An Apology Precedes the Whine

I am so sorry, but I have got to whine. I need people to feel sorry for me, because I sure as heck feel sorry for myself.
Little Man woke up last night at 2. TWO A.M. people!! Two in the morning. And then, he kept both Bald Man and myself up for the rest of the night. He never, ever went back to sleep. I kept going back to sleep, but kept getting waked up by the boy. Over and over again. I am so tired now, I can hardly breathe.
Please, this has got to stop, it will only take a couple more nights like this to put us into crisis mode. It has been so pleasant here lately and I have been enjoying the ride of peace and calm in our home. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but really, the last three weeks or so, we have had at least one or two nights a week of poor sleep on his part. I have been pretending it wasn't happening, because I don't want to face reality. I want and need something magical to happen, and for him to start sleeping again. The thought of us needing to mess with his meds makes me want to start bawling. I don't want to go down that road.
Feel free to pretend that you never saw this whiny post and not leave a comment. Unless you want me to feel like someone cares. In which case, leave me some comment luv!

Mountain Monday

Spring is finally in full bloom here in Utah. Sure there were a few snow flakes yesterday, but in spite of mother nature trying to mess with our minds, the evidence says Spring is here to stay. YAY!
In spite of the fact that Pygmy Child returned home to her husband and home in FL, we are managing to go on without her. We miss her laughter, her joy, her sweet loving ways. It was wonderful to get to spend so much time with her. Mountain Monday goes on, with or without the Pygmy Child.











We drove by this spot last week and Pygmy Child declared it to be the epitome of what Spring is supposed to be, so in honor of her, I post this:



The sides of the mountains are verdant with spring growth. Creeping up the sides, soon the mountains will completely join in with the valleys in celebrating a new season.






Ms. Tenacious Oak leaf, surrounded by her aborning siblings.




This is shepard's purse, either a weed or an herb, depending on who you are talking to.




And now, some of my favorite pictures from the preceding week.

Soccer!




My daughters wanted a picture of themselves. Wow, it is much easier to work with grownups who cooperate!










We took the kids to the park, I had bought the children matching outfits in hopes of getting a nice group shot. Yay, right! Ha ha, now that I have stopped laughing at my own hubris, I can stare the pictures proving how very silly I am to try!


June Bug did a face plant in the sand. She didn't cry, but she didn't much like the sand in her mouth. We laughed. We are mean like that.









Squid's nose hook gets me every time!



I am totally enjoying the sunshine and greeness surrounding me. Hopefully you are getting a chance to drink in Spring too!

Unexpected Miracles

Who knew?













Parenting a child with disablities means putting aside the dreams and hopes you had for your "normal" child. But sometimes it also means dreams come true. They might look a bit different than the first ones you had, but they are made even more meaningful because of all the tears.
I cheered at my son's soccer game. I cried just a tiny bit, with joy and disbelief. And when he scored a goal, ran out to the middle of the field and cried "cockle doodle doo!" My heart cheered with him.

Mountain Monday With a Side of Spring!

Pygmy Child is still brightening our days with her laughter and easy going ways. I know her hubby misses her, but I am so grateful he was willing to share her with us. It has been over two years since I have gotten any real amount of time with her and it has been awesome! She will be here until Saturday.
Today was an amazingly beautiful day. 74 degrees! And last week it was snowing. Utah is a bipolar state, without a doubt.
Today was made extra special because I got to share one of my favorite spots with my daughter. I also got to share my camera, so some of the pictures were taken by her. It was so lovely, but enough words, on to the pictures!

This flowering plum tree is right outside my window. Amazing, huh?






As we were driving to one of my favorite picture spots, we spied these horsies chewing on a fence!





(P.S. I know it isn't good for horses to chew wood, but they were rather cute while they did it)


Avocet on the water:



Avocet tail on the water!








Pygmy Child is the one who took the next few pictures. Considering it was her first time with an SLR, I was really impressed. I think she has some real talent!

Red Winged Blackbird, and he was singing his heart out. I wish I could share that part with you too. You will have to settle for visual.











We are pretty sure this is some type of vole that was running around.




Cute kids pictures! Darling grandchildren and my handsome boy!














It is so wonderful to have the feel, the scent, the sounds and the vision of spring here. I am enjoying every minute of it! Hope you are enjoying the Utah spring, at least through my eyes.

Mountain Monday, Or Is That Tuesday?

