Surprise!

First, Happy First Bloga-versary to Us! Wow, can you believe it has been a whole year this week? You have all brought an added measure of joy to my life and I want to thank each of you readers and/or commenters. Thank you!
And surprise, who should show up at my door more than a week early???



Pgymy Child, much to my surprise and delight! She wasn't supposed to be here until the 3rd, but decided she just could not miss the time with her family. To say this week has been crazy would be a major understatement. Next week with the wedding on Friday, I am sure with kick up the insanity a few notches.

I decided to get my hair cut and color out the gray too.

Before:


After:


People who know me well will be shocked to find I chose to have my hair streaked. And guess what? I love it! I wanted a younger, funner hair style and I got it. I also got my bushy eyebrows and my mustache yanked off my face. It always amazes me that I am willing to PAY for that torture.
I went to an upscale clothing store to be professionally fitted for a bra. Guess what? Oprah is right. I went up 3! cup sizes and down a band size. My hubby asked if they were hiring...
I had the Princess measured too. She went down 3 band sizes and up 2 cup sizes. She was really mad at Victoria Secert for selling her expensive and ill fitting bras! If you have never been fitted, go! do! You won't regret it.

And lastly


BOO!!

Mountain Monday Served with Dessert

It is still Monday in Utah, although midnight is quickly approaching. My day got away from me. I spent the day recovering from a less than pleasant weekend. Bald Man has a cold and I swear you would think he was dying. Geez, what a baby. And Little Man? If it were possible, I am sure he would request being grafted onto my thigh. He never left my side and he was very grumpy and high needs all weekend. I can not express the sense of relief I had this morning as the various family members returned to their weekday occupations.
Spring has sprung in Utah and I refuse to allow predictions of snow tomorrow to influence my opinion on this. I even have proof:



I have no idea what kind of flowers those are, but they looked purty, so I thought I would share.



The snow is receding and green is visible on the mountainsides.



Nature's productions of the four seasons never fails to fill me appreciation and awe. The seasons are even more amazing when they are staged on the flanks of the mountains.



And now for your dessert:


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

All Cute, All the Time

Today's post is about the cute. I will definitely save the cutest for last, to give you a chance to prepare yourself.
First off, Needle felting! I went to my friend, Drama Mama's house to introduce her to the joys of crafting from wool. Here she is, with her first project, a snowman!
She is throughly addicted now and I took her monday to my favorite drug wool dealer, and set her up with all the necessary things to needle felt.




And then, to add to the whole needle felting cuteness fest going on here...I ordered a DVD from the Owning Alpacas blog. It is called Needle Felting a Dragon. And after much thought and pawing through my wool stash, I have finally chosen the colors for my new project.



I will keep you posted on my progress as I go along. I am very excited to start it

And then.... what you have all been waiting for. The peak of all cuteness. Watch out, because I really think this might be a lethal dose of cute, and I am not kidding!







Personally? I gotta go catch my breath after that!

A Very Tired Mountain Monday

Little Man decided to wake up at four this morning and never went back to sleep. I am very tired and I think I may have changed my mind about losing him... not really, but I am not a happy camper today. He also has caught a cold. He didn't have school today anyway, and I think with this cough he will probably be home again tomorrow. Bad news for me and perhaps for him if things don't take an upswing! ( I am sooo foul when I am tired!)
The weather has been sooo balmy and lovely. You will note the snow on the mountainsides is beginning to recede, so you will see the spring cycle begin. The poetry of the seasons dances outside my window. Remember the first snow last fall?




This is a picture of Little Man before I lost him at the park. Amazing how a traumatic incident can mar your memory of the whole day. I had actually had a good day until I lost my son, but for some reason I can't get past that hour and the whole day has been colored with an ugly pen. Little Man looks sweet though. And hey he is perfectly fine.



By the way, the policeman told us not to wait fifteen minutes next time. He told me I should have called the police after five minutes. That did make me feel like I didn't over react.
Speaking of that horrid day. Remember the gps unit? I had to unpack the boxes in my closet that were still packed from when we moved last year. I charged the unit, (3 times!) and tried to sync it up. Yah, whatever. Still didn't work. I called the support line and we are going to have to send it in and get another unit. Geez. I appreciate their response, but I am not happy at the time frame. Ah well.
A new week begins and I am hoping things will improve in the next couple of days. For right now, my Bald Man is home from work and I am going to run away for a bit, and put myself to bed early. Yay!

And the Bad Mommy Award Goes to.....

