looonggg) and read an entire novel.

After a great break, it's nice to be back home... especially since I married a guy who makes home improvements when I'm out of town. We came back to clean bathroom grout and a previously pesky kitchen light that now works. He's the top. He's a Waldorf salad. Or perhaps this is his way of telling me to leave town more often?

In other news, I am suspending my blog updates until I can resolve this issue:
A friend's sister's husband's nephew told me that blogspot owns everything I post.

Okay, not really. A presenter at my mother's writers' group said blogspot owns bloggers' content. I have yet to confirm this through les internetes. If this is semi-true or false, I will continue on. If this is true, I am going to have to make some decisions about my blog. And by "make some decisions" I mean... choose a different blog provider or just quit blogging. That's about it. I don't like the idea of blogspot owning my content. Not for crazy "the internet is after me" reasons, but for "what if I ever want to get a book published and can't use anything I've ever posted on my blog?" reasons. Is that even what ownership means? I don't really get it. All I know is that the guest blogger said don't go with blogspot... awwwkkkwardd...

Sigh.

Stupid big businesses.
Blah blah blah rant rant rant.
Nothing is ever really free except grace ammiright?

****I posted this a few hours ago. I have since read the blogger terms of service which states, "You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours." Okey dokey, I guess that's good enough for me. Looks like I'm staying put! Woo hoo for the path of least resistance!

Rub A Dub Dub

On a recent Friday morning all I wanted to do was take a nice peaceful bath. Chris was feeding the kiddos breakfast, and I snuck off to our bathroom and began to run the water. Our bathtub is huge. I sunk into it with my book, nearly up to my eyeballs in the hot water. Just as I was about to start reading I heard the bathroom doors open. In bounced my vivacious Carolena. Seeing that there was water in my big bathtub, she immediately began peeling off her clothes to jump in. Closely behind her followed Nils, saltines in hand. Carolena scrambled into the tub before I could protest. Nils walked right up and laughing dropped his saltines right into the tub. Then he began trying to climb in as well. Someday soon when my children are older I will again sit in a boring bathtub all alone. For now I will rejoice in a bathtub full of crumbs and rubber duckies and giggling children.

Nuggets from Nils

If you go to bed late, be sure to get up all the earlier the next morning. You have to make up for the lost sleep by getting up earlier. Wait... that doesn't seem right... hmmm... x3... carry the 1... hmm... well, just take my word for it. If you go to bed late, then get up early.

 If you find a tiara on the ground or in the toy box, wear it.

If you are fortunate enough to go to the rodeo, kick up your heals and enjoy it. Literally, just kick off your one pair of shoes that fit and toss them to the wind. Be sure to toss them when no one's looking so that they can't be retrieved. Eat the greasy delicacies. Smile and call out to the baby chicks and pigs and animals in the petting zoo. Cheer for your sister as she zooms by on carnival rides. Tell your mother that you really think you should get to ride as well. She'll point out that the signs say you have to be two. Hmph. TWO. What do those signs know about second children?!

A Complete and Total Barf-O-Rama

I've been to 21 states and 8 different countries. I would venture to say that I have thrown up in all of them. Wait! Not true! I don't think I vomited in Italy or Belize or Delaware, New Jersey, or Maryland.

Suffice to say, I vomit easily.

My freshman year of college I joined CARPOOL, a group that offered free rides home to inebriated college students. My first night on the job I reluctantly got in the passenger seat (despite my protests I finally acquiesced to the guy who insisted the man must drive. what a moron.). An hour or so later we called in to the headquarters:
"Um. We're heading back in. I threw up in the car."
"A patron threw up in the car?"
"No. I did."

I was smart enough to marry a man who always agrees that I should drive. We're planning a road trip for vacation this year. Perhaps I should start stock piling the Dramamine now.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

We've been listening to a lot of Pandora's toddler radio station lately so I often find stuck in my head lines like, "the mommies on the bus go shh shh shh… shh shh shh… shh shh shh…"

After a few years of this mommy gig I'm beginning to realize I’m just not that kind of mommy. At least not if we were on a bus...

I’m the kind of mommy on the bus who’s screeching “Stop licking the window! Everyone please chill out. Oh my goodness if you touch your tongue to that window one more time… ARGH!” I’m the kind of mommy who is busy picking boogers out of the crusted nose of what might appear to be a calf in the scramble at the rodeo but is in fact my one year old son. I’m the kind of mommy whose hair is cut short into a pixie that embarrasses my three year old daughter. The mommy whose unshaven legs peer out from between a pair of bright pink chino shorts and store brand flip flops. Red lipstick and a bandana tied around my head, I'm the mommy green and queasy, clutching a barf bag and wondering why I chose to take the bus. The mommies on the bus go shh shh shh… right. I’m the kind of mommy who drove the damn bus.

Elementary

First, and most importantly, The Mysterious Case of the Six Migraines in Six Weeks:
As it turns out the birth control my doctor had prescribed comes with a warning that women who get migraines with aura shouldn't take that pill. So THAT explains why I felt sick and on the verge of a migraine every single day for the last two months. Case Closed. And yes, it's lent, but can I get a Halleluiah?!

Second, The Mystery of the Mount Everest Laundry Pile:
As you know from my whining, I do an enormous amount of laundry. I just couldn't figure out why it seems like we have so much freaking laundry to do all of the time! We even have a supersized washing machine and dryer! Then, finally after years of pondering, the obvious reason came to me: I use cloth napkins and cloth towels every single day. Oh. Duh. Combine that with cloth diapers and a girl who seems to change outfits fifty times a day and yes, I do have more than the average mom's pile of laundry. Now that I have the reason (and believe that it's worth the laundry) I will stop whining. Case Closed.