Yup, it is true, I suck. I am WAY, WAY behind on blog comments, and it is Tuesday! What the heck? Here is the heck.
I took a day off yesterday. I should have done housework, I should have blogged, I should have caught up on my blog reader. I was sitting, goofing off on Facebook yesterday, thinking, "why can't I motivate myself to get up and get some housework done?" I puzzled and puzzled. Slow dawning realization. I had just finished a 9 day sentence in the service to my little despot. And it isn't that it can't be done, but I just can't do much of anything else and him. When he is home, he pretty much has every last little bit of me. No wonder my little self was rebelling at the thought of doing anything that wasn't fun. So at the insistence of myself, I took a mental health day. I did NO housework. I did do a couple of errands, like paying the fee so the boy can start soccer on Thursday. And I did get out and get pictures taken, that is no duty in my book, but a weekly pleasure and delight.
Yesterday Spring poked her head out for a bit. And just for a bit. It is going to snow tomorrow, and it is raining as I speak. UGH!
Yesterday however was glorious. Hopefully my pictures will show the spring I am longing for!
























And now, even though I have more pictures, I really gotta get moving. Guess why? Because Pygmy Child will be here tonight!!! Whoo hooo, we get 11 days of her. When she and her hubby came at Christmas I felt so robbed. I was going crazy what with the winter break and getting Christmas together for the fam, I really didn't get any time with her. She is coming for 11 days and we shall have long hours of laughter and just plain TIME together. I can't wait!

A Story

My mom ended up in the hospital this week, and it was fairly scary. She was at the local eensy weensy hospital on the rez, (reservation) but wasn't responding to the therapy, so they had her move to another hospital in a large city that was 300 miles away. Yesterday was the turning point, they said she would either respond to the newest treatment or end up in the ICU. Thank goodness she responded to the treatment and they let her go home today. Whoo hoo! And hopefully feeling better, since there was a fairly long term problem going on, that can now be treated with medication. She was happy to go home and I was happy to hear her sounding so well.
Let me preface this story with perhaps an explanation on native humor. A lot of bad things have happened and continued to happen to my people, and we can either cry or laugh. Mostly we choose to laugh. My memories of visiting with my family involve HUGE amounts of laughter. We all thought the following story was hilarious, so hopefully you will too. But if you don't refer to above! (I did ask my mom's permission before blogging this)

The drive from the local eensy weensy hospital to the large city hospital didn't go as planned. First, shortly after leaving the eensy weensy hospital, they realized there was a problem with the ambulance. They had to turn around and go get another one.
They start on the journey once more, and the weather is terrible. It took them 2 hrs to go 45 miles. They arrived at the itty bitty town and realized they needed gas, so the ambulance driver stops to refuel. As my mom was laying there on the gurney, she told the EMT that she really needed to use the restroom. He stared at her for a while, trying to figure out what they were going to do. How would they get my mother from the ambulance to the restroom in the gas station.
I drew you an illustration, a la Lana from The Kids Did What?



The EMTs wheel my mom, on the gurney inside the gas station




My mother asks the wide eyed clerk where the restroom was. My mom climbs off the gurney in her hospital gown, coat, pants and slippers.





Afterwards, my mother is returned to the ambulance via the gurney to finish her journey.



My mom laughed so hard when she told me this story, I hope it amuses you as much as it did me!

Mountain Monday, Now With Sunshine!

Today was a beautiful day. Outside. Warm and sunny. I wish I could have appreciated it more. Little Man had a very off day. He doesn't like having his schedule messed with and today was no exception. The next nine days are going to be excruciating if today was any indication. I am hoping it is not. He got sent home from his theraputic afterschool program after less than an hour for hitting, scratching and spitting on people. I wasn't amused. Good thing the man got home before the sun went down, otherwise there wouldn't be a single picture for you today.
I did have a bright spot in my day of lunch out with An Eagles View and Bonnie from The Zoo. I even got some presents! Whoo hoo for nice friends who give you birthday presents. Ladies, you have no idea what it meant today!
So, hopefully for your viewing pleasure, Mountain Monday!

Lovely crocuses, or would that be croci? (I looked it up, it is both!)












It makes my heart glad to see that Spring is arriving in spite of the last few snowstorms!

Almost full moon



And a close up















I never go out on Mondays to take pictures without taking time to take deep breaths, to breathe in the wonder all around me, and to feel grateful that I am able to enjoy it. A moment of meditation and stillness in a rather rugged day, makes that oasis especially blessed. Thanks for taking time to motivate me to do it.