ME! Oh my word, this afternoon goes down in my top five worst days of my life. Let me start at the beginning. Pea and Princess were over visiting, and we thought the weather was sooo beautiful,( a balmy 72 degrees) we would take Pea and Little Man to the park. It was a great idea until we decided to leave. I bent down to put the water bottle in the bag and pick up the bag. Yeah, in that amount of time, Little Man disappeared! The first few minutes were not too bad, he wanders anyway, but he has never been heartstoppingly lost before. Until today. After fifteen minutes of me and the Princess looking for him and not finding him, I was completely panicked. This is a child who can't reliably tell you his whole name and certainly doesn't know his address or phone number. And he can't cross a street safely and he doesn't get worried when he is away from me, and there is a small river running next to the park, and oh too many things going through my head, first and foremost, what a horrible mmother I am for losing my austistic son. I found a policeman, and told him my son who is autistic is lost. I called Bald Man and confessed. I found a group of teenagers who weren't doing anything and asked them too. Bald Man called the people in our ward who also turned out and looked too. After an incredibly harrowing 45 minutes, he was found, safe and sound. In fact, seemingly unaware that he was lost or anything at all was wrong. He was found by that group of teens, God bless them forever and forever. Little Man has a gps unit, but this was the first nice day of the year and the unit isn't charged and honestly I didn't even think about it, because we haven't ever lost him at the park before. This will be the last time we take him out without it. What a day.

Mountain Monday, Now With More Pictures!

When Little Man goes to school, Mondays are my favorite day of the week. Today started off a bit hinky because we are having electronic clock problems. We turned all the clocks yesterday, but some of them reset themselves or something today. Bald Man's alarm being one of them, so intead of waking up at 7:30, they got up at 8:30. Little Man obviously missed the bus. Ah well, he got off, late, but at least he went to school.
Today, the mountains are looking soooo very pretty. The sky is blue, blue, blue, the snow white and glittery. Utah mountains at their best. Here ya go:





On Saturday in the mail, we got Pygmy Child and Brown Boy's wedding invite. April 6th, at the Salt Lake Temple. Here is their engagment picture:



Aren't they darling?
And now, do you have your bottle of cuteness-screen nearby? You better slather on a thick layer to protect yourself from the strong rays of cuteness emanating from your computer screen in a moment!

She was eating chocolate cake, and she was posing so cutely, tilting her head back and forth, little ham!


And another, she is eating a birthday candle


My week is starting out great, hope yours is too!

It's The Hands, Peeps!

Ah yes, it is hands today. First, an update on my own little anemic hands. Remember this picture?

The NEW and IMPROVED hands:



LOOK! Color where there was none before. I am looking and feeling much, much, better. Yay for iron. And so far, all tests are coming back normal. It seems as though it is probably just extra bleeding from my moon time. My doctor told me I could get a hysterectomy, but considering my "age", (46 in April) I could just keep taking iron for the next few years because I am likely to go into menopause soon. I am not sure if I am happy with that annoucement about my "age" or not...

And today, there will more hand stuff. I am going over to a friend's house to introduce her to the joys of needle felting. I don't think I have shared any pictures of my more recent items. So for your enjoyment, (okay, okay, for MY enjoyment)

A bear:



A Bunny:





Hope your weekend is a GREAT one!

Belated Mountain Monday

Yesterday was just too, too busy. I had much running around and watching of the Pea to have a minute to blog. And I was very, very tired, because Little Man did not go to sleep until 4 in the am. He is soooo lucky to still be living. So Mountain Monday was moved to Tuesday this week. The mountains are not so pretty today, we are moving into an ugly inversion again. Yuck.

The best part about today??? A package in the mail. Whooo hoo, filled with good things for both boy and mom. Actually in a way, everything was really for me! First off, the package is from Liza, who lives over in Doolittleville. She was able to, by what magic I know not, perhaps she sold her soul to the devil, but I don't care, give me TWO dvds of Ben 10!! This is Little Man's current obsession as far as watching TV goes. So these two dvds represent HOURS of peace and quiet. Bless the woman, I fall at her feet and worship her. And to make it even better??? Truffles people. Chocolately, yummy truffles. I don't think it gets any better. Thank you, thank you Liza darling!



My Tuesday is looking good, how about yours??

Up In Smoke, The Aftermath

Many of you will remember our near miss to an apartment fire from the end of December and my much mourned loss of nice sheets and comforter. After much shopping and even the purchase and return of a comforter found wanting, I have FINALLY done it. I found Comforter Charming.

