Back in September, one of our neighbors started treating their daughter for an aggressive brain tumor. She's still fighting it, and here's a link to the update on her story.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/georgia/news-article.aspx?storyid=139704&catid=5
(Incidentally, the doctor speaking about the tumor on the video is the same doctor Matthew saw at Scottish Rite when he had a skull fracture 2 years ago - Dr. Hudgens was fantastic).
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Allison turns 8!
Yes, the rumors are true: Allison has turned 8. And, she still sucks her thumb (but we're working on it and making progress for once). Does anyone know how to wire a capacitor into the roof of a mouth? Just a thought...
So, she turned 8. She got some presents, is having a sleepover in a few weeks, and she requested a blue and orange cake. Don't ask, I didn't. Above are a few pictures of the birthday girl. Also, we included a picture of our baby cardinals (notice how the mother is not happy with our proximity - but we were behind a screen) and Allison's sleep toys being put to bed. 8 is still a cool age....
***In other news, Allison wrote a letter to Amanda. Allison and Amanda don't always get along. So, here's what she wrote:
Dear Amanda,
Dear Amanda,
I know how we don't get along.
I know we can get together.
I think it will work if we just try.
Then, we can have more fun.
Love,
Allison
Monday, June 08, 2009
More lessons for impaired moms...
Back to Matthew, but also still on me.
Lesson #435: Don't assume the refrigerator is broken if it's not running as it should AND there is a 5-year old boy living in the house.
Before you empty the entire refrigerator in a frenzy, before you start disconnecting hoses and taking things apart, before you wonder just what circle of hell selling a house has brought you to, and before you lose whatever sanity you may have had left trying to figure out why it worked FINE yesterday and all-of-a-sudden it's just not working today simply ask yourself the following questions:
1) "What is a 5-year old boy's favorite thing to play with?"
Answer: "Anything with buttons and knobs. And, everything else in the world."
2) "Has said boy played with the refrigerator in this way before?"
Answer: "Why, yes he HAS turned off the refrigerator before!"
This time, however, he turned one knob to the lowest setting so it looked on, and the other one to "off". See, the light still goes on when you open a refrigerator and it's been turned off instead of unplugged. I forgot that. And, in my haste (insanity) I only looked at the first knob that made it appear to be on. Then, and anyone who's been talking to me in the last two months will know this, I really am going nuts and I just assumed the worst and went straight past "let's think about this a second" to "can I really throw a frozen pizza like a frisbee from one freezer in the kitchen to one in the garage without it breaking?" (Incidentally, no you can't). But, we did set a record for emptying a refrigerator. And, it gave me an excuse to clean yet another thing. Sigh....
So, after emptying the fridge and while cleaning it out the logical part of my brain finally broke free of the crazy restraints and I looked at the other knob and realized my error. It's purring like a kitten now. I did have to resist the urge to hang the boy from the hummingbird feeder, but I doubt he even realizes what he did. And, if he does, he probably doesn't care at all. Another lesson learned.
For those not keeping score, in the last 4 days I've assaulted a lawn mower AND vacuum cleaner, shut the dog's tail in the car door, unintentionally rained death on innocent woodland inhabitants, set the gas grill on fire, and was seconds from dismantling a refrigerator that was just turned off. I wonder what the next few days have in store for me. Stay tuned, it'll probably be good.
Lesson #435: Don't assume the refrigerator is broken if it's not running as it should AND there is a 5-year old boy living in the house.
Before you empty the entire refrigerator in a frenzy, before you start disconnecting hoses and taking things apart, before you wonder just what circle of hell selling a house has brought you to, and before you lose whatever sanity you may have had left trying to figure out why it worked FINE yesterday and all-of-a-sudden it's just not working today simply ask yourself the following questions:
1) "What is a 5-year old boy's favorite thing to play with?"
Answer: "Anything with buttons and knobs. And, everything else in the world."
2) "Has said boy played with the refrigerator in this way before?"
Answer: "Why, yes he HAS turned off the refrigerator before!"
This time, however, he turned one knob to the lowest setting so it looked on, and the other one to "off". See, the light still goes on when you open a refrigerator and it's been turned off instead of unplugged. I forgot that. And, in my haste (insanity) I only looked at the first knob that made it appear to be on. Then, and anyone who's been talking to me in the last two months will know this, I really am going nuts and I just assumed the worst and went straight past "let's think about this a second" to "can I really throw a frozen pizza like a frisbee from one freezer in the kitchen to one in the garage without it breaking?" (Incidentally, no you can't). But, we did set a record for emptying a refrigerator. And, it gave me an excuse to clean yet another thing. Sigh....
So, after emptying the fridge and while cleaning it out the logical part of my brain finally broke free of the crazy restraints and I looked at the other knob and realized my error. It's purring like a kitten now. I did have to resist the urge to hang the boy from the hummingbird feeder, but I doubt he even realizes what he did. And, if he does, he probably doesn't care at all. Another lesson learned.