It is beautiful isn't it? All maroon and gold and green. It matches the curtains just right and the nice green throw rug we have too. It didn't cost an arm and a leg and it is honestly, my most favorite comforter set I have ever owned. (smiling with satisfaction) Yay for JC Pennys!

And, even more, I replaced my wonderful high thread count sheets, courtesy of a sale at Kohls.



Gold damask. Very pretty, no?

And our little culprit?




Still as handsome and as innocent as ever. He has no idea about the furor and tears he caused. As for me, it incident is over, my stuff is replaced, so I am happy. And much to Bald Man's delight, I am even motivated to actually make the bed every day. It just looks so pretty when it is made.

My Tool Man

Bald Man is a handy man. He finishes basements, puts down flooring, fixes toilets, stuff like that. One of his favorite, NOT, jobs is sheet rock and the mudding and taping that goes along with the job. He came home the other day after an afternoon of sanding. Being the good sport he is, he let me do this:

We might be married for almost 27 years, but the love is still there!

Yesterday, I got a call from the pediatric rehab place that they had a spot for Little Man today at 2:30. This is for the feeding therapy his GI doc is insisting we do. I have no idea what they will say or be able to do, but hey, gotta do what I gotta do. There goes my quiet afternoon.

Bad Fun in the Mountains

If you don't understand the "bad fun" part then you shall have to go over to Doolittle's blog and read so you get the point of this particular post. I can't explain it half as well as Liza, so I shall let her tell you..... (I am waiting til you are done reading over there before I go on.....)
Yesterday Little Man did a very Academy Award winning performance based on the true life story of a barnacle. I was unable to try the things they suggest for the removal of the tenacious mollusk, such as sand blasting or using a sharp scraper to remove him from my thigh. Therefore it was with great relief when he finally decided to go play in his room at about 3 in the afternoon. As you will shortly find out, I should NOT have been relieved. Little Man decided to have Bad Fun in his room, with tempera paint no less.

Here are the cleaning washclothes I used BEFORE the steam cleaner. Six of them.



Mostly we found the paint in the mouth and on the feet of all his favorite dinosaur toys. And the castles and the vehicles and the stuffed animals. Sigh.
His carpet looks very nice now, if still a bit soggy. There are a couple of places that didn't clean up too well. One of the worst isn't his fault, since it is a throw up stain. Oh by the by, he is now on Prevacid for the tummy issues, in case it is reflux. Him throwing up once or twice a week is very unusual. But since he has been doing it for a month now, we gave in and called the doctor.
So yes, the Boy had very bad fun. His parents had no fun whatsoever cleaning everything up. But his room is clean! Liza doesn't believe me, but to prove that it does happen sometimes....

And no, I have not forgotten the Mountain part of the post. We have had two good snows in the last week so the mountains have put on fresh coats just for you in the picture.



Should I wish to forget my troubles with bad fun, I can just look out my sliding glass door and see how incredible the mountains look. And geez, look at that, not a speck of blue, green, yellow or red tempra paint on them.

Postscript: The paint went in the trash. No more of that kind of bad fun for my son. Sorry.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens....

Brown paper packages tied up with string.... definitely one of my favorite things! I do adore getting mail and even more so, I love to get packages in the mail. Even when it is something I ordered and I know what is in the box or envelope, I still love opening it! So imagine my surprise and delight to go to the mail and find waiting for me, a lovely package with unknown contents from Bombadee. And here is what was in my package:
A fridge magnet from the great state of Illinois, 3 pieces of chocolate, a small bottle of Clinique perfume, a four leaf clover, and a very nice letter with way better penmenship than my own, all wrapped in gold tissue and tied with a green satin ribbon! What a delight in every sense of the word.

I am sure you are wondering how I came to be the recipient of such a wonderful gift! Well, I won her finish the joke contest. Here is how it went...
"James Brown, President Ford and Saddam Hussein arrive at the pearly gates on the same weekend. The three men wait their turn, hardly believing who they are standing next to while ol’ Peter looks flips through his giant book looking for their names. Soon _______ leans over to ________ and says…"
My personal ending, which won me the great grand prize was...
"Saddam leans over to James Brown and says "They told me downstairs if they had to let a republican in, they had to let me in too!"

So whether or not you think it is funny is up to you. I personally think I was quite clever and one of my "Joisms" is you should always laugh at your own jokes, then you are sure at least one person is laughing.
Thanks Jenny, I really enjoyed it.
And by the way? Sorry for the length in updates. I WAY overdid it on Monday, I was feeling so good, but Little Man was home and I spent way too much time and energy cleaning. I have paid for it for the last two days. Of course Little Man going to bed at 12:30 on Tues night did not help in the least. I am mostly caught up on my rest now and feeling better again.

Sharing The Mountains

Yup, as usual, Monday brings us to mountain sharing. If you are ever here in Utah, look me up and I will share with you, up close and really beautiful my mountains. It snowed early this morning, so the mountains are all dressed up for their photo shoot. They just wanted you to say, "geez, I wish I were there."

Another picture. Amazing huh? That I can see this right from my window??? The clouds and their shadows drifting slowly on the mountain flanks, right by my balcony.




Now, for the updates. All good today, isn't it wonderful???
First, myself. My hemoglobin went from 6 to 9.5. I believe I am now just severely anemic instead of critically. I am feeling MUCH, MUCH, better. Still more tired than my normal healthy self, but I am finally able to get some stuff done without needing a nap. I am thrilled I am responding so well to the iron therapy.
Little Man, um, good and bad as usual. One, after an entire week of NO food, the child started eating again. Not a lot of food, or even enough food, but food, every day, some food. AND, he started drinking his boost breeze again. Not enough, but hey, I will take starving slowly as he has been since Sept, over starving very quickly any day. That was just scary.
We had to get blood work done for him. Oh, I was shaking in my shoes, for those of you who remember our August fiasco. Two happy pills (for him, not me, silly) and a long drive to the Big City Children's hospital. And you know what? He was as good as gold. Poor lil thing, he had to get stuck twice, bless his heart. Funny kid, I can never tell when he is going to be a feral child, or a well behaved kid.
His blood work is funky. His thyroid is off, his white blood cells are quite low. We need to keep an eye on it, so we will have to redo it in a few weeks. Lucky us!
So there ya go! All the news for now.

Lover's Day

How romantic can not romantic at all be? I shall let you be the judge of that one.
Once upon a time, almost 27 years ago, a very young Jo, (19! What was I thinking?) and her Bald Man (he was 22 but pretty bald already)were married. We had an opportunity as newlyweds to observe an older couple at church who had obviously been married a long time. (Ahem, they were in their 30's!). Hubby and I were so impressed with the level of togetherness they shared. They crossed their legs the same way at the same time. Syncronized marriage. We wondered if we would ever be like that.
This year, with mine and Little Man's health issues, we neither had time to even think about a present for Valentine's day, and we both were happy with just exchanging cards.
A couple of years ago, Bald Man and I gave each other the exact same anniversary card, we just laughed and laughed. Sometimes we don't finish our thoughts, because the other one is saying it, as we are thinking it. We pick up the phone at the same time to call each other. Syncronized marriage. Perhaps without the flaming passion that marked our earlier years, but with a level of comfort in knowing you are loved and safe. This is decades of marriage. He and I. We gave our youth to each other. I look forward to giving our old age to each other as well.

Last Night...

I dreamed I witnessed a bad accident on a snowy freeway. I ran over to give aid,(being a trained first aid person and all that) and helped the family get two of their children out of the car. The third child, a young boy, (age unknown in my dream, but under 12 and over 6) was trapped in the car. He grabbed my hand, looked in my eyes and said, "don't let go".
No Little Man, mommy won't let go, not until God calls you home, I will always be here.

Mountain Monday with a Side of Crap

Y'all know how much I love Mondays. This Monday? Not so much. Let's do the good stuff first, just cause it is my own lil kingdom here and I get so little in life that I have "say-so" over.
First and best is I am feeling SIGNIFICANTLY better. Yay! There is color in the palms of my hands again, so I don't look so much like a corpse. I am not nearly as tired. Definitely on my way to full recovery. THAT is no small thing to rejoice in.
Second, I had so much fun on Saturday. It has been a while since I had time to really play. I made bird toys and visited with one of my best friends from Cali who was here visiting. I had fun and fun is good.
Next? The mountains are looking very beautiful today. Proof:

And another, because everything is looking so pretty, blue and snowy.


Ready for the side of crap?
First, Little Man caught a cold this weekend and is home today recovering. Not fun. But, he isn't febrile anymore, so he and I will go catch a movie later.
Second, JJ is being an awful teenage pain in the um.. butt. Nuff said about that.
Third. Little Man had a calorie count of about zero yesterday. He has been refusing his formula again, AND not eating. His weight is at 61 lbs and we are in trouble. Big trouble. I have a call into his GI doc. My guess is we will do the NG tube (tube down the nose to stomach) while we are waiting for his surgery to do the G-tube. When I think about it I just want to bawl. The danger of his weird immune problems causing him to become deathly infected from this at some point is very high. We are facing the place we knew we woud probably get to, but had hoped we never would. Certain death by starvation or possible death by infection. I don't say this lightly. And neither does his doctor. She is very reluctant to do this, but we are all being forced. He is so very thin, ribs and skinny legs and arms. His pants won't stay up, but slide down his thin shanks.
Top off this side of crap with the garnish of my own and JJ's health problems and you know, really? I am feeling beaten down, sad, overwhelmed with my life.