For those not keeping score, in the last 4 days I've assaulted a lawn mower AND vacuum cleaner, shut the dog's tail in the car door, unintentionally rained death on innocent woodland inhabitants, set the gas grill on fire, and was seconds from dismantling a refrigerator that was just turned off. I wonder what the next few days have in store for me. Stay tuned, it'll probably be good.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Mom's nuts ...and other ramblings
Okay, we have another lesson. This time, it comes from mom. Yes, you read that right.
Lesson #434: Do not be lazy and decide to "incinerate" all the leftover gunk in the grill by turning it on full-blast when said grill has the equivalent of a gallon of grease coating its inside. Propane+"gunk"+grease+crazy-from-trying-to-sell-house-mom=FIRE. Fire bad.
This was pretty much my thought process leading up to the fire:
Hmmmm...gunk on grill. Gunk icky. Fire burn gunk. Hmmmmm...that weird! Why grill smoke? Ohh - grill on fire. Fire bad. Uhh-ohh.....
The hose was too far away (plus, the sprinkler is welded to the end of it - we think from Bucky chewing on it in one of his more bored moments). Picture me wrestling with a sprinkler trying to put out a flaming gas grill. A kodak moment if there ever was one. But, no, I didn't do that. I just turned off the burners, turned off the propane tank, got a few buckets of water from the sink and doused some of the heat before quickly disconnecting the half-full tank and moving it away from the heat. Bucky, ever the helpful dog, was nice enough to lick all the gunk off the tank for me (ummmmmmm-good!) I put out the rest of the flames, disassmbled the grill, cleaned it, put it back together, and successfully cooked my chicken 2 hours later than I'd originally planned to cook it.
My mental status has been quite questionable lately. I shut the car door on Bucky's tail a few days ago (well, in my defense, he watched it shut on his tail while I was trying to get him to move). He has since been quite hesitant to go in the car (which could be good for his weight loss plan because the car floor usually accounts for about about 30% of his daily caloric intake courtesy of my children who can't eat without making a mess). I also ran over a snake cutting the grass and have managed to recieve several interesting burns, bruises, and other injuries from cleaning way too much. How? Well, did you know that kicking a lawn mower hurts (or burns, depending on where you aim) and really DOESN'T make it start any faster? The same can be said of a vacuum cleaner that starts eating a piece of clothing shoved under a bed instead of being put in the hamper. I may be turning to mental epidurals soon (if I actually kept alcohol in the house, this would be a lot easier). On the bright side, my house is really clean. And, my yard is in great shape (especially with all the natural snake carcass fertilizer).
Lesson #434: Do not be lazy and decide to "incinerate" all the leftover gunk in the grill by turning it on full-blast when said grill has the equivalent of a gallon of grease coating its inside. Propane+"gunk"+grease+crazy-from-trying-to-sell-house-mom=FIRE. Fire bad.
This was pretty much my thought process leading up to the fire:
Hmmmm...gunk on grill. Gunk icky. Fire burn gunk. Hmmmmm...that weird! Why grill smoke? Ohh - grill on fire. Fire bad. Uhh-ohh.....
The hose was too far away (plus, the sprinkler is welded to the end of it - we think from Bucky chewing on it in one of his more bored moments). Picture me wrestling with a sprinkler trying to put out a flaming gas grill. A kodak moment if there ever was one. But, no, I didn't do that. I just turned off the burners, turned off the propane tank, got a few buckets of water from the sink and doused some of the heat before quickly disconnecting the half-full tank and moving it away from the heat. Bucky, ever the helpful dog, was nice enough to lick all the gunk off the tank for me (ummmmmmm-good!) I put out the rest of the flames, disassmbled the grill, cleaned it, put it back together, and successfully cooked my chicken 2 hours later than I'd originally planned to cook it.
My mental status has been quite questionable lately. I shut the car door on Bucky's tail a few days ago (well, in my defense, he watched it shut on his tail while I was trying to get him to move). He has since been quite hesitant to go in the car (which could be good for his weight loss plan because the car floor usually accounts for about about 30% of his daily caloric intake courtesy of my children who can't eat without making a mess). I also ran over a snake cutting the grass and have managed to recieve several interesting burns, bruises, and other injuries from cleaning way too much. How? Well, did you know that kicking a lawn mower hurts (or burns, depending on where you aim) and really DOESN'T make it start any faster? The same can be said of a vacuum cleaner that starts eating a piece of clothing shoved under a bed instead of being put in the hamper. I may be turning to mental epidurals soon (if I actually kept alcohol in the house, this would be a lot easier). On the bright side, my house is really clean. And, my yard is in great shape (especially with all the natural snake carcass fertilizer).
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