Stayin' Alive

Hey Hey Hey my bloggity cream puffs, fear not, I am still alive. And today? I just might be feeling a wee bit better. Number 1, I didn't wake up with a headache, like I have done every day for the last month or so. (I know, duh, should have clued me in, but denial works) And! I took a shower without feeling like I needed to recover for an hour after I was done. Pretty pitiful huh? Yesterday and today, after doing very little to help get Little Man off to school, I have just gone back to bed. Woke up and noted with extreme surprise that it was NOON! And I am asleep by 10:30 at night, so it isn't staying up too late. I feel too crappy to stay up late.
But today, I got such a nice surprise this afternoon. (snort) Little Man's school called Bald Man and said he was sick. Yeah, right. Nope, not sick at all once he got home. (I shall be having a long talk with his teachers tomorrow.) So Bald Man, much to my chagrin, brings in Little Man. Little Man was seriously melting down. Bald Man tells me, "I feel so bad about leaving you like this". I scream at him, "Then don't!" Ah yes, there was another option, one saying Bald Man could stay home until Little Man was settled down, with the help of a little pill. Thank goodness Little Man did settle down, cause I really don't have the energy to handle him in one of his terrible states.
Liza and I were swapping lovely meltdown, booger and poop filled stories with one another. Someone really, really needs to like give me a few thousand dollars so I could pay for someone to watch our various beasts and so Liza and I could go enjoy a few days some place warm. I think we both deserve it. Sigh.
My lips, fingernails and palms are still deathly white, but overall, I think I shall live. Thanks for the kind comments, so nice to feel loved and warm inside even if my hands and feet are corpse cold.

Pale Face

My husband informed me last night that if he had wanted to marry a white woman, he would have. This is his (he thinks) funny way of dealing with something semi-serious.
I went to the doctor in the big city yesterday, because I have been feeling soooo tired, like all the time. What got me worried was the breathlessness I was having. The doctor approached me, informing me as he was getting closer, "you are rather pale". "I am?" said I with all my varied vocabulary. He turns over the palms of my hands and puts his next to mine. "uh, you make me look like I have color!" And compared to his hands, mine were looking, rather pale and even lifeless. He turns my hands over, "your nail beds are supposed to be pink, not white." "Oh" I responded.

After they took a sample of my blood, I was informed my hemoglobin was 6. Yes 6!
My hematocrit? 18.(If you have any questions about that, just ask Dr. Google, I am too tired to do a bunch of links) Just this side of critical and the doctor told me if it was any lower he would have put in the hospital for blood transfusions. That explains why I have been feeling so crappy lately. I am now on heavy duty iron, vitamin C to help me absorb the iron, a good multi vitamin and pretty much bed rest. And if I have chest pains or irregular heart beat, or problems breathing? Straight to the ER. Wow. I have pretty much taken my good health for granted all my life. Not so much anymore. I cried with relief yesterday, that I don't have to push myself to keep doing when I feel so lousy. I am sooo looking forward to feeling better. Back to the doctor next week for more tests. Geez, like I didn't have enough going on. Fear not though internet buddies, Little Man is at school every day this week and I am taking it easy. My bed and I are spending a lot of time together. Just call me Pale Face.

Meeko Loving Her Shower

Silly, soggy birdy!

The First Monday of the Month

JJ's EEG went fine. The tech said, oh the doctor will get the results today, and call you tomorrow I am sure. Translation into Jo speak= The doctor will get the scan today, but he won't call you back until you get mad on Tues and ask why he hasn't called yet. Monday is here and he hasn't called, big surprise. I will call him tomorrow.
You know, my internet posse that I love my Mondays. Today is another wonderful day. Everyone is gone, I am here, the apartment is quiet and I am gazing out the window at the beautiful mountains. A couple of small storms came through and washed away all the nasty smog, so the mountains are looking as beautiful as ever. Here ya go!

And another:
There is no doubt. What Utah lacks in Democrats it makes up in beautiful mountains.
And because I have to make a trip to the Big City and don't have another second to blog, I will leave you with a video of my silly birdy Meeko, enjoying her daily shower. Have a great Monday! I know